Have you ever wondered what an American high school is really like?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    A typical American high school has several large buildings and enough space for about 1,500 students.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}When students first arrive at school, they go straight to their lockers to put away or get their textbooks and to hang up their outdoor clothes. As American textbooks are expensive, students would rather rent than buy them.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    American students have different types of school transport. They usually take a yellow school bus or walk to school if they live close enough.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}When they turn 16 years of age, most take a free driving class at school for one term. If students earn passing grades in the class and also pass their state driver's exam, they can begin driving themselves to school.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}They must take science, math, English and social studies. They can choose art, homemaking, fashion design and other classes. In some schools students are required to take one or more of the following special classes: health education, physical education or foreign language studies. Students move to different classrooms for each subject. This is because each teacher has their own classroom. There is a five-minute break between classes, to give the students the time to hurry to their next class.

    The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon. After school more than half of the students are involved in after-school activities. These activities include sports-especially football, basketball, baseball and soccer or clubs, such as yearbook, speech, school newspaper, photograph or student government.

A. Every student is given a locker.

B. Each day, students take six or seven classes.

C. Sometimes their parents drive them to school.

D. Students must pay back if they lost any of them.

E. This is because each teacher has their own classroom.

F. The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon.

G. This article will describe a typical American high school and its students.

Tips to Increase Your Productivity（生产力）

    Want to get more done in your day? Of course you do.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} The good news is that everyone can increase the amount of tasks accomplish（完成）in a day. Here are some tips to help you have a more productive day.

    Make a plan for your day. Make sure you know how you want your day to go in advance, even before you start.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} To work best, create the next day's plan the night before so that every morning you spend time performing, not planning.

    Break large tasks down into bits accomplished easily. Do you have a large project that's just so big that you keep putting it off? Or maybe you're just unsure of where to begin, so you put it off.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Therefore, you will feel a sense of accomplishment as you check the items of your list.

    Always set your priorities（优先事项）.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Figure out what must be done, do that first and rank the rest of your work according to importance. If you don't get to the items at the end of your list, it won't be a big problem, and you can do them another time.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you are the most productive in the morning, that's when you should hit it hard and do as much as you can. If you work better in the afternoon, take care of some things like emails in the morning and then accomplish the important projects in the afternoon. Keep on top of your work habits, and you'll be more productive.

A. Be aware of when you are the most productive.

B. Reward yourself if you are productive.

C. It's important to accomplish the most important tasks first.

D. It's tough to meet depressed people who are productive.

E. This can provide you a roadmap for the day.

F. To stay competitive in any industry, you need to improve your productivity.

G. A good way is to break the project down into more manageable ones.

    There are many expressions with the word “dog”.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They take their dogs for walks, give them goof food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

    When we say we live in a dog-eat-dog world,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}A person has to work hard like a dog to be successful. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

    Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new skills and will not change the way they do things.

    Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as junkyard dogs living in places where people throw away things they do not want. Junkyard dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But we do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

A. We could say his bark is worse than his bite.

B. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.

C. But there are many difficulties on the road to success.

D. People love dogs and treat them well.

E. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills.

F. Dogs are loyal to people.

G. A rainstorm may cool the weather.

    I chose to take psychology because one is able to better understand himself, understand others, and learn how people think, so I can use that to my advantage in the business world.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}By learning psychology I will learn how and why I think the way I think. This is important to me because I want to know whether my up-bringing or the genes I possess from my parents influence me.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}I hope to find an answer this year through my studies.

    I also think it is important to be accepting and tolerant of others and their certain beliefs about different matters. Some people like activities and subjects that I may not entirely agree with. It is important to learn why they believe what they do. People are different throughout the world. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I would like to learn what customs, traditions, and ways of thinking are witnessed worldwide and why some are apparent one place but not another.

    My final reason for taking psychology is that I can better understand people from a business standpoint. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Knowing how they think will help in making major marketing and promotional decisions. I hope to learn how people react to certain situations or ads to see what will get them interested.

    I know the effort I put into this course will benefit me later in life. Of course, learning the course may be challenging at times. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If I had to predict, I would say a mix of both.

B. But there are similarities between them.

C. Psychology is beneficial to my future.

D. Positive psychology has developed rapidly via the Internet.

E. It is vital to know what consumers want and need.

F. I often wonder why I like the items, subjects, and activities that I do.

G. However, what I learn will influence my future decisions and goals.

    Important Self-Management Tips All Students Should Know

Being a student, especially in the later years of high school and the college years, can be a time when you are finally given the independence that you dreamed of. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. If you are looking for some guidance on how best to manage yourself, then here are some of the best self-management tips all students should know.

    Sleep

    First and foremost, you need to be getting a good night's sleep as often as you can. After all, your brain needs just as much rest as any other part to operate at its full ability,  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} .

    Calendar

    Buy a calendar and make notes of every single deadline (截止日期) and class that you have. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. One of the worst things that could happen is to complete some work but hand it in a day too late.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Make the effort to balance your use of certain technology and social media. They are the number one reason for procrastination (拖延症) among today's student body, and training yourself to stay away when you are writing your work can be really helpful.

    Study Groups

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, then make the most of all the different study groups that your school or college offers. There you will be able to work alongside people who are active and their attitude will encourage you into action and make you much more productive.

A. Technology Balance

B. Never Use Technology

C. so sleep is also important for the old

D. or it is not going to serve you in the best way that it can

E. But you haven't learned exactly how to manage your life

F. If you are the kind of student who finds it nearly impossible to be productive alone

G. This way you will always know where you have to be and when you have to be there

    In 2015, motorcyclist Robert Jan kicked off a three-month solo(独自的) ride from the Netherlands to India.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} One day when he was watching a TV show about a man documenting his travels across countries, Robert decided he wanted to do something similar. About a decade later, he got his driver's license. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Two years after that, Robert began a solo motorcycle trip from his home in the Netherlands to India. He traveled more than 10,000 miles in just under three months.

    Robert, who is today a 30-year-old graphic designer (平面设计师), began planning the trip in September 2014, shortly after his graduation from Willem de Kooning Academy. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} He secured the necessary paperwork, got cash, and supported the adventure through a graphic design job. He and his blue motorcycle—which he nicknamed Perry—took off in late August of 2015.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} He met fellow travelers along the way and slept outside, all the while writing about his experience on his blog, Going Eastwards.

    But the three-month adventure also came with its challenges. Sometimes, he would go miles without spotting a much-needed gas station, and money eventually grew scarce(不足的). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In the end of November, Robert finally reached Mumbai, India. There, he shipped his bike back to Houten in the Netherlands and put himself on a plane back home.

    “Took 81 days to get there,” he posted on Instagram, “back within 18 hours.”

A. And in 2013, he bought his first motorcycle.

B. From a young age, Robert has been an adventurer.

C. By the time he arrived, all the beds were occupied.

D. They helped Robert get the motorcycle out of the freezing cold water.

E. Riding through 14 countries, Robert met a diverse set of people and landscapes.

F. Closer to the end of the trip, the motorcycle broke down—but a local helped him out.

G. He spent the next several months reading stories of motorcycle adventurers like Paul van Hoff and Gordon G. May.