Parents everywhere praise their kids. Jenn Berman, author of The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy and Confident Kids, says, "We've gone to the opposite extreme of a few decades ago when parents tended to be more strict." By giving kids a lot of praise, parents think they're building their children's confidence, when, in fact, it may be just the opposite. Too much praise can backfire and, when given in a way that's insincere, make kids afraid to try new things or take a risk for fear of not being able to stay on top where their parents' praise has put them.
Still, don't go too far in the other direction. Not giving enough praise can be just as damaging gas giving too much. Kids will feel like they're not good enough or that you don't care and, as a result, may see no point in trying hard for their accomplishments.
So what is the right amount of praise? Experts say that the quality of praise is more important than the quantity. If praise is sincere and focused on the effort not the outcome, you can give it as often as your child does something that deserves a verbal reward." We should especially recognize our children's efforts to push themselves and work hard to achieve a goal, "says Donahue, author of Parenting Without Fear: Letting Go of Worry and Focusing on What Really Matters." One thing to remember is that it's the process not the end product that matters."
Your son may not be the best basketball player on his team. But if he's out there every day and playing hard, you should praise his effort regardless of whether his team wins or loses. Praising the effort and not the outcome can also mean recognizing your child when she has worked hard to clean the yard, cook dinner, or finish a book report. But whatever it is, praise should be given on a case-by-case basis and be proportionate(相称的)to the amount of effort your child has put into it.
It was summer, and my dad wanted to treat me to a vacation like never before. He decided to take me on a trip to the Wild West.
We took a plane to Albuquerque, a big city in the state of New Mexico. We reached Albuquerque in the late afternoon. Uncle Paul, my dad's friend, picked us up from the airport and drove us up to his farm in Pecos.
His wife Tina cooked us a delicious dinner and we got to know his sons Ryan and Kyle. My dad and I spent the night in the guestroom of the farm house listening to the frogs and water rolling down the river nearby. Very early in the morning, Uncle Paul woke us up to have breakfast. "The day starts at dawn on my farm," he said. After breakfast, I went to help Aunt Tina feed the chickens. while my dad went with Uncle Paul to take the sheep out to graze(吃草). I was impressed to see my dad and Uncle Paul riding horses. They looked really cool.
In the afternoon, I asked Uncle Paul if I could take a hose ride, and he said yes, as long as my dad went with me. I wasn't going to take a horse ride by myself anyway. So, my dad and I put on our new cowboy hats, got on our horses, and headed slowly towards the mountains. "Don't be late for supper," Uncle Paul cried, "and keep to the track so that you don't get lost!" "OK!" my dad cried back. After a while Uncle Paul and his farm house were out of sight. It was so peaceful and quiet and the colors of the brown rocks, the deep green pine trees, and the late afternoon sun mixed to create a magic scene. It looked like a beautiful woven(编织的）blanket spread out upon the ground just for us.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语：
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Unfair Comparisons
Thanks to social media, the distance between friends is smaller than ever. But does that make us happier? Not necessarily. A recent study has found spending too much time comparing your life with the seemingly perfect lives of your friends on social media can result in depressive symptoms.
We've all done it —- browsing through our WeChat friends' updates while feeling that green-eyed monster holding its head in our minds: Are their homes bigger and more tasteful? Are their vacations more expensive and exciting? Are their careers more successful and rewarding?
Comparison is the thief of joy. The more time you spend on social media, the more likely it is for you to feel depressive symptoms, according to a new study out of University of Houston. The study, led by Mai-Ly Steers, examines the potential impact online social comparison can have on a person's mental health.
"The underlying mechanism is social comparison," Steers said. "The reason why you feel these feelings is that you tend to socially compare yourself with your friends."
This social comparison theory was popularized by US
psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950s. According to an article in The
Atlantic 
Festinger argued that people have born tendencies to track their progress and measure their self-worth by comparing themselves with other people. That social comparison leads to feelings of insignificance and insecurity. Research has since found that making social comparisons, especially upward comparisons (to people we think above us for whatever reason), are associated with negative health outcomes like depressive symptoms and decreased self-esteem.
"You can't really control the strong desire to compare because you never know what your friends are going to post. In addition, most of our friends tend to post about the good things that occur in their lives, while leaving out the bad. If we're comparing ourselves with our friends'' sharable highlights', this may lead us to think their lives are better than they actually are, and thus make us feel worse about our own lives."
So if you are the jealous type, maybe think about signing off of your WeChat for a while. Your well-being may depend on it.
Peter woke up one morning with all the usual signs of a nasty cold: severe headache and blocked nose. Then he did what almost everyone does on a day like this. He got up and went to work. Such is the state of what the human resources industry has come to call presenteeism.
Many experts claim that presenteeism is now a bigger problem in the UK than absenteeism and could even help explain the country's weak productivity growth. A growing number of companies are realizing presenteeism and doing something about it. This generally takes the form of programmes full of once unimaginable sweets: cheap gym membership, veggie salads in the canteen, stand-up desks and the odd massage, of course, there's nothing against lunchtime dentistry or free workout. They do more good than harm. But such welfares alone won't do much to stop people from presenteeism.
The chief reasons why people soldier on have nothing to do with how fit they are. They work for leaner, more stressed companies where dismissals are common. This makes some people worried that they will be targeted in the next round of job cut if they have taken a lot of time off. Others worry about troubling stretched colleagues with more work in their absence. How annoying it is to be faced with cold faces when you return to office after two days' rest at home.
There is not much to be said for "silly things" like ping-pong tables and office bean bags. The key to dealing with presenteeism lies in training managers to be better at spotting swifly when employees are under too much stress or ill, and dealing with the situation sensibly—putting the sick employee to sick leave although he is reluctant. Of course, work has to be done to eliminate employee's concern about his job prospect thereof.
Loneliness Peaks
For years America has been talking about obesity, but a new study points to a more serious health issue: isolation and loneliness.
Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants who lack human contact in care fail to grow and often die. Indeed, social isolation has been used as a form of punishment. According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, the lead author of the study, an increasing portion of the U.S. population now population now experiences isolation regularly. Over 42 million adults above age 45 in the U.S. are estimated to be suffering from chronic(长期的)loneliness.
The study of 340 adults between the ages of 27 and 101 living in San Diego identified three key age ranges when people felt the loneliest. Participants who had the highest levels of loneliness were in their late-20s, mid-50s and late-80s. While it may come as a surprise that people in their late-20s suffered from loneliness, a larger survey shows they actually may suffer the hardest.
With an increasing number of people working from home, watching television, getting into an addiction to electronic devices, it has become too easy to be alone, even if that's not a person's intention. Modern day conveniences like having anything we want delivered make it possible to never need to leave the house. So, not surprisingly, those with frequent social contact usually feel less lonely than those with few social ties.
Mounting evidence suggests social isolation and loneliness significantly impact our health, and even shorten our lives, just like obesity. This study isn't the first time loneliness has been flagged as an emerging health issue. Therefore, reducing both isolation and loneliness is important for quality of life and well-being.
Desertification
Desertification is one of the world's most alarming processes of environmental degradation(退化). The issue is often unclear, however, by a common misperception: that it's a "natural" problem of advancing deserts in faraway developing countries. In fact, desertification is about land degradation: the loss of the land's biological productivity, caused by man-made factors and climate change.
Each year, desertification and drought cause an estimated $42 billion in lost agricultural production. The risks of desertification are sufficient and clear. It contributes to food insecurity, hunger and poverty, and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further poverty and land degradation. The great urgency of this challenge led the United Nations General Assembly to state 2006 to be the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). It is a strong reminder of the urgent need to address the far-reaching implications of this problem. United Nations General Secretary recently summarizes in this way: "I look forward to working with Governments, civil society, the private section, international organizations and others to focus attention on this crucial issue, and to reverse the trend of desertification and set the world on a safer, more sustainable path of development."
The IYDD also presents a golden opportunity to get the message across strongly and effectively that desertification is a global problem which we ignore at our risk. It is important to recognize that dry-lands are home to some of the most magnificent ecosystems of this world. These unique natural habitats have been home to some of the world's oldest civilizations. They stand like open-air museums, bearing witness to bygone eras. The Year will therefore also celebrate the delicate beauty and unique inheritance of the world's deserts.
Have you heard about the "small goal" Wang Jianlin talked about in a show？Wang Jianlin, founder and chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, made a statement during an interview part of the show on how young people who want to become wealthy should plan ahead," The direction is correct. But at first you'd better set a reachable tiny goal. For example, I can start with earning only 100 million." Though the statement about "setting a small goal" went viral on social media mostly as an amazing opinion, there is no denying that setting proper goals really plays an important role in people's life.
【写作内容】
1）用约30个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2）综合上述信息，用约120个单词阐述设定目标对青少年的重要性以及我们应该如何规划以实现自己的人生目标。
【写作要求】
1）写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2）作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3）不必写标题。
【评分标准】
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
Holding Parents Responsible—An Unfair Punishment
The rise in teen crime suggests that some parents are failing at their parental tasks. To correct the problem, lawmakers in some states require parents to serve jail time. They hope that this punishment will motivate parents to take their responsibilities seriously.
Despite public support for parental responsibility laws, many people think that the laws are unfair. They suggest that parents should not be punished for the criminal acts of their children, unless it can be shown there is a related fault on the parents' part. For example, if young teenagers are arrested for drinking alcohol supplied by parents, then parents should be held responsible because they helped the teenagers break the law. People who oppose parental responsibility laws also believe that punishing parents is unlikely to create a change in the kids' behavior. These people argue that parents may not be at fault. The children of good parents can fall in with the wrong kids and get into trouble, they say. Worse yet, if mom is in jail, there may be no one at all to control her kid. That lack of control may then lead to more crime.
The unfortunate fact is that jailing a mom or dad punishes the rest of the family. The jailed parent cannot work to help feed the family or pay the rent. A parent who is sent to jail for the crimes of a teenager may also be fired from a job for missing too much work. Furthermore, little evidence exists to support the idea that the threat of punishment improves a parents' ability to control a teenager. The problem is that some teens cannot be controlled by their parents, even if the parents try hard to control them. These struggling parents are not ignoring their parental responsibilities. Opponents of parental responsibility laws say that parents who are in this situation need help, not a jail sentence.
Could you be flexitarian?
What kind of food do you eat? Are you conscious of the types of food you consume? Although there is research on the right diet to follow to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle — but it's hard to know which one to pick and, once chosen, it's harder still to stick to it. And now there's another choice for you.
A flexitarian diet involves eating plant-based foods and only occasionally eating meat and fish. This is a lovely alternative to being a vegetarian by not completely resisting meat.
This eating style allows you to supplement some ingredients that you wouldn't get in a stricter vegan (纯素) diet. And like veganism, flexitarianism isn't about eating carefully to help you lose a few pounds — it's something people choose for ethical reasons, to help the planet. And a study into the global food system and how it affects the climate, has found that eating mainly plant-based foods is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all.
This research found that food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve to achieve this. But without a single solution, a combined approach is needed. Dr. Marco Springmann, one of the lead authors of the report argued "We really found that a combination of measures would be needed to stay within environmental limits and those include changes towards healthier more plant-based diets."
While vegans think it's wrong for animals to be killed for food, flexitarians believe eating meat once in a while is acceptable. And Dr. Springmann agrees — as long as we "treat it as a luxury, it's probably acceptable but you shouldn't have more than one serving of red meat, which includes beef and pork, per week." And here's another fact to digest: If we moved to this type of diet, the study found that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture would be cut by more than half.
Fujian Puppetry (木偶剧) in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
As one of the contributions of Chinese performing art to the world's cultural heritage (遗产), Fujian puppetry has a long history. It has developed a set of characteristic techniques of performance and puppet making, as well as plays and music.
No final conclusions have yet been reached on the origins and evolution of Chinese puppetry. Dating from Shang dynasty, pottery figurines (陶俑) used as burial objects have been discovered at the Yin Ruins. In a Western Han tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan Province, a number of wooden figurines have been unearthed. These were a great improvement on those from previous dynasties in terms of craftsmanship, variety and modeling. Over time, figurines as burial objects evolved into puppets for entertainment on festive occasions.
Chinese puppetry further developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a bunch of schools spreading across the country. Puppet shows from various places had their own characteristics in terms of figure modeling.
In the past few decades, many traditional forms of art have seen a decline in popularity. In particular, Fujian puppetry finds itself in hot water. The number of young people learning puppetry has decreased due to socioeconomic changes to their lifestyles. The long period of training required to master the complicated performing techniques has also been a factor in the fall.
In response, concerned communities, groups and bearers laid down the 2008-2020 Strategy for the Training of Coming Generations of Fujian Puppetry Practitioners. The key objectives are to safeguard the promotion of Fujian Puppetry and to increase its sustainability through professional training to cultivate a new generation of puppetry practitioners; creation of teaching materials; construction of training institutes and exhibition halls; regional and international cooperation; and artistic exchange.
In 2012, the strategy was added to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices by the UNESCO. With great efforts made by practitioners, local people and education institutions, Fujian Puppetry can expect a brighter future.
Should some books be banned from school libraries?
Are there Harry Potter books in your school library? Many kids all over the world are reading J. K. Rowling's books in school. But some parents think their children shouldn't be able to find those and other books in school libraries. Should school libraries keep books that some parents don't approve of? Should they take those books off the shelves? All over the country, schools are wrestling with those questions.
It's true that some hold their argument that some books should be banned from school libraries! "We need certain limits," said one student in Denver, Colorado. He said some books have no place in school libraries. Many people believe that books that contain violence or bad words shouldn't be in schools. Some people want the Harry Potter books removed because they contain talk about wizards and magic.
Most parents know what's good for kids. They have a right to decide which books should or should not be in school libraries.
Books should meet certain standards before they are put in schools. Is this a good book for kids to read? Is it full of violence? Does it contain bad words or ideas kids shouldn't learn about? If a book is not good for all kids, it should not be in a school library. Most parents don't have time to find out everything their kids read. They should be able to trust schools to do that for them.
On the other hand, some believe that books should not be banned from school libraries! "Parents should decide what their own kids read," said Natalie Nicol, of Denver, Colorado. But other parents shouldn't make that choice for them. Many experts say that it's the parents' job, not the school's job, to check out what their kids are reading. If they don't like a book, they should not let their kids read it.
Why should a few parents stop kids from reading stories like the Harry Potter series? Kids should be able to check out books their parents think are OK to read. Many schools let kids borrow certain books if they have a signed paper from a parent. That works fine. A parent doesn't sign the paper if he or she doesn't want the child to read the book. Other kids can read the books if they have permission.
Some books are not OK for all kids to read. But if more adults were careful about what their own kids read, they wouldn't have to ban books from the library.
现在上海高考采用的是三加三模式（语数外+理化生政史地任选三门），以往采用的是三加一模式（语数外+理化生政史地任选一门），针对这两种高考模式谈谈你的看法。你的文章必须包括：
1）比较两种模式的异同；
2）你更喜欢哪种模式并陈述理由。
注意：请勿透露本人真实姓名和学校名称。
As he lay awake that night, Tony could hear his parents discussing his sister Alice's birthday. It was just two days away. Birthdays were always a lot of fun, even though there was no money for store-bought gifts. Nearly all of toys he and his sister had were homemade. There was nothing wrong with that, he knew. Like many families in this part, they were poor.
This birthday would be different, though. Alice was older now, and he'd seen how her eyes lit up when she saw the new doll at Honey House, a neighborhood store just down the road from their house.
How he longed for her to have it! An idea finally came to him just before he went to bed. After a quick breakfast the following morning, he placed a tin can and a piece of string in a large bag. Then he tied the bag to the handlebars of his bike and headed toward a village hill.
After a long journey, he reached his destination, the mango forest. There were already two other boys there. Tony grabbed his bag and set to work immediately. The smaller trees had already been picked over pretty well, but he was able to find a half-dozen mangoes before noon.
When the sun was high overhead, the hard work began. Nearly all of the taller trees held ripe mangoes but they were well beyond reach. The other boys took their fruit and went away. Tony used his pocket knife to cut a long piece of bamboo. Then he took the tin can from the bag, tied it to one end of the bamboo stick, and walked over to the base of mango tree.
He stayed there, holding the tin can high up into the tree. His efforts were occasionally rewarded when a mango dropped into the can. After a while his neck ached from looking upward, and his arms grew sore. He kept at it, though, and by late afternoon his bag was nearly full.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
On the way back to town, Tony began to worry that the other boys might already have sold or traded their mangoes with Honey House.
Paragraph 2:
The following morning, Alice walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the breakfast table.
When I arrived at 6 a.m. in the large hospital kitchen, Rose was already checking name tags on the trays (托盘).
Hi, I'm Janet." I tried to sound cheerful, although I already knew Rose's reputation for being impossible to work with. "I'm scheduled to work with you this week."
Rose stopped what she was doing and peered over her reading glasses. I could tell from her expression she wasn't pleased to sec a student worker.
“What do you want me to do? Start the coffee?” I asked.
Rose coldly nodded and went back to checking name tags.
I filled the 40-cup pot with water and began making the coffee when Rose yelled, “That's not the way to make coffee.” She stepped in and took over.
Nothing I did pleased her. All morning, her eagle eyes missed nothing and her sharp words hurt.
Totally exhausted, I trudged the six blocks home late that June afternoon. As a third year university student working my way through school, I had never before met anyone like Rose.
Fighting back tears, I wrestled with my dilemma alone in my room. "What shall I do?" The answer caught me completely by surprise. I needed to love Rose.
Working with Rose the next morning, I ignored the hurtful remarks thrown in my direction and did things Rose's way as much as possible. As I worked, I silently began to surround Rose with a warm blanket of love. Over the next few days, an amazing thing began to happen. My focus shifted from what she was doing to me and I started seeing Rose as the hurting person she was. Then her icy tension began to melt away.
Throughout the rest of the summer, we had numerous opportunities to work together. Each time, she seemed truly happy to see me. Her bitterness gave way as she started opening up. As I worked with this lonely woman, I listened to her, something no one else had done. I learned that she was burdened by elderly parents who needed her care and her own health problems.
The days slipped by quickly as I finished the last several weeks of my summer job. I soon would be returning as a full-time university student and say goodbye to Rose.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1 ：
One day, while I was working alone in one of the hospital kitchens, Rose entered the room.
Paragraph 2 ：
Although I never saw Rose again, I still remember her vividly.
"Wanted: Violin. Can't pay much. Contact…"
I rarely read the classified advertisements, so why did I notice that one? I laid the paper on my lap and closed my eyes, remembering what had happened many years before, during the Great Depression when my family struggled to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin.
When my older twin sisters began showing an interest in music, Harriet Anne learned to play Grandma's piano, while Suzanne turned to Daddy's violin. Simple tunes became lovely melodies. My baby brother danced; Daddy hummed and Mother whistled. I just listened.
When my arms grew long enough, I tried to play Suzanne's violin. Oh, how I wanted one! But I knew it was out of the question.
One evening as the twins played in the school orchestra. I closed my eyes tight to capture the picture firmly in my mind. Some day, I'll sit up there, I vowed silently.
It was not a good year. At harvest the crops didn't bring as much as we had hoped. Yet even though times were hard, I couldn't wait any longer to ask, "Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?"
"Can't you use Suzanne's?"
"I'd like to be in the orchestra too, and we can't both use the same violin at the same time."
Daddy's face looked sad. That night, and many following nights,I heard him remind God in our family prayers,"…and Lord, Mary Lou wants her own violin."
One evening we all sat round the table. The twins and I studied. Mother sewed and Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, George Finkle, in Columbus, Ohio. Mr Finkle, Daddy said, was a fine violinist.
When Daddy received a letter from Columbus a few weeks later, he asked me, "Mary Lou, do you want to go with me to visit Mr. Finkle?"
He drove us to Columbus and we came to a fine, old house. A tall man opened the door. He and Daddy heartily shook hands, both talking at once.
"Mary Lou, I've been hearing things about you. Your Daddy has arranged a surprise for you!" He picked up a case, opened it, lifted out a violin and started to play. The melody surged and spoke like waterfalls. Oh, to play like him, I thought.
Finishing the piece, he turned to Daddy. "I found it in a pawnshop(当铺)for seven dollars. It's a good violin. Mary Lou should be able to make a beautiful music with it." Then he handed the violin to me.
注意：
⒈所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
⒉至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
⒊续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
⒋续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
I noticed the tears in Daddy's eyes as I finally comprehended. It was mine!
Paragraph 2:
I forced my thoughts to the present and read again the advertisement.
It was a beautiful morning. I was in the middle of a busy day, with my mind on what I had to do next. As I drove along a busy street. I noticed a young boy walking out from the entrance of an apartment complex(公寓群) on the other side of the street.
I couldn't see beyond the entrance with trees and bushes shading it but I hoped that his family was there, about to appear behind him. The boy was young, maybe four years old, and it was a strange sight to see him alone near this busy street, even if just for a little while. I continued to look behind me but I didn't see anyone else coming out to join him as cars ran swiftly past him. Then, I saw him turning around and running back toward the entrance. I smiled in relief, as I hoped that he was heading back towards his family.
Still, I felt I should check to be sure he was safe and did a U-turn as soon as I was able to. As I drove back to where I first saw him, I was expecting to see him safe, with his family around him. Instead, as I got closer, I saw that he had changed directions again, crossed the median(隔离带)and was quickly running in the opposite direction of the apartment buildings. I pulled my car over quickly and as I did so, all the cars on both sides of the street suddenly stopped as well, as if just realizing the potential danger of the situation.
I crossed the street and went up to him. He stopped as I approached, looking at me cautiously and backed away slightly towards the road. I didn't want to scare him so I bent down a bit. Seeing a piece of paper in his hand, I asked him where his parents were and why he was there but he did not answer. Instead, he ran away from me along the median.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
3）续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
4）续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
At this point, a man in another car asked if I needed help and I said yes.
Paragraph 2:
I saw his dad racing towards us and heard him calling out the boy's name.
These days our society develops rapidly and forces people to rush. It appears that people have got used to being in a hurry. However, it's better for people to take their time and live their life at a slower pace than to hurry to get things done.
The main reason that convinces us to oppose doing work in a hurry is the possibility of doing wrongs in a rush. When people do their jobs or take action in a hurry, they can't make a sound decision and probably regret later. As the saying goes, “Haste makes waste.” We should think carefully before making a decision and do our work less quickly. We should not make mistakes by doing work hurriedly.
Slowing down the pace of life helps people enjoy their life better. For example, taking a train to some place certainly will take more time than taking a plane. However, taking a train makes people have enough time to get to know a lot of new friends. Besides, it allows people to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. On the contrary, being in a hurry will make us lose chances of enjoying our life.
Finally, slower life pace provides better health condition for us. As is known to all, taking action in a hurry bothers people and raises their stress. People think if they are not in a hurry, they will become a loser and that annoys them. But being in a hurry can hurt people both physically and mentally. According to some studies, people who have a slower pace suffer fewer diseases, tend to be happier and live much longer than those whose life is tense, even if the former finish jobs more slowly than the latter.
In short, working quickly will bring about more material benefits to make our society more advanced. Yet, much stress can't bring enjoyment, friends and health, which are much more important than money and other material advantages. Therefore, take your time and live your life at a slower pace.
Calling Latin a dead language is a matter of semantics (语义学).There are those who would suggest Latin is not dead, and that it lives on in everyday language used by billions of people worldwide. Others argue that because there're routine updates on Latin published by the Roman Catholic Church, it is still alive and developing.
However, Latin is no longer used, on a daily basis, by the vast majority of people outside of specific religious settings, where tradition influences its use. It is no longer anyone's native language. While its use is still taught, Latin is no longer considered to be a developing language to the degree of most modern languages.
The reasons for Latin dying out are numerous. Perhaps the most significant one has to do with the decline of the Roman Empire. During the Roman period, language was standardized to a greater degree. Because Rome was the most powerful political country in the Western world at the time, most of those who had any ambition to succeed had a desire to learn Latin. As a result, the language spread rapidly. However that rapid expansion would eventually begin to plateau (处于停滞状态)and finally decline.
Latin continued to be used during the medieval period. Throughout Europe, it remained the language of choice. However, with nothing to unite the continent, there was no need for a uniform language. So slowly, over a period of hundreds of years, Latin began to change as different regions developed their own dialects (方言),known as the Romance languages today, among which the most commonly spoken and recognizable are Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French.
Though not directly related to the Romance languages, Latin still has had an effect on many other languages. English, for example, which is not one of the Romance languages but a Germanic one, can trace nearly two-thirds of its words back to Latin roots.
