How To Cultivate Your Confidence

    Self-confidence, the combination of self-efficacy and self-esteem, is an essential part of humanity. A person with self confidence generally is willing to take risks to achieve his personal goals, Someone who lacks self confidence, however, is less likely to feel that he can achieve his goals{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Identify your negative thoughts,

    Your negative thoughts might sound like this: “I can't do that,” “I will surely fail”. This inner voice is pessimistic and unhelpful and will hold you back from achieving high self-esteem and greater self confidence.

Turn your negative thoughts to positive thoughts.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}This may take the form of positive affirmations, such as “I am going to try it,” “I can be successful if I work at it, ”or “people will listen to me.” Start with just a few positive thoughts a day.

    Refuse to allow negative thoughts to occur more often than positive thoughts.

    Eventually, your positive thoughts should be given more “brain space” than your negative thoughts{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Avoid spending time around things that can make you feel bad about yourself again. These might be reminders from the past, clothing that no longer fits, or places that don't fit with your new goals of gaining confidence. Though you may not be able to get rid of every negative source in your life, you can certainly think about how to cut your losses{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Get away from your past.

B. Rid reminders of your negativity.

C. This will go a long way in building up your self-confidence.

D. This means that you can have an abundance of self-confidence.

E. The more your positive thoughts get ，the less your negative thoughts get.

F. As you pay attention to your negative thoughts, turn them around to positive thoughts

G. The good news is that self-confidence is something that you can build on your own.

Tips for procrastinators (拖延者)

    You manage to finish and hand the project in on time, but you feel exhausted. Then, your teacher says, “Get ready. We will start the test in 5 minutes.” {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Many of us are guilty of delaying doing what we should do. At the same time, we might risk missing a deadline and not getting a good mark. It is also very stressful. Here are some tips for procrastinators on how to get your work done ahead of time.

    Create a to-do list. Creating a list will help organize your work and ideas while keeping you on track.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Keep it up to date by checking off completed tasks as you go along. This will keep you focused and orderly.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Chances are, you won't be able to get a lot of work done when you're tired. Finding a time of day when you are full of energy will get you to be more productive.

    Choose reliable study partners. Working with study partners will encourage you to complete the task at hand and ensure that you remain focused. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Divide the work into smaller parts. Procrastination is often a reaction to feeling overwhelmed (无法对付的). Dividing work into smaller parts will make it easy to handle. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will find your ability and be more likely to finish what you need to do.

    Hopefully these tips will help you do away with the stressful, last-minute efforts of a procrastinator.

A. Work when you're feeling energetic.

B. Remind yourself to turn off all the devices.

C. You forgot that there's also an examination today.

D. Try to encourage yourself to stick to your work plan

E. Deal with your tasks a bit at a time instead of wasting time wondering where to start.

F. Put the tasks that you feel less confident about or are likely to avoid on the top of the list.

G. You know that others are relying on you and they think that you deserve trust and are responsible.

    You can read a book for pleasure one time through and be just fine. However, it is harmful to deal with academic reading the same way. In order to read and comprehend a book or article for school, you need to be much more strategic（策略）. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Understand types and themes.

    In most reading tests, the student is asked to read a passage and predict what might happen next. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}This is to make sure you're able to infer information from the clues. The type of text of a book helps you make predictions about the action-which helps you.

    Read with tools.

    Any time you read to learn, use active reading skills and there are tools that are not so good to use. A pencil and a pack of sticky notes will be good tools. You can mark in the margins without any damage. Use your notes to write down thoughts, impressions, predictions, and questions as you read. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You create some serious damage when highlighting.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    It is not wise to look up new and unfamiliar words as you read. Make a logbook of those new words, and revisit them later. Be sure to keep a logbook of new words and visit it often!

    Analyze the title (and subtitles).

    Once a text is completed, the writer may reflect on the true message or purpose and come up with a new title. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Find out the new words.

B. Work the vocabulary skills.

C. That is, if you want to earn a good grade!

D. A highlighter（荧光笔）, on the other hand, can be a really bad tool.

E. What might happen next will help you a lot in reading.

F. Prediction is a common reading comprehension strategy.

G. It will be a clue to help you understand the message better.

Apologizing the Right Way to a Friend

    Why are apologies so difficult? Saying you are sorry can be one of the most difficult things you do. But we all make mistakes, so you'll probably have an occasion when you need to apologize.

    Perhaps you had a big blow up and realized later you reacted poorly.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Whatever the reason, apologizing can help you both heal and move on from the situation.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} First, you acknowledge that you did something wrong. With an apology, you take responsibility for your actions, which allows your friend to forgive you. Second, an apology gives you sincerity as a friend.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, but that doesn't mean you still shouldn't apologize.

Now,  what are elements of a proper apology? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, depending on what the offense was, where it was done, and who you are apologizing to. In general, a good apology should include the following: a request for their attention, an acknowledgment of what happened, sincerity in admitting you did something wrong and the words. "I'm sorry" or "I apologize."

    Here are things never to say when apologizing. Note that the art of apologizing involves taking responsibility. Never apologize as a way to "shut someone up" when they are saying you hurt their feelings and you don't think you did.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, you should talk things through with your friend until you see why they are hurt or how you came across. You'll really need to self﹣reflect so you can see things from your friend' s point of view.

A. When you make your apology in person

B. If you really believe you did nothing wrong

C. Apologies benefit friendships in a variety of ways

D. The way you apologize is going to be slightly different

E. Or maybe you just didn't show support when you needed to

F. Apologizing the right way, however, may take a little practice

G. Sometimes our pals forgive us easily for the minor things we do wrong

Some Texting Rules You Should Be Following by Now

    Don't text and drive {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Don't do it. Personal safety always comes first and staying off your hand-held while driving is extremely important. If you can't resist, then keep your phone where you can't reach it while you're driving.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    If you're texting someone who says "driving", stop texting. Period. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Just stop texting. You can consider calling the person, but please bear in mind that some states have laws in place restricting talking on the phone while driving. But if you don't get a response…

    "Don't keep texting until they respond," an article in LifeHack suggests." {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. And if they're not, maybe they just don't feel like texting." While not getting a response likely makes you feel anxious, and while many consider it rude, it's also rude to continue bombarding someone with messages when that person is not replying to you.

    Avoid group texts "Most would say group texts are the worst," notes an article in Mashable." They take up more time than you ever expected. Reading through all of your messages is boring. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. It's that simple

B. Don't even say "OK"

C. They're probably busy

D. They seem to never end

E. Stop driving immediately

F. Just think of any other means of communication

G. Don't put others in the situation of texting and driving

    Life is filled with regrets (遗憾). Anyone around you will have no difficulty in telling his regrets. As we get older, we look back and wish that we had made better choice. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Make better plans

    If you start to do something, you need to make a plan before doing it. The earlier, the better.

    You will know what comes first and what comes last. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If changes happen, you can have more time to deal with them.

    Live a more active life

    You can go around more often. More outdoor activities can keep you relaxed and active. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} "Thank you" can bring a smile to someone's face. Learn to say "sorry" and don't be angry with others.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    A friend may make your life and he or she can break your life as well. So you have to think twice when you choose a friend. Good friends will always give you better ideas. When you get into trouble ask others for help. That little help may get you good results.

    Never fear failure

    Everybody fails. Even the greatest person fails before he or she achieves success. We should not fear failure, because failure is not the end of the road. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Life is good. We don't have to live in our past, but we do hope that we can plan better, live better, and work better when we have the chance to do so.

A. Ask others for help.

B. Find the right friend.

C. You also need to be kind.

D. What can we do to avoid future regrets?

E. Regrets play an important part in our daily life.

F. We must take failure as a chance to learn and improve ourselves.

G. You'll also know what you should do and what you shouldn't do.