Choosing the right job is probably one of the most important decisions we have to make in life, and it is frequently one of the hardest decisions we have to make. One important question that you might ask yourself is: “How do I get a good job?”

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. There are people who can answer an insignificant advertisement in the local paper and land the best job in the world; others write to all sorts of places all over the country, and never seem to get a reply at all. Still others believe that the in person, door-to-door approach is by far the best way to get a job; and then there are those who, through no active decision of their own, just seem to be in the right place at the right time. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. He used to spend a lot of his free time down by the sea watching the tall ships, but never thinking that he might one day sail one of them. His father was a farmer, and being a sailor could never be anything for the boy but an idle dream. One day, on his usual wandering, he heard the captain of the ship complaining that he could not sail because one member of his crew was sick. Without stopping to think, the lad（少年）offered to take his place. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If the lad had gone home to ponder（考虑） his decision for a week, he may have missed his chance. It is one thing to be offered an opportunity; it is another thing to take it and use it well.  Sometimes we hear stories about people who break all the rules and still seem to land plum jobs（美差）. When you go for a job interview or fill out an application, you are expected to say nice things about the company to which you are applying. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. And within a year this person had become general manager of the company.

A. This story also illustrates the importance of seizing an opportunity when it presents itself.

B. People find jobs in a variety of ways.

C. It's almost impossible to find a good job by answering advertisement in newspapers

D. Take for example the young man who wanted to be a sailor.

E. But there was one person who landed an excellent job by telling the interviewer all the company's faults.

F. He spent the rest of his life happily sailing the ships he had always loved.

G. It is very important to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

    They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well, there is one lady who believes that it's actually chocolate. At 102 years of age, she's living proof.

    According to Boonville, Indiana's Eunice Modlin, a daily dose of chocolate has been the key to a long and healthy life. Specifically, two pieces of dark chocolate. It's not just Eunice who believes this.

    Many scientists have attributed the sweet to health benefits such as lower chances of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

    However, researchers believe that Eunice might be overlooking the fact that she has never smoked or drunk alcohol in her long life, and that chocolate might not be the significant cause of her longevity.

    "There are so many other factors to her long life and chocolate isn't the only one," nutritionist Vanessa Rissetto said. "Genes, her diet in general…are probably the main reasons."

    At any rate, Eunice is still alive and kicking. With four children, seven grandkids, 14 great-grandkids and 11 great-great grandkids, this lady has a big family.

    It must be noted that Eunice was also very athletic, being an archer in her 20s .Amazingly, she has lived through tough times such as the Great Depression and World War II .Also, the healthy blood runs through the veins of other family members. Eunice's brother is also still alive, at 101 years of age.

    No matter what you might think, Eunice's consumption of chocolate can't be ignored. In 2015, a BMJ study showed that a daily treat of one small bar would give the consumer 23% less chance of having a stroke (中风).

    What is in the sweet that makes it so beneficial? Apparently, cocoa beans have flavonoids, plant nutrients that have useful antioxidants (抗氧化剂).

    "Not all chocolate is created equal," Rissetto warns. "Dark chocolate has more flavonoids than milk chocolate, and white chocolate—which does not actually contain chocolate—is not a good source of flavonoids."

    How many times do you check your Facebook page in a day to see whether your latest post has got another “like” or “thumbs(拇指) up”?

    Although you might be embarrassed to admit how many times you do this, don't worry—psychological findings have shown it's completely normal. In fact, the pleasure we derive from receiving a “like” is equal to that of eating chocolate or winning money, and we can't help wanting more. According to the findings, which observed 32 teens aged between 13 and 18, the feedback circuit (反馈回路) in the teens' brains is particularly sensitive, and the “social” and “visual” parts of their brains were active when they received “likes” on the social network. The research also showed that though the thumbs up might come from complete strangers, the good they derive from them worked all the same.

    So, does it mean we should try our best to win as many thumbs up as possible? Not necessarily so if we know the reasons behind our desire for attention. In “why do people long for attention” by M. Farouk Radwan, he explained several cases in which people naturally longed for attention. Radwan said people who were an only child, who were used to being the center of attention in their house, may try to copy these conditions. Feeling “overlooked and unappreciated” might also lead you to long for attention. Other times, the state of being jealous, or wanting to cover your mistakes may also contribute to such longings.

    In fact, too much desire for attention can create anxiety, and in turn ruin your happiness even when you get it. So what can we do about it? The answer is quite simple. “If people could adopt goals not focused on their own self-esteem（自尊）but on something larger than their self, such as what they can create or contribute to others, they would be less sensitive to some of the negative effects of pursuing self-esteem,” wrote psychology professor Jennifer Crocker.

    So perhaps the answer to our addiction to “likes” is simply to focus on something larger than ourselves—a hard, but a worthy one.

    Plastic sludge(污泥)and garbage is a disaster for the world's oceans. A film crew traveled the globe to document the rubbish. And Julie Andersen of the Plastic Oceans Foundation says what we see is just the tip of the problem. “Half of the waste actually sinks to the bottom, and that remains on the surface actually breaks down. ”

    The filmmakers found rubbish in ocean gyres, the circulating currents that trap large concentrations of pollution in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacifc Oceans, home of what some have plastic. What we found was a plastic smog that spread throughout all the water. And in some parts of the oceans, scientists have found more plastic than plant. ”

    The pieces of the plastic garbage infect the food chain, sometimes visibly, and more so at the microscopic level, where the plastic particles interact with other pollutants. “There are heavy metals, medicines, industrial waste in the sea, while it acts like magnets(磁铁). These poisonous substances absorb on the plastic, and then when seafood absorbs the plastics, those poisonous substances enter the fatty tissues. ”To be consumed by other sea life and by people at last.

    China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are the worst plastic polluters. The United States, although a leader in recycling, is one of the world's 20 since it produces and consumes so much plastic. There are efforts around the world to address the problem, including at this newly opened recycling center in Lebanon(黎巴嫩). But Andersen says there is more that people can do. “Cut back on single-use plastics, straws, plastic cups, plastic water bottles, plastic bags and find alternatives like reusable materials.” She says healthy oceans are essential to our survival.

    Most groups of plants and animals are richer in species and more plentiful near the equator. In the ocean, that holds true for cold-blooded predators(掠食者). But warm-blooded predators are more diverse toward the poles and noticeably missing from several warm hot spots. Why?

    John Grady, an ecologist, and his team considered the possibility—warm-blooded animals need a lot to fuel their metabolism(新陈代谢). Perhaps colder waters are just richer in small fish? But they found that at higher, colder places, there isn't actually much more food around. It's more that warm-blooded animals are eating a much bigger share of it than their cold-blooded competitors.

    The real explanation is simple. An animal's speed, swiftness, and intelligence depend on its metabolism, which in turn depends on its temperature. Since birds and mammals can keep heating their bodies in icy conditions, they remain fast and attentive. By contrast, the fish they hunt become slower and duller. At some tipping point of temperature, seals, dolphins, and penguins start out swimming their prey(猎物). They become more likely to come upon targets and outpace the cold-blooded predators of their own.

    In Grady's words, "Warm-bodied predators are favoured where preys are slow, stupid and cold." That's why sharks and other predatory fish dominate near the equator, but colder waters are the kingdom of whales and seals. By keeping food to themselves in the poles, these creatures can then specialize on specific types of prey, which makes them more likely to split into separate species. The killer whales of the North Pacific, for example, include mammal-eating transients and fish-eating, year-round residents.

    But the world is changing. It's likely that the surface of the oceans will warm by 2 to 3℃ within this century. Grady's team estimates that every time the ocean's surface warms by 1℃, populations of sea mammals will fall by 12%, and populations of seals and sea lions will fall by 24%.

    But "predictions are hard," Donna Hauser from the University of Alaska Fairbanks notes. "Polar bears are losers of a warming world, but some populations are still doing well. Some groups of whales have changed the timing of their migrations; others are hunting in deeper, colder waters. These changes might make sea mammals more adaptable to changing climates. Maybe they just need to find the places where fish remain slow, stupid and cold."

    One of my favorite hobbies is exchanging old-fashioned, paper-with-a-stamp-on-it postcards with random strangers around the world.

    The Postcrossing Project was created by Paulo Magalhaes in 2005. He liked getting mails—especially postcards. He thought others did, too—but how could he connect with them? That's when he came up with the idea of an online platform (postcrossing.com): There, postcard lovers like me can sign up to send a postcard to someone who has registered online, and receive a postcard in return.

    Along with a randomly selected address, participants get a unique code to put on the postcard. When the postcard arrives, the recipient registers that code with the site, which then causes the sender's address to be given to another postcrosser in turn. In practice, this means that for nearly every postcard I send (a few get lost in the mail) I get one back. And since I never know who will send me a card or where in the world they live, every trip to the mailbox holds the potential for a wonderful surprise.

    Privacy-conscious Americans might worry about sharing their address with strangers overseas. But postcrossers are friendly, polite, respectful folks—in more than 450 cards exchanged, I've yet to have a bad experience.

    On days when the international news is depressing, postcrossing is my comfort. There's nothing like getting a card from a child in China just learning to write in English, or a grandmother in Belarus describing her most recent gardening success to remind me that we truly are members of one global family, far more similar than we are different.

    It seems like such a small thing to send out a postcard. But as travel and communication technology continue to shrink the world, it's important to remember that it isn't just for diplomats and politicians to represent our country anymore. All of us have the power—and perhaps the responsibility—to be ambassadors, to show the best of your country to the world.

    And it's good to know that what you need to accomplish this is not necessarily complicated or expensive. It can be as simple as a postcard.