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　　Everyone has good days and bad days．

　　Sometimes, you feel as if you are on top of the world．But occasionally you feel horrible, and you lose things and you cannot focus on your schoolwork．

　　For more than 20 years, scientists have suggested that high self-esteem(自尊)is the key to success．Now, new research shows that focusing just on building self-esteem may not be helpful．In some cases, having high self-esteem can bring bad results if it makes you less likeable or more upset when you fail at something．

　　“Forget about self-esteem,” says Jennifer Crocker, a psychologist(心理学家)at the University of Michigan, US．“It’s not the important thing．”

　　Crocker’s advice may sound a bit strange because it is good to feel good about yourself．

　　Studies show that people with high self-esteem are less likely to be depressed, anxious, shy, or lonely than those with low self-esteem．

　　But, after reviewing about 18,000 studies on self-esteem, Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, has found that building up your self-esteem will not necessarily make you a better person．

　　He believes that violent and wicked(邪恶的)people often have the high self-esteem of all．He also said：“There’s no evidence that kids with high self-esteem do better in school．”

　　All types of people have problems．People with high self-esteem can have big egos(自我)that can make them less likeable to their peers(同龄人)， said Kathleen Vohs, a psychology professor at Columbia University．

　　People with high self-esteem tend to think more of themselves, Vohs says．People with low self-esteem are more likely to rely on their friends when they need help．

　　Researchers say it is best to listen to and support other people．Find positive ways to contribute to society．If you fail at something try to learn from the experience．“The best therapy is to recognize your faults,” Vohs says, “It’s OK to say, ‘I’m not so good at that,’ and then move on．”

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　　Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped(绊倒)and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder．Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered(散落的)articles．Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden．As they walked Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, and that he was having lots of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend．

　　They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television．The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home．They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from the junior high school．They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years．Finally the long awaited senior year(大学最后一个学年)came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk．

　　Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they first met．“ Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill．“You see．I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills(安眠药)and I was going home to commit suicide(自杀)．But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow．So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more．”

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　　Stacy had recently moved from New York City to Stone Brook, Connecticut．It was hard for her to make new friends but she finally had three when she joined the Babysitters Clubs to take care of little children whose parents were busy．Claudia, Kristy, and Mary were in her class at school and also the other members of the club．The girls met at five o’clock on Friday and waited for the phone to ring．So far they had been busy, in spite of the fact that they couldn’t stay out late and were under 13．

　　Suddenly, the girls’ world was invaded by a second group calling themselves the Babysitters Agency．They were older and the group also included a few boys．The Babysitter Club tried to think of ways to compete with the older group．They could clean work for less money, however, they knew it would be difficult to compete．The shock was even greater than they had expected when most of their best customers started to call the new group．They seemed to get only a few jobs．

　　To try a new policy, Kristy recruited a few older kids who told the club they didn’t want to share their money with the other group．The club found out only too quickly that these older girls joined only as spies and didn’t show up for their job assignments．Thus more parents were unhappy with the club．

　　Finally the girls realized that the kids in the other group were not good babysitters．They watched television, talked on the phone and invited boyfriends to the house where they were sitting．When the children of the family started to complain and a near accident almost occurred the club went to the parents to tell them what was happening．

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　　Switzerland is famous for its watches．However, this country didn’t invent the watch．It was the British who did it．Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland．

　　Many years ago, an Englishman was traveling to Italy, On his way he stopped in a small town in South Switzerland．This Englishman traveled in a carriage inside which there was a carriage watch．This was the earliest kind of watch．A native shop assistant happened to see the watch．He wondered what it was and asked the Englishman about it,“It is a carriage watch,”said the man．“This machine tells the time but now it isn’t working．”

　　At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it．So the traveler handed him the watch．The assistant was a very wise man．So it was not surprising that he managed to repair it．He even remembered how it was made．As soon as the traveler had gone on his journey, he made a watch exactly the same type．

　　Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland．Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the world．

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An advertisement

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　　Talking on mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it even cheaper by shortening the words that you use．You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words(2＝to, 3＝free, 4＝for, 8＝ate, h8＝hate, etc．)Here is an example：Im 3 nw, why nt gv me a cll?(I’m free now, why not give me a call)

　　Mobile phone users have developed a series of symbols(一系列符号)to show how they feel．They are called emoticons(情感符号)．To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideway．For example, if you say something in a text message which is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face．like this：Why didt u cll me?Im so sad．：-)

　　Here are some others．Can you think of these text messages where you could use them?

　　：-(　sad　：-＜　really sad　| - | asleep　：-v　shouting　8-|　surprised

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　　When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes．Think about the kind of clothes you really need．Then look for those clothes you really need．Then look for those clothes on sale．

　　There are labels(标签)inside all new clothes．The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes．The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water．A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water．The label on a coat may say “dry clean only”, for washing may ruin this coat．If you do as the directions(说明)on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time．

　　Many clothes today must be dry cleaned．Dry cleaning is expensive．When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned．You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed．

　　You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made．Well-made clothes last longer．They look good even after they have been washed many times．Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily better made．They do not always fit better．Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes．

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　　Many thousands of years ago, people had not learned to build houses or shelters(掩蔽处)of any kind．They lived in caves where they were protected from the rain and snow．The caves were also safe places in which they could sleep without being attacked by bears or wolves．

　　The tools these people used were made of stone, so we call those times the Stone Age．A hard, sharp-edged piece of stone was an axe-head．These people learnt to bind(捆)the stone to a wooden handle using the tough sinews(筋)from legs of animals they had killed．Pieces of flint(燧石)were collected and smashed(粉碎)with heavier rocks to make pointed with sharp edges were used as knives．

　　The people of the Stone Age hunted animals which included deer, wild horses and wild cattle．After eating the meat, they took the animal’s hide, stitched it out on the ground and scraped off the fat．They left hair on the outside．Then, after they had softened the hide by stamping on it, they polished the inside with sandstone．The finished skins gave them rugs and clothes．For needless they poked(戳)thin pointed bones through the skins and stitched them with fine sinews．

　　We are not certain when the Stone Age began．Scientists think it could have been over a million years ago．They do know that it ended in about 3,000 B．C．when people learnt to make things from copper and bronze．There were Stone Age people living in South Africa in the Kalahari Desert, Australia and New Guinea when white settlers arrived not many years ago．In distant parts of New Guinea some tribes have only just begun to use tools made of iron．

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　　Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American——George Washington．Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave．He and his mother and his grandmother were free．

　　Benjamin’s grandmother came from England．In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean．After working many more years, she saved enough money to buy a farm．Benjamin lived with her for a while．She taught him to read and write and do arithmetic(算术)．

　　Benjamin’s neighbors knew that he was clever．They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock．He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch．The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America．People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds for Benjamin to settle．

　　Thomas Jefferson learned of Benjamin Banneker’s ability(能力)settle hard problems．He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States——Washington, D．C．

　　Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city．He marked where the streets and buildings——the Capital(国会大厦), the White House, and many others——should be built．

　　Later, L’Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger．He took all of the plans with him．The workmen couldn’t build without any plans to follow．

　　For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed．But Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw．He drew each again just as he once had built each piece of his clock．

　　If it weren’t for Benjamin Banneker, Washington, D．C．might look very different from the way it does today．

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