"Which college are you going to？"Many high school students are often asked this question. For some，the answer is Harvard，Stanford，Princeton or another famous university. For others，it might be State U，a small liberal arts college or even a community college. Whether high school students' answer is a private top college or a large public university，it should be their best-fit choice.

Admission rates（录取率）of some of the country's top universities have been dropping for years up to now，with many admitting less than 10 percent of applicants. This makes these colleges all the more desirable to some applicants because they think being admitted to one of these highly selective colleges makes sure of success.

The truth is that the name brand doesn't make a college a good choice for you. Just ask one of the students who were admitted to all eight Ivy League colleges this year. He turned them all down to attend the University of Alabama，which best met his financial and academic needs.

Just like anything else in life，when something is a good fit，it works. Students that attend colleges that match their academic，social and financial needs，while still providing an academically challenging environment，are more likely to graduate on time. On the other hand，students who attend colleges that are not a good fit are more likely.to struggle，feel anxiety and stress，and fail to get out in four years. In fact，some of the colleges with the highest graduation rates aren't in the Ivy League.

It's a good fit that leads to good results — not the name of a school. Just look at some of the colleges with the highest starting salaries. Colleges like Montana Tech and Oregon Health & Science University are among the top 10 colleges with the highest early-career salaries-with Stanford and the Ivy Leagues only making the top 25.

No single college is going to be a great fit for every student，and this especially applies（适用）to the Ivy Leagues and other well-known colleges. That a college just has a famous name doesn't mean it's going to make sure of success in college or your career.

I left home at 18 and pay my own way through college. In the past 20 years, I have worked for everything I needed. So it shocks me what some people in their 20s, still get their life supported by our parents. Some of these parents have difficult supporting their families.

It’s true that the job market is much more harder these days. Therefore, there are certainly some ways to make living on our own. Even if our parents is nice enough to pay for our college, we shouldn’t burden them at our problems. We should be financially responsible adults, made our parents proud of us.

   For the last few decades，women have been breaking barriers in professions. But a new study shows that there is a hidden barrier girls are meeting with.

"Girls are facing prejudice（偏见）from boys，from some parents，and even from each other. We have made a lot of progress in gender（性别）equality but we still have a long way to go，"said Richard Weissbourd，who conducted this study. The prejudice could hold girls back from succeeding.

The study shows only 8%of girls prefer female political leaders. Many tend to believe males have always led，so they have a preference for males' leading，which becomes one of their habits. What's more surprising is that even some mothers appear to be prejudiced，supporting school councils more led by men. The girls say that they feel threatened by boys' successes in school.

Rachel Simmons says these findings are amazing，but she's not really surprised by them. "Even today we've given girls every opportunity but our attitudes still have to change，"Simmons said. "We're still giving girls messages to look at each other as threats. Girls are not looking at each other for support，and they're also feeling so insecure about how they look."

Simmons offers ways to parents to help break these patterns of gender prejudice：

Research shows that chores（日常琐事）can be given to kids in really gendered ways. Change it at home. That's a big thing parents can do. Let boys do some care-giving because attitudes start very early and parents can help kids change them very early in the home. Another thing is to change the way we talk to our kids. If you have an outspoken girl，do you call her a bossy-boots，or do you say" I'm so glad you spoke up"？

We all have our own prejudice. I have a 3-year-old daughter and when she doesn't want to wear a dress, I get a little upset about it. Again, every parent has to look at their own prejudice. What toys are we buying for our kids? Are we buying girls the make-up kits and boys the science kits?

   Forcing waiters and waitresses to survive on tips from customers rather than normal wages is a pointless, rough, and unique American custom that, in the past several years, a handful of progressive restaurant owners have attempted to do away with. Now one of the most famous names in the dining business says he’s about to join their ranks. Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, has announced that he plans to gradually stop tipping at the company’s 13 restaurants.

What, exactly, is wrong with tipping? To start with, leaving a waiter’s pay in the hands of customers causes a feeling of discrimination (歧视). In theory, handing restaurant customers the power to tip is at least supposed to inspire better, more attentive service. This fails in practice because humans turn out to be pretty arbitrary (随心所欲的) about their tipping behavior. Research has shown that the amount diners leave has very little to do with their level of satisfaction. All of this doesn’t encourage waiters and waitresses to do anything but turn over as many tables as possible.

Tipping is also very unfair to kitchen staff. The law allows restaurants to divide tips among front-of-the- house workers like waiters, hosts, and hostesses, but not cooks. This creates a system in which the people serving the food in a restaurant can earn more than the people preparing it.

One of the most appealing parts of Meyer’s move is that, unlike some restaurant owners who have taken an anti-tipping view, he won’t simply add a standard extra charge to diners’ bills. Rather, Union Square Hospitality Group intends to raise menu prices enough to fully cover the cost of a meal. If Meyer manages to move away from tipping at all without hurting his profits, it will almost certainly set the stage for others to follow suit.

   Today it is common to see people who walk about with colored wires hanging from their ears wherever they go. They move about in their personal bubbles, sometimes unaware of what’s happening around them. 【小题1】 Outside life is shut out. So are you one of “them”?

For me, walking around in my own personal bubble is perfect. 【小题2】 What’s even better, wearing earphones seems to give a signal to people which says, “I’m not available for chatting at the moment!”

Suppose, you’re at work and about to make an incredible breakthrough, but a colleague suddenly turns up. At this precise moment, the slightest disturbance would break your concentration. 【小题3】 Once again, those wires hanging from your ears would be sure to give that “Go away!” signal.

【小题4】It’s probably part of the growing up stage when they just want to ignore their whole family. While their mothers give them lectures about why they should do their homework, they can just turn up the volume on their MP3 player, smile, and say “Yes, Mum.” Problem solved.

Pretty soon, not only will we have pretty colored wires hanging from our ears—but also our brains will be directly plugged into some new high-tech instruments. We’ll be in a virtual(虚拟的) world, communicating with everyone else, or choosing not to, as we like. In this world, we will all be permanently plugged in. 【小题5】 And they are changing our social habits along the way.

In the end, there is a thin line between using technology as a tool for making life better and being a slave to it! It’s so strange—suddenly, I don’t feel like wearing my earphones anymore.