【推荐1】Whether you like it or not, as students, you have to live with roommates after going to school or university. Having a roommate can be one of the best experiences, or easily one of the worst.    1    

Here are five tips for you to follow to avoid the common mistakes that make good roommate relationships worse.

Talking things out.     2     If something happens, sit down with your roommates and have a face- to-face conversation. Complaining about your roommates behind their hacks creates nothing but bad situation and general unhappiness.

    3     Some roommates become the best of their friends, and some don't. Don't put pressure on yourself or your roommate to reach this level, especially when you first meet. Remember, you are trying to make a new friend, not frighten your roommate away. And if your roommate doesn't end up being your best friend, there is no need to worry about it.

Clean up after yourself. Or at least, keep your things on your side.     4     But being considerate with where you put your own things will help you avoid the arguments.

Ask before you take. This applies to food, clothes and anything else that you don't own.     5    Even if you both agree to share everything you should still ask.

A．Don't expect to be the best friends.

B．Communication is of great importance.

C．Rooms can be really easy for a mess to pile up.

D．Try to make your roommates your best friends.

E．You don't need to keep the room clean and organized all the time.

F．You'd better show your roommate that you have respect for his or her things.

G．If you want to have a good relationship with your roommate, it all starts with you.

【推荐2】Dealing with Difficult Relationships

Everyone has at least one awkward or tense relationship.     1     It may be with somebody who will use up your energy whenever you are with them. Or worse, it could be someone who always cuts you down. By persuading you it's your obligation or duty, you forget about your own needs. Sadly, by remaining loyal to these people, you forget who you are.     2     No matter who they are, it's necessary that you learn to set boundaries (界限) for yourself. It is you who allow them to take advantage of you or even belittle you.

If you find a relationship unhealthy and it's time for you to set boundaries, the following advice may be helpful.

Setting boundaries for difficult relationships starts by admitting how you are affected by the relationships.     3     For example, it's time to study for tomorrow's test. But your friend wants to take you to a party. Here, setting boundaries will help protect your academic goals. Someone who pressures you to something you're not comfortable doing will stress you out.     4    

Next, decide how much time you should spend with these people.     5     But it's difficult to help others if you forget to protect your own priority (优先次序).

Settling boundaries requires taking a long, honest look at yourself. By saying no to harmful patterns in relationships, you say “yes” to a healthier you.

A．Does this kind of relationship lower your self-respect?

B．These people may be your family members or even friends.

C．It's easy to spend too much time and energy offering them help.

D．People may try to keep you in an unhealthy relationship.

E．But a friend who considers how you feel will respect your willingness to try something new.

F．It's not easy to set boundaries because you may be afraid of losing them.

G．Do they bring you closer to your goals or pull you farther away?

【推荐3】My problems started after I went to a boarding school. I was only 14, and at first I missed my family a lot. I often called them and cried on the phone. But after two weeks, I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school.

I had many friends who were boys. I thought of them as my best friends—but only friends. I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.

Then, three months later, my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them. Seven months after that, the head teacher Mr. Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union. I thought I could win for I was doing well in school. I’d already won prizes for the best math and English exams. A week later, the list came out and it didn’t include me. I was sad.

Mr. Wang came to me and said, “Don’t be sad. I know you’re excellent! Maybe you’re a little distant from the girls in our class. They don’t know much about you, so some of them didn’t choose you. It doesn’t matter. Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you’ll make it next time.”

1. What was the writer’s problem when she first entered the boarding school?

A．She didn’t like her new school.	B．She didn’t get along well with her classmates.
C．She missed her family very much.	D．She didn’t like her new teacher.

2. Why did the writer fail to join the Student Union?

A．Her teachers didn’t like her.	B．She was a poor student.
C．Some girls didn’t choose her .	D．She likes showing off herself.

3. The word “distant” (in paragraph 4)means “______” in Chinese.

A．陌生的

B．疏远的

C．热心的

D．粗鲁的

4. Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?

A．The teacher thought she was an excellent student.

B．The writer didn’t realize that her friendships with boys would cause problems.

C．The writer was sad because she failed to join the Student Union.

D．The writer won prizes for the best science and English exams.

【推荐1】With less children in a British family, the population of the UK has been decreasing for quite a few years.

The size of the British workforce (劳动力) is declining.     1     One of them is that British people are having their children at a much older age than previously. Most young People today choose to go to university first and build up work experience before getting desired jobs.

    2     Many young people are forced to stay with their parents early in their careers. So it's not until people are about 30 years old that they can afford to buy their own home, and then they can start to think about settling down and having children.

So a British person gets a job, gets a home and gets married.     3     The major reason is that it is expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Usually both parents need to work to cover their living expenses, which means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day, such as nanny (保姆) or nursery school.

In addition, uncertainty in the global economy often affects British family size. In face of an economic downturn, young British find it more difficult to find jobs or keep their existing ones.     4    .

To save the British family, the government is taking active measures.     5     There are also laws allowing parents to take more time off work so that they can look after their children themselves rather than having to pay others to do it.

A．This prevent them from having larger families.

B．There are a number of reasons accounting for the worrying trend (趋势).

C．It is important to raise people's awareness of saving the British family.

D．It is difficult for parents to balance life and work.

E．Expensive houses also play a part.

F．For example, by increasing monthly Child Benefit money and offering government subsidy (津贴).

G．Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average?