Being a good friend isn’t always easy, but taking time to develop a lasting friendship is worth the effort. As the years pass, you will realize that each friendship you keep is priceless. 【小题1】. To be a good friend and deepen a friendship, just follow these steps.

If you say you’ll hang out with a friend but an unexpected situation appears, explain the situation. Give your friend a gift and tell him you are sorry. Nobody is perfect, and it’s okay if you break a promise once in a blue moon. 【小题2】.

【小题3】. Though your friend won’t be happy that you made a mistake, he will be very pleased that you admit it instead of just pretending that nothing is wrong.

【小题4】.

To be truly supportive, you will have to be able to watch out for your friend when he is having a hard time. If you feel that your friend is getting into some trouble, help him away from the situation by not being afraid to get involved.

Part of being supportive means supporting the fact that your friend won’t always want to spend time with you. Learn to step back and give your friend space. 【小题5】 Don’t be jealous (妒忌的) if your friend has lots of other friends.

   So let’s say that you’re sitting at a restaurant and when your food arrives, you take one bite and decide that something is preventing you from taking a second bite. No matter what the reason is, this dish is going back to the kitchen, and now it’s up to you to find a way to send it back politely.

First of all, the single most important thing to do when you’re sending something back is to do it immediately. If you eat half the dish before sending it back, the server and kitchen will believe that you really don’t need to send it back.

If a dish is too salty that it cannot be eaten, you should first let the server know what the situation is, and they’ll take it back to the kitchen and bring you a new one. Remember that it is not the server’s fault, so don’t take it out on them. Also, don’t be afraid that they’ll get angry at you, or someone will spit (吐) in your food. It’s their job to make sure that you’re satisfied, and if the kitchen clearly makes a mistake the server will be frustrated with the kitchen, not with the diner who has been served an inedible meal. A new dish will be cooked, and nobody’s going to spit in it.

There is, however, one example when you are sending back a dish which will really annoy both the server and the kitchen. If you order a pasta dish that contains pancetta but then send it back to the kitchen because you’re a vegetarian (素食者) and don’t know what pancetta is, and then congratulations because you’re one of the most unbearable types of customers a restaurant can have. A perfectly good plate of food is just thrown out because you don’t ask what pancetta is before ordering.

So the bottom line: Use common sense if you think that you need to send your dish back. If the kitchen do something wrong, then they’re on the hook for a new plate of food. If you do something wrong, then hopefully you’ve learned a lesson.

   We often focus on building relationships with others but we forget the important first step: being friends of ourselves. 【小题1】. How can we have good relationships with others if we don’t even have good relationships with ourselves?

The problem might be worse than we expect. Maybe we don’t like ourselves without realizing it. Here is a simple checklist: Is there anything you don’t like about yourself from these lists?

Your past: Maybe you have made mistakes in the past which you feel bad about. 【小题2】 . Even if that happened in the distant past, your mind still has a reason not to like yourself.

Your background: You might wish that you were born in a different family, or that you had different background. 【小题3】. They seem to get whatever they want effortlessly because of their background.

Your personal characters: You might have some personality traits that you don’t like. For example, you may be an introvert（内向的人）and you don’t like it; you wish you were an extrovert. Others might have better achievements than you, and no matter how hard you tried, it might seem impossible for you to match them. 【小题4】. Is there anything that resonates（产生共鸣）with you? All these give reasons to the idea that you don’t like yourself. That in turn makes it difficult for you to be a good friend to yourself.

【小题5】. Here are some tips:

Forgive yourself.

Accept things you can’t change.

Focus on your strengths.

Write your success stories.

Stop comparing yourself with others.

Always be true to yourself.

   The jobs of the future have not yet been invented. 【小题1】 By helping them develop classic skills that will serve them well no matter what the future holds.

1. Curiosity

Your children need to be deeply curious. 【小题2】 Ask kids, “What ingredients (配料) can we add to make these pancakes even better next time?” and then try them out. Did those ingredients make the pancakes better? What could we try next time?

2. Creativity

True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it. 【小题3】 There are a dozen different things you can do with them. Experimenting with materials to create something new can go a long way in helping them develop their creativity.

3. Interpersonal Skills

Understanding how others feel can be a challenge for kids. We know what’s going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions. 【小题4】 “Why do you think she’s crying?” “Can you tell how that man is feeling by looking at his face? If someone were to do that to you, how would you feel?”

4. Self-expression

【小题5】 There are many ways to express thoughts and ideas — music, acting, drawing, building, photography. You may find that your child is attracted by one more than another.

Ways to make a great first impression

You’ve heard it a million times already, but it really does take a few seconds to make that all-important first impression. Here are some easy ways for you to impress your classmates or teachers.

● 【小题1】

Before you shake hands with somebody, make sure that your hands are clean. The handshake should not be too strong or weak. Most people use their right hands, unless they have a reason to use the left. 【小题2】.

● Be on time

When meeting someone for the first time, arriving on time is as important as breathing. You may have an excuse, but that will leave the person who hardly knows you with a bad impression. 【小题3】 It’s better to be hanging around the place than be stuck in traffic.

● Introduce yourself and ask for names

Make sure you properly introduce yourself. Ask for their names in a polite way. 【小题4】 This will increase the chances of their remembering your name in the future. Always remember to stand up when greeting someone and be sure to introduce them to anyone you’re with.

● Make good conversations

To get the most out of your discussion, try to find something common between the two of you. 【小题5】 A person will feel more comfortable with someone they can relate to.