【推荐1】Confidence makes a difference. It could mean the difference in landing a job you have been dreaming of. It could also mean the difference in staying happy with strangers.    1    But how exactly do you gain confidence? Hopefully we can light your path with this guide to becoming more confident.

Make lists.    2    First make a list of all the things that set you apart from the rest. This will help you focus on the good things you have done instead of the things that have gone wrong. Then look at the things you enjoy doing. Passion will help you work hard.    3    

Realize that you are important and appreciated. People usually shy away from praise. It makes them feel that they do not deserve the praise. Take yourself away from that thinking and happily accept the praise.    4    If you have something to say, force yourself to say it clearly and loudly. You can do this without sounding angry. If somebody disagrees with what you say, do not just shy away.

    5    This makes you move in the right direction. Having a purpose and a goal is great to feed your confidence. Start with the little things like the stuff you have been putting off for later. The more things you accomplish, the better you feel.

A．Move towards your goal.

B．Besides, remember that you matter.

C．In order to be confident, you have to look confident.

D．In most cases, you will have the opportunity to improve.

E．Studies show that the healthier you are, the more confident you feel.

F．This is a two-part process which begins with a look into who you are.

G．Having enough confidence may help you achieve what you want in your life.

【推荐2】“Oh，my god.Are you serious?”

That’s a reaction I often get when people hear the tale of my childhood.

It’s a story I don’t often share.Growing up in a bad home, I learned to protect myself by not speaking up.I've seldom said anything about how badly I was treated and hurt as a child. I don’t talk about how my name was changed at least three times, what it was like to live in my van(箱式货车), or how I've struggled with anxiety, depression, and wanting to kill myself.But I learned to start speaking up for myself.I went on to earn two graduate degrees and I will complete my Doctor’s degree this year.I've also become a widely published author.So，how did I get to where I am today?

What helped me is surrounding myself with caring, loving people. I've learned day-to-day skills through research, trial and error, and with the help of skilled professionals. They’ve taught me how to slow down，to breathe，to be thankful for what I've got.They’re the ones who make my goals possible.They have also taught me to turn my past experiences into strength-to make the negatives into positives.

My hope is that sharing my story might help others to see what is possible even in the darkest of times and help others to speak out.I don’t think I'm in any way special or unique. I'm a common man，no more deserving than anyone else.But for far too long，I've been afraid that others think I'm damaged goods.I've worried about how I might be treated differently.

Pain and fear teach us to be silent.It’s time for that to change.

I don’t know what tomorrow might bring.But one thing I've learned is that if we can hold on and find help，if we find ways to get through the day and speak up，we’11 not only survive，but become stronger than before.

Our very survival can be an inspiration all on its own.And with love of my friends，I look forward to so much more than completing my education—I look forward to the future.

1. Which might not be related to the author’s childhood?

A．Depression

B．Disappointment

C．Desperation

D．Trust

2. How did the writer get today’s success?

A．With the help of his parents.

B．Learning by himself.

C．Holding on and finding help from others.

D．Being special and talented.

3. What’s the author’s purpose of sharing his story?

A．To become stronger than before.

B．To encourage others to make the most of their dark times of life.

C．To become a better publisher.

D．To change the ways to speak up.

4. What can we learn from the author’s experience?

A．We should overcome the difficulty depending on ourselves.

B．We should keep silent when meeting pain and fear.

C．Managing to survive when in trouble can make us stronger.

D．Our childhood 1ife decides our future.

【推荐3】There is a boy in my gym class (I’ll call him Bill) who has unbearably yellow teeth that almost make everyone feel unpleasant. Recently another boy told Bill that he should “go Ajax” his teeth. Bill was crushed. Had the other boy been thinking, he would have realized that there is a better way to handle such a situation. He could have dealt with it with tact. He could have showed this hurtful truth in a more careful, sensitive way—that’s “tact”.

If a person isn’t sensitive to another’s feelings, there is no way he or she can be tactful. Yesterday, my 5-year-old brother proudly announced that he had cleaned the screen on our television set. Unfortunately, he used furniture polish(亮光油), which produced an oily film on the television screen. My mother smiled and thanked him for his efforts—and then showed how to clean the screen properly. Her sensitivity enables my brother to keep his self-respect. Yet, sensitivity alone does not make tact.

“Tactfulness” also requires “truthfulness”. Doctors, for example must be truthful. If a patient has just been disabled in an accident, a tactful doctor will tell the truth—but express it with sensitivity. The doctor may try to give the patient hope by telling them curing techniques under study or about advanced equipment now available. Doctors must use tact with patients relatives as well. Instead of bluntly saying, “Your husband is disabled,” a doctor might say, “I’m sorry, but your husband has lost feeling in his legs and…”

Tact should not be confused with trickery. Trickery occurs when a nurse is about to give a patient an injection and says, “This won’t hurt a bit.” Instead of trickery, the nurse might guarantee the patient that the discomfort of the injection is a small thing compared to the benefits of it. It would also be thoughtful for the nurse to tell the patients about some of these benefits.

Tact is a wonderful skill to have, and tactful people are usually admired and respected. Without tact our society would become an intolerable place to live in.

1. When told he should “go Ajax” his teeth, Bill probably felt ________________.

A．surprised	B．cheated
C．regretful	D．painful

2. According to the author, his mother’s praise for the brother is _______________.

A．both sensitive and tactful	B．sensitive but not tactful enough
C．truthful but not tactful	D．sensitive but trickish

3. The fourth paragraph mainly talks about __________________.

A．how to comfort the patients

B．how to use trickery carefully

C．differences between trickery and promises

D．another feature of tact

4. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage? (The numbers stand for the paragraphs)

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐3】They say procrastination (拖延) is the thief of time, but actually deadlines are. New research has found that if you want someone to help you out with something, it is best not to set a deadline at all. But if you do set a deadline, make it short.

Professor Stephen Knowles tested the effect of deadline length on task completion for their research. Participants were invited to complete an online survey concerning a charity donation. They were given either one week, one month, or no deadline to respond. Professor Knowles says although the topic of the survey was about charity, the results are true of any situation where someone asks another person for help.

The study found responses to the survey were lowest for the one-month deadline and highest when no deadline was specified. No deadline and the one-week deadline led to many early responses, while a long deadline appeared to give people permission to procrastinate, and then forget. Professor Knowles wasn’t surprised to find that specifying a shorter deadline increased the chances of receiving a response compared to a longer deadline. However, he did find it interesting that they received the most responses when no deadline was specified.

“We interpret this as evidence that specifying a longer deadline, as opposed to a short deadline or no deadline at all, removes the urgency to act,” he says. “People therefore put off undertaking the task, and since they are inattentive or forget, postponing it results in lower response rates.”

He says of the research that it is possible that not specifying a deadline might still have led participants to assume that there is an unspoken deadline. Professor Knowles hopes his research can help reduce the amount of procrastinating people do. “Many people procrastinate. They have the best intentions of helping someone out, but just do not get around to doing it.”

1. Why did Professor Knowles do the research?

A．To find out whether people are interested in charity.

B．To study the role a deadline plays in procrastination.

C．To test the effect of procrastination on task completion.

D．To attract public attention to the effects of procrastination.

2. Why do people procrastinate when given a long deadline?

A．They oppose the deadline.	B．They are unwilling to act.
C．They lack a sense of urgency.	D．They are too busy to remember.

3. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Procrastination—the Thief of Time

B．Procrastination—an Urgent Problem to Solve

C．Deadline—a Result of Procrastination

D．Deadline—the Key to Managing Procrastination