For college students, graduation signals an exciting new beginning. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Many students wonder: What do I do now? What career is best for me? Most expert advice on choosing careers boils down to the following points.

Knowing Yourself

    What are your interests? Abilities? Skills? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The results may surprise you! These can be useful, but they're not the last word.

Investigating

    Investigating occupations is much more difficult. For most people, there isn't just one ‘right' job, but several that could be satisfying. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Talk to people who have occupations that interest you. Find out what they like and dislike about their job.

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    Many people choose their careers because they believe strongly in a particular cause. Some might choose to work in areas like medicine, charity or environmental protection. Some have a strong interest in history or a love for the arts. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} So in cases like these, the field is often chosen first, rather than the occupation itself. So if you've chosen a field, self-assessment will help you find your place in it. Invest some time and effort, and find the right career for you.

How To Become Smarter

    There are three things that will get you ahead in life: Good looks, smarts and being considered as being smart. The first is God-given. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In this article we explore some different ways to become smarter.

   Go to college, and get an education.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It means that you will have been exposed to many different ideas and hopefully you will have learned how to think. Being able to think outside the box and for yourself are features smart people possess.

    Read books and educational magazine.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Educational magazines such as Discovery or National Geographic are a wealth of knowledge that you can share with others, thus making you sound very smart. If you do watch television, try watching something where you can learn such as the History Channel, Discovery etc.

    Expand your vocabulary. Try to learn one new word a week. It does not seem like much, but adding 52 new word to your vocabulary will make you appear much smarter. Subscribing to vocabulary. com is a good start.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}This way you are actually getting 365 words a year, but that is usually more than most people can absorb.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Uneducated people and people not considered as being smart tend to do this. They hear an outrageous(骇人的) claim and they repeat it to the nearest ear. You can do much harm to your quest for being smart if you are known for giving bad information.

A. That is my exact point.

B. And unluckily most of us are not good-looking.

C. You will have a new word sent to your e-mail address daily.

D. The programs actually provide you with information you can see.

E. Reading books works the brain out more than viewing television.

F. Do not repeat everything people tell you until you know that it is true.

G. College does not necessarily mean you will be smarter, just educated.

    All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when their player or team wins.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China. Egypt or Italy!{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Think how many lovers to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada.

    Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

    People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.

A. And think of people in cold countries

B. Sports help to train a person's character

C. Not a few people participate in different sports competitions themselves

D. Many people like to watch others play games

E. People aren't inventing new sports or games

F. Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere take part in them

G. People are inventing new sports or games all the time

    Everyone wants to perform well at school. Add these tips to your life and you should be on your way to being a top student!

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}I cannot stress how important it is to pay attention to what your teacher is teaching you. Take part in class discussions if you have something worth adding. Pay attention during class, especially during lectures.

    Taking notes is important. You don't need to write down every single word your teacher says but write down what he or she writes on the board, or any special fact you think you might need for a test.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}In this way, it will help you learn more effectively by actually thinking about what you are writing.

    Don't skip school. You will be missing some knowledge. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}However, you will have more work. Also, try not to be late for class. It's most likely that your teacher won't appreciate it and you will get yourself behind.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you have an “I don't care about school or this class” attitude, then teachers will be less willing to help you with problems or offer you extra credit(学分). The same goes for lazy attitude. Have a respectful attitude to the teacher and other students. Try not to laugh when other students make mistakes.

    Always ask questions. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If you don't understand, ask someone. Read your textbook and notes, and then if that fails, seek help. Ask a teacher, friend, classmate, parent, etc. Get a tutor(家教) if you need one.

A. Be prepared.

B. Write in your own words.

C. Pay attention to everything the teacher says.

D. Staying organized will be helpful.

E. There is no shame in needing some help.

F. It is true that you could make up the work.

G. Keep a good attitude towards things.

Prepare to Succeed

    People are always thinking about success. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} This thought isn't one that brings them closer, however, because thinking, dreaming or wishing just doesn't get it done.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You may ask, “Why is preparation necessary?”

    The easiest answer to this question is to say that if you are not ready to move forward, then you may just as well keep doing what you have always done.

    Success doesn't come easy. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Success requires you to be prepared to sacrifice leisure time, or time spent watching television or going out with friends, at every opportunity. Success means you are prepared to do whatever it takes to constantly move the yardsticks （码尺）forward day after day.

    Here is just one quote, from Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th president of the United States, that expresses what preparation is about: “{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.” This quote can be interpreted to mean that you may have strength or confidence to start on your way right now to move toward your final goal. However, it is also critical that committed action each day builds to help you keep going when obstacles arise or when you just don't feel like you have the interest or energy to stay focused.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}That shows you what steps or actions to take, when to take them or what to do if issues, obstacles or other life issues get in the way.

    The bottom line is actually quite clear: You are either willing, able and committed to achieve what you want, or you are simply dreaming or wishing that success finds you.

A. There are no shortcuts （捷径）.

B. Success is getting what you want.

C. Our real problem is not our strength today.

D. Preparation also means that you have a plan or a goal.

E. The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

F. It is in their brains as they go about daily routines looking for something better.

G. One of the most important parts of personal or professional success is preparation.

    When you write a message or an email, you might put a smiling face or other pictures at the end to make the message more fun. These pictures are emojis (表情符号). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Later, they were used on Apple's iPhone and Android phones. Now they are everywhere!

    Emoticon or emoji?

    Before emojis, there were emoticons, which can be made from the signs you can find on your keyboard, for example: for a smiley. Emoji is a Japanese word which means photograph. e ("picture") + moji ("character"). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} There are all kinds of emojis, from faces and weather pictures to things in the kitchen and animals.

    What are emojis for?

    In English, we have a saying: A picture paints a thousand words. For many people, an emoji is like a punctuation mark, or smiling at someone across the room. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is like the tone (语气) of voice when we speak on the phone, or gestures used in conversation.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    When someone speaks and looks serious, we try to look serious, too, and when someone smiles, we smile as well. This is how we show empathy (共鸣) and make friends.

    But when we are online, we can't see the person's face and there is no emotion. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Scientists in Australia have discovered that when we look at a smiley face online, the same parts of the brain start working as when we look at a real smiley face. Our mood changes, and we try to change our face to match the emoji.