As we all know, friendship is of great importance in our daily life. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how to make friends is still difficult to some of us. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    1). Be friendly to others. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by his appearance and clothes.

    2). Be reliable. If you and your friend agree to meet somewhere, don't be late. If you're not going to make it on time or make it at all, call them as soon as you realize it. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Be someone that people know they can depend on.

    3). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them （their names, their likes and dislikes）, ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them.

4). Encourage your friends: A true friend always gives courage to his friends. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Never make fun of or laugh at your friends in front of others. You should come to support them.

    How to Create a Mind Map

    Most of us think visually but we write textually. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It also makes the information we list more difficult to process, remember, and share.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It combines the brain's visual nature with our tendency to write down words. We end up with a diagram that combines logic and order in a less structured manner. This promotes clearer thinking and better comprehension.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    So, how do you create a mind map? The most basic method is to just use a pen and paper, or a marker and whiteboard. It begins with a central topic or idea, then flows outward.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The next level of topics is represented by branches extending from it.

    There aren't really any rules for creating mind maps. While most flow outwardly from the central topic, some users prefer to build mind maps in one direction.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} This can make groups of ideas easier to identify and remember. It also makes a mind map more enjoyable to create and use.

    Mind maps are extremely effective for taking notes, planning a project, brainstorming an idea, presenting information to others, and many other uses. Take out your pen and have a try.

A. They help to clarify thinking.

B. This goes against how our minds actually work.

C. They help us save time by focusing on key issues.

D. A mind map is the perfect answer to this dilemma.

E. Think of it as a tree, where the central point is the trunk.

F. It's also a lot more enjoyable than simply writing down lists.

G. Others like to add colors, pictures, or symbols in their mind maps.

    Everyone can't live without money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, money cannot buy everything. You can't buy the following things only relying on money you have.

Time

    Money is a tool for trade. We spend most of our time on this earth getting, spending, worrying and fantasying about money. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Instead, money takes away your time that could have been spent playing with your children or having a long walk with your friends. When the sun sets, a day goes away from our life forever. No money has power to bring that back to life.

Self-respect

    There are a lot of examples to prove that no money can buy self-respect. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you are your worst enemy, gods of money can't save you from the self-destruction you add to yourself.

Health

    As I write this, I found out that one of my best friends has brain cancer, and it is in the last period. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}But no money can buy insurance for his life. We buy insurance for just about everything including our life but money can never bring life back.

Happiness

    This is controversial(有争议的). Money can buy happiness if it is spent bringing greater financial safety for the family. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Going after money every day can never find its destination with frequent eagerness to get more .

A. Show your respect for others.

B. Self-respect is got from within.

C. Money can buy a lot of things.

D. You can't buy the time or save it in your storeroom.

E. Of course money can get him the best health care possible.

F. So you should not try your best to earn money without caring about your health.

G. But money can't buy happiness if the purpose is to make money to make other people happy.

    Listening to others requires entering actively and imaginatively into the situation and trying to understand a frame of reference different from your own, and yet so many of us don't listen properly as we should. Listening means more than just sitting silently while someone else talks.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Here are some ways to become a better listener.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Make sure you actually hear fully what your friend is saying, and you can't cut your friend off verbally carelessly. While you might intend to help move the conversation along your friend might feel as if what he has said needs to be continually talked over or sounds anything but interesting.

    Nod to encourage the conversation along. A better option to let your friend know you're interested in what he says is just to nod along from time to time. Sometimes you nod along but then start thinking about something unrelated to what he could say.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Turn out background noise. If you're easily distracted by laughter, glasses clinking, children crying, you might need to work extra hard to focus only on your friend.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Don't hesitate to tell them that the background noises are getting in the way. If you can't focus, try moving to another area.

    Don't text or look at your phone!{#blank#}5{#/blank#} For you see, when you're sitting in front of someone, he is the most important person in your world at that moment.

A. Stop the speaker whenever you have a question.

B. Practice silence when someone else is talking.

C. If necessary, ask your friend to repeat himself.

D. Whoever is calling or texting can wait until you're done with your conversation.

E. It means trying to see the problem the way the speaker sees it.

F. In this case, try to push away your thoughts until you're absorbed in what your friend is saying.

G Remembering ideas from previous conversations proves that your attention is kept and encourages your friend to continue.

    Being a teenager can be tough. “Troubled” and “rebellious(叛逆的)” are often labels that people give kids in their teens. There are even scientific theories explaining that the likelihood of teenagers taking is due to the fact that their brains aren't fully developed yet. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    But a new study by researches at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University may have finally cleared up this misunderstanding. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They simply are easily attracted by new things and are eager to explore the world.

    The adolescents(青少年) lack experience. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This personality trait(特征)is called “sensation seeking”, which is shared by a lot of people and usually peaks during adolescence.

    Instead of being something to worry about, sensation seeking is actually necessary, since the process of learning usually goes hand in hand with taking risks. "Teenagers need to build experience so that they can do a better job in making the difficult and risky decisions in later life. 'Should I take this job? or ' {#blank#}4{#/blank#}' ”said Valerie Reyna, co –author of the study.

    “{#blank#}5{#/blank#}If they don't make a mistake in their teenage years, they will have no life experience when they turn 18 and step out of their parents' protection and into a world that's unknown to them. Kids need the freedom to test out boundaries while still in a safe environment,” wrote Ann Robinson, editor of The Guardian.

A. Should I marry this person?

B. It turns out that teenagers are fine

C. Adolescents should do as follows

D. What can parents do to help the kids?

E. There's something scarier than taking a risk.

F. in other words, they just can't help it.

G. Therefore, they keep trying things out for the first time in their life.

When you were at school, were you ever told to stop daydreaming and concentrate? It was easy for your mind to wander if you weren't interested in what you were learning or if you had better things to think about. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But understanding how to do it, and knowing what is distracting you, can help.

Scientists have looked at what makes us delay and found a number of ways to help us stay in the zone. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Research by Science Focus magazine found silence is best for concentration, or a gentle background music is great! It also found turning off notifications on your phone, or switching it off altogether, removes a major distraction and helps us focus on the task at hand.

  {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Psychologists and neuroscientists are increasingly interested in our ability to settle down and have looked at what we can change inside our head to make us concentrate. An article for BBC Future by Caroline Williams says that "Attention Researcher Nilli Lavie of University College London has found that making a task more visually demanding takes up more processing power and leaves the brain nothing left to process distractions." So, keeping your mind busy might be the answer.

 {#blank#}4{#/blank#} These include making a list or timetable of the tasks you have to do, finding a workspace where you're not attracted by other things, or chewing some gum! It's possible the movement in your mouth occupies parts of the brain that might otherwise get distracted.

But according to Science Focus magazine, distraction isn't all bad. "If we were always so focused that we never got distracted, we'd miss potential changes, such as threats, in our environment. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ."

A. Distraction is vital for survival.

B. Staying focused can avoid dangers.

C. Performing visual tasks makes us concentrate.

D. One of the most obvious things is removing noise.

E. Staying focused can still be a challenge in adult life.

F. There are more practical tips to keeping your mind focused.

G. Another possible cure for a short attention duration is brain training.