要求：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 不得抄袭文章原句。
For a long time, a boy wondered why his desk-mate was always the first in the class, but he could only rank (排名) the 21st.
At home, he asked his mom: “Am I more stupid than other kids? How can I always fall behind? I just can’t come up with an answer.” Mom was aware that her son’s self-respect had been hurt by the ranking system, but she didn’t know what to say to help.
She wanted to say that intelligence differs and that yes, her son’s friend really was the smarter boy. But that would so upset her son. Thank goodness she didn’t say it.
Her son and his friend went on to high school that year, though the boy tried as hard as he could, her son’s friend was still ahead of him. But she took pride in her boy for his hard work, sincerely proud. It was around this time that she decided to take him on a trip to the seaside. On the trip, she at last found an answer for him.
Today her son no longer cares about rankings. He doesn’t have to, for he himself is now the top of the class at the top national university. After university his teachers and classmates fully expect him to have a promising career.
Invited to speak to his old high school, he mentioned a valuable childhood experience. It was about that holiday his mother had prepared for them: “Once, on a trip to the sea, my mother and I were lying on the beach. She pointed to the sea and said to me: Do you see the seabirds fighting for food out there? When a wave comes near, the little birds rise quickly. The awkward seagulls (笨拙的海鸥) are far slower and have to struggle to get away from the wave. But these awkward birds prove to have the biggest, strongest wings, which allow the bird to travel the farthest when the season changes and they leave for foreign shores, leaving the little birds behind. Son, I have a feeling that you are one of those seagulls.”
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Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, the attitudes to dirt are always changing.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, and washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. The king of England did something similar in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. France’s Henry IV was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief above was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbour ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家) , encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Nowadays, parents are very worried because their children spend hours and hours in front of the TV screen. As this doesn’t happen to only one specific kind of family, many experts warn us that they can be some serious effects on children watching violence on television.
Children who become addicted to TV turn on the TV as soon as they get home. Although they have lots of homework, they become absorbed in TV programs. Since they spend tons of time watching TV, they have less time to enjoy real life activities, such as playing outdoor sports with friends, or enjoying other kinds of entertainment.
There are too many violent things on TV, some experts say there are 25 acts of violence per hour on TV. In addition, there are many experiments by psychologists which show how TV violence influences children. Finally, people worry that children tend to imitate what they watch on TV and may start to behave more aggressively.
What should be done? First of all, the government should regulate TV violence. It should also encourage people to invent and develop new technology which can block violent scenes from the programmes children watch. For example, with a rating system and the V-chip, inappropriate scenes of violence and sex can be blocked out.
Second, parents should monitor what their children watch. At the same time they should interest their children in real life activities. Then when the children start to spend more time playing with friends or reading books, parents can stop their monitoring.
It is a fact that there is more violence on TV today than there was ten years ago. Moreover, violent incidents occur more frequently. It’s time to realize how harmful watching TV violence is, and it’s time to save our children from violence.
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Take notes, not notepads
If you were allowed to bring a laptop to class, would you prefer to take notes by typing or with a pen and paper? Most people would probably prefer a laptop. And the reason is obvious: they can write much more quickly using a keyboard and therefore take down more information.
But the truth is that faster isn’t always better. A new study, done by Princeton University and University of California, found that students who took handwritten notes actually learned more than those who used laptops, reported The Atlantic. In the study, 65 college students watch a video of a lecture and take notes either with pens or laptops. Students were then asked to complete different tests based on how well they remembered and understood the lecture. Results show that pen users performed better than those who took notes with their laptops.
Curious about the results they compared the notes of the two groups and immediately saw the difference-pen users’ notes were shorter and taken mostly in their own words. Laptop users, however usually type down word by word what the lecture said in a “mindless” way. They found that students with laptops always try to take more notes, so they usually write down information without processing is meaning while pen users know that they cannot possibly record every word in a lecture. Instead, they listen, think and focus on understanding the content of the lecture. Besides brain activities, there is another reason that laptops are not so useful in class. According to Scientific American, when college students use laptops in class, they spend on average 40 percent of class time doing things such as visiting social media sites or shopping, which obviously harms their school performance.
Indeed. Technology is making our lives easier and doing things more efficiently. But learning may not be one of those things. As scientific American put it: “When it comes to taking notes, students need fewer gigs (电脑性能) and more brain power.”
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Punishing children is a controversial topic.Everybody has different opinions about how to act to correct a child's behavior.Parents，teachers，doctors，and specialists such as psychologists，have disagreements about whether it is good for a child's education to punish him or her.
The word “punish” means different things to different people.Punishment can be physical or emotional.Physical punishment is when the parent hits，slaps or spanks the child.
On the other hand，emotional punishment is when the parent，in order to educate the child，doesn't let him or her watch TV，go to play with his or her friends，or the like.The parent doesn't teach him or her，but still he or she punishes the child.
Although many surveys and studies have been made about what the correct way is to raise a child，nobody knows the answer or the truth.I think it will be very difficult to find the answer or get people to agree.
I think the parents should love their child and give him or her the best education，but at the same time，they should punish the child if he or she deserves it.I think if you love your child，you should be rational when you apply the punishment.It should be reasonable but strict.
The parents' goal is to have in the future a good man or woman in society，so sometimes you should do what is necessary to get your child to behave well.
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Today’s families are busier than they have ever been! Kids take part in more after-school activities and parents have a busier social life, too. Parents are running their kids here and there. Everyone seems to be on the go. If his sounds like your family, you are not alone. However, there are still times each day when family members can be together in one place: meal times!
The benefits of sharing a meal together as a family are unbelievable. Not only can children benefit, but so can the family, as a unit. Mealtime communication can make children know that their family are always there for them when they are in trouble. They will feel safe and secure. Besides, family meals provide an opportunity for all members to come together and build better relationships.
How can you make family meals happen? You can start by fixing a few days a week to eat together. For example, you can set a goal to have regular family meals a least three times per week, if possible. Moreover, you don’t need to focus on dinner time only. Instead, you can include family breakfasts or lunches, which enables your family to come together and enjoy a warm family moment.
What should you do for the family meals? An article by Anita Gurian, Ph. D suggests some tips. First, you should have kids prepare for the meals, such as washing and cutting vegetables, setting the table. It is also a good idea to ask them to wash the dishes after the meals. Second, you should avoid criticism and passing judgment during the meals, for non-judgmental words or questions can get kids to have a frank talk with you. In this friendly environment, they will feel free to express themselves, and closer relationship forms.
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There are a lot of things to do with old books that you no longer want, depending on their condition. You might choose to sell them to a bookstore, pass them on to friends, or simply throw them out if they are in poor shape.
When you decide to deal with old books, check their condition first. If it is an old book with a torn cover and pages, sell it to the recycle bin. If the book is a hardcover (精装书) and the cover is still in good shape, sell it to a used bookstore or donate (捐赠) it to a charity.
When selling old books to a bookstore, you should know that book buyers are often looking for something special. It is important to know the content of old books if you are taking them to a bookstore. Fiction is usually good, but travel guides are not. If you want to donate old books to a charity, avoid donating books that are in truly poor condition. If a book is dirty or missing the cover, the charity cannot sell it or give it out. Most charities also prefer that you enter the charity with your donation.
You may also want to consider exchanging books with friends. You just need to place a shelf of old books that you don’t want by the door, and encourage your friends to take books that look interesting. If your entire social network follows this practice, a mobile library of old books can be formed. You can also have a book swap party, where everyone brings a box of old books for other people to look through. After the book swap, box up the rest of the books and donate them to a charity.
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With the first quarter of 2019 crossed out of your calendar, have you stuck with your New Year’s resolutions（新年计划）? If yes, congratulations! Keep on doing it! However, it won’t surprise anyone if you are among most people who fail to make any changes.
Procrastination（拖延症），meaning putting off actions for one reason or another, may play an important part here.For example, when we read a book or write articles, the efficiency will decrease if we have a cell phone close by and we have to finish the plans next day.
Apart from procrastination, overconfidence may also be part of the problem.“Optimism and even overconfidence can produce false beliefs, leading us to overvalue our abilities,” Israeli-American behaviorist Daniel Kahneman and Israeli psychologist Amos Tversky wrote.In one famous example, planners first planned the Sydney Opera House would be completed by 1963.However, it was actually completed in 1973, an entire decade later.
Knowing the causes of the problem, we can come up with some solutions.According to US writer Steve Pavlina, we could make a to-do list of upcoming tasks, and write down a rough plan for how long we expect each task to take.
Another way is to try and be more objective -- take more of an “outsider”view.The ability to think about your experiences from a more independent point of view, rather than a shared one, is important.“It keeps you from getting overly buried in your bias（偏见）,” Psychology Today wrote.
These methods aren’t enough to send a man to the moon.You also should take action right now.For instance, if you don’t feel lazy, meeting a deadline one week ahead of time is probably a good way to finish your plan.
How often do you have a conversation with someone, and think you are paying attention to him or her, only to realize shortly afterwards that you can’t remember what he said? Or, perhaps you get distracted while he is speaking and miss the message that he is trying to deliver. In today’s busy world, modern life is full of distractions: TVs, radios, traffic noises, telephones, laptops and so on, which can make it difficult to listen with our full attention.
But how can we listen more effectively? Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, put forward the idea of mindful listening. He said mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, with a purpose, at the present moment and non-judgmentally.
When we listen mindfully, we can be aware of some barriers but still remain open to the speaker’s ideas and messages. Mindfulness encourages us to be aware of the present moment, let go of distractions and ignore physical and emotional reactions to what people say to us.
But how can we apply mindful listening to our life? Jon Kabat-Zinn describes three key elements of mindful listening that we can use to improve our listening skills.
First of all, be present. When we listen mindfully, our focus should be on the person we are listening to without distractions. Then develop empathy(共鸣). We often see the world through our own experiences. When we’re empathetic, we can understand a situation-from someone else’s point of view. At last, listen to our own “cues”. Our cues are the thoughts, feelings and physical reactions that we have when we feel anxious or angry, and they can block out ideas and perspectives that we’re uncomfortable with. Mindful listening can help us to be more aware of our cues, and allow us to choose not to let them block communication.
The rule is straightforward: simply “Listen”! Listen carefully and attentively. Pay full attention to the other person, and don’t let other thoughts, like what we are going to say next, distract us.
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Nowadays, an increasing number of young Chinese spend money because they are “lazy”. According to a report issued in December by China’s e-commerce platform Taobao on China’s “lazy economy”, Chinese people spent 16 billion yuan on products and services online in 2018. The post-1995 generation was the “laziest” as its consumption increased by 82 percent, compared with that in 2017.
The so-called lazy economy refers to a new type of consumption of products and services which are designed to save time and labor. According to the report, many people of the post-1995 generation buy high-tech electronic devices such as floor mopping robots and automatic window cleaners, which save the trouble of doing household chores. Meanwhile, take-out food delivery services are also popular among people born after 1995.
Young people are willing to spend money on such products because they want to enjoy hard-earned leisure time after a busy and stressful day at work or school, reported Global Times. Because they need to focus on their studies or jobs, these so-called lazy people tend to use their leisure time more efficiently. For example, Wei Duo, a 21-year-old college student, is a frequent user of take-out food delivery services. “I once had a birthday cake delivered to my friend who lives far from my home. It cost me 50 yuan but it saved me almost half a day that would have been needed to deliver it myself My friend was also happy because she got to eat the cake instantly.” Wei told the Global Times.
While the “lazy economy” might be convenient for young people, it might also create problems. The lazy economy’ on campus is expressed in things like people buying food or other things without leaving the dormitory. As a result, they stay in their dormitories all day long, playing on computers and smart phones. According to Jinan Daily, this situation could lead to young people becoming less sociable and even developing problems of communicating with others. Young people should be alert (警觉的) to it.
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