Any time you bring people together, you will have more than one opinion instantly on anything. Living in a community, I’ve heard arguments among groups of people over some of the silliest things. It’s human nature that we want others to agree with our point of view. How we     1     (解决) conflicts within a community is important to the long-term success of the community. I’d like to share three tips.

First, respect others. Be careful to debate the issue itself and not the person. You can make     2     (投诉) about what is wrong but you have to be polite to the person. And remember, as a community we have a single common identity.

Second, have     3     (自制力). Don’t let your emotions control your discussion. Avoid being overly dramatic to “win     4     (票数)”. It’s hard to keep this in mind when discussing something you’re deeply keen on, but you have to.

Lastly, work together to     5     (协商) a solution. Compromise is often the result of debates. Don’t expect to always win everyone over to your point of view.

I am sorry to hear     1    （你很难适应你的新学校）. Such problems are quite normal. Perhaps the     2    （以下建议可能会有所帮助） .

First, I think you should     3    （与同学交流）as much as possible. In this way, you will get to know each other better. Second, it might be a good idea for you     4    （参加更多的活动）, knowing new friends and communicating with other students are good for developing friendly relationships. I recommend you consider asking our teachers     5    （当面对一些棘手的问题时）. I believe they can usually offer you some sensible suggestions.

I sincerely hope     6    （我的建议会对你有所帮助）. If there is anything more I can do to help, please let me know.

Yours,

Li Hua

My name is Li Ming,     1    (一个来自中国的交换生). It is the first time for me     2    (到国外学习). The beautiful campus     3    (已经给……留下了好印象) me.

I am an active and outgoing person     4    (对……感到好奇) everything around me. I have     5    (注册) many classes, among which I like physics best.     6    (除此之外), I like to read short stories in my spare time.

At the beginning, I     7    (对……感到焦虑的) the study and life abroad. But with hard work, I have improved my study and made lots of friends. Therefore, I     8    (对自己有信心) and believe     9    (我的所有目标将会被实现).

Yours，

Li Ming

Think of culture, not only as the way of life that     1     to a particular group of people but your identity as a person — the things that have found their way into your very     2    : the meaning of family, the ties of friendship with those around you, the special festivals and the many     3     and beliefs that have found their way into everyday life. These things have helped to     4     us into the people we are. They have, little by little, found their way, and sometimes     5     their way, into our personalities. These are the things that we will see change when we move to another country with a different culture.

Barbara Kingsolver is a(n)     1     (杰出的) American novelist, essayist and poet. During an interview, she talked about her daily routine as a writer and a mother.

“I tend to wake up very early. Too early. Four o’clock is standard ... I always wake with sentences pouring into my head. So getting to my desk every day feels like an emergency. It’s a funny thing: people often ask why I’m so     2     (discipline) about writing. I can’t understand the question. For me, discipline is turning off the computer and leaving my desk to do something else.

For the whole of my c    3     as a novelist, I have also been a mother. I was offered my first book contract, for The Bean Trees, the day I came home from the hospital with my first child. So I became a novelist and mother on the same day. Those two important lives have always been one for me. I’ve always had to do both at the same time. So my writing hours have always been       4     (limit) ... For me, writing time has always been precious, and something I wait for and am eager to make the best use of.

I’m extremely       5     (感激的) of my family’s support and contribution and the people who connect me to the wider world and the future. My children have taught me everything about life and about the kind of person I want to be in the world. Being a mother has made me a better writer. It’s also true to say that being a writer has also made me a better mother. ”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or RBG as she’s often affectionately called, passed away at the age of 87. Her passing was a great loss to the world because, in her lifetime, Ruth was arguably the single most effective advocate for gender equality the world has ever seen.

Ruth was extremely     1    (坚定的) to prove that the differing treatment of persons, on the basis of sex, had no place in the United States.     2    (除……之外) being personally responsible for overturning many laws that discriminated (歧视) against women, first as an ACLU lawyer and later as a Supreme Court Justice, Ruth had long inspired us with her bravery and strength in the face of extreme personal discrimination and hardship. As a(n)     3    (influence) figure, she was well known for the battles in which she pushed forward gender equality. Besides those battles, she fought for the good of all and here are two personal things you may not know about her:

•She used     4    (时尚) to make a statement by wearing a special collar (领子) with her justice robes (袍服) each time she disagreed with an opinion that the majority of the court had agreed upon.

•She only ever slept 5 — 6 hours per night, preferring to spend the majority of her time studying and researching.

We often overlook the     5    (巨大的) struggles people have gone through once they’ve achieved great things. To try and understand the full picture of everything Ruth accomplished, we have to know what she had experienced:

•When she graduated at the top of her class from law school, she received no job offers from New York law firms.

•She was the first woman to receive tenure (终身职位) as a(n)     6    (教授) at Columbia University — but when she got her offer, she was told she would not receive as much pay as a man because her husband was the “primary breadwinner”. She then sued Columbia University and won.

Most people know Emily Blunt as a well-known film and stage actress. However, between the ages of 7 and 14 she developed a crippling stutter (严重的口吃) that had her struggling to even hold a simple conversation. “I     1     (曾经是) a smart kid and had a lot to say, but later I just couldn’t say it,” she said in an interview. “I could     2     (几乎不) think I’d be able to sit and talk to someone like I’m talking to you right now.”

For Blunt, it was one junior high teacher in particular that helped her     3     (处理) the problem of speaking by encouraging her to try out for the school play. At first, Blunt did not like the idea, but the teacher wouldn’t give up on her and     4     (真诚地) encouraged her to take acting lessons and experiment with different accents and character voices to help express herself. In the end, those efforts paid off for her. In addition to her    5     (难以置信的) career as an actress, she also became a member of the board of directors for the American Institute for Stuttering.

There are some teachers we never forget. They may teach us in our favourite subject or help us gain a    1     to university. For many of us, good relationships with our teachers are why we want to get into teaching in the first place.

Research tells us that when students are in an environment where they feel supported and    2     (持续不断地) cared for, they are more likely to succeed. In fact, according to a study by Marzano Research Laboratory, good relationships between teachers and students are among the most commonly mentioned reasons related to     3     (effect) instruction.

If we are teachers one day, we should build an environment of mutual (相互的) respect and set the whole classroom up for success. Treat students the way we want to be treated, never    4     (主宰) the relationship. All relationships are built on mutual respect for one another and this same     5     (原则) applies in the classroom. Of course, as teachers, our patience will be tested    6     (偶尔) but take a second to breathe. Our students will understand us as we can now understand our teachers.

Skilled learners never stop learning because they have found ways to       1     (有效地) bring it into their everyday life. With a positive mindset and very special approaches to learning, they take control of their learning and push through difficulties     2    . (不管怎样)

★ A skilled learner employs personal learning       3    . (策略)

Everyone learns differently, and oftentimes, the ways we were taught to learn in school are not the most helpful means of   a    4     new knowledge. Skilled learners have a better understanding of his / her learning style and take the time to check the ways they learn best, knowing that this will save them time and effort in the future.

★ A skilled learner asks questions.

Skilled learners question what they learn, how they learn it and why. They know where they are as a learner and what they are     5     (尝试) achieve. They ask important questions such as, “How can I use what I have     6     (掌握)?” or “Why is this important?” These questions help them to dig deeper into a topic and decide how this information can be used.     7     ( 此 外 ), questioning learning methods can help them to find out whether they are doing all they can to learn the information and whether their approaches are suitable or not.

★ Skilled learners     8     (思考) their successes and failures.

In order to improve in any area, you have to     9     (弄懂) what is and isn’t working for you. Only then can you assess (评估) your learning process and move forward. Failing to analyse your successes and failures will leave you stagnant (停滞不前). You must build upon your success and look for your     10     (解决办法) after failure.

Skilled learners don’t consider themselves special for having succeeded, and they surely don’t think of themselves as failures when they reach difficulties. All of these results are moments for     11     (沉思) and improvement and they will find time to     12     (感激) the achievements they’ve made so far.

Today I want to relay to you that I’m proud of the work my mother has done, and I am now     1     of it. Is her work worth it? Yes, to the lives of the people she is helping, it is worth it. But by any     2     this work is worth it to us as well, because it shows that we are global citizens interested in world     3    , and that we feel responsible for others and are ready to build a community with a     4     future for mankind. Everyone deserves a fair chance in life. When I think of all the things that we as Chinese citizens can be most proud of, helping others     5     at the top of this list. Now that I understand     6     important my mother’s work is, I’ve decided to become a volunteer myself to help people in other lands. In the future, I     7     that you will do the same.