Learning Chinese calligraphy     1     (list) as one of the must-do things when I came to China. Now, I’m in the course of learning this unique art,     2     value is considered very high in China, even across East Asia today. It is not only     3     ancient artistic form of human language, but it also reflects Chinese traditions.

As someone who paints, draws, and loves all     4     (create) things, at first, I assumed I would be rather good at Chinese calligraphy. I was     5     (total ) wrong. Using thick brush tips to produce awkward brush strokes (笔画)     6     (be) very difficult for a beginner. I have no idea about the different types of calligraphy and the meanings     7     ( hide) behind each one. Also, I have to hold the paintbrush     8     a very specific way; unlike a pen or pencil, the paintbrush is held upright in the hand. I need to be extra careful when changing the angle or     9     (direct) of the brush, especially if I press too hard on the paper.

After taking the lesson, I now understand the difficulty of calligraphy and that it will take efforts and commitment     10     (master) this art form. Yet, I am grateful to learn such a special Chinese tradition.

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Some students get so nervous before a test.     1     Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources (资源).

Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.

    2     They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.

Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test.     3     Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated (不相关的) to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.

“What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention (干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance.     4    ”

But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam?     5    

6 . I was lucky enough to test into the best high school in the city. But then came my _______: Am I good enough? It was a question that _______ me through my first month, even as I began to settle in, even as I got used to the early morning wake-ups and moving between buildings for class.

I knew I had to work to ground myself. My earliest strategy involved keeping quiet and trying to _______ my new classmates. Who were these kids anyway? How did they learn in school? All I knew was that they were the smartest kids in the city, obviously. _______ wasn’t I as well? Hadn’t I landed here because I was smart like them? The truth is that I didn’t know. This _______ was like a deadly cell(细胞) that threatened to divide and divide again, unless I could find some way to stop it.

Fortunately, my first round of grades turned out to be _______, and so did my second. Over the course of my first two years, I began to build the same kind of _______ I’d had at my previous school. With each little achievement, my doubt _______ took leave.

I loved any subject that involved writing and labored through math. I had classmates who were always a step or two ahead of me, whose achievements seemed effortless, but I tried not to let that get to me. I was beginning to understand that if I put in extra hours of studying, I could often _______ the gap. I wasn’t a straight-A student, but I was always _______ and I made progress.

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . One Bite at a Time

Stephen was on campus to register when I first met him.

One summer day when I was heading for the administration building, I heard someone call my name. I ________ around and saw Philip, one of my colleagues standing with another young man. As Philip introduced me to the young man, named Stephen, he reminded him that he would be taking one of my classes, Introduction to Literature. With a somewhat ________ expression, Stephen asked if my class was going to be “hard”. Would he be able to pass? I ________ he was concerned about failing before the opening day of classes. We talked about what the class would ________ and I saw Stephen’s eyes getting big with fear.

Then I remembered a bit of classical dialog:

Question: “How do you eat an elephant?”

Answer: “One bite at a time.”

I told him to ________ his work that way. To do his assignment, all of them, and to get them in on time. I added that most successful students I knew made a timetable of all the assignment so they could plan their workload.

As time went on, I learned more of Stephen’s story. He had ________ in middle school. It had taken him longer to finish than most young people. Family members, including his mother, kept reminding him that he was a failure. Now, in the face of their negative-saying he had been admitted into college. He told me that before coming to our campus no one had believed he had much ________.

Stephen didn’t become an “A” student. He didn’t make any honor rolls. Still, he managed to pass most of his courses by being in class every day, turning in all of his assignment on time and breaking down his studying into ________ digestible parts. By passing course after course he began to gain a measure of self-respect. He was a great singer and he was on the school’s cross-country team.

Every time I saw him on campus, he would brighten up and say, “One bite at a time.” Whenever he introduced me to his friends, he would tell them that he was ________ when he was supposed to be failing. His secret, he said, was that he was ________ what I taught him before classes ever started: “Take it one bite at a time.”

9 . How to deal with your homework

Write it down.     1     Always be sure to write down all the homework so you won’t forget anything.

Create a homework station. Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to do your homework.     2     It will take twice as long to get the homework done. Shut off your cell phone, log off (退出) your computer (unless you need it for your homework) and close the door.

Do homework as early as possible. Don’t leave homework to the last minute.     3     The earlier you start your homework, the sooner you will finish! Do all your homework as early as you can, so you don’t have a pile of ( 一 堆 ) homework the next day.

    4     Think about how long it will take you to complete homework for each subject. For example: English-ten minutes, science-ten minutes, math-forty minutes, history-twenty minutes.

Treat yourself. You can easily get tired by sitting through an hour or two of homework without stopping. Once you finish homework for a subject, take a small break (no more than 15 minutes). Either taking a walk or finding something to eat will do. But do not turn on the TV, or you’ll never go back to your study.     5