I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

       My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.

I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

       Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.

       Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule(紧密的日程)

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability, money and time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:

    Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I' m already hungry and there is nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do

you have the right materials ready?{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation(尝试). It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes(食谱) that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives you a good start.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And don' t let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A.Try new things.

B.Ability is easily improved.

C.Make three or four instead.

D.Understand your food better.

E.Cooking is a burden for many people.

F.Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G.A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Second,your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you,are studying for a test.Third,note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

    You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.Whenever or however you take notes,keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The following methods may work best for you.

    Read the text quickly to find the main facts arid ideas in it.

    Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

    Write your notes in your own words.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Note any questions or idea you may have about what was said or written.

As you take notes,you may want to use your own shorthand（速记）.When you do,be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.Use words,not complete sentences.

B.There are three practical note-taking methods.

C.You must write your notes on separate paper.

D.Otherwise,you may not be able to read your notes later.

E.You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F.That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

G.First,the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Indeed, there are many things in life which we alone cannot perform.

    We need friends' help. Friends are people who willingly and readily help us when we are in trouble, and show sympathy for us when we are in misery.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}For example, when we have passed the graduation examination and are looking for a job, we need experienced and reliable friends to guide us and help us on our way. A good friend is also an adviser, because our own points of view towards things may not be always right. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Of course, we can make friends everywhere. However, I think the best place is school, where we are among a big number of boys and girls our own age, so it is easy to get to know one another in a short time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    In order to make friends, we ourselves must be honest, noble-minded and kind-hearted whereby to leave a favorable impression on others since other people observe us the same way as we do.

    At the same time, we should avoid bad friends, because they always do harm to us and moreover, they are dangerous to the people around. Worse still, they destroy our friendship with good friends.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Indeed, seeking acquaintance with bad friends would be a serious mistake

B. A faithful friend is hard to find.

C. Therefore, it is necessary for us to seek advice from friends.

D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

E. Besides, we can also make friends among the people who work with us in the community.

F. A proverb says “One man is not good enough to live alone in the world.”

G. The benefits of friendship are boundless and sometimes invisible.

How to Overcome Challenges in Your Life

    We all face tough and difficult challenges in life. To overcome challenges you need to have that "never quit" attitude in life. If you develop it, you'll overcome quite a bit.

    Motivate yourself. Say "YES, I CAN." The challenge should bring out the best of you in this situation. Slow it down, and think that process through.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you develop that mindset(心态), you'll get it done.

    Stay calm and cool­headed. Remain calm when you're facing serious troubles and problems in life. You have to recollect yourself, and calm down. You can't solve problems when you're panicking. Take a deep breath, relax, and slow it down. Think things through calmly.

    Let failure and fear fuel you in a positive way. Everyone fails at times. If you fail the first, second, or third time, don't give up.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Learn what made you fail and overcome these challenges. Simplify the challenge you're facing. Make the challenge easier than it is. Start by breaking it down into steps. As you get through each step, you develop more confidence and you believe you can get it done, and then you will overcome them.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To overcome a challenge, you have to believe you can really do it. You have to find out all the ways you can use to overcome it, and put them to full use with all your effort. It's our own mental stability that's the difficult part. When you do it mentally, you'll actually be able to do it.

A. Stay positive and confident.

B. Most people will avoid any challenge, because they're scared of failing.

C. Develop that confidence in saying there's no way you're going to fail at this.

D. Pick yourself up, and learn from why you've failed, and move on in a positive direction.

Ready for final year

    Even though they're anxiously awaiting their gaokao, Senior 3 students feel relieved after having survived their busiest year of high school.

    Your milestone year begins in just two months, so how can you make the most of it? Here, three graduates offer some practical advice to help you navigate (航行) your final year in the right way.

    Sun Hairuo, High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, Beijing:

    Think ahead about your major. Even though some universities allow students to switch to a new major after enrollment, it still involves a lot of effort to do. So while you're preparing for the gaokao, start to consider what field you want to major in at the same time.

    When I was aware of my interest in social science, I began to collect information on the internet about what courses I'd like to take in university and what life would be like on campus if I chose this direction. Don't judge a major before you know everything about it, since your entire future depends on it.

    Qian Wenjing, Hangzhou Foreign Language School, Zhejiang:

    Enjoy a hobby alongside your studies. It's important to get high marks in all subjects, but if you have nothing that can distract you from the piles of homework, you'll have no motivation.

    For example, I run a WeChat public account, which you can find by searching for “大嘴小个儿” on WeChat. On it, I share my reflections on life, recommend good books and introduce learning methods to others. I also make videos on how to write an interesting daily journal for the video platform bilibili.com.

    So, keep on top of your schoolwork, but make sure you find time to let your hair down sometimes too.

    Wang Zixin, Beijing No 4 High School, Beijing:

    Create your own system of knowledge using a notebook. In the review stage, find your weak points on every science subject after each exam. Summarize the knowledge behind the errors in your notebook — this will not only identify the problem, but will also save you time when you don't have to spend so long figuring out the answer.

    As for liberal arts subjects such as Chinese and English, write down any memorable sentences you come across in your notebook.

    And keep it in mind that improvements don't happen right away — it takes time to get better.

    Ready for final year