U1

Many people who are traditionally afraid of DIY are becoming enthusiastic about it. My husband and I are of no exception. Initially, we feared DIY like theplague and planned to invite experts to renovate our new house. But after we did the sums, we chose to do the renovations by ourselves. It is therecessionthat made us take up DIY; however, for many others, saving money is not the main factor anddecoratingtheir own house represents a different life-style and a fabuloussuccess and adds value to their lives.

DIY becomes increasingly popular nowadays, yet that doesn't mean there is no obstacleto it. The doers often make errors or cause potentialdamages, and they need more learning and practice. Many people turn to specialist magazines, television programs or the Internet for help, taking advantage of the useful information and advice.

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There are some areas to avoid without training, for example, gas and electrics, but some people tend to bite off more than they can chew and eventually blunderinto an extremely dangerous situation. One of the most disastrousoccasions is that a DIYer tried to install light fittings, but unfortunately heneglectedearthing them first, causing an electric shock eventually. Therefore, if you encounter any DIY task in these areas, never ever hesitate to turn to the professionals for help.

许多传统上害怕DIY的人开始热衷于DIY，我和丈夫也不例外。起初，我们害怕像瘟疫一样的DIY，并计划邀请专家来翻新我们的新房子。但在我们计算完总数后，我们选择了自己装修。正是经济衰退让我们开始自己动手；然而，对许多其他人来说，省钱并不是主要因素，装修自己的房子代表着一种不同的生活方式和巨大的成功，并为他们的生活增加了价值。

如今，DIY越来越流行，但这并不意味着它没有障碍。实干家经常犯错或造成潜在的损害，他们需要更多的学习和实践。许多人利用有用的信息和建议，向专业杂志、电视节目或互联网寻求帮助。

在没有培训的情况下，有些领域需要避免，例如煤气和电力，但有些人往往会犯错误太多，最终陷入极其危险的境地。最灾难性的情况之一是，一名DIYer试图安装灯具，但不幸的是，他忽略了先接地，最终导致触电。因此，如果你在这些领域遇到任何DIY任务，请毫不犹豫地向专业人士寻求帮助。

U3

One way to make a marriage work is by being unselfish. My husband, Jim, is probably the most unselfish man I know. He makes me be willingto do things for him because of his generous nature. He often takes the initiative to rinsethe dishes and take care of the children. I betthere are many times he would rather be reading, relaxing or working on the pasture, but he only does something for himself when all household chores are done and the kids have been taken care of. In return, I bake him all his favorite food as a treat. I feel very fortunate to have married him.

Another way to make a marriage last is to have a good sense of humor. The other day Jim and I woreourselves out after being up with the kids all night. We were both irritable on that night, and soon we started to accuseeach other of some trivial matters, but then we just looked at each other and started laughing. I don’t know why, but it felt good and helped relieve the tension.

Being able to communicate is very important for a successful marriage as well. Jim is my best friend, with whom I share most of my thoughts. We find it easy to talk about most things, so we don’t have many secrets from each other. When my mother vexeshim, he tells me about it. Things like that are easier to deal with when they’re out in the open than when they’re kept inside. Thus, we have a very open, intimateand comfortable relationship.

让婚姻成功的一种方法是无私。我的丈夫吉姆可能是我认识的最无私的人。他慷慨大方，使我愿意为他做事。他经常主动去洗碗和照顾孩子。我敢打赌，很多时候他宁愿读书、放松或在牧场上工作，但只有当所有的家务都做完了，孩子们也得到了照顾时，他才会为自己做点什么。作为回报，我把他最喜欢的食物都烤给他吃。我感到很幸运能嫁给他。

让婚姻长久的另一个方法是要有幽默感。前几天，吉姆和我和孩子们彻夜未眠，疲惫不堪。那天晚上，我们都很易怒，很快我们就开始指责对方一些琐碎的事情，但后来我们只是看着对方，开始大笑。我不知道为什么，但感觉很好，有助于缓解紧张情绪。

能够沟通对于一段成功的婚姻也是非常重要的。吉姆是我最好的朋友，我和他分享了我的大部分想法。我们发现谈论大多数事情都很容易，所以我们彼此之间没有太多秘密。当我妈妈惹他生气时，他会告诉我这件事。这样的事情在户外比在室内更容易处理。因此，我们有一种非常开放、亲密和舒适的关系。

U4

Social networking has changed the way we communication, do business, catch up on current events, and so much more. While many dismiss society’s proclivity （癖好） towards social networking as a(n) annoyinghabit, there are various advantages to staying connected to others online.

One of the most obvious benefits of using social networks is the ability to instantlyreach people from anywhere. Social networking sites allow us to stay in touch with old high school friends who have relocatedall over the country, with relatives who live halfway around the world, or meet brand new people from cities or regionsyou’ve never even heard of before.

Being connected wherever we go means that we don’t have to rely on landlines, answering machines or written letters to contact somebody. We can simply open up our laptops or pick up our smartphones and immediatelystart communicating with anyone on social networking or on social messaging apps.

Social networking also provides us with real-time news information. If you want to know what’s going on in the world, all you need to do is check social media. In addition, you can customizeyour news and information discovery experiences by choosing to follow exactly what you want.

Business owners and other types of professional organizationscan also use social media to connect with current customers, sell their products and expand their reach using social media. There are many entrepreneursand businesses which thrive almost entirely on social networks and wouldn’t even be able to operate without them.

社交网络改变了我们交流、做生意、了解时事等的方式。尽管许多人忽视了社会的倾向(癖好） 鉴于社交网络是一种令人讨厌的习惯，在网上与他人保持联系有很多好处。

使用社交网络最明显的好处之一是能够从任何地方立即联系到人们。社交网站使我们能够与移居全国各地的高中老朋友、居住在半个世界的亲戚保持联系，或者结识来自你从未听说过的城市或地区的全新朋友。

无论我们走到哪里，都能保持联系意味着我们不必依靠座机、答录机或写信来联系某人。我们可以简单地打开笔记本电脑或拿起智能手机，立即开始在社交网络或社交消息应用程序上与任何人交流。

社交网络也为我们提供实时的新闻信息。如果你想知道世界上发生了什么，你所需要做的就是查看社交媒体。此外，您可以通过选择完全按照自己的意愿来定制新闻和信息发现体验。

企业主和其他类型的专业组织也可以使用社交媒体与当前客户建立联系，销售他们的产品，并使用社交媒体扩大他们的影响力。有许多企业家和企业几乎完全依靠社交网络发展壮大，没有他们甚至无法运营。

U5

Although young people today can remember 150 Pokémon characters, surf the Internet with the speed of a NASCAR racer and download homework assignments from their cell phones, studies show they lack a critical skill they’ll need in today’s complex economic world: personal money management. Children, teens and young adults in America earn and spend large amountsof money each year. Yet this same group has inadequateknowledge about their financial affairs.

Kids don’t always learn money smarts at home. Experts agree that parents and family members are likely to be a child’s primary teachers of education, often by default. It is no surprisethat more than 70 percent of parents with children five or older feel “quite stumpedby the task of teaching their kids about basic personal finances” and fewer than half feel they are “a good role model for their children regarding budgetingand spending”. Young people agree that talking about family finances happens infrequently, if at all. Parents often miss teachable moments to share practical advice, such as during back-to-school shopping. Nearly 85 percent of high school and middle school students surveyedsaid their parents did not take time to discuss their back-to-school finances with them before the new semesterbegan.

In fact, while they do “rely on parents” for some information, 98 percent of college students and 90 percent of high school students owetheir knowledge about money management to their own experiences with money.

尽管如今的年轻人可以记住150个神奇宝贝角色，以纳斯卡赛车手的速度上网，并从手机上下载家庭作业，但研究表明，他们缺乏在当今复杂的经济世界中所需的一项关键技能：个人理财。美国的儿童、青少年和年轻人每年都有大量的收入和消费。然而，这群人对自己的财务状况知之甚少。

孩子们并不总是在家里学习理财技巧。专家们一致认为，父母和家庭成员很可能是孩子的主要教育老师，通常是默认的。毫不奇怪，超过70%有五岁或五岁以上孩子的父母感到“被教孩子基本个人理财的任务难倒了”，不到一半的父母认为自己是“孩子在预算和支出方面的好榜样”。年轻人一致认为，谈论家庭财务的事情很少发生，如果有的话。家长们经常错过分享实用建议的可教时刻，比如在返校购物期间。近85%的受访高中生表示，他们的父母在新学期开始前没有花时间与他们讨论返校财务问题。

事实上，尽管他们确实“依赖父母”获得一些信息，但98%的大学生和90%的高中生将他们的理财知识归功于他们自己的理财经历。

U6

When I was young, I lived in Fort Greene which was notorious for being a rough neighborhood. Knowing the character of every block around our building, my father taught me how to keep safe in the neighborhood. He told me if someone came to botherus, I’d better let go of his hand and walk away. It was an encounter I could vaguelyimagine: two men, younger than my father, about his size, approaching us, wordlessly, to rob us. And I was trailedby the fear that someone would interrupt our time together, that our lives would change forever, that my father would have to drop my hand. Although I snneredat people who did not understand Brooklyn, the Fort Greene my father warned us about was real.

Despite these fears, my neighborhood was the only place I had ever lived. I knew it was a place to defend. When I enrolledin a private school on the Upper East Side, I declareedmyself proudly — I was from Fort Greene.

When I was at Yale and returned for holiday breaks and summers, I found Fort Greene had been gentrifyingfor a long time. The demolition and reconstruction were indisputableevidence that after I graduated I would not be able to afford to move back. However, I worried that my neighborhood might be eclipsed by change, and transformedinto something that I could understand but could not feel.

Now, when I tell someone I am from Fort Greene, I get quite a different response. They will be exceedinglypleasant to say, “Great area.”

当我年轻的时候，我住在格林堡，那里因粗暴而臭名昭著。我父亲了解我们大楼周围每个街区的特点，教我如何在附近保持安全。他告诉我，如果有人来打扰我们，我最好放开他的手走开。这是一次我隐约可以想象的遭遇：两个比我父亲小的男人，和他一样大，一言不发地走近我们，想要抢劫我们。我被一种恐惧所困扰，担心有人会打断我们在一起的时光，担心我们的生活会永远改变，担心我父亲不得不放下我的手。尽管我嘲笑那些不了解布鲁克林的人，但我父亲警告我们的格林堡是真实的。

尽管有这些恐惧，但我的邻居是我唯一住过的地方。我知道这是一个需要防守的地方。当我在上东区的一所私立学校入学时，我自豪地宣称自己——我来自格林堡。

当我在耶鲁大学度假和避暑时，我发现格林堡已经绅士化了很长一段时间。拆迁和重建是无可争辩的证据，证明我毕业后将无法搬回来。然而，我担心我的社区可能会因变化而黯然失色，变成我能理解但无法感受到的东西。

现在，当我告诉别人我来自格林堡时，我得到了完全不同的回应。他们会非常愉快地说：“大面积。”

U7

The pool of talentedindividuals is dramatically increasing these days, and the competition for jobs in the arts is becoming fierce. Artists in particular face difficulty when it comes to being able to sustainthemselves through their chosen career. However, being successful as an artist is not impossible.

Finding people to buy your work is one of the most challengingaspects of being an artist. However, connecting with potentialclients is becoming increasingly easier thanks to social media platforms. These websites can be used not only to show and promote your work, but also to keep in touch with clientele, and network with other artists.

Due to the stiff competition in both salaried and self-employed jobs in the art world, artists find it difficult to earn enough money by only selling their artwork. Multitaskingis therefore necessary for many artists. While working at a day job, you can make use of your spare time by creating artwork. Applying for awards and residencies （艺术家为某机构工作的驻留时间） is also helpful in broadeningyour network and raising your artistic profile.

Building an impressive portfolio is crucial, because it shows evidence of your skill. A portfolio is a collection of hand-made, computer-generated, photographic, or printed samples of the artist’s artwork. No matter how seasoned as an artist you are, it can be difficult to find recognition for your work whether it is from an employer or a gallery. Employers and gallery owners don’t have the time to research you and your artwork. A portfolio shows your talent. Being an artist is not easy, but with determination, hard work, and persistence, you may find a career in the arts tremendously rewarding.

这些天来，人才库急剧增加，艺术领域的工作竞争也越来越激烈。艺术家们尤其面临着在他们选择的职业生涯中维持生计的困难。然而，作为一名艺术家取得成功并非不可能。

找人买你的作品是作为一名艺术家最具挑战性的方面之一。然而，由于社交媒体平台，与潜在客户的联系变得越来越容易。这些网站不仅可以用来展示和推广你的作品，还可以用来与客户保持联系，并与其他艺术家建立联系。

由于艺术界受薪和自营职业的激烈竞争，艺术家们发现仅靠出售艺术品很难赚到足够的钱。因此，多任务处理对许多艺术家来说是必要的。在白天工作时，你可以利用业余时间创作艺术品。申请奖励和居留(艺术家为某机构工作的驻留时间） 也有助于拓宽你的人际网络，提升你的艺术形象。

建立一个令人印象深刻的投资组合是至关重要的，因为它可以证明你的技能。作品集是艺术家作品的手工、计算机生成、摄影或印刷样本的集合。作为一名经验丰富的艺术家，无论你的作品是来自雇主还是画廊，都很难获得认可。雇主和画廊老板没有时间研究你和你的艺术品。投资组合展示了你的才华。成为一名艺术家并不容易，但只要有决心、努力和毅力，你可能会发现艺术事业会获得巨大的回报。