【推荐3】How to graduate from college with a high GPA( Grade Point Average)

I graduated from UC Berkeley in December, 2000 with a far less than stellar GPA. But, I took everything I learned from my mistakes and guided my younger sister to graduating with honours in a much more challenging major.    1     If I had been aware of the advice below, which I gave my sister before she entered college, I would have easily graduated with a high GPA.

One hour a day.

    2     It's not that you don' t have enough. In fact you usually have too much time, and as a result time gets wasted. If you take good notes in class, and spend one hour reviewing your notes every day before going to sleep, you make use of the power of the subconscious(潜意识)to absorb information and by the time exams come around you'll know all the material on a subconscious level, and you don' t have to sit up the night before exams. Considering the amount of free time you usually have in college,one hour a day i not much in view of the long-term benefits.

    3    

If you go to a large public school where classes often have 700 plus people, study groups are an extremely effective way to ensure good grades    4    . They also often provide you with resources such a practice tests, practice problems, and many others that might not be provided by professors.

Personal development.

I can honestly say I didn't involve myself in personal development when I was in college. Looking back I realize that I suffered from low self-respect and a very unhealthy self-image.    5     But, if I had combined personal development techniques with the steps above, my college career would have turned out very different.

A．Do some research on easier courses and what study groups might be available.

B．Without doubt this had a negative impact on my GPA.

C．Study groups are often led by older students who have taken the course and received A’s in that particular course.

D．Good luck to all of you starting the college journey.

E．One of he most challenging things about college is time management.

F．Looking back I really wasn't prepared for the challenges of college life.

G．Join or form study group.

【推荐1】The freezing Northeast hasn’t been a terribly fun place to spend time this winter, so when the chance came for a weekend to Sarasota, Florida, my bags were packed before you could say “sunshine”. I left for the land of warmth and vitamin C(维生素C), thinking of beaches and orange trees. When we touched down to blue skies and warm air, I sent up a small prayer of gratefulness. Swimming pools, wine tasting, and pink sunsets(at normal evening hours, not 4 in the afternoon) filled the weekend, but the best part—particularly to my taste, dulled by months of cold-weather root vegetables—was a 7 a. m. adventure to the Sarasota farmers’ market that proved to be more than worth the early wake-up call.

The market, which was founded in 1979, sets up its tents every Saturday from 7: 00 a. m. to 1 p. m. , rain or shine, along North Lemon and State streets. Baskets of perfect red strawberries, the red-painted sides of the Java Dawg coffee truck; and most of all, the tomatoes: amazing, large, soft and round red tomatoes.

Disappointed by many a broken, vine-ripened(蔓上成熟的) promise, I’ve refused to buy winter tomatoes for years. No matter how attractive they look in the store, once I get them home they’re unfailingly dry, hard, and tasteless. But I homed in, with uncertainty, on one particular table at the Brown’s Grove Farm’s stand, full of fresh and soft tomatoes the size of my fist. These were the real deal—and at that moment, I realized that the best part of Sarasota in winter was going to be eating things that back home in New York I wouldn’t be experiencing again for months.

Delighted as I was by the tomatoes in sight, my happiness deepened when I learned that Brown’s Grove Farm is one of the suppliers for Jack Dusty, a newly opened restaurant at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton, where—luckily for me—I was planning to have dinner that very night. Without even seeing the menu, I knew I’d be ordering every tomato on it.

1. What made the author’s getting up early worthwhile?

A．Having a swim.

B．Breathing in fresh air.

C．Walking in the morning sun.

D．Visiting a local farmer’s market.

2. What can we learn about tomatoes sold in New York in winter?

A．They are soft.	B．They look nice.
C．They taste great.	D．They are juicy.

3. What was the author going to do that evening?

A．Go to a farm.	B．Check into a hotel.
C．Eat in a restaurant.	D．Buy fresh vegetables.

【推荐2】Capture Spirit of Youth

Youth is a relatively brief but vital period in one's life. During his time, habits and interests that will continue for the rest of your life are formed and developed.    1    

It's a time to begin the process of self-reliance and self-motivation. Sure, you might have parents and friends to help you.    2    It builds your character and makes you independent. No one can force you to get good grades or get a perfect job—those responsibilities are yours alone. Only you can be the author of your own life.

    3    Train yourself to be strong. Tell yourself that you can summon the will to overcome whatever difficulties come your way. Anything worth doing isn't easy—it's best to learn that lesson early. In the end, conquering a difficult task is always worth it, and you can thank perseverance for guiding you there.

Work hard. There's nothing better than relaxing at the end of a long day, knowing that you did all you could do for yourself, your family and friends, and your community. Be a person that others admire.    4    The process of working hard will teach you valuable lessons along the way; most importantly, it will teach you that failure is unavoidable but isn't something you should ever allow to hold you back. Change your strategy and try again.

Following these principles will surely bring success in school, work and life in general.    5    Be self-reliant, persevere through hard times and always work hard to achieve your dreams.

A．Learn from failures.

B．But you must rely on yourself.

C．When times get tough, hold on.

D．So it's important to get off to a good start.

E．Do the work that others won't and never complain.

F．And you can turn to your parents and friends for help.

G．Listen to the spirit of youth inside you and follow your instincts.

【推荐3】Being seen in a fancy sports car or enjoying a beach holiday in a five-star hotel were once signs of having ‘‘made it”.

But a new study suggested that having people think of you as constantly busy and overworked is now a far better way to show social status.

According to Harvard University in the US, people are increasingly leaning toward the phenomenon of “humblebragging (谦虚自夸)”. This is when people make a seemingly modest statement that actually draws attention to something they want to brag (吹嘘) about.

Phrases such as “I have no life” and “I desperately need a holiday” are now used to imply social standing, while ordering food and shopping online is the perfect way to prove to neighbors that you are simply too busy and important to go to the supermarket.

“Movies, magazines, and popular TV shows often highlight (强调) the abundance (富足) of money and leisure time among the wealthy,” said Neeru Paharia, an assistant professor at Harvard University.

“In recent years, featuring wealthy people relaxing by the pool or on a yacht (游艇), playing tennis or skiing and hunting are being replaced with advertisements featuring busy individuals who work long hours and have very limited leisure time,” he said. “Displaying (how busy you are at work) and a lack of leisure time operates as a visible signal of status in the eyes of others.”

The researchers pointed out that the Wall Street Journal’s 2016 advert campaign featured celebrities (名人) complaining about their busy lives, with the slogan (标语). “People who don’t have time, make time to read the Wall Street Journal.”

The report, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found that brands that marketed themselves as timesaving were becoming increasingly high-status, because of the people who used them.

According to the authors, this trend of humblebragging is due to people’s shit of focus-they now value “the preciousness and scarcity (稀缺) of individuals" more than “the preciousness and scarcity of goods”.

“Busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as scarce and in demand,” the authors concluded.

1. The main idea of this article is about         ?

A．the trend of “humblebragging”.

B．characteristics of people who lead a busy life.

C．why people today are becoming increasingly busy.

D．why some people like to brag about their social status.

2. People today prefer to        to display their social status

A．share their passion for tennis or skiing

B．show how fast-paced their work life is

C．tell people about the wonderful holidays they take

D．show off their abundance of money and leisure time

3. The Wall Street Journal’s 2016 advert campaign implies that        .

A．busy people always have a better life than others

B．it’s important to read newspapers however busy you are

C．busy individuals should learn to manage their time better

D．a lack of time is a typical characteristic of people of high social status

4. From the article we can conclude that America people today         .

A．all brag about themselives.

B．value individuals, the preciousness and scarcity

C．order food and shop online to show they are rich

D．work long hours and don’t have enough leisure time.