3 . Practical Ways to Show Respect for a Friend

·Show respect for their life choices and decisions. Accept that people aren't always going to be just like you. They will make different life choices, have different views on politics and religion, and act differently in many ways. This doesn't mean they can't be your friends.     1    

·Give them the benefit of the doubt.

    2     If you're in doubt about something, ask your friends. Be respectful and give them the benefit of the doubt when you don't do. This alone will help you stay in their good graces（好感）.

·Give friends your full attention.

One of the best ways to show respect for someone is to listen to them carefully. Allow them to pause, convey non-verbal communication clues, collect their thoughts, and get it all out. Too often friends listen with half an ear or jump in the minute their friend pauses with an even worse story.     3     When your friend is talking, pay attention.

·     4    

Treat your friends respectfully when you argue with them. Make your friendship a safe place by not embarrassing your friend or expressing your private disagreements in front of other people. Be publicly supportive and kind to your friends so that they know you value your friendship with them.

·Show up, be there, and do what you say you' re going to do.

    5     So just show your friend the best kind of respect by being on time, keeping promises, and being the friend they can always count on. That's the way to truly show respect.

6 . We have the most friends at the age of 26 after having spent the first quarter of our lives building up our friendship circle, new research has claimed.

The research into friendship shows that our social circle peaks at 26 years and 7 months, at which we typically have five close friends. Women are most popular at 25 years and 10 months, with men hitting the highest friendship point a little later at 27 years and 3 months.

The research, by Forever Friends, shows that about a third of adults meet their closest friends while at school, with about a fifth saying they meet them at work.

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter now also play a major role in building new friendship. The research points out that 25-to-34-year-olds make 22 friends via Facebook, compared to 18-to-24-year-olds who make 12,and 35-to-44-year-olds who make just four.

Forever Friends’ relationship coach Sam Owen says, “It is no coincidence that over a third of us meet our best friends at school. It is a key time in our lives when friendship is growing through sharing notes, giving gifts, seeing each other regularly and laughing a lot. As adults we can often forget how powerful these small things are and how the little things can make a difference.”

Later in life we find ourselves losing friends. Over half of us lose friendship through moving, while 36% say that over time they grow apart from close pals. Having children also causes 19% to drift away from childhood friends.

With growing pressure being put on friendship these days, it’s important to make time for our friendship.

7 . It was a hot, humid summer day, and I had just pulled into the local gas station to fill my tank. After pumping the gas, I started to walk inside to pay. That is when I noticed them. Two elderly women were standing back from their car. There was a mixture of shock and fear on their faces. I looked and saw what they saw: five yellowjackets (小黄蜂) building a nest around their gas cap. My eyes widened. I shared the ladies’ fear.

Yellowjackets had never been friends of mine. Several times these wasps (黄蜂) had attacked me while I was cutting the grass, giving me multiple stings (蛰) each time I ran over their ground nests. The worst time, however, happened when I was a young boy. A friend of mine and I were running and playing in my backyard. I must have stepped on one of their hidden nests again because before I knew it, both of us were being chased and stung over and over by the yellowjackets while we ran away screaming. I ran to my mom with tears in my eyes. She immediately ran a cold bath and put us both in it to ease the pain and itching (痒) before giving us medicine to fight all the poison in our little bodies from the stings.

Still, I knew I couldn’t let fear stop me now. I reached into my back pocket for a paper towel I had there, tore out the nest and stepped on it while the angry wasps buzzed around me. Both of the ladies thanked me, and I said, “You’re welcome!” with a smile and a happy heart.

In this life, you can’t let the fear of being stung either physically or emotionally keep you from doing what is right. We need to love each other and to change the world for the better. And the only way you can do this is one loving act, one kind word and one shared smile at a time.   Don’t let the yellowjackets in your life hold you back. Live! Love! Do good today!

8 . Two weeks ago my grandfather passed away. It really put me into deep_______because my grandfather held a unique position in my life. For me, my grandpa was not only a_______family member but a tutor (导师) who encouraged me to work hard and_______well. 

I’ll never forget the first time I read a long piece of his writing. It was when I_______for Princeton and he offered to write to the university on my behalf. He wrote in beautiful_______and used poetic language, unafraid of sounding too “flowery”. I read the_______out loud so that I could hear the rhyming sounds. 

My grandfather_______hard work. Every time he came to visit us in New York, he would_______my brothers and me for our good performance, which inspired me. I knew he had worked hard to_______the big family during the Great Depression. He was awarded many military__________for winning many battles in the Navy in World War Ⅱ. 

At the funeral, a friend of my grandfather’s walked to me and said that my grandfather had told him about a small__________I had written. After it came out, I sent it to my grandfather__________received no reply. This man told me that my book hit my grandfather’s__________and brought tears to his eyes. My grandfather said he was so__________of me. 

Now I feel it’s even more worthwhile to write well because I know my grandfather__________it. I know he lives in my heart forever.

9 . We've been traveling for a couple of months now and one thing we were most excited about was doing laundry.

Our_________in Corfu, Greece, was absolutely adorable-Angela is a professor of Ancient Greek. She met us by her place and _________ showed us around the apartment we'd_________ on Airbnb for a few days.

We hadn't stayed in a place with a(n) _________for weeks, so we all had an unpleasant smell around us and were in urgent _______of washing clothes. But when Angela got to the washing machine, she ___________ before replying. "I'm so sorry, "she said, "The washing machine is broken and nobody could come to _________it." I was a little angry when I heard this, she must have seen my face _________. "But if you need any _______ done, you can just give it to me and I will clean it and ________ it all for you in my home, "she told us.

We were__________ and thankful. As an Airbnb host, she went above and beyond. A day later, she __________ with freshly pressed clothes and we couldn't have been more__________. So when we left in the early hours of the morning, I ________ her a note and €50. She made our day, so we wanted to make hers ____________

I'm Li Hua from Class 1，Senior 3. It's my great honor to stand here to deliver my speech today.

That's all Thanks for your listening.