As a senior year student, you may have so many pressures coming from so many directions that you can't figure out what to do first.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    When you have many things to do and a lot of demands on your time, you can lose sight of what's important. One of the best ways to see the big picture — what you want out of life — is to lay out your goals.

    Pressure Points and How to Deal With Them

    Confused or overwhelmed — {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Discuss your concerns with a friend, parent or teacher. They may help you find solutions to your problems and worries.

    Being too hard on yourself — ease up, take a break and do something you enjoy. Daydream, read a book, go out with friends — anything that helps you relax.

    Problems, problems, problems — recognize your limits. It's too stressful to try to deal with all your problems at once. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Goal-Setting Tips

    It's important to remember that goals belong to you — not to your parents, your teachers, or your friends. After you've set your goals, identify the skills you have to achieve those goals. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, do some research. Try the library, your guidance adviser and teachers, and other people who could help you.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. If your goal is something you no longer want, change it. Identify the barriers to getting your goals. Consider ways to overcome them. Don't get depressed by a big, long-term goal — see what steps you can take to achieve it and set those steps down as short-term, "do-able" goals.

A. Too much to do

B. Balancing goals in life

C. Goals exist to serve you

D. Talk to someone you trust

E. If you're not sure what skills you'll need

F. As long as you know what skill is important and what isn't

G. Choose what's most urgent and set aside the rest until later

Sports Fans and Identity

    Many people are crazy about a particular sports team. They are big fans and seem to connect their own identity to their chosen team.

    Identity consists of things like gender (性别), personality, abilities, and social groups. The groups we belong to shape our identity. Related to this is the theory developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In knowing who we are, we may more closely identify with our social group than with our gender group. We also decide which group we belong to, based on different aspects of our identity. According to the theory, our self-esteem—how we feel about ourselves—is reflected in the group we belong to. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, we naturally protect the group we belong to, while making other groups less important. We think highly of the team we support, while we may add negative comments about an opposing team.

    Researchers have studied language used by sports fans. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} By using pronouns like “we”, fans show that they feel connected with the team when it is winning. “We really killed that team. They couldn't get the ball past us.” However, when their team didn't do well, the fans would distance themselves from the team, using different pronouns. “They didn't know what they were doing. They had no planning.”

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They have found those fans have more self-confidence and feel more competent. They are quite sure they have the ability to deal with situations successfully or do things to a satisfactory standard. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} These people will perform better at work and earn and spend more money, so experts suggest that a winning team may have a positive influence on the economy of a city.

A. They suggested that we naturally classify people into groups.

B. That causes increased competitions between different groups of sports fans.

C. It is probably because the victory reflects well on their personal sense of identity.

D. Comments from group members certainly have a strong influence on our behavior.

E. When their team did well, the fans would closely identify themselves with the team.

F. That leads to the fact that we want our group to be seen more positively than other groups.

G. Social scientists have also studied the effect of winning a championship on the fans of the winning team.

    Although most parents don't like doing it after a long and exhausting workday, reading bedtime stories does make a positive influence on your child's emotional and mental health. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It helps to develop children's imagination.

Reading bedtime stories can develop your children's ability to form pictures or ideas in their mind. A healthy imagination makes their minds work well and teaches them to think quickly yet effectively. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    It improves children's language.

    Reading also improves your children's language. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They'll most likely use those words in the stories you read right after they hear them. Listening to many stories helps kids to express their opinions better.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Reading books makes people more learned. When children hear the stories you tell, they learn grammar and vocabulary, for example. It helps them be successful in school as they already know a lot from your stories. What's more, every story has its moral aspect and tells them what's good and what's bad.

    These reasons leave no chances of doubting whether to read bedtime stories to your children or not. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}They will thank you in future, I promise.

A. It fosters children's affection for reading.

B. It makes children knowledgeable.

C. Take a look at the best benefits of it and you'll never be lazy to do that.

D. So however tired you are, find time to read bedtime stories to your children.

E. Bedtime stories create just unforgettable moments.

F. They remember most words you say and enlarge their vocabulary.

G. They'll be successful in many aspects thanks to a wonderful imagination.

Films and computer games

    In just a few decades the gaming industry has become much bigger than the film business. What is called "interactive entertainment" makes more money than Hollywood cinema. Is there any way of making films more appealing to people who like to play computer games?

    Making a film out of a best-selling computer game can guarantee a large audience. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Nowadays films are made with similar ones. They have attractive action scenes relying on fantasy effects as well. Gaming markets consist of science-fiction games, and film-makers have also set films in science-fiction worlds. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Any attempt to borrow more than the setting from a game is certain to fail.

Why do gamers feel disappointed by films based on their favorite games? One of the reasons is technical. Now everything can be computer-produced. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, filming a scene from 20 different cameras would cost a fortune, so it simply isn't done in the film version—leaving the gamers feeling that the film didn't look as real as the computer game.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In a film the director doesn't show you some things to keep you have the feeling of excitement or anxiety. For example, you wouldn't be interested in watching the film if you knew the identity of the murderer. But this is not true for computer games. When you play a game, you have to do certain tasks to continue to the new level. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You are always in control as a player, while in the cinema you never control the action. You just sit and watch.

    There can be some interaction between films and computer games on different levels. For all the similarities between technologies and special effects, we shouldn't forget that a story and a game are fundamentally different.

A. Cameras matter in another sense, too.

B. The success of a game usually lies in the use of special effects.

C. You can't influence what happens at all in the computer games.

D. Computer games may show the action from a number of views easily.

E. The game has a good chance of being as successful as the film on which it is based.

F. You must be able to have access to all the information in order to decide what to do next.

G. However, the difficulty for film producers appears to be knowing where and when to stop.

    Many people think of guys as being carefree when it comes to their appearance. But in fact, a lot of guys spend plenty of time in front of the mirror. They care just as much as girls do about their body image.

    Body image is a person's opinions and feelings about his or her own body and physical appearance. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You appreciate your body for its capabilities and accept its imperfections.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Here are some ideas.

    Recognize your strengths.

    Different body types are good for different things. What does your body do well? Maybe your speed, strength, or coordination (协调) makes you better than others at a certain sport. That may be basketball, table tennis, mountain biking, dancing, or even running. Or perhaps you have non-sports skills, like drawing, painting, singing, playing a musical instrument, writing, or acting, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Exercise regularly.

    Exercise can help you look well and feel good about yourself Good physiques (体形) don't just happen. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} A healthy habit can be as simple as exercising 20 minutes to 1 hour three days a week Working out can also lift your spirits.

    Respect your body!

    Practicing good habits—showering regularly; taking care of your teeth, hair, and skin; wearing clean clothes, and so on can help you build a positive body image.

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    Your body is just one part of who you are. Your talent for comedy a quick wit (智慧), and all the other things make you unique. So try not to let small imperfections take over.

How the Elderly Are Treated Around the World

    How cultures view and treat their elderly is closely linked to their most prized values and qualities. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    In the US and UK, Protestantism (新教) is at play. Western cultures tend to be youth-centric, stressing qualities like independence. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It ties a person's value to his or her ability to work – something that becomes weaker in old age. As their health becomes worse, the elderly in these cultures often move to old people's homes and nursing homes.

    In France, parents are protected by law. It is difficult to imagine an Elderly Rights Law being a focus in the laws of many Western cultures. France did, however, pass a similar law in 2004. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} One was a group of official statistics showing France had the highest rate of pensioner suicides in Europe, and the other was the aftermath of a heat wave that killed 15,000 people, most of whom were elderly and had been dead for weeks before they were found.

     {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Native American cultures traditionally accept death as a fact of life. In many Native American areas, elders are respected for their wisdom and life experiences. Within Native American families, it's common for the elders to be expected to pass down their learning to younger members of the family.

    The way to care for Chinese elders is changing. Chinese families traditionally view respect for one's elders as the highest virtue, according to the Confucian tradition. Adult children are generally expected to care for their parents in their old age. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nursing homes are beginning to become a more socially acceptable option for elderly care.

A. However, this tradition is beginning to break down due to rising lifetime and an aging population.

B. In the African-American area, death is seen as an opportunity to celebrate life.

C. Here's what we can learn from other cultures about treating the elderly.

D. But China faces the unique problem of tending to an increasingly elderly population.

E. Native American elders pass down their knowledge.

F. It was only passed following two disturbing events, though.

G. This relates back to the Protestant work rules.