I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

       My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.

I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

       Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.

       Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

     “The gaokao,China's national college entrance exam,is winning more recognition as a way for universities overseas to evaluate Chinese students,”recruiting officers said.

    Stanley Nel,vice-president of international relations at the University of San Francisco in the United States,who is responsible for the university's admissions from China,said he had had several inquiries from US universities about how to recruit Chinese students on the basis of their gaokao scores.

    The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) have long been two musts for students from other counties,including China,to apply to study in the US.

    USF,a private university in California,started a pilot program to accept Chinese students based on their gaokao scores in 2015.The idea came from USF President Paul Fitzgerald's belief that standardized tests like the SAT are not very good predictors of how well students will do at the university."We are aware of the many criticisms that have been made of the gaokao,but it has the advantage of being what educational experts call a 'criterion-referenced' exam: It tests whether students are able to master a given body of knowledge,"he said.

    Currently,at least four higher education institutions in the US are recruiting Chinese students based on their gaokao performances.The Illinois Institute of Technology,a private institution in Chicago,started the practice first,in 2009.Outside the US,countries including Spain,Italy,Singapore,France and Australia also recognize gaokao scores.

    More than 200 students from China requested an interview with USF last year.74 of them were selected for a follow-up interview,44 received offers and 20 accepted the invitation and joined USF for the 2015 fall semester. Students admitted in this way have done "exceptionally well" in the past academic year,Nel added."The average GPA for all gaokao students is about 3.5 out of 4.For all other students—American and non-gaokao international students—American and non-gaokao international students—the average GPA is 3.2,"he said.

    Zhu Zihao gained admission in computer sciences at USF in 2015 through the program and performed well in his first academic year.He said that students who had experienced China's gaokao usually had comprehensive basic knowledge,which helps them excel in studies.

    Nel said,"students admitted through China's gaokao are not only smart but extremely conscientious（认真的）and hardworking."

    "This year we hope to recruit about 50 students in this way,and even more in years to come,"he said.

How to Make Friends

    Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends.  Good friendship has many benefits.  It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes good health.  There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools.  Such changes often leaves us without a friend. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage.  Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.

    ⒈Associate with others.

    The first step to make friends is associating with other people.  You can go to public places to meet new people.  Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.

    ⒉Start a conversation

    Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can always start the conversation.  Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people. 

    ⒊{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together. Hanging out will always be a pleasant experience.

   ⒋Let it grow.

    It is a good thing to stay in touch.  However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.  The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

    ⒌Enjoy your friendship

    The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be.  Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.

A. Be cheerful.

B. Do things together.

C. Do not wait to be spoken to.

D. Try not to find fault with your friends.

E. Making new friends comes easily to some people.

F. For a friendship to develop you need to stay in touch.

G. So you will need to give your friend time to react to you.

Test-taking tips

    Do you sweat, check your pencil, and feel butterflies in your stomach as your teacher hands out the test paper? A lot of people feel anxious when it is time to take a test. Here are some tips for taking tests:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Your memory recall will be much better if you have had enough rest. In a scientific study, people who got enough sleep before taking a math test did better than those who stayed up all night studying.

    Read the test through first. Once you have the test paper in front of you, read over the entire test, checking out how long it is and all the parts that you are expected to complete.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.If something seems unclear before you start, do not worry: ask the teacher.

    Focus on addressing each question individually. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Instead, answer the best way you can or skip over the question and come back to it after you have answered other questions.

    Relax. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Of course you cannot get up and move around in the middle of a test, but you can wiggle your fingers and toes, take four or five deep breaths. As we all know, it can be easy to forget things we know well. During a test, if you forget something and start to get nervous, it suddenly becomes much more difficult to remember.

    Finished already? Although most teachers will let you hand your test paper in early, it is usually a good idea to spend any extra time checking over your work. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. On the other hand, if you have 5 minutes until the bell rings and you are still writing, end up whatever you are working on without panic.

A. This will allow you to decide how much time you have for each section

B. Be sure you have studied properly

C. Get enough sleep the night before the test

D. As the teacher hands out the test paper, be sure you know what is expected of you

E. As you take the test, if you do not know an answer, do not worry about it

F. You can also add details that you may not have thought you'd have time for

G. If you are so nervous that you blank out, you might need a mini-break

    Life is not easy when you are looking for something worthwhile and ready to learn from the best experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some life lessons which people will learn the hard way in majority of cases.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}However people usually get discouraged when it takes more time than they thought it would. At this time, people refer only to people who have already achieved what they want to do. Look at any successful person and you'll notice one thing common in all of them: they took time to learn and mastered their skill like no one else. There is no elevator to success and you have to take the stairs.

    Be brave to take the road less traveled. In our whole life, we always want to follow the same path that everyone suggests, do the same thing everyone does, take the same career path everyone takes, wear the same clothes everyone wears, and hang out with the same people we work with. Why? Because we are scared to fail. But when you get bored of life, you realize that you are not meant to do what everyone does and that your destiny is different from anyone else's out there in the world. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    You don't have to live your life in a way society wants you to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Parents sometimes force their children to select a career they don't want because other children have selected that career. Worst of all, people follow them without even asking. There is no harm in believing in old beliefs but when you pursue them before your interest, sooner or later you'll realize that you should first do what you think is right.

A. It takes continuous time and effort to be successful in any area.

B. The general rule goes that the harder you try, the greater results you get.

C. Many old beliefs are being performed these days and are followed blindly.

D. It always takes tests and then fails us to learn anything worthwhile.

E. However, in most circumstances your effort and attempt go well alongside with your desired achievement.

F. But the price we pay to realize this is high because it takes a great amount of courage to follow your own path.