Hi, everyone,I’m Michael, congratulations on finishing the first four levels. Now you are entering a brand new advanced stage level five.

In the first four levels, you learn English as a tool to help you deal with daily situations, like visiting a friend, ordering food and going to the airport.

In level five, your friendship with English will be deepened, will not only serve as a tool ,but as a mentor to help you upgrade your cognition,

you will come across topics that are cheaper, more abstract, and perhaps seemed neither practical nor useful in your day to day life. But after learning these topics ,

you’ll gain a new perspective on the world, you'll be able to participate in deep discussions with native English speakers. Your overall English will continue improving. And so will your cognition.? So then,.Are you ready? Let's get started.

? we Tend to have mixed feelings about high school. Some of us look back on it with nastalgia . It's a time when our lives were innocent, uncomplicated, and carefree.? However, for others, the memories are less sentimental for that skin, social stress and mean teachers.

So when we are invited to attend our class reunion and revisit those years all over again, we ask ourselves, should I go or stay at home? In today's lesson? We explore the details of this dilemma. As we discuss high school reunion, teenage memories and the passing of time.

? ? There are three parts in this lesson.

Part one. Why do we go to class reunion? And why don't we go?

Part two, the DOS and don'ts of attending a reunion,

part three, the different emotions we feel at the reunion

So to begin our discussion, we have two questions to answer. The first one is, why should we attend a class reunion? And the second one is, what are some reasons that people may not want to go?

? 1One Common reason is curiosity. A class reunion allows us to reconnect with people we haven't seen in a while. It's interesting to see how our memories of people match up with reality.

For example, an attractive athlete ??may have gotten out of shape.

Someone who had been a nobody ??may have found it a successful startup.

The person everyone had a crush on ??may have lost their looks.

? Of course, if we're friends with classmates on social media, we may already know that they look different. But it's still nice to see our old classmates in person. Time changes attitudes and outlooks as well as appearances.

? ? In the end, we may get along with people we never used to speak to.

2Another reason we may want to attend our reunion is tradition. In high school, you spend every day with the same people. Then at graduation, everyone is sent into the real world together. It's like we all become adults together. Meeting every 10 years strengthens this togetherness.

? 3There are some other reasons that we might refuse to admit. You may treat the reunion as a stage to show off. You know, we can pretend to say something casually like my child is not doing too bad. She <? was just admitted into ?>qinghua university or my husband is not<? a big shot. ?>It's just a bank president. And then we enjoy the following comments.

? 4 You may also consider the reunion a great chance to reconnect those who have a high <social status> or a particular skill. Admit old classmates who are now working in the education field or medical field are always good to keep in touch with.

But of course, reunion is good in nature.

? Unions allow us to revisit the past, appreciate the present and look to the future. It's a nice way to begin a new decade while reflecting on the previous one.

Now that we know why people want to go to the reunion, let's talk about why they don't. Why would people not want to attend their class reunion? For some reasons? They may avoid going.

1 First, social media has reduced the appeal of a class reunion. Today, social media has made it easy to keep in touch with our friends and classmates. You know, who is getting married and who is having a child? If you're wondering how someone is doing, you can search for them online. We no longer need a reunion to keep in touch with people, not to mention with the internet. There is no more shock and surprise about how our classmates have changed.

2 For some people, there is no need to revisit the past by Jessica from our course. She didn't want to attend her union because there wasn't anyone she wanted to see. She didn't have many positive memories of high school. She felt like an outsider with only a couple of close friends.

Feel out of place 格格不入bully欺凌

2 Experiences like jessica's are not uncommon. Some people felt out of place in high school. Maybe they weren't very popular. Maybe they were even bullied. School is not a static time for everyone. If they didn't care about high school when they were in high school? Why would they care about it now?

3 Attending a reunion may also need a lot of planning. You may have to arrange for someone to take care of things while we are away, we may need to ask a friend to feed our PETS. If we have children, we may need our spouse or our parents to take care of them. What this means that person we need to take time off from work or change their schedule. And people are often busy

. 4Traveling to a reunion can be difficult. We may have to take a train or plane back to our hometown. Then we need to find a place to stay. This requires time, money and preparation. Is it worth the effort? Just to chat with strangers for a few hours? For some people in the union can be a waste of time. They may prefer to keep in touch with people online.

5 Lastly, you may feel intimidated having to face the show offs. What if everyone else is doing better than me? I'm living such a normal life. Will they <look down on me? >These people might <make an excuse >for their absence. And like the group photos instead.

Part 2

So now we know why people wouldn't want to go to a reunion. But if we do go to our reunion, how will we act once we get there?

The reunions can be fun. They can also be a little strange. They may even be a little awkward if we don't know how to behave, you could end up in an embarrassing situation. As Ellen the generous said on the Ellen show, it's bad if you don't remember someone at a class reunion, but it's even worse if they remember you. What are some common DOS and don'ts for a class reunion?

Let's talk about what we should do before we attend a class reunion. Initially, everyone will be slightly uncomfortable at a class reunion. After all, it has been a long time since everyone last saw each other. But a little preparation can help reduce anxiety about going to a reunion.

It's a good idea to re acquaint ourselves with our old classmates. Graduation happened a long time ago. Some people struggle to recall names and even faces at their reunion. So it's smart to go through an old yearbook or get a list of names from the reunion organizers to get more familiar with the people attending. Then we can avoid an embarrassing situation.

They also want to get in touch with some old friends before the event. This gives us people to talk to at the event. So we won't feel out of place once we arrive. In fact, you could attend the reunion with a group of friends, as they say, strength in numbers.

3? Before the reunion, we can look at old items that contain our high school memories. It could be an old picture where we were in oversized uniforms and making faces. It could be a class memory book where we wrote down our wishes or something funny to our classmates.

Now that we are better prepared, we can now discuss how we behave. Once we get to the reunion, above all have a good time. You may as well enjoy it as long as you're there have a drink, introduce yourself and don't worry about the past.

When talking to people, you should be friendly and considerate. If you haven't seen someone in a long time, you should introduce yourself by name that way. They won't feel awkward if they can't remember your name.

Remember to keep an open mind when talking to people. How people acted in high school is not a reflection of who they really are. If you feel like you've changed a lot since high school, our classmates will probably feel the same way about themselves. So if someone was mean to us in high school, it's better to forgive and forget.

If we choose to drink, we should avoid drinking too much. But we have too much to drink. We can embarrass ourselves. And while many of us have some embarrassing high school memories, no one wants an embarrassing reunion memory.

The same time, we shouldn't compare ourselves to other people. We may discover that some of our classmates have been quite successful in life. Perhaps they found their own business or work at a prestigious company or are happily married. But if we dwell on other people's success, we won't have fun getting to know them.

May also want to spend more time talking to people you didn't know well in school. It may turn out that you have many things in common. For example, you may have just read the same novel or work in similar industries. A quiet guy from English class, they end up becoming a great new friend.

Speaking of getting to know people before a reunion, you may want to practice your small talk skills. You will be making a lot of small talk during the evening. Let's talk about some different ways of making conversation.

Some people, especially shy people like Jessica, hate making conversation with strangers. For the rest of us, small talk is like a scale. We haven't practiced enough. We may introduce ourselves with good intentions, but after a few minutes, we have trouble keeping the conversation going. So here are a few tips on how to talk to someone.

? Be a good listener.

People love talking about their life, their job, their family, and their interests. When someone is talking to you, ?be <attentive聚精會神> and ?ask questions. That means ?maintaining eye contact, ?smiling and ?showing interest in what someone is saying. If people feel you're interested in them, they'll be more interested in you. This keeps the conversation flowing and also leaves a good impression.

?Be generous with compliments.

A good compliment can help people feel comfortable around you. You can tell someone how cute their children are. Or you could congratulate them on how much they've accomplished since graduation. Perhaps you can relate what they are doing now to what they were like in high school, for example. Oh, it makes sense that you work in investment banking. You are so good at math in high school.

? Avoid commenting on people's Appearance.

Of course, there are bad ways to compliment people. You should probably avoid commenting on people's appearance. Even if you mean, well, people can be sensitive about how they look. If you say, WOW, you look really different or you've lost a lot of weight. It can sound a little offensive.

Take, for example, jessica's creepy classmate from the lesson. While Jessica is standing alone, he comes up to her, tells her he had a crush on her and put his arm around her waist. Doing this makes Jessica feel uncomfortable. So you should be careful with compliments, especially around the opposite sex.

2.3 What to do after the reunion?

Keeping this advice in mind, you should have a solid foundation for a nice, agreeable evening brings us to our last point. What to do when it ends?

For your reunion. It's a good idea to follow up with people. You may want to send a thank you message to the people who organized the event. It's a nice gesture. It takes a lot of work to book a venue. Arrange food and drinks can encourage people to r s VP. Thank you. Message shows the event organizers that their hard work is appreciated.

You also want to connect some of your old classmates online. So don't forget to upload any photos you took on social media, posting some nice photos from the evening and then telling people it's a thoughtful way to reach out to people.

If you received someone's phone number or EMAIL address at the reunion, contact them a few days after the reunion. Tell them you had a nice time talking to them. And if you had a fun time re connecting with an old classmate or teacher, you should make plans to meet up. It may be nice to grab a coffee and talk about your impressions of the reunion itself. Reunion can stop a lot of feelings

. How many people feel about the high school reunion? Have you ever been to one? How did you feel about it? Sometimes seeing so many people from your past can stop conflicting feelings like Jessica. What are some common emotions people may experience while attending their reunion? Here? We're going to discuss four kinds of feelings. Surprise, gratitude, and nostalgia.

Talk about awkwardness. People tend to feel awkward at class reunions, especially in the beginning. Going to the event can be stressful, especially if you're going alone. And the event is being held at a hotel or another location different from your school.

Considering how much people can age every 10 years, you may not even recognize everyone at first. When you arrive, you may not even know if you're in the right place.

Experiences like these can stir up old feelings of awkwardness from high school. You may even feel like you traveled back in time. If you weren't popular in high school or felt like no one really noticed you, you may feel this way all over again.

But this awkwardness usually doesn't last for long. Once you begin chatting with people, you realize that everyone likely feels the same way. And over time, people warm up to each other.

? Thousand high school people's memories of you may be different than you think. Or discomfort may soon be replaced by the feeling of surprise.

Now let's talk about another feeling surprise. You can be surprised, even shocked by a lot of things at a class reunion. Everyone will have aged since the last time you saw them. And if they haven't taken care of themselves, it will probably be for the worse. Double chin fitting hair, new wrinkles. It's always strange to see how time has changed. People in such different ways.

The biggest surprise of all may come from how people's personalities have changed. When we were students were still innocent and inexperienced people's lives after graduation can end up transforming them in ways that can amaze us.

Talented people may have tried to follow their dreams but failed. Other people may have experienced death and other tragedies, high school heroes or the most popular people in high school. They have never accomplished anything after graduation. Now they may be lonely and depressed at the same time, other people who were mean or angry, they end up being kind and generous.

In other words, some people may turn out to be a wonderful surprise. You may appreciate many of the people who had once thought you didn't get along with. And this realization can make the experience of the reunion very valuable.