【推荐1】Do you want to be at the top of your class? Add these tips to your life and you should be on your way to being a top student!

    1     I cannot stress enough how important it is to pay attention to what your teacher is teaching you. Take part in class discussions if you have something worthwhile to add. Pay attention during class, especially during lectures.

Taking notes is important. You don’t need to write down every word your teacher says but write down what he writes on the board or any special fact you think you might need for a test.    2     This way will help you learn more effectively by actually thinking about what you are writing.

Don’t skip school. You will be missing out on something.     3     However, you will have more work because you have missed lectures. Also, try not to be late for class. It’s most likely that your teacher won’t appreciate it and you will get yourself behind.

Keep a good attitude. If you have an “I don’t care about school or this class” attitude, then teachers will be less willing to offer you extra credit. The same goes for lazy attitude. Have a respectful attitude to the teacher and other students. Try not to laugh when other students make a mistake.     4    

Always ask questions.     5     If you don’t understand, ask someone. Read your textbook and notes, and then if that fails, seek help. Ask a teacher, a friend, a classmate, your parents, etc. Get a tutor if you need one.

【推荐3】How do you get a man to do his share of the housework? If you are like most women, you’ve faced this question the hard way.

A man will enjoy a clean, orderly house, but he usually won’t make the effort to clean or organize it. This doesn’t mean that a woman has to do all the housework; she may have to manage many of the household duties, and request her partner’s participation. A woman can often say that men and women should take equal responsibility for housework.

Very few men are raised to be fully responsible for housework, and many men look on housework as women’s work. On the other hand, most men will readily work around the yard, make repairs and complete projects on weekends or evenings, and it’s important that you give your man appreciation for those things, too. Most men will take on a little housework around the house if asked politely. They are even more likely to do housework if they can choose what they want to do, and do it without being monitored.

Here’s the key: men want to feel that they are doing housework either because they want to do a task, or because they simply want to please their women. Men are much less likely to take on household tasks they consider uninteresting and unimportant. In other words, men are likely to do a household task just for the good of the house.

【推荐1】In a democratic society citizens are encouraged to form their own opinions on candidates for public offices, taxes, constitutional amendments(修正案), environmental concerns, foreign policy, and other issues. The opinions held by any population are shaped and manipulated by several factors: individual circumstances, the mass media, special-interest groups, and opinion leaders.

Wealthy people tend to think differently on social issues from poor people. Factory workers probably do not share the same views as white-collar workers, non-union workers. Women employed outside their homes sometimes have perspectives different from those of full-time homemakers. In these and other ways individual status shapes one’s view of current events.

The mass media, especially television, are powerful influences on the way people think and act. Government officials note how mail from the public tends to “follow the headlines”. Whatever is featured in newspapers and magazines and on television attracts enough attention that people begin to inform themselves and to express opinions.

The mass media have also created larger audiences for government and a wider range of public issues than existed before. Prior to television and the national editions of newspapers, issues and candidates tended to remain localized. In Great Britain and West Germany, for example, elections to the national legislatures were usually viewed by voters as local contests. Today’s elections are seen as struggles between party leaders and programs. In the United States radio and television have been beneficial to the presidency. Since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his "fireside chats", presidents have appealed directly to a national audience over the heads of Congress to advocate their programs.

Special-groups spend vast sums annually trying to influence public opinion. Public utilities, for instance, tried to sway public opinion in favor of nuclear power plants. Opposed to them were citizens' organizations that lobbied to halt the use of nuclear power. During the 1960s the American Medical Association conducted an unsuccessful advertising campaign designed to prevent the passage of medicare.

Opinion leaders are usually such prominent public figures as politicians, show-business personalities, and celebrity athletes. The opinions of these individuals, whether informed and intelligent or not, carry weight with some segments of the population. Some individuals, such as Nobel Prize winners, are suddenly thrust into public view by the media. By quickly reaching a large audience, their views gain a hearing and are perhaps influential in shaping views on complex issues.

Dear Boris,

    1    After I had spent a week with my English family, I slowly began to understand their English a little better.     2    Students in my group are from different cities of Britain and their dialects are different too! Some of their accents are quite strong and they also have their own words and expressions.     3    Before I came to England I had thought that fish and chips were eaten every day. That’s quite wrong! I get rather annoyed now when I hear all the foolish words about typical English food. I had expected to see “London fog”. Do you remember our texts about it? We had no idea that most of this “thick fog” disappeared many years ago when people stopped using coal in their homes. But the idea to speak about weather was very helpful.     4    On the other hand, habits are different. People tell me what is typical British here in London is not always typical in Wales or Scotland.     5    But what is ordinary for all British is that they follow traditions(传统). Probably Britain has more living signs of its past than many other countries. And people have always been proud of having ancient (古老的) buildings in capitals, big cities and the countryside. I will tell you more about Britain in my other letters. Love from Britain.

【推荐3】Chinese mooncake is the representative food of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a kind of round cookie with various fillings and different artistic patterns on the surface.

In Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness. The mooncake is not just a food. It’s a cultural tradition deep in Chinese people’s hearts, symbolizing a spiritual feeling. At Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes together with family, and present mooncakes to relatives or friends to express love and best wishes.

As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties in what today are Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in east China, there was a kind of “Taishi cake” thick at the center and thin at the edge, which was the origin of the mooncake. In the Han Dynasty, sesame (芝麻) and walnuts were introduced into China, and round cookies filled with these foods appeared. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the name “mooncake” was used for the first time. In the Northern Song Dynasty, mooncakes got popular in the royal palace. In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating these cookies during the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular.

Mooncakes vary according to different regional styles and tastes. Cantonese-style mooncakes are known for their sweetness. Suzhou-style mooncakes have existed for more than a thousand years. They have soft layers of dough (面团) and lots of sugar and lard, making them available in sweet or salty tastes. Beijing-style mooncakes use sweetness delicately and are decorated well. Chaoshan-style mooncakes are usually larger than other mooncakes with common fillings of red bean paste and potato paste.

Most mooncakes contain high amounts of sugar and oil, which are not healthy. To decrease the harmfulness that high fat and calories bring to our body, some foods are recommended to eat together with mooncakes, including tea, sour fruit like grapes, and wine. They help digest and take away fat in our body. Also, do not eat too much at one time.