Before you begin studying English, ask yourself one question: “ {#blank#}1{#/blank#} ” Is it because you want to, or because someone else wants you to? Like every decision in life, studying English must be something you want to do. Here are some tips to help you learn English well.

●Set goals.

    If you know why you want to study, setting goals is easy. For example, maybe you want to travel to an English-speaking country. Great! {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Perhaps you have already known many useful phrases, but you want to improve your listening skills and pronunciation. Whatever your goals are, you should write them down,

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    How long do you need to study to achieve your goals? This answer is different for every student. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you work 40 hours per week，don't plan on spending another {#blank#}5{#/blank#} hours a week studying English. Start off slow, but study regularly. Use material that is challenging, but not too difficult. Find out what works for you. After you have studied for a few weeks, adjust your study schedule accordingly.

●Make a commitment.

    Learning English requires a lot of motivation. Nobody is going to take your attendance when you aren't in class. If you are sure that you are ready to begin studying, make a commitment.

●Have fun learning English.

    If you aren't having fun learning English, you're not studying the right way! You can be a serious student who has fun at the same time. Make up your own reward program to give yourself encouragement to stay on a task.

A. Make an arrangement.

B. Why do I want to study English?

C. Your goal might be to learn “Survival English”.

D. The important thing is to be realistic and reliable.

E. What is the most effective way of learning English?

F. The things we do best in life are what we enjoy doing.

G. Make every moment of your English learning meaningful.

    What should you think about in trying to find your career? You are probably better at some school subjects than others. These may show strengths that you can use in your work. A boy who is good at mathematics can use that in an engineering career. A girl who spells well and likes English may be good at office work. So it is important to do well at school. On the other hand, you may not have any specially strong or weak subjects but your records show a general satisfactory standard. Although not all subjects can be used directly in a job, they may have indirect value. Knowledge of history is not required for most just but if history is one of your good subjects you will have learned to remember facts and details. This is an ability that can be useful in many jobs.

    Your school may have taught you skills, such as typing or technical drawing, which you can use in your work. You may be good at metal work or cookery (烹饪术) and look for a job where you can improve these skills.

    If you have had a part-time job on Saturdays or in the summer, think what you gained from it. If nothing else, you may have learned how to get to work on time, to follow instructions and to get on with older workers. You may have learned to give correct change in a shop, for example. Just as important, you may become interested in a particular industry or career you see from the inside in a part-time job.

    Facing your weak points is also part of knowing yourself. You may be all thumbs when you handle (运用) tools; perhaps you are a poor speller or cannot add up a column of figures. It is better to face any weaknesses than to pretend they do not exist. Your school record, for instance, may not be too good, yet it is an important part of your background. You should not be apologetic about it but instead recognise that you will have a chance of a fresh start at work.

    With the coming of winter, it's the perfect time to get out of town and escape the seasonal mood（心情）disorder. Here are vacation ideas to adopt now.

    Costa Rica

    Costa Rica, located in the Valle del General, is well-known for its coffee, pineapples and sugar cane plantations as well as its rich forests. What's more, you can enjoy horseback riding, spend afternoons at the spa or tour a nearby wildlife shelter to look out for colorful birds, sloths and other animals.

    Los Cabos, Mexico

    If you love wine, travel to Los Cabos, a beautiful vacation destination at the southern edge of the Baja Peninsula. During your getaway, you can enjoy special wine tastings and dinner cooked by Los Cabos's Michelin-starred chef. There are wild-viewing opportunities, too. From December through May, you can spot whales, manta rays and more wildlife.

    Petit St Vincent, the Grenadines

    This private Caribbean island was spared（使幸免）the anger of hurricanes Irma and Maria. What's more, the whole island is only 115 acres and has 22 cottages（小屋）. Each cottage is located in a quiet place, and you can expect to unplug and recharge phones with no wireless connections, television or telephones in the cottage. Even better, you can spend your days admiring fascinating marine（海洋的）life at the Jean-Michel Cousteau Diving Caribbean center.

    The Exumas, Bahamas

    On Fowl Cay's 50-acre private island, you can enjoy a carefree escape. Days can be spent fishing, boating and diving before wandering along white sands. The resort features large one, two-and three-bedroom houses. Best of all, if you're planning a group getaway or multigenerational trip, you rent the entire island for a unique island escape.

    TOASTMASTERS

    Toastmasters is an international organization, designed to develop effective speaking and listening skills. It was set up in 1924 by Ralph Smedley and it's headquartered in California. It has a double purpose: the personal growth and strong effective communication skills.

    Who is Toastmasters open to?

    Many people think Toastmasters is open only to those who wish to be professional speakers, but that is not true. Toastmasters is open to the public at large. Any person who wishes to improve his public speaking is welcome. And also, those who just want to increase their overall self-confidence are encouraged to attend.

How can Toastmasters help you?

    Joining Toastmasters, a person will learn different methods of communicating what he really wants to say, and equally important, he will learn what the audience expects so he can send that message to them in an organized way. Some people are comfortable around friends, but when they appear before a group they don't know, they get nervous. The organization helps its members to get calm and organize thoughts, and express them in an effective way.

    Most often, people assume that when one is listening, he is also paying attention. This is not always true. Many times people are waiting for their turn to speak and are not really listening at all. Toastmasters can develop a person overall in organizing their thoughts, getting information from others and receiving effective feedback（反馈）.

    How does Toastmasters train people?

    Toastmasters has a way of learning by doing. The Toastmasters International Organization provides a menu called the basic menu because it gives a guideline for the development of speeches. These speeches can meet different purposes. For example, one might need voice training; another might be to organize his thoughts or develop use of humor in speeches. There is an eight-week program for young people and also an eight-week speech course offered for adults. As a person continues to give speeches and improve, he progresses from the point of being fearful to stand before a group to the point where he can speak to any group of people with confidence.

    Years ago parents worried their children would learn the truth about Santa Claus(圣诞老人)from others, but now they have a new problem—the Internet.

    A recent study from Hide My Ass! Shows 1 in 8 American parents said the Internet told their children the truth about Santa Claus. 44% of parents thought Google was a danger to this Christmas story, as children searched for Santa and found pages explaining he is not real. About 34 percent of children questioned Santa Claus after seeing ads online for gifts they had asked for in their letters to the North Pole (北极). Sadly，one in three children said their Christmas spirit was dead after reading a post saying Santa wasn't real.

    Before the Internet, the only way children found out their parents bought their gifts was if they were in a bad hiding place. Today, two-thirds of parents never clear their browser (浏览器) history, making it easy for kids to find out the gifts under the tree weren't put there by a happy man and his little helpers.

    To keep Mr. Claus alive, “Keep Believing in Santa”, an organization created by Hide My Ass!, helps kids believe in Santa. Parents receive free software from the organization that monitors all online search results and web pages that could tell kids the truth about the man who lives in the North Pole, by hiding any information that may suggest he doesn't exist.

    However, there is still a higher possibility of the Internet now being the main cause of a child's belief in Santa ending, and it can also result in kids finding out sooner than for those born before the digital age.

    ''With this organization, we wanted to give parents a new tool that would allow them to keep the magic of Christmas and the mystery of Santa for that little bit longer,” Cian  Mckenna-Charley, marketing director at Hide My Ass!.

    We often seek food after focused mental activity, like preparing for an exam. Researchers guess that too much thinking consumes a lot of energy from the brain. So the brain, sensing that it may soon require more calories to keep going, apparently leads to bodily hunger, and even though there has been little physical movement, we eat.

    The researchers note that tiring activity both increases the amount of blood sugar and lactate(乳酸盐)circulating in the blood and increases blood flow to the head.

    Because the brain uses sugar and lactate as fuel, researchers wondered if the increased flow of fuel—rich blood during exercise could feed a worn—out brain and reduce the urge to overeat.

    Thirty—eight healthy college students were invited to determine their fitness and metabolic(新陈代谢)rates and to report what their favorite pizza was. Afterward, they sat quietly for 35 minutes before being given as much of their favorite pizza as they wanted. At a later date, the volunteers returned and spent 20 minutes making selections from college and graduate-school entrance exams.

    Next, half the students sat quietly for 15 minutes, before being given pizza. The rest of the volunteers spent those 15 minutes doing intervals on a treadmill(跑步机)two minutes of hard running followed by about one minute of walking, repeated five times. These students were then allowed to gorge on pizza, too. But by and large, they did not overeat.

    When the researchers factored in(将……作为因素考虑)the calories burnt on running, they determined that those students actually consumed 200 fewer total calories after their brain workouts than the resting students.

    The researchers do not know if the runners consumed extra calories at dinner. They also cannot tell whether other types of exercise would have the same effect as running, although the researchers say they suspect that if an activity causes someone to break into a sweat, it should also increase blood sugar and lactate, feeding the brain and weakening hungers call.