It's no surprise that sports can greatly benefit a child physically, psychologically, and socially. A 2008 Women's Sports Foundation Research Report concluded that children's athletic participation is also associated with increased levels of family satisfaction, great achievement in study, and an overall better quality of life for children. And a study published in last month's American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that kids who are active at age 5 wind up with less body fat at ages 8 and 11.

    But one hotly debated discussion focuses on the kinds of sports kids should play, with parents mistakenly thinking, "Lizzie is so quiet, we should let her join in basketball and soccer to try to get her to open up." But increasingly, experts are suggesting the healthier instinct (直觉) might be, "Lizzie is so quiet. Maybe we should see if she likes playing with a big team like softball or if she likes ballet or swimming, where she can work more on her own terms."

    “Participation in any sport is going to provide kids with life skills—the ability to focus and to concentrate, the ability to handle pressure in tough situations, the ability to stay calm when things aren't going just right,'' explains Orlando-based youth sports psychology expert Patrick Cohn. Those lessons will carry over into future, non-sports attempts.

    Team sports certainly offer benefits not as easily obtained via individual activities, as players leant how to communicate and work with others, and there's the potential to develop leadership abilities. Team sports also help kids develop their social identity. Our sense of worth is developed through what we achieve and a sense of belonging.

    Individual sports offer unique advantages, too, like developing a child's sense of independence. “Hero, you don't depend upon teammates," says Cohn. "You take full responsibility, whether you do well or perform poorly." Many of Cohn's young clients complain about pressure from team mates or coaches to make zero mistakes or carry more of the team than they may want to; these kids may enjoy a solo sport like tennis or gymnastics.

    Individual activities keep kids away from comparing themselves to the best players on the team, a habit that does little to help confidence levels. Instead, it encourages them to compare their skills to their own past performances. With individual sports like swimming or track, it's easier for the child to participate on his own, at his leisure(闲暇), without having to round up a bunch of like-minded peers.

    Above all, while some children enjoy the excitement of competition, others are more likely to benefit from the freedom of individual sports, and finding the right balance can be necessary for children's enjoyment. What parents think is encouragement, children often consider as pressure. So try to understand what they want from sports.

    The word "diary" comes from the Latin word "diarium", which means "daily allowance". {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And it is used for business notes, planning activities, keeping track of scheduled appointments, or documenting what has already happened. Some doctors suggest that writing in a diary is a good form of self-study.

    In America, from the 1940s through the 1980s, a diary was thought of mostly as a way to privately express one's deepest thoughts while keeping notations about the day. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Many times, movies would show a teenage girl beginning to write in her diary while she said aloud, "Dear diary……".

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A diary kept by a young German Jewish girl by the name of Anne Frank provides us with invaluable lessons about history, for she documented her experiences while she hid from the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Her diary became one of the world's most widely read books and is the basis for many films.

    Samuel Pepys, who lived during the 17th century, is the earliest diary keeper that is famous today. His diary is also an important documentation of history, for it gives personal insight(洞察力) into London's Great Plague and the Great Fire. His diary is being published on the Internet, and it's interesting to note that there has been a new entry every day since January of 2003. It will continue over the course of several years to come. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}   

    Today's electronic version of the diary, the web log or "blog" has once again stretched the diary to be much more than a personal account of the day's events. There are blogs to document recipes, traveling, movies, independent news, product announcements, photos, and anything else that needs to be recorded over time. Search engines like Technorati.com have been created to keep track of the more than 112 million blogs that are currently public. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. It refers to a book for writings by date.

B. In its newest form, the diary has become more popular than ever.

C. Reading his diary is fascinating, and it makes his life all the more real to us.

D. People love to write diaries, so whenever they are free, they will write a few lines.

E. Those private reflections may have historical significance long after the author's death.

F. Nowadays, the blog has taken the place of the diary and becomes more and more popular.

G. In those times, and even continuing on today, writing in a diary was like writing to a special friend.

    Are you often upset about your failure in daily life? In fact everyone has gone through failure. In most cases you fail because of a lack of persistence(坚持不懈). Being persistent is a skill that can help you reach a dream more easily, get what you desire and even be a way in which you defend your idea or right before difficult people. Being persistent is a kind of quality most people who are successful have.

    Failure is often used as an excuse or reason not to go after a goal. Yet, getting over failure is a good way of being persistent. So to be persistent, you should accept that we all experience failure in life. The most successful people in life have ever failed. The difference between them and people who fail is that successful people face the failure, learn from it and use it fully and wisely to inspire their next attempt.

    You should keep on trying at the first sight of difficulty. Anything that is worth doing or achieving is sure to be difficult. Treat that as the challenge and as something that will test your courage, shape you for the better, and make you stronger and wiser. If at first you do not succeed, try it again and again.

    More importantly, you need to learn to give up where necessary. If the constant facts tell you that you should let go of an realistic goal despite your efforts, be wise about devoting your energies. Don't waste time and energy, for you have just learned what does not work and is not worth persisting with.

    In addition, it is also important to be persistent when refusing or demanding something. So you have to be persistent in what you say so that other people truly understand your meaning and know that you mean it. Whether it that will be remembered by others. Thus, when making your request or refusal, make eye contact with the person you are talking with, and this shows you are serious. Avoid saying sorry unless it is necessary because an apology usually is a sign of guilt, uncertainty or fear. Always state what you want to do or what you refuse to do clearly and exactly.

    Life is not easy when you are looking for something worthwhile and ready to learn from the best experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some life lessons which people will learn the hard way in majority of cases.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}However people usually get discouraged when it takes more time than they thought it would. At this time, people refer only to people who have already achieved what they want to do. Look at any successful person and you'll notice one thing common in all of them: they took time to learn and mastered their skill like no one else. There is no elevator to success and you have to take the stairs.

    Be brave to take the road less traveled. In our whole life, we always want to follow the same path that everyone suggests, do the same thing everyone does, take the same career path everyone takes, wear the same clothes everyone wears, and hang out with the same people we work with. Why? Because we are scared to fail. But when you get bored of life, you realize that you are not meant to do what everyone does and that your destiny is different from anyone else's out there in the world. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    You don't have to live your life in a way society wants you to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Parents sometimes force their children to select a career they don't want because other children have selected that career. Worst of all, people follow them without even asking. There is no harm in believing in old beliefs but when you pursue them before your interest, sooner or later you'll realize that you should first do what you think is right.

A. It takes continuous time and effort to be successful in any area.

B. The general rule goes that the harder you try, the greater results you get.

C. Many old beliefs are being performed these days and are followed blindly.

D. It always takes tests and then fails us to learn anything worthwhile.

E. However, in most circumstances your effort and attempt go well alongside with your desired achievement.

F. But the price we pay to realize this is high because it takes a great amount of courage to follow your own path.

    Regret is as common an emotion as love or fear, and it can be nearly as powerful. We feel it when we either blame ourselves for things that turned out badly, or hope to get rid of the bad effects of a choice we made in the past. The effect regret has on our lives and how we deal with regret are equally important.

    In some cases, regret can be disastrous. In 1995, a British man who regularly played one set of lottery (彩票) numbers forgot to renew his ticket during the week that his numbers came up. He was so filled with regret and self-blame that he killed himself. While this is an extreme result of regret, it can have many other lesser effects on the mind and body that can still seriously affect our lives.

    According to recent research, women have more regrets about romantic relationships than men do—not surprising, since women "value social relationships more than men". In collectivist (集体的) culture where many aspects of life are arranged, people feel less regret, since many choices were made for them. There was an even split between regrets about inaction (not doing something) and action (do something you wish you didn't). The research found that some regrets are more likely than others to stay over time: people tend to hold on longer to the regret of inaction or the chances they have missed; meanwhile, regrets of action tend to be more recent.

    Held inside for too long, regret can affect people's physical health. If one fails to learn and grow from past mistakes, deep feeling of regret can stay locked inside, having a negative effect on his life. This can be harmful to relationships, careers, and many other aspects of life. Besides, too many regrets can lead to sadness, which may require doctors' help. Therefore, it is important that we understand what regret is and how we can learn to deal with it.

    To cope with regret, be aware that it is there for a reason. Our brain is telling us to take another look at our choices because they may be having negative results. Take "I can't believe I crashed my car. I'm so stupid." and turn it into "I'm so lucky I didn't die in the accident. How wonderful!" However, when the situation can't be changed, and there is nothing left for us to do, we have to let go of the situation and forgive ourselves.

    We have to see the mistakes we make as necessary lessons in life. If we can learn from them and make changes, we can turn our regrets into passive actions. We can use them to improve, guide, and shape our lives for the better.