Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only". I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right." I always try to live by the “extra minute" rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only" moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don't only avoid those “if only" moments when it comes to safety. It's equally important to avoid “if only" in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you" or “I forgive you." When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn't be here. But then I thought about the fact that he's 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn't give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only" about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm buying myself peace of mind and that's the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
Confidence Comes From Treating Others As Equals
There's been recent discussion over Chinese attitudes toward foreigners, caused by another quarrel between a foreigner and a taxi driver. According to the studies described in the Oxford Handbook of Chinese Psychology, Chinese have lower self﹣confidence compared to Westerners. Yet does the result still apply to the Chinese people today？
Yes and no. For the moment, different attitudes toward foreigners can still be found in China's society, with some displaying low self﹣confidence like "Foreigners are awesome （令人敬畏的）, and Western countries are awesome. We should respect them and be as polite as possible, and shouldn't let them look down on us, " and a few unfriendly opinions such as "Some foreigners are rude and disrespectful, and their level of civility （礼貌） is far behind China."
Chinese used to be lacking in self﹣confidence. It might start from the modern history, after the failure in the Opium wars, and the following humiliation （耻辱） of being bullied （被欺负） and brought to their knees by Western guns. And the dark history is still to some extent affecting our mentality （心态） today.
For some time, the Western world represents the best of everything in some Chinese eyes. But our state of mind is gradually changing. When asked "What makes you feel proud of your country？" in school classes in China, answers vary from the World Expo to the Olympic Games, from athletes to astronauts, from the mushrooming skyscrapers to busy metropolises, which have all filled us with growing self﹣confidence.
While answering the question "Since China is so good today and Chinese people are more confident, why are an increasing number of Chinese emigrating abroad？" Zhang Weiwei, a professor at Fudan University, replied that at least 70 percent of Chinese migrants （移民） become more patriotic （爱国的） after leaving their home country, no matter whether they have become a naturalized citizen of another nation or not. Such result and experiences are much more convincing and have better effect than dozens of "patriotic education" classes.
There is no reason for us not to be self﹣confident. We live in the world's second﹣largest economy. Chinese net financial assets per capita （人均纯金融资产） and the purchasing power of people have seen a sharp rise, with more and more people starting to purchase works of art, instead of only necessities. These all indicate a rising standard of life and self﹣confidence.
Nevertheless, the point of the changing attitudes toward ourselves or other countries is not realizing other nations are better or worse than China, but treating them like how we treat our fellow Chinese. That is what confidence means, not being condescending （屈尊）, not worshiping, but looking each other in the eye with trust and respect.
Time Travel
If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare's play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you'd voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is science fiction novel. The Time Machine, which was written by H.G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein's theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking says you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveler were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveler wasn't born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H.G. Wells' book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles(触角).
If that's what's in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
David Cameron is urging today's youngsters to abandon French to concentrate on the tongue of the future—Mandarin(普通话)。
Cameron said: "I want Britain linked up to the world's fast-growing economies. And that includes our young people learning the languages to seal tomorrow's business deals.”
"By the time the children born today leave school, China is to be the world's largest economy. So it's time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin.” To strengthen his message , he quoted Nelson Mandela—the former president of South Africa who said "If you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head; if you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.”
Cameron said that a partnership between the British Council (英国文化协会) and Hanban will double the number of Chinese language assistants in the UK by 2016 and provide increased funding to schools of offering Mandarin as a language choice. In a development of the UK—China School Partnership programme , funding will also be provided for 60 headteachers to make study visits to China in 2014.
In recent research the British Council found only 1% of the adult population speaks Mandarin to a level that allows them to conduct a basic conversation. Just 3,000 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland entered for Chinese languages GCSEs in 2013, putting it far behind the traditional choices of French with 177,000, Spanish with 91,000 and German with 62,000 entrants(加入者), as well as Urdu, Polish and Arabic.
Professor Dame Helen Wallace, the British Academy's foreign secretary, said, " a lack of qualified teachers could be a barrier to improve its popularity.”
Laura Chan, one of the co—founders of a bilingual Mandarin—English primary school, said the prime minister's announcement was good news for the status of Mandarin. She said, "It's a great help. It will increase people's awareness of Mandarin as a language they can learn.”
A simple life means getting rid of many of the things you do so that you can spend more time with people you love and do the things you love.It's often a journey of two steps forward and one backward.
Evaluate your time.What things do you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep? Make a list, and evaluate whether they're in line with your priorities. If not, remove them and focus on what's important. Redesign your day.
Limit your communications. Our lives these days are filled with a vast flow of communications: email, cell phones, paper mail, Twitter, forums, and more. Instead, set a limit on your communications: only deal with emails at certain times of the day. Limit phone calls to certain times too. It is the same with other communications. Set a schedule and stick to it.
Try living without a car. OK, this isn't something I've done, but many others have. Walk, bike, or take public transportation. It reduces expenses and gives you time to think. A car is also very complicated, needing not only car payments, but insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas and more.
If you rid your home of stuff, you might find you don't need so much space. I'm not saying you should live on a boat (although I know some people who happily do so), but if you can be comfortable in a smaller home, it will not only be less expensive, but easier to maintain, and greatly simplify your life.
A. Have a place for everything.
B. How do you spend your day?
C. It's something I would do if I didn't have kids.
D. They can take up your whole day if you let them be.
E. However, getting to simplicity isn't always a simple process.
F. Most people don't know what “enough” is, and thus they keep buying more.
G. Consider a smaller home.
Running for a Dream
I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the 1my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come2me. I saw worry and3on my father's face. Then the race began!
For the first two and a half miles. I felt4.I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled5and a strict diet. My friends hadn't seen me in weeks, but they understood the6required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn't7out in the front, I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.
Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I8see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into9when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them10weight.
I watched as runners rushed by me.11I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed. I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the 12left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled （爬）,inch by inch, across the finish line. Voices, both13and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep14until the very end.
The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to15to. I whispered, "I'm so sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry I 16you." He looked at me, saying," You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just17.All that matters is that you did your best."
"But we worked so18.What about our dream？"He reached over for my hand and said, "Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true？"
It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on, marking a19path for my journey, I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a20.What I realized, though, was that to him ,I was the greatest prize he had ever won.
Have you complainedyour family, your boss, or even your life? Maybe everyone has, but after reading this story, you may change your view and treat the world with another attitude.
An ass (驴), (belong) to an herb-seller who gave him too little food and too much work, could not bear the life any longer. So he made a request to God, to be released from his present service and provided withmaster. After warning himhe would regret doing it, God made him to be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, the ass found that he had(heavy) loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, and asked for another change again. God, telling him that it would belast time that he could satisfy his request, made him sold to a tanner (皮革工). The ass found that he(fall) into worse hands. Knowing his new master's occupation, he said, “It would have been better for me either to have been starved by the first ownerto have been overworked by the second. But now I have already been bought by my present owner,will peel off my skin even after I am dead, and make me useful.”
We can see that people with dissatisfaction in a place are not(like) to find happiness in another.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1）答案应写在答题卡上
2）每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
3）只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
We're living in a world where we can never stress the important of sharing too much. By sharing, we can often great reduce our sadness and double our happiness.
When it came to this topic, memories flood into my mind. There was a time when I caught in the sadness of not passing an important exam. My world turned gray and I didn't feel interested in something until my best friend came up to comfort me. Encouraged and moved by his kindness, I shared my trouble with him, that relieved me soon. Little by little I regained my confidence. The followed months witnessed my efforts, and I finally made a great progress in other important exams.
As you can see, which was sharing with my friend that helped me out of that dark time and bring back my confidence. Sharing is beautiful, not only physically but also mentally.
内容包括：
1）学生们不参加体育活动的原因；
2）进行体育活动的好处。
注意：
1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3）文章开头和结尾语已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear schoolmates,
Nowadays, most students don't do sports for kinds of reasons.
Yours sincerely,
Zhang Hua
