If you think your vocabulary is weak, a little effort every day over six to nine months can go a long way in improving it. Here are some tips for increasing your vocabulary.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. You may be comfortable reading a particular part of the newspaper but make an effort to read different articles on every page. The editorial (社论的) page is highly recommended not only for vocabulary but also for structuring and presenting thoughts.

    Make it a habit to read a new book every week. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. You can consider becoming a member of the local library. Make a list of new words and look up their meanings in the dictionary.

    Watch English movies and television shows. It's an interesting way to enrich your vocabulary. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Use vocabulary cards. Vocabulary cards are used by students who are trying to learn many words in a short time. You can make your own cards by writing the word on one side and the meaning on the other side of a piece of paper. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Use the Internet. The Internet is an unlimited resource for reading material.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You will come across plenty of material to read. The Internet will also introduce you to new words. Be sure to look them up in a dictionary.

    We know that sometimes studying a new language can be hard work but it can be fun too--and if we can make our learning experience fun, then we will learn better. So here are some more of our top tips for making studying fun.

    Firstly,{#blank#}1{#/blank#}—make sure your chair is suitable and it's at the right height for the desk. Make sure you have good ventilation(空气流通) and light and the space you're in isn't too hot--you don't want to fall asleep! And put away anything that might distract you, like your smartphone.

    Rather than just staring at books and being passive,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Why not record yourself and listen back to yourself speaking or reading out information. Or you could turn facts into songs and sing them out loud--this is sure to make information stick in your head!

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}—lashcards are very useful because they provide visual clues that help you remember things. You could also stick words, grammar rules and other bits of information on notes around your study space or other places around your house--so for example, you can read them when brushing your teeth!

    Don't feel daunted by the amount of studying you have to do.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Study in small bursts and vary the topics you study so you don't get bored and you stop retaining information. If you can, choose a time of day that best suits your natural preference. Some people work best at night while others work best early in the morning.

    Finally, don't overdo it--know your limits--if you study too hard it won't be fun and you won't absorb information.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}—and give yourself a small reward when you do.

A. try to become an active learner

B. So care your mental and physical health

C. get comfortable

D. So take regular breaks

E. Also be creative

F. And don't try to study continuously all day to fit it all in

G. But you can focus on some entertainments

    Every person wants to achieve the goals set at the beginning of a new school year. The following are some ways to help you achieve your goals.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}When it comes to choosing your goal, ensure that it states precisely what it is that you want to achieve. Don't generalize. Your goal should involve both what you want to achieve and the effort that you will put in to achieve it.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Having a copy of your goal makes it real. You can write you goal in a journal you'll be keeping all year, or you can write it on a poster and stick it on your desk so that you can look at it each day. Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to accept the effort needed to make the goal happen.

    Try various methods. One may not work while another may be just right for you.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some people learn best through writing, some through listening and reading, and some through talking it through. Once you realize which way works for you, you can work better and achieve your goal easily.

    Think positive.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Negative thoughts are unhelpful and they became roadblocks. Stop telling yourself you can't and start telling yourself you can, and talk about you are doing rather than hoping you can do something. Always believe that you're capable, even if you have difficulty along the way.

    Reward yourself along the way.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Occasionally, when you've achieved certain “milestones” in your goal plan, take a break and reward yourself. Watch a movie, visit a friend who lives across town, go to the ice cream shop with your friends or buy yourself something new.

A. Write down your goal.

B. Choose specific and realistic gals

C. Be aware of the way you learn best

D. Remember that everyone makes mistakes

E. Set aside some time each week for exercise

F. All study and no reward can break your spirit

G. If you're not in the right state of mind, you won't be able to succeed.

    Difficult financial times don't mean your giving shuts down.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are so many ways to give back that won't hurt your wallet and will enrich your life.

⒈Pick up the phone

    Calling someone “for no reason” is an important opportunity to show them that you are thinking of them. You are taking time out of your busy day to reach out. Everyone needs someone to just listen sometimes. They may be filled with joy or sadness{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

⒉Write a note

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is one thing to say it, but it can be even more meaningful to put it in writing. What if you made a commitment to write a thank-you note to someone every week?

⒊ {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    You never know what someone might be going through a painful divorce, a tough college semester, or just a bad day. Opening up your home will make someone feel appreciated. In addition, it costs less than going out. The leftovers from this dinner can be packaged up for homeless people. That's double giving!

⒋Set aside money from a daily routine to donate

    Giving doesn't have to mean a life full of sacrifices. You can still buy a burger or get your nails done{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Donate the money you saves: Even $ 5 can make a difference in someone's life.

A. Give a gift to the stomach.

B. Invite someone over for dinner.

C. To take your awareness to a new level, move beyond money.

D. But instead of buying much coffee every week, you can drink less.

E. While some people enjoy receiving gifts, all of us appreciate a kind word.

F. Instead, they allow you to examine how your time and money are spent.

G. Be there to celebrate their good news, or support them with sympathy.

    There's a contradiction in the way many of us behave online: we know we're being watched all the time, and disapprove of the monitor by Google and the government. But the bounds of what's considered too personal to be uploaded or shared online seems to shrink by the day.

    I complain about the lack of privacy, for example, and yet I willingly and routinely trade it for convenience. I no longer run the risk of unforeseen delays on public transport; Google Maps will inform me of the fastest route to my destination; I no longer need to remember my friends' birthdays; Facebook will urge me, and invariably appeal to me to post an update to remind people I exist. All I have to do is make my location, habits and beliefs transparent to their parent companies whenever they choose to check in on me.

    So what's going on? “Visibility is a trap,” explained the French philosopher Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison(1975). Allowing oneself to be watched, and learning to watch others, is both attractive and dangerous. He took for example “Panopticon”, a prison where prisoners were observed from a tower manned by an invisible occupant. The prisoners would believe in the presence of the mysterious watchman, whether or not anyone was actually inside, and behave themselves.
    According to Foucault, the dynamics of the Panopticon are similar to how generally people self-monitor in society. In the presence of ever-watching witness, people police themselves. They don't know what the observers are looking for, or what the punishments are for disobedience (不顺从). But they willingly accept and follow this invisible discipline.
    Foucault claimed that such monitoring is worrisome, not just because of what companies and states might do with our data, but because the act of watching is itself a terrible exercise of power, which may influence behavior without our fully realizing it.
    But something's not right here. Why does the self-display continue when we are sure that we are watched from everywhere and nowhere?
    Social media provides a public space that often operates more like a private one, where many people hold the belief that there they won't suffer the consequences of what they say online, as if protected by technology.
    Plato would be alarmed by the lack of shame online. His point about moral knowledge is this: we already know the right way to live a just and fulfilling life, but are constantly distracted(转移) from that noble aim. For him, then, shame helps us be true to ourselves and to pay attention to the moral knowledge within. A man without shame, Plato says, is a slave to desire — for material goods, power, fame, respect. Such desire, by its nature, cannot be satisfied.

The Bigger Sleep

School starting times in America vary from an average of 7:48 am in go-getting Mississippi to 8:31am in late-rising Connecticut. According to a survey by the National Centre for Education Statistics in 2017-18, only in two states - Alaska and Connecticut—do schools start after 8:30 am, the earliest recommended time by a number of medical organisations.

    On October 13th Gavin Newsom, California's governor, signed legislation setting a limit on starting times of half past eight for high-schoolers , in the hope that they will benefit from the extra time in bed.

    There is plenty of reason to think they will. Adolescents require more sleep in the morning which will keep them energetic the whole day. A research review by scientists at the Centres for Disease Control finds that later school starting times correspond with improved attendance, less falling asleep in class, and better grades. The Rand Corporation estimates that moving to a half-past-eight start across the country would boost the economy by more than $80bn within a decade.

    In response to the evidence, school districts across the country have begun to move starting times back, but California is the first state to take the leap. Parents and unions are often bitterly opposed. The California Teachers Association resisted the change, citing the financial burden on schools as they adjust to the new hours, as well as the burden on parents who work as laborers or in the service industry, and cannot start work later. Last year Mr Newsom's predecessor, Jerry Brown, vetoed similar legislation, saying the decision should be left to school districts.

    Supporters argue that it is appropriate for the state to set a minimum health-and-welfare standard, as it does in other areas. It will be up to school districts to decide whether to end the day later, or cut its length. Anthony Portantino, the democratic state senator who introduced the legislation, believes evidence of the change's benefits will soon win over opponents in rural areas. "There really is no significant reason not to do this," he says, "other than an overwhelming resistance to change from adults."