第一周补充阅读材料

Weekly Reading Materials (1)What matters is what you doOne time or another, you’ve had the thought running through your head that if you only knew more you would be more successful in life.It’s only natural that you think knowing more will make you more successful. Perhaps another degree, a conference, or a DVD business series is what you need to turn your situation around.It’s frustrating.b ecause the more you learn, the less you feel like you’re becoming successful.That’s because, despite what you hea r about success, it has very little to do with formal education. How much you know doesn’t really matter.Some of the most successful people did it without all the education:Steve Jobs stayed in college for only six months. His breakthrough inventions in mobile technology and movie animation are perhaps the greatest business marvel of the last fifty years.Henry Ford had no college education at all. He went on to reinvent the manufacturing process and the entire automobile industry.William Shakespeare dropped out of middle school. He would later create almost 2,000 English words and write the most famous literary works.Horace Greeley had no schooling at all. He would later become a Congressman, and today is considered one the most influential journalists in American history.Albert Einstein was a high school dropout and failed his university entrance exams. He came up with the Theory of Relativity, published 300 scientific papers, won a Nobel Prize, and is considered the greatest mind of the twentieth century.Success isn’t really about how much you know. What matters is what you do.One of the greatest inventors the world has ever know explained success this way: “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”Thomas Edison didn’t just say that; he lived it. He would attempt over 10,000 separate tries in creating the light bulb.Some people probably thought he was crazy. And some will think you are too. Maybe you’re just on your way to doing something mind-blowingly amazing.How Carl Max learned foreign languagesKarl Marx was born in Germany, and German was his native language. When he was still a young man, he was forced to leave his homeland for political reasons. He stayed in Belgium for a few years; then he went to France. Before long he had to move on again. In 1849, he went to England and made London the base for his revolutionary work.Marx had learned some French and English at school. When he got to England, he found that his English was too limited. He started working hard to improve it. He made such rapid progress that before long he began to write articles in English for an American newspaper. In fact, his English in one of these articles was so good that Engels wrote him a letter and praised him for it. Marx wrote back to say that Engel’s praise had greatly encouraged him.However, he went on to explain that he was not too sure about two things - the grammar and some of the idioms.These letters were written in 1853. In the years that followed, Marx kept on studying English and using it. When he wrote one of his great works, The Civil War in France, he had mastered the language so well that he was able to write the book in English.In the l870s, when Man was already in his fifties, he found it important to study the situation in Russia, so he began to learn Russian. At the end of six months he had learned enough to read articles and reports in Russian.In one of his books, Marx gave some advice on how to learn a foreign language. He said when people are learning a foreign language, they should not translate everything into their own language. If they do this, it shows they have not mastered it When they use the foreign language, they should try to forget all about their own. If they cannot do this, they have not really learned the spirit of the foreign language and cannot use it freely.Want to know how to improve your grades without having to spend more time studying? Sounds too good to be true? Well, read on...How to Improve Y our Study HabitsTerhaps you are an average student with average intelligence. Y ou do well enough in school, but you probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily the case, however. Y ou can receive better grades if you want to. Y es, even students of average intelligence can be top students without additional work. Here's how:1. Plan your time carefully. Make a list of your weekly tasks. Then make a schedule or chart of your time. Fill in committed time such as eating, sleeping, meetings, classes, etc. Then decide on good, regular times for studying. Be sure to set aside enough time to complete your normal reading and work assignments. Of course, studying shouldn’t occupy all of the free time on the schedule. It's important to set aside time for relaxation, hobbies, and entertainment as well. This weekly schedule may not solve all of your problems, but it will make you more aware of how you spend your time. Furthermore, it will enable you to plan your activities so that you have adequate time for both work and play.2. Find a good place to study. Choose one place for your study area. It may be a Array desk or a chair at home or in the school library, but it should be comfortable, and itshould not have distractions. When you begin to work, you should be able toconcentrate on the subject.3. Skim before you read. This means looking over a passage quickly before youbegin to read it more carefully. As you preview the material, you get some idea of thecontent and how it is organized. Later when you begin to read you will recognize lessimportant material and you may skip some of these portions. Skimming helps doubleyour reading speed and improves your comprehension as well.4. Make good use of your time in class. Listening to what the teacher says inclass means less work later. Sit where you can see and hear well. Take notes to helpyou remember what the teacher says.5. Study regularly. Go over your notes as soon as you can after class. Reviewimportant points mentioned in class as well as points you remain confused about. Read about these points in your textbook. If you know what the teacher will discuss the next day, skim and read that material too. This will help you understand the next class. If you review your notes and textbook regularly, the material will become more meaningful and you will remember it longer. Regular review leads to improved performance on test.6. Develop a good attitude about tests. The purpose of a test is to show what youhave learned about a subject. The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test, so don’tworry excessively about a single test. Tests provide grades, but they also let you knowwhat you need to spend more time studying, and they help make your knowledgepermanent.There are other techniques that might help you with your studying. Only a fewhave been mentioned here. Y ou will probably discover many others after you havetried these. Talk with your classmates about their study techniques. Share with themsome of the techniques you have found to be helpful. Improving your study habits willimprove your grades.。