The TED speaker series features “ideas worth spreading.” With over 1,400 to choose from, we’ve selected a few that are perfect for students.

1，Larry Smith: Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career

We humans have an excellent ability to make excuses for ourselves. Larry Smith, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo in Canada, tells us why most of us will fail to have a great career. But there is a way out— if you don’t make excuses for yourself and try to pursue your passion.  

2， Andy Puddicombe: All It takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes

   Between dance team, volunteering and—oh, right—lectures, your life’s crazy factor is about to go way up. In this entertaining and informative talk, mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe teaches us how to be “more healthy, more mindful and less distracted” by taking just 10 minutes out of the day to be more present.

3， Shane Koyczan: To This DAY For the Bullied and Beautiful

This talk is sure to stay with you. Shane Koyczan’s “To this DAY” is an affecting spoken-word poem about bullying and being different that gained over 10 million views on YouTube. In this talk, Koyczan gives a live reading of the poem, along with some stories about his background.

4， Susan Cain: The power of Introverts

Does a cup of tea and a good book sound like a perfect Friday night? In this personal talk, Susan Cain argues that introverts have important talents and abilities. Our culture may value being social and outgoing, but the world needs all kinds.

Does money make people happier? Studies show that it does－when people at the poverty level are suddenly paid more. Other studies also show that people who lose the money they are used to having become very unhappy. But the most important thing seems to be that people are happiest when they make more than other people. Perhaps one secret of happiness is just to think about people who don’t have as much money as you. Sadly, however, the opposite is also true. When you compare yourself to friends and neighbors who have higher incomes, this may make you unhappy.

       Poor people need enough food to feed themselves but what happens when people suddenly become very rich? This is the case in China right now where people have become much better off, but can only have one child. The result is an army of “little emperors”: fat, spoiled children. A child measures(衡量) happiness in love, not food, and there’s nothing good about overfeeding a child.

        Richard Layard, director of the London School of Economics, says, “The six key factors(因素) now scientifically established to affect(影响) happiness most are: mental health, satisfying and secure(安定的) work, a secure and loving private life, a safe community, freedom, and moral values” It is quite interesting that only one of these has to do with making money. People who realize this think that it is better to be paid in something other than money, for example, time.

        Many people are now starting to take time off in different ways. Rather than saving up their vacations for a rushed trip once a year, people are taking a day or so here and there to have smaller, quieter vacations. In some cases, people are going in the other direction and taking vacations of several months or even a year. On these vacations, they don’t generally just lie on a beach. Instead, they might volunteer in another country or learn a new skill like a foreign language.

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Many people think that keeping a diary is something that teenage girls do. It’s seen as a place to write down secrets, things you don’t want anyone else to know. The stereotype (模式化观念) is that only women keep diaries. In fact, keeping a diary is a very old tradition. It can be useful for many different types of people. Many famous people have kept diaries. Many powerful people have kept diaries. Some of these people include famous writers and presidents.

Keeping a diary is said to have health advantages. Studies show that keeping a diary, that is, writing out thoughts daily, can reduce asthma symptoms (哮喘症状).

Writing uses your left brain, which is thoughtful and organized. While your left brain is busy, your right brain is free to create and feel. This allows you to use all of your brain power to better understand yourself, others, and the world around you.

The key to successful diary keeping is not stopping any thoughts from coming through. This even means allowing thoughts that influence you to come out in your writing. It helps make your feelings clearer, and is especially useful if a person is faced with a hard decision. Sometimes just writing down the ideas you agree and disagree helps you better understand a problem. You begin to see a problem from different ways. This is helpful if you don’t agree with others.

  All parents may ask their children this question, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" I think they can answer it easily. But in fact, when they leave high school or college, it's difficult for them to choose what to do, because there are so many good jobs. Sometimes students go to work after class to see if it is something they would like. This is also a good way to get money for college.

    Usually there is a day in a high school or college when students can go and follow an adult in his job. For example, if you want to be a computer programmer or an engineer, you can follow a computer programmer or an engineer to see what he does in his job. And high schools and colleges often ask professional people to come, you are welcomed to be with them and ask them questions. These people can tell you what education you need to do this job. They may suggest you what to major in at college or university.

    In choosing a job, you have to think about what you enjoy doing and how you want to live. Most people are very happy in their jobs because they are doing something they like.

Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their life are their friends. They believe that their family don’t know them as well as their friends do. In large families ,it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight(打架),and then they can only go to their friends for some ideas.

It’s very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend much time on the phone. This communication (交流) is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can be the right one to talk about something with .These things are difficult to say to the family.

However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents even ask their children not to meet their good friends.

Tourism(旅游业) today is much more important than before. In the past, only people with lots of money could travel on holidays to other countries. More people travel today than in the past because there is a growing middle class in many parts of the world, that is to say, people now have more money for travel. Special plane fares (特价机票) for tourists make travel less expensive and more attractive(吸引人) than ever before. One person doesn't travel for the same reason as another. But most people enjoy seeing countries that are different from their own. They also like to meet new people and to taste new food.

    Tourism causes many changes in a country and in people's lives. People build new hotels and restaurants and train the natives as guides to show visitors around places of interest. There're new night clubs and other activities. International tourism is clearly a big business.

These days, the food that you buy comes from lots of different countries. When you go to the supermarket, you will see some kinds of fruits and vegetables you have never seen before. Have a look in your kitchen, fridge, cupboard and fruit bowl and check where the food comes from. Perhaps there are apples from California, lamb from New Zealand, or potatoes from Egypt. You will probably be surprised how far food travels to get to your plate. This journey, from field to plate,is called food miles. A food mile is the distance that food travels from the farmer's field to the person who buys the food. Nowadays, food often travels thousands of miles to get to the consumer(消费者). Why is this, and what are the influences of these long distances?

Traditionally, farmers sold their food in the local market, so the food didn't have to travel very far. The consumers also did not travel very far because they went to their local market to buy the food. This was a good system for farmers and consumers. However, there were some disadvantages. For example, consumers could only buy food that farmers produced locally. In addition, they could only get food that was in season. Now, because of modern technology, food comes from all over the world. We do not have to wait for spring or summer to buy strawberries or tomatoes. They are available in winter if we want.

Some countries have to import(进口) most of their food. This is because they have difficult climates. The United Arab Emirates(UAE), for example, gets 85% of its food from other countries. Even food made in the UAE often uses imported materials.

What's wrong with food miles？Is this not a good way of increasing international trade? I believe these miles are worrying for a number of reasons. First of all, because food travels such long distances, we need more planes, trucks, and ships to move the food. This means we use more oil or gas, so there is more pollution and more global warming. In addition, food that travels a long way is not fresh and usually not very tasty. Tomatoes, for example, are picked early and stored for their long journeys. For this reason, they are usually tasteless when they get to the consumer. Local food has a better taste, and it also reduces(减少) the amount of global pollution. We need to buy more local food.

Music is an important part of our life. But recently, to cut the spending, some US schools have given up music classes. Chicago public schools fired(解雇) more than 1,000 teachers. Ten percent of them taught Art or Music.

In fact, that is not just a problem in the USA. In other countries, such asChinaand Britain, Music isn’t thought so important as Science, Math or History, either. That’s because music isn’t seen as a very important life skill, and students usually needn’t take any exams in Music. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so they choose to care about subjects that are tested often.

However learning music is useful in many ways. According to an early childhood music development program, performing music isn’t so simple as it looks. When performing music, people need different abilities to work together. While playing the piano, they see music notes and use their fingers to make sounds. They need to deal with all these things at the same time. They need attention and coordination(协调) of many senses. Music is also connected with science closely. As we all know, many scientists are good at playing music. For example, Einstein played the violin well, and German physicist Max Planck was interested in playing the piano, cello and pipe organ(管风琴).

Would you like to learn music? The most valuable thing music does is to enrich your hobbies and bring you lots of pleasure.

Can money buy happiness? Different people have different   (1)  . Some people think that money is the source of happiness. With money, one can buy   (2)   he enjoys and go wherever he likes. So, in their minds, money can bring comfort, security, and so on. But there are still a lot of   (3)   who think that money is the root of all evil. Money drives people to steal, to rob, and to   (4)   the law. Many people even   (5)   their own lives when hunting it. So we think we cannot do   (6)   without money. But even though money is necessary to life, it can't buy   (7)  . Happiness is not something that can be measured by money. It is a state of mind. One can have   (8)   of money, with which he can buy whatever he wants, but at the same time he may be not happy because he is never   (9)   or he is troubled by various kinds of   (10)  . However, although money is necessary for a happy life,   (11)   can't buy happiness. What do you think?

Dear graduates! You’ll graduate   (1)   your school. You love your classmates andteachers. But have you known how to get along with a teacher? Let’s read experts’(专家们的)  (2)  .

What does getting along with your teacher mean？"Getting along "means you and your teacher have a way that works for both of you, and you both are getting what you   (3)   from the relationship. For your teacher, he or she wants to make sure you are careful, respectful and polite, and you   (4)   your best to learn. For you, you want a teacher who respects you, answers your questions, and tries to   (5)   you learn. You can get along well with your teacher like being with your friends.

In every school, you may say some teachers are too  (6)   or serious, but don’t judge(判断) a teacher  (7)   you are in his or her class and see for yourself. Most of the time, your teacher is on your side. And a teacher who’s strict may be someone who   (8)   to do his or her job well to teach you the knowledge you should learn. It’s also   (9)   to remember that making mistakes is a part of learning. By pointing out your mistakes   (10)   helping you correct them, a teacher is teaching you. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes.