Task 1

1. Reflection of “Basic abilities for a successful study in college”
After watching this video, I think to be globalized is very important. Our society is a global village. If you don’t notice the world’s news very often, you may be less competitive than those who know enough information of the world. What’s more, be able to learn is very important as well. Having knowledge can help us express our thoughts efficiently. However, we must have the courage to voice for ourselves. Let your voice speak out loudly so that people will hear your thoughts or problems. Last but not the least, good characteristic can lead us stepping on the right way in our lives. I agree that extreme thoughts will easily let people do harm to the whole society. We must make good use of our knowledge, and make a good balance.


2.
(1.) Do you believe everything people tell you? Why or why not?

Ans: I do not believe everything people tell me because everyone will tell lies to people in certain situations. I will lie to people as well.

(2.) For instance, when your friend tells you that working as a part-time waiter in a fancy restaurant will get you a lot of money, how would you respond?

Ans: I don’t think so. If I work as a part-time waiter, my salary will be around 85 ~ 120 dollars per hour. How much I will earn depends on how many hours I work. Working in a fancy restaurant doesn’t mean that you will certainly get more money than working in a normal restaurant. You have to work hard. This summer I had a part-time job in a cram school with my friends, and I have worked for only one month. Though some of my friends said that I would earn only around 10000 a month, I earned almost 23000 in total. They were very surprised how I make it. The reason I can earn 23000 is that I worked over 10 hours everyday. It was tired, but I had done my best. As the proverb goes, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

Two paragraphes of "America's Foreign Policy Trap"

1. There's a lot to recommend this view. For starters, it gets jihadism right. Al-Qaeda-style terrorism does stem more from state breakdown than state power. ( Compare pre-and post-Saddam Iraq. ) The weak-state concept also makes Democratic foreign policy broader than its Repoblican equivalent. In Buh-esque speeches earlier this year, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani tried- unconvinceingly- to cram virtually all of American foreign policy into the war on terror. Weak states,by contrast, offer Democrats a prism that isn't confined to the Islamic world.

2. In the monthes to come, the Democratic front runners will make more foreign policy speeches. Let's hope they each devote a whole one to China and large chunks of others to India, Russia and Japan. How the U.S. handle these powers will help determine how dangerous the world becomes in the coming years and whether the U.S. remains its lone superpower. That deserves more than a throwaway line.