A “Gap Year” is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working. It can give young people useful learning experiences and new skills.
Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：
Learn about the World and Yourself
Although you don't have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.
Face Challenges and Have Fun
A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn't always easy, but it is an important part of growing up. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.
Save Money and Improve Your College Admission Chances
There's a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it's not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. Clear learning goals ran keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.
Imagine an admission officer trying to admit (录取) only one between two students. Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose?
Can you remember the first time you learned to ride a bike or drive a car? Learning these skills changed your life forever and opened up new horizons. Learning about computers can be like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car. Once you have invested the time to master the skills , you will never go back to the old days. The new technology is simply too convenient and too powerful.
Technological developments through the years have enabled us to do more with less effort. We have continuously looked for better ways of doing things. Each invention and new development has allowed us to extend our capabilities. Today we see one of the most dramatic technologies ever developed—the computer. It extends the capabilities of our minds.
Computers have saved organizations millions of dollars. Furthermore, these same computer systems have opened up new opportunities that would have gone undiscovered or neglected. The computer may multiply what we can do, and the return on investment is high. The growth of computer usage is surprising. On the other hand, the computer can do serious damage. Invasion of privacy(侵犯隐私), fraud(欺诈), and computer-related mistakes are just a few shocking examples.
The computer is like a double-edged sword. It has the ability to cut us free from some activities, but it can also cut deep into profits, personal privacy, and our society in general. How it is used is not a function of technology. It is strictly a function of how people decide to use or misuse this new technology. The choice is yours, and only through a knowledge of computer systems will you be able to avoid the dangers while enjoying the many, many benefits of the computer age.
There are several ways you can find out about the countries and places you wish to visit. You can talk to friends who have traveled to the places, you can go and see a colour film about them, or you can read a travel book.
It seems that there are three kinds of travel books. The first are those that give a person al, subjective(主观的) idea of travels which their writer has got himself. These books can be useful if the writers share their traveling experiences with others. The second kind are those books which give objective(客观的) information of things to be done and seen. If a cultured person has written such a book about the facts of a place, then it is more useful. The third kind are those books which are called “a guide” to some place or other. If they are good, they will describe and explain the place in detail. Like the first kind, they can be interesting and exciting, but their main purpose is to help the reader plan his travel in the most practical way. Whatever kind of travel book you choose, you must make sure that the book does not describe everything as interesting, exciting or fantastic. You must also keep an open eyes on its date of publication(出版) because travel is very practical matter and many things change quickly in the 21st century. Finally, you should make sure that it's easy to find the useful information for you travel.
If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important things to remember about reading rate:
Knowing why you are reading or what you are reading to find out will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly.
Some things should be read slowly throughout. Examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic problems, science and history books, which are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important ideas.
Some things should be read rapidly throughout. Examples are simple stories meant for enjoyment, news letters from friends, pieces of news from local, or home-town, papers, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors.
In some of your reading, you must change your speed from fast to slow and slow to fast, as you go along. You will need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas which must be remembered.
Forgiveness
To forgive is a virtue, but no one has ever said it is easy. When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your hate. However, forgiveness is possible, and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health. People who forgive show less sadness, anger and stress and more hopefulness, according to a recent research. Try the following steps：
Calm yourself. You can take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, or someone you love.
Don't wait for an apology. Many times the person who hurt you does not intend to apologize. They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean becoming friends again with the person who upset you.
Take the control away from your offender(冒犯者). Rethinking about your hurt gives power to the person who caused you pain. Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you.
If you understand your offender, you may realize that he or she was acting out of unawareness, fear, and even love. You may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender's point of view.
Don't forget to forgive yourself. But it ca n rob you of your self－confidence if you don't do it.
A．Why should you forgive?
B．How should you start to forgive?
C．Recognize the benefits of forgiveness.
D．Try to see things from your offender's angle.
E．For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge.
F．To make your anger die away, try a simple stress－management technique.
G．If you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time.
Michael Greenberg is a very popular New Yorker .He is not famous in sports or the arts. But people in the streets1him, especially those who are 2.
For those people, he is“Gloves”Greenberg. How did he get that3?He looks like any other businessman, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase(公文箱).But he's4.His briefcase always has some gloves.
In winter , Mr. Greenberg does not5like other New Yorkers, who look at the sidewalk and6the street. He looks around at 7.He stops when he8someone with no gloves. He gives them a pair and then he9,looking for more people with cold10.
On winter days, Mr. Greenberg11gloves .During the rest of the year, he12gloves. People who have heard about him13him gloves, and he has many in his apartment.
Mr. Greenberg14doing this 21 years ago. Now, many poor New Yorkers know him and 15 his behavior. But people who don't know him are sometimes16 him. They don't realize that he just wants to make them17.
It runs in the18.Michael's father always helped the poor as he believed it made everyone happier. Michael Greenberg feels the19.A pair of gloves may be a20thing, but it can make a big difference in winter.
Daisy: Hello, it is a long time since we last (meet).What have you been doing recently?
Alice: I work for Lenovo as an assistant.
Daisy: What do you think of the job?
Alice: It is hard to say. I am a little （disappoint）in spite of the good salary. Honestly speaking, I am unfit for the job. I feel like (change) my job. If I could find a more suitable position for myself, I would.
Daisy: I think you should change your job as soon as possible.
Alice: You are right. I will think （careful）about your advice. By the way are you satisfied your present job?
Daisy: You know, my dream is to be a lawyer. (graduate) form my college, I worked in a law firm as a lawyer for one year, now I can deal with a case all by myself, but It's getting more and more (stress).
Alice: Yes, everything has two sides. is hard for everyone to be satisfied in life. Therefore, we should think about things are more optimistic in our lives. Everything can change if your attitude is right.
Daisy: Yeah, tomorrow is another day; we will have bright future.
Alice: I firmly believe that too.
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．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
A few years ago, some tourists pay no attention to environmental protection．They threw waste things about, like plastic bags, fruit skins and waste papers．Sometimes they broke trees, picked up flowers and killed birds; some even made fires in the woods to cook for picnics．What dangerous it was ! Fortunate, great changes have been taken places here．All the tourists have got used to put their rubbish into dustbins．But they are making great efforts to protect birds and plants as well .They bring our own meals prevent any accidental fire．All these should be appreciated.
