With the Reading Day coming, I'd like to recommend a couple of books to you.

It describes the real world of emergency medicine from the viewpoint of a practicing emergency physician, Bentley. In the world of emergency medicine, there's lots of pain, blood and sadness in our daily life, but there's also hope, excitement and a surprising amount of humor—for both the patients and the staff. The narrative(叙述) writing is effective, for Bentley appears as the doctor everyone needs in a medical emergency.

An Iowa farm boy's Odyssey. The rhythm of rural life during the 1950s and 1960s comes alive through the eyes of a boy who grew up to become a newspaper journalist and farm editor. Follow his journey in this book.

This is a novel describing an ordinary family's union, strength, ambition and determination that contribute to the great possibility for one generation to climb the shabby ladder from the low class to the American middle class.

This is a tale of two lovers separated by social status in primitive Scotland. It unfolds as a young man makes it his task to free a beautiful young girl from slavery. What follows is an adventurous story of disloyalty（不忠实）overcome by courage.

Rachel's father hands her a minor league baseball team. She hired an all female staff and created a highly successful marketing campaign called honeyball. The book Honeyball offers an entertaining perspective(视角) of the league baseball where a group of women pull together in a campaign to find success at the box office while their leader finally finds the love of Rachel's life.

【推荐1】If you are like most learners, you may have faced such a situation: You think you understand a topic. Yet, when asked to use what you have learned, you are not able to remember the information. Not being able to retrieve new ideas could happen on a test or even in a conversation.

Sarah Lynn, an educational consultant and teacher, thinks English learners can improve their ability to remember and use new words by testing themselves. She adds that self testing improves retrieval (数据检素) — the ability to use and remember new words.

Learning takes effort. It takes effort because the learning process changes the brain, says Sarah Lynn. One way it changes the brain is by creating connections, which are called dendrites (树突). Lynn suggests that dendrite connections are important for retrieval. There are three main ideas about how to grow dendrites and improve retrieval, making connections, using repetition and testing yourself.

Lynn recommends that learners test themselves by getting away from what they are studying. Then, they should test themselves by thinking about what they have learned. She recommends that learners make themselves write or speak something. Lynn suggests reading something or watching a video on the topic, then getting rid of the reading or audio material and summarizing it. This will allow learners to test what they know.

The benefits of such practice, Lynn says, are not just improving your ability to remember information. By testing yourself, you can build confidence in the skills you have developed. When you test yourself, Lynn says, you will see how much progress you have made. This progress will satisfy and encourage you to do more in the future.

Next time you are studying English, try to test yourself. A simple way to test vocabulary is to create flashcards with clues on one side and the answer on the back. Another way is to use online services to create digital flasheards, through which learners can do a variety of activities based on one set of new words or information. You can match words with meanings, write a word after looking at a picture, or listen to a word and write it. You can also play games with the new words and meanings. Another way is to ask yourself questions at the end of the day, at the end of a study session, or at other times. Lynn recommends that learners ask themselves questions such as, “What did I learn today? What were those words that I thought were interesting? What was that verb tense I learned? How does it work?”

The important point is this: Effective learning takes time, effort and practice. Do not just assume that you can read something once or twice and fully understand it. Even if you highlight important points or take notes in a class, you probably do not fully understand what you learned. Successful language learners practice as much as they can, and test themselves to improve their skills.

Self-testing is one way to improve your retrieval and inform your future course of study. Give it a try, and let us know how it works for you.

【推荐3】You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Even if you know some freshmen (新生), you still feel nervous that you don’t know any upperclassmen or teachers. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

Most high schools hold a freshman orientation before school actually starts, which is helpful not only because you can know your way around the building and get to meet some of your teachers, but also because you get to meet fellow freshmen. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognize a few familiar faces. When you talk to your new classmates, you’ll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you are. They’re all new to the school and don’t know what to expect. Talking about a common worry with them can help you develop friendships.

The work in high school is something that freshmen are possibly worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learnt in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it’s a bit more challenging. If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

High school also has more extracurricular activities than middle school does such as clubs, music and theatre groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

High school gives you the chance to learn how to manage your time, to develop your social skills and interests, and more importantly to be more independent and responsible.