Good friends always make life seem much easier and better. In our busy lives, sometimes when we feel     1    (stick) and isolated, it is our friends who spend their time     2    us. Though it might be     3    (necessary) to know the definitions of a good friend, it is important to know the qualities of a good friend and the skills to be a good friend!

Full acceptance is     4    key element of any human relationship. To be a good friend, you must     5    (full) accept your friend with his/her faults. An important test of friendship is the reliability of a friend.

If you look horrible in that dress you     6    (buy) last week, a true friend will always tell you! Honesty is essential in any relationship. True friends,     7    often speak from their minds, are ready to give you a taste of the bitter truth. Often when you feel sad or depressed, you need not ever explain to your friend     8    you are feeling bad. A true friend knows when you are upset. Understanding without words is     9    (high) level of friendship. To be a good friend requires patience     10    (understand) your friend.

2 . My mother was from a generation of women in India who truly worked the “double shift”, but that did not mean that her responsıbilitaçs at home were in any way decreased. It’s one of the reasons I do not blame her for not being passionate about food the way I am, or not making cooking with my sister and me a priority. The last thing she needed was us walking around the kitchen, messing up her system, and making a mess.

I only started cooking for myself when I was homesick in England and the food of homeland and childhood made me feel closer to my family. Mom and I have very different styles of cooking. I have a huge collection of cookbooks and I love learning all about food that is unfamiliar to me. Mom’s cooking and her recipes came all down from her parents, a continuation of oral (口述的) traditions and culture. Sometimes, I catch my mom browsing through my cookbook collection with wonder and I see her eyes widen with appreciation and understanding.

I like to develop a recipe, and if it isn’t right the first time, I’ll keep trying until it’s perfect. My Samosa (萨莫萨三角炸饺) recipe, for example, is testament (证明) to it. Mom never liked making samosas; she thought they were a waste of time when we could just as easily go and buy some. I was enthusiastic about making the perfect ones, and gave her calls—a lot of them in the middle of the night—until I knew I had the right recipe and quantities. When we cook together, I am constantly pestering (打扰) her for quantities she looks at me with amusement, as I am pulling my hair in frustration whose handful is that small handful referring to, Mother? But my mom smiles as she happily adds a pinch of (一撮) this and a teaspoon of that. She tells me that I am lucky to be able to enjoy cooking, and asks if I am too serious about quantities, am I still enjoying myself?

My mom has taught me a lot about life and food. I am really grateful to her.

3 . How to Say Anything

Could you use some advice? Or has something big happened? Our tips can help you say anything to your parents.

Pick the right time. You need your parents’ full attention in order to have a good talk. Try not to bring up something when it’s past your bedtime or when your parent is in a rush.     1     Your parents want to know what’s on your mind, so ask them to make time for you.

Go slowly. What you need to say probably isn’t simple, so don’t try to get it all out in one breath. Give your parents the details they need to make a decision before you start trying to bargain with them. Besides, another thing is also of great importance.     2     Listen to them, and they’ll listen to you.

Be honest. Your parents will respond better if you believe that you’re telling the truth and not trying to avoid blame. Take responsibility for your part in getting into trouble or earning a bad grade.     3     Things get worse the longer you wait.

Try, try again. When you fly off the handle, your parents have a hard time seeing your point of view. If you’re angry or frustrated, take a break from the conversation. Excuse yourself, and go somewhere to cool off.     4    

Be brave.     5     But your parents almost always can help you solve a problem or answer a big question, and you’ll almost always feel better afterward. Talk to your parents. You’ll be glad you did.

4 . Most of us travel with our parents as children and teenagers. For some of us, during the travel, our parents are our inspiration. These trips are normally full of rental cars, beaches, and hamburgers. My family would go to Galiano island every summer, and we did a week in Mexico in 1995, and then we did two different trips to Anaheim to experience the magic of Disney, Universal, and Knott’s Berry Farm.

But all of these are childhood experiences and memories. I didn’t really truly travel with my parents until I was an adult when I got the chance to travel with mom and dad.

I was in New Zealand for a study abroad, and invited my parents to come down for a 2-week road trip around the North Island and then 10 days in Fiji. Why not? They said, as if this was something they were invited to do every day. I didn’t really plan anything, but my mom had done some reading and I knew some highlights after living in New Zealand for 5 months.

I had booked a hotel for their first night in Auckland. The only other preparation I had done was to book a rental car. My parents immediately reached an agreement that I should be the driver, for the whole two weeks. The main reason for this, understandably, was that neither of them had ever been in a country where you drive on the left hand side of the road and on the right hand side of the car. This led to me driving my parents around the entire North Island of New Zealand for 2 weeks! But still, everybody had jobs. Dad had the maps, and mom had the guidebook, and I just took them where they told me to go.

Sometimes, I was asked who I was traveling with. When I said “my parents”, the response was, “Ohhh, older people.” Actually, I have some tips on travelling with parents happily.

10 . My 15-year-old boy is a high achiever. He is very bright, pursuing everything he does with devotion and determination. And he is a great kid; honest, kind, faithful and caring.

Like a lot of kids who are high achievers, he is a perfectionist and very easy to fall into anxiety. That is manifested in his study, and other things he does as well. For example, he loves tennis but he is often worried about losing in the game. Now he has to stop competing because the pressure he puts on himself is becoming unhealthy. He still plays, but playing socially rather than competitively means that it’s an outlet for him rather than a source of stress.

He does not manage stress well. He puts so much pressure on himself to the point of worrying himself sick over just about every assessment. And he gets so negative about it, everything I say to him is met with negativity, every suggestion with a response that it won’t work, and honestly it’s depressing and tiring.

To help my son, I had a patient conversation with him, and he finally followed my advice about physical exercise to ease stress. Whenever he was under a lot of pressure, I would run with him for half an bour and do some push-ups to relax the pressure. Gradually, he became less nervous in the later exams and his scores became more and more stable.

Pressure from grades and perfectionism can be really hard to manage when it comes to schooling. As kids, what they need is effective communication and sincere encouragement. So I have always told and shown my son that we’re proud of him, and that pride doesn’t merely depend on top grades.