1 . School was always something I loved because I always enjoyed learning more. I never felt afraid of going to school early in the morning, and I never tried to get out of any work. I stayed after school every chance I got. I did most of the work I could, got the best grades I could, and in the end, I graduated from high school with honors. All my success was because of the teachers I had who helped me, pushed me, and made learning a fun thing to do.

At the beginning of the school year, I had a lot of trouble leaving my mom in the mornings, but Mrs. Trainer always sat with me, talked with me, and helped me feel OK without my mom. She was understanding, kind, and always made the classroom a comfortable place. Mrs. Trainer also sat down and helped me learn; I was, and still am, the worst speller, but she tried her hardest to help me.

The second was my senior high school English teacher, Mr. Stonerock. Mr. Stonerock was able to make English and writing fun, especially when we had eight-page papers to hand in. Some of my favorite high school memories (记忆) were in his classes. Mr. Stonerock also taught my class APA format (格式) which to me is invaluable (非常宝贵的). I use it every day in my life. He put up with so many shenanigans (恶作剧) from my classmates and me and always did it with a smile.

My point to all of this is that there are amazing and caring teachers out there whether they teach college level classes, high school level classes, or primary level classes. I have had more influential (有很大影响的) teachers than I can count. I am still in touch with some of my high school teachers, who give me life advice and guide me. Teachers are invaluable resources (资源) and no one can take their place.

4 .

When Facebook was entirely used by people under the age of 25, things were simple. But now an important social question has appeared — should you “friend” your child, or accept a parent as a “friend”?

Lindsay Stewart, 15, completely understands why you’d refuse a parent’s friend request. Her parents have agreed on not becoming Facebook friends. Lindsay says, “She said she wasn't going to ask to be friends. My brother and I were relieved (放心的). ”

Though there may be nothing embarrassing or secrets being discussed, it’s not a place she wants her mother to have access to. Lindsay explains, “My mum is my mum. I like her, but she's not necessarily what I’d call my friend.”

Mum is Sandy Stewart, a 50 year old Indiana-born mother of two now living in South London. Mrs. Stewart has strong opinions about what role a parent should play in the world’s biggest networking site — stay away from your children. “I wouldn't dream of being friends. There’s no way,” Mrs. Stewart insists and suggests trying “friending” could seem like an invasion of privacy (侵犯隐私).

Yet Tim Harness, 54, and his daughter Josie, 18, are “friends” on Facebook and perfectly happy. Josie left home in the summer for university in Plymouth, and Mr. Harness can see her online. “I have a little look at her photos now and again,” he explains. “She seems to be having a good time.”

Josie tells me it’s reassuring (令人安心的) to know that her father’s checking up on her every few days. She has plenty of family friends and what they see on her Facebook doesn’t concern her. “ The worst dad might see is a photo of me a bit drunk, ” she says.“Is it an invasion of privacy? Not really. Everyone has Facebook these days. In my view, the only reason why you wouldn't want them is if you've got something to hide.”

5 . After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend's Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary's tone seems more rejecting than I'd imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid-hours become minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.

For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit(提交) articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is computer-mediated. If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of 96 on TV.

But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged(融合) with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node(波节) on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms(症状). We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.

What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has becomes avoidance(逃避), a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.

At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. “Dateline”, “Frontline”, “Nightline”, CNN, New York 1, every possible angle of every story over and over, and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.

7 . I was 29 when my brother­in­law said to me,“It would be nice if one day you could make use of your education.” I had a degree and an MA (Master of Arts) in creative writing which, as far as I was concerned, I used every day — reading novels, trying to write novels, arguing about politics, interpreting the meanings in French films, and generally leading an examined life.But my brother­in­law, who left school at 18, didn’t understand why, as a journalist, I was bringing home less than half the salary he earned in the hospitality (服务) industry.

I thought of my brother­in­law’s comment this week when the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released figures showing that, on average, male arts graduates earn less at the age of 29 than their non­graduate peers.Graduates of the same age overall are only earning 6% more than non­graduates.For women, the figure is 26%, but earnings growth for women overall is lower, so the benefits from going to university are greater.

The IFS figures drew a predictable response from Sam Gyimah, who listed some courses of arts degrees in certain universities that are not delivering the financial outcomes for students and threatened to punish institutions that don’t improve students’ earning prospects.This attack on arts degrees raises fundamental questions about what we want from education and, indeed, from life.

No one can deny that arts degrees give students the skills to speak and work out what they want to say and how to say it.Studying Sigmund Freud, or reading James Joyce or Toni Morrison for the first time, introduces students to ideas that challenge their intellectual prejudices, as well as the consensus (共识) of the society around them.The value of an arts degree in life is incalculable.

8 . John graduated from a key university and he was very good at his major. He wished to find a good job. One day, he went to a company to _______ for a job. He got the news in a newspaper. He did some research on this company. When he was _______, everything went well. The manager asked him some questions and he answered them _______.John was very satisfied with his performances and was very _______ that he could get the job. But at that moment, the manager’s phone _______. He picked up the phone, listened and nodded. And then he turned around and said to John, “Sorry, I want to get some important _______ now. Please give me the book with the red _______ on that desk.” John looked around and found 3 books on the desk, so John went to the desk, took one book and handed it to him _______.Holding the book, the manager _______ the phone and said,“Sorry, we cannot give the job to you.” John was ________   and wondered why. The manager said, “There are three ________.First, when you came into the office room, I found that the third button on your shirt had been missing. Second, there are three books with red covers on that desk, but you didn’t ask me which one I needed and you took one ________. Third, I was answering the call. You should ________to the desk to save time. These ________showed you are not a careful person.” Therefore, John didn’t get the job.

We can learn a (n) ________from John’s experience. Some people don’t________the details in our life. But it is the details that ________.Not only should we value what we learn but also we should pay more attention to the details. Sometimes they can even ________our success or failure. We should form the habit of being careful and learn to keep the________of quantity and quality. We should keep it in mind that________ comes first, without which quantity is of no significance.

9 . Born in the United States, I, with black hair and yellow skin, am an American. Yes, I am a US citizen. Yet I   ________ early in my childhood that I was very different.

It wasn’t until ________ in the early years of primary school that I noticed this difference. Some kids in my class asked me ________ I could speak Chinese. It seemed strange to me that they would be interested in this part of my ________ . I answered “yes” and expected them to say nothing else about it.

To my surprise, they were ________ to hear me say something in Chinese. When I did so, they said, “Wow, that’s cool!” I had always thought of it as just a strange ________ that came from China.

I ________ what had happened that day when I got home. I went into the bathroom to wash my hands as I usually did. I looked myself in the mirror—the same face was ________ from that morning, but it didn’t ________ the same to me. For the first time, I felt different from the others in my ________ .

That day I discovered a part of my life that was ________ — in culture and tradition — from the one I was   ________ .

Now I know that we must all remember our ________ , but we must also continue to explore, realizing that   ________ is different, with our own beliefs, opinions, traditions and lifestyles. Recognizing these differences should   ________ respect for one another.

10 . I am rather good at using maps. But I forgot the maps and here we were, late afternoon, last day of holiday, my daughter, my cousin and I, driving along a two-lane highway in Oregon. No other car in sight, and the sun had just gone down. Where was that sweet little village?

It was supposed to be right along this river. We drove on, farther into the unknown river always at left as our guide. We kept passing farms and fields and now a few lights were coming out. In my head, I was doing a lot of self-criticism: Why didn’t we start earlier, bring the map and so on? My cousin and I were both impatient and stressed. My daughter, at least, was happy in the back seat, texting a friend. I pulled up on the shoulder of the road to think.

Just the — Wow! Amazing! A new scene appeared. Where did it come from?

Right there, out of nowhere: a magical misty landscape. Fields stretched in silent purple, with rows of tall trees, darkening in the dusk. I turned the car engine off. All was silent in the hot summer air. Beside us, a plum-covered river hardly moved between a border of trees, its dark lazy water reflecting the last light of day.

How breathtaking! Where had it been? If I had seen even a bit of beauty while driving along, I could have stopped and taken a look. I had missed it all.

We miss a lot, almost everything, in fact, in our world. Our task-focused filters (过滤器)takes care of that, selecting only what we need. We need to get to work. Have some lunch. We see what we need to see, often for purposes of survival. Gregory Bateson, speaking of beauty, said the judgment is selection of a fact. In our daily lives, who or what is doing the selecting? Can we make a change? Can we see further?