1 . How to Be Creative

Most of us think that creativity is a quality (品质) belonging only to artists, writers, or dancers, rather than ourselves.     1     The following tips are a great beginning for developing our creativity.

Get out of your comfort zone

We eagerly accept the familiar and fear the unknown. Break out of your usual patterns and welcome creativity into your life. As said earlier, the human brain was designed to recognize patterns.     2     In fact, our comfort zone is nothing more than a collection of patterns. As we become more efficient at recognizing and using patterns, we rely less on creativity to find new paths. We should force ourselves out of our comfort zones and open up new possibilities.

Try different things

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. We are creatures of habits and routines, and creativity hates routines (常规). If you usually drive to work, take the subway for a few days.     3       Break your routine, experiment and try something new. New things are often creative, but the same old thing never is.

    4    

Having a great idea is not enough, you must work to make it a reality. Have you ever seen a new product and realized that you thought of the same thing long ago? Yet someone else is making money with “your” idea.     5     The difference between a dreamer and a doer is action. Do whatever it takes to bring your ideas to life. If you can put them into practice, you are well on your way to improving your creativity in all areas of your life.

2 . Attractions for Kids with Dinosaur Fever

While there are plenty of movies and books that can teach your little one all about dinosaurs, the following children’s attractions will allow them to come face-to-face with their favorite dinosaurs and learn in an interactive, fun environment.

1. Dinosaurs Alive at Cedar Point

Sandusky, OH

See the “age of dinosaurs” come to life with interactive exhibits based on real fossil evidence. At the Dinosaurs Alive section of Cedar Point park, visitors can walk among more than 50 life-sized dinosaurs which move and roar. See these gigantic lizards (蜥蜴) up close and learn more about the most fearsome period of the earth’s history.

2. The Chicago Children’s Museum

Chicago, IL

The Chicago Children’s Museum is filled with plenty of activities for kids of all ages, but one of the coolest has to be the Dinosaur Exhibition. At this exhibit, children can spend time digging for dinosaur bones at an excavation (挖掘) site, looking at dinosaur fossils, and learning what life is like for real archaeologists (考古学家).

3. Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Pittsburgh, PA

In addition to plenty of exhibits about wildlife, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History has one of the finest dinosaur fossil collections in the world. Visitors can see experts work with real dinosaur fossils in the PaleoLab. Make sure to snap a photo in front of Dippy, the scarf-loving dinosaur guarding the front of the museum!

4. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN

From the dinosaurs exploding out of the side of the building to the fossils within, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is filled with fun things to do. Kids can touch a real T-rex bone and see reconstructed dinosaur skeletons up close.

3 . Ways to make a great first impression

You’ve heard it a million times already. But it really does take but a few seconds to make that all-important first impression（印象）. Here are some easy ways for you to impress your classmates or teachers.

*    1    

Before you shake hands with somebody, make sure that your hands are clean. The hand-shake should not be too strong or weak. Most people use their right hands, unless they have a reason to use the left.     2    

*Be on time

When meeting someone for the first time, arriving on time is as important as breathing. You may have an excuse, but that will leave the person who hardly knows you with a bad impression.     3     It’s better to be hanging around the place than be stuck in traffic.

*Introduce yourself and ask for names

Make sure you properly introduce yourself. Ask for their name in a polite way.     4    . This will increase the chances of their remembering your name in the future. Always remember to stand up when greeting someone and be sure to introduce them to anyone you’re with.

*Make good conversation

To get the most out of your discussion, try to find something common between the two of you.     5    . A person will feel more comfortable with someone they can relate to（产生共鸣）.

4 . On September 2nd, BUAA (北京航空航天大学) welcomed its first 2021 student. His name is Xing Yifan, coming together with his parents ahead of time.

"Yifan is 18 years old, but he weighs only 18 kilograms. When 6 months old, he suffered from LAMA2 (渐冻症), a type of disease that no more than a hundred people have got in the country. However, with his strong will, he made one amazing achievement after another in learning. In this year's college entrance exam, he entered BUAA with a score of 645.

Because of the illness, Yifan can only sit alone for a while, unable to stand and walk like other children. In class, he could only put his head on the table and his eyes can only scan half the pages of the book. He couldn't turn over the book with one hand. And he could only sit and listen to a class for up to 30 minutes, with the remaining 15 minutes to lie down to listen to his teacher.

But these did not scare Yifan, with only a little muscle strength left in his hands, he finished one test paper after another, more than 20 a day, often till one or two o'clock in the morning. Finally, he successfully completed the 2021 college entrance examination.

To live is much more difficult than others. Why does he have to learn? The family said because of the serious disease, he was deprived (剥夺) of the right to walk, run, jump, but he can no longer be deprived of the right to education. Xing Yifan decided to let himself be Hawking of China, and change his life with knowledge.

He came to BUAA and stayed in the love dormitory on the first floor. Xing Yifan said he was feeling particularly warm with all the help. He was expecting new college life and hoped to know more students, and take part in lots of activities. Life kisses him with pain, but he sings.

I’m an only daughter of my parents. So they are worried about everything I do. For example, when I ride my bike, my parents won’t let me ride by myself. They are afraid I might fall off my bike and hurt me. They are taking great trouble to support the bike, with my mother even carry a first-aid box. I’m free to ride and I often say angry, “Why not to let me ride alone?” Now, most families have one child. Parents want to do everything for their children. This does no good for them. Too much love from parents prevent children from being independent. In my opinions, parents should let their children do that they should do alone.

Soon after Dave left college, one of his uncles,    1    was rich and had no children     2     his own, died,     3    (leave) Dave a lot of money, so he decided to set up his own real estate agency(地产公司).

He found a nice office,    4    (buy) some new furniture and moved in. He had only been there for a few hours     5     he heard someone    6    (come) towards the door of his office.

“It’s my first     7    (custom)!” he thought. He quickly picked up    8    telephone and pretended to be very busy answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to buy a big and expensive house in the country.

The man knocked at the door when this was going on, came in and waited    9    (polite) for the agent to finish his conversation. Then he said to him, “I’m from the telephone company, and I    10    (send) here to connect your telephone.”

8 . There is a wonderful old story about the best-known artist.Leonardo Da Vinci. When Leonardo was _________The Last Supper, it took him several years to complete it. He had decided to use live models for Christ（耶稣） and _________ of the twelve Apostles（使徒）. He chose the _________ for Christ first when he found a man who _________ both beauty and love on his face. As the years _________ , Leonardo completed all of the Apostles _________ Judas（犹大）. Finally, he found a man whose face seemed full of greed and evil. After he _________ painting the man as Judas, the man asked _________ Leonardo know who he was. When Leonardo said no, the man _________ loudly," I am the same man you painted years ago as the model for Christ."

Though this story is certainly not true, it does __________a spiritual（精神的）truth. No matter how old or young we are, the __________ can often show the condition of our deep heart. I have seen wrinkled（有皱纹的） faces that still sparkled（闪耀） with the __________ of angels when they smiled. I have also seen young faces __________ eyes as cold as ice.

The good news, __________, is that it is never too __________ to change our face and our heart, and fill our heart with love and let it shine through our eyes and actions.

10 . I come from a family that loves sports. My father coaches Little League baseball. My mother swims nearly every weekend. My brother is on his high-school basketball team, and I am the best hitter on my middle-school volleyball team. All of us have benefited(受益）from sports. One of the most common ways for kids to take part in sports is to join a team. Joining a sports team should be a school requirement.

Playing sports is good for both the body and mind. Everyone knows that exercise helps people stay fit. For example, swimming helps your heart work better and it also helps build muscle strength(肌肉力量）. In addition, school athletes(运动员） often have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and avoid fatty foods because I must stay in great condition.

Being on a team allows students to enjoy a healthier social life. They often make more friends and can be some of the most popular kids in school. Since joining the basketball team, my brother has made friends with a lot of his tea mates and has showed more interest in spending time with them.

Kids who take part in school teams sometimes earn college scholarships(奖学金）. My brother's friend, Justin, played football in high school. His family did not have money to send him to college. However, a college invited him to play on its team. The college is paying for him to go to school. Joining a team turned out to be one of the best decisions he had ever made. Now he studies at a great college and plays on its football team Not every school athlete gets a college scholarship, but joining a school team-makes it possible.

Although some people may not like the idea of forcing students to join a school team, its many benefits such as keeping kids heal thy, new friendships, and possible scholarships cannot be denied(否认）.