What My Wife and I Talk about When We Talk about Love

My wife used to believe that romantic love is the most important and exciting thing in the entire world when she was a teenager. And the mark of true love is when two good-looking boys get in a physical fight over her. It’s even     1     that they both get injured but don’t end up going to hospital, not because she is worried about them but because it may cause her a lot of     2     and indirect responsibility. One day this will certainly happen to her, if she’s lucky. So you might understand her anger and frustration when I told her that if the other male competitor I have to “fight” with weighs more than 100 kilograms, I will simply hand her over to him without     3    , wish them a happy marriage and walk away with the feeling that tomorrow is another day.

Fortunately, we’ve both grown a lot older and grown out of expecting our life partner to “die” for us     4    . The older we get, the more honest, open and vulnerable we allow each other to be. One of the hardest things about getting older and being in love is knowing when something is just reality and when it’s too much hard work. Identifying what the calm, joyful but often challenging sensation of long-term love is and identifying what has just become totally intolerable is where we all have to really     5     our instincts.

Shared interests are one of the most overrated     6     factors when it comes to choosing a partner. Deciding that someone is a good person, or your soulmate, or made of exactly the same stuff as you just because you both love the music of Faye Wong is ridiculous. Having the same Agatha Christie collection or enjoying most of the movies directed by Richard Linklater will not help you     7     the various unexpected storms of life together.

A much more crucial factor in terms of finding a partner is how much you love their     8    . Since my son was born, I have experienced firsthand how overwhelming it is to be a working parent of a newborn. It has become even more apparent to me that the most important thing in a relationship is how well married couples work as a team. Couples need to be really, really good friends.

When you’re looking for love, and it seems like you might not ever find it, remember you probably have     9     to plenty of love already, just not the romantic kind. This kind of love might not kiss you in the rain or propose marriage. But it will listen to you, inspire and     10     you. It will hold you when you cry and celebrate when you smile. You can carry it with you and keep it as close to you as you can.

Life is full of challenges, but we must learn to    1    after facing difficulties.     2       we encounter setbacks, it's crucial to stay positive and not get caught up     3    . Sometimes, things may not    4     as planned, but we can still     5     the experiences we gain. By staying strong and determined, we can    6     in our lives and the lives of others. It's important to     7    the pieces when we fall and keep moving forward. Staying     8     loved ones provides support and encouragement when times are tough. However, even the strongest of us can     9     sometimes, and it's okay to ask for help. Remember,     10       is our best guide in navigating through life's ups and downs.

Things I’ve Learned From My First Year Of High School

I just finished my first year of high school, and it has been     1     different from middle school. High school has brought me so many different experiences. Some I am grateful for, yet some have not been beneficial. However, all of them have taught me so many different things, and I would not have been able to     2     my first year of high school without them. The things I have learned have been so helpful to me and can also     3     to things outside of school.

1. You’re expected to demonstrate maturity and responsibility

High school teachers won’t     4     “hold your hand” as much as middle school teachers did. Your teachers may move faster through lessons. When you have questions or meet with     5     challenges, it’s important to speak up. If speaking up makes you nervous at first, you can start by using email to build your     6     level and confidence.

High school teachers enforce higher standards, and most don’t tolerate some of the behaviors that were acceptable in middle school. Again, the goal is to prepare you for college and real life. Even if the     7     seems tough at first, remember that you’re learning helpful and important life skills.

2. Find out who your true friends are

Genuine friends are friends that you can tell everything to and they will not tell anyone else without your permission. They are also there whenever you need them, whether that is to rant or you just need a shoulder to cry on. When you find your true friends, stick with them. The thing about friends is: quality over     8    .

To be honest, high school is not easy at first, but with time, you will get to appreciate and     9     everything around your experiences. The memory will never     10    , because it is the most memorable journey. I have learned so much during my first year of high school, and I am sure that I am going to learn a lot more.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. Piaget believed that one’s childhood plays a vital and active role in a person’s development. Piaget     1    that cognitive development is at the centre of the human organism, and language is contingent on (取决于) knowledge and understanding     2    through cognitive development.

Through a series of stages, Piaget     3    four stages of cognitive development: the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational period. The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development which “     4    from birth to the acquisition of language”. In this stage, infants     5     construct knowledge and understanding of the world by coordinating experiences with physical interactions with objects. Infants gain knowledge of the world from the physical actions they perform within it. They progress from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage.

Children learn that they are     6    from the environment. They can think about aspects of the environment, even though these may be outside the     7    of the child’s senses. In this stage, according to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments. Object permanence is a child’s understanding that objects continue to exist even though he or she cannot see or hear them. By the end of the sensorimotor period, children develop a     8    sense of self and object.

Piaget’s earlier work received the greatest attention. Child-centered classrooms and “open education” are direct     9    of Piaget’s views. Despite its huge success, Piaget’s theory has some limitations that Piaget recognized himself: for example, the theory     10    sharp stages rather than continuous development.

As a child, I would spend hours dreaming about my future. I imagined having a beautiful home. I also    1    of being a teacher, pianist or world traveler. Dreaming encouraged me to set goals and learn new skills like painting, knitting and cooking. When I dreamed, I realized the chances in life    2     endless.

A dream is something that you    3    might happen. Once you have a dream, you can create a goal. A goal is something that you can work    4    in the future. Goals turn dreams into reality.

Perhaps you want to change something about    5    . Maybe you want to lose weight, exercise more every week or earn    6    grades. You may want to read 10 books this year or travel to another country. These are specific goals.

    7    you have a goal, create a strategy that will help you reach that goal. Dreams are free. But goals have a     8    . You must spend time, money and effort to reach them. If you want to learn an instrument, then you must take lessons and practice. It is not always easy, but your hard    9    will pay off.

Finally, don’t give up your goals. At times, you may get discouraged     10    . Work hard and you can reach your goals!

Make a Wish List

Most of us know of New Year’s Resolutions, where one sets intentions for the year ahead. But too often, people make their resolutions     1     — “I will no longer eat biscuits left at my desk”— and then feel unhappy. In the cold month of January, the last thing you need is to     2     your energy further by setting up a series of battles with yourself. And if you break a resolution, you feel     3    , which is a rubbish way to start the year. What you need instead are things to look forward to.

So instead, try a wish list. This involves writing down 100 things you would like to do in the year ahead. The items can be enormous or tiny, ranging from “Climb Everest” to “buy a new pencil sharper”. The main thing is that at some point it has     4     to you as something that you would like to do.

The key here is — write it down.

Do you feel any resistance to the ideas? If so, ask yourself why. What is wrong with     5     what you would like to do? Try not to say to yourself: “I can’t I don’t have the money/time/energy/skills.” Just write it down.

It helps to be     6    , so rather than “Get outdoors”,     7     a place you would like to visit. And take your time when creating it — a wish list is not built in a day. Think about it, polish it and     8     it.

Finally, you have your list. And what a work of beauty it is. Here are all the things that you would like to do. Remember to     9     them up where you can see them; let yourself consider how they can be accomplished. You’ll be amazed that so many of your dreams can be realized though the simple trick of writing them down and     10     to them.

Growing up, we often get asked the question: “What do you want to be in the future?” Our answers usually start off as: “police officer, scientist, astronaut. . . ” As we get a bit older, it becomes “doctor, lawyer, engineer, the next Steve Jobs . . . ” While these are great goals to     1     towards, we must remember that a(n)     2     does not define who we are. What is arguably more important than wealth is one’s strength of     3     .

We always admire the most successful Internet entrepreneurs of the 21st century, the     4     who took an idea and built it into an empire. However, few of us really look at the price they paid to get there. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, one of the youngest and richest tech billionaires in the world, pushed out one of his best friends and co-founders(with good reason) in order to receive funding for Facebook. Steve Jobs, another beloved     5     in the technology industry, refused to recognize his young daughter until she was nine years old, and even after Jobs later reconciled(和解) with her, the two had a shaky(不稳固的) relationship to the end of his days. We cannot say how much these decisions     6     their respective paths towards success, but they do represent many of the difficult choices that may lay ahead.

On May 4, Chinese video site Bilibili released a video containing 955 different statements made by middle school students from across China. The students stated the types of person they did not wish to become when they grew up. “I don’t want to be an unfaithful person. I don’t want to be a     7     person. I don’t want to be a person who gives up halfway . . . ” A large part of me wishes that all of these hopeful statements would come true, but as many great success stories have shown us, life’s     8     will change the way we think and act from the time we are students to whoever it is we later become as adults. These statements indicate a very idealistic, but naive(天真的) way of looking at the process of growing up.

I do not mean to suggest that I am     9     anyone from thinking along the lines of the above student statements, as they ultimately provide a great starting point for how we would hope every person would think and act. However, I would encourage a different way of thinking. As the     10     author Maya Angelou once said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. ” Life does not stand still while you run along its course, so you must learn as you go.