解放军文职招聘考试Peace and Development: the Themes of Our Times

 Peace and Development: the Themes of Our Times

Peace and development are the themes of the times.

People across the world should join hands in advancing the lofty cause of peace and development of mankind.

A peaceful environment is indispensable for national,

regional and even global development.

Without peace or political stability there would be no economic progress to speak of.

This has been fully proved by both the past and the present.

In today’s world, the international situation is, on the whole, moving towards relaxation.

However, conflicts and even local wars triggered by various factors have kept cropping up,

and tension still remains in some areas.

All this has impeded the economic development of the countries and regions concerned,

and has also adversely affected the world economy.

All responsible statesmen and governments must abide by the purposes of the UN Charter

and the universally acknowledged norms governing international relations,

and work for a universal, lasting and comprehensive peace.

Nobody should be allowed to cause tension or armed conflicts against the interests of the people.

There are still in this world a few interest groups,

which always want to seek gains by creating tension here and there.

This is against the will of the majority of the people and against the trend of the times.

An enormous market demand can be created and economic prosperity promoted

only when continued efforts are made to advance the cause of peace and development,

to ensure that people around the world live and work in peace and contentment

and focus on economic development and on scientific and technological innovation.

I hope that all of us here today will join hands with all other peace-loving people

and work for lasting world peace and the common development and prosperity

of all nations and regions.

Passage 14. Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is the combination of self-confidence and self-respect

—the conviction that you are competent to cope with life’s challenges

and are worthy of happiness.

Self-esteem is the way you talk to yourself about yourself.

Self-esteem has two interrelated aspects;

it entails a sense of personal efficacy and a sense of personal worth.

It is the integrated sum of self-confidence and self-respect.

It is the conviction that one is competent to live and worthy of living.

Our self-esteem and self-image are developed by how we talk to ourselves.

All of us have conscious and unconscious memories of all the times we felt bad or wrong

—they are part of the unavoidable scars of childhood.

This is where the critical voice gets started.

Everyone has a critical inner voice.

People with low self-esteem simply have a more vicious and demeaning inner voice.

Psychologists say that almost every aspect of our lives

—our personal happiness, success, relationships with others, achievement, creativity, dependencies

—are dependent on our level of self-esteem.

The more we have, the better we deal with things.

Positive self-esteem is important because when people experience it,

they feel good and look good, they are effective and productive,

and they respond to other people and themselves in healthy, positive, growing ways.

People who have positive self-esteem know that they are lovable and capable,

and they care about themselves and other people.

They do not have to build themselves up by tearing other people down

or by patronizing less competent people.

Our background largely determines what we will become in personality

and more importantly in self-esteem.

Where do feelings of worthlessness come from?

Many come from our families,

since more than 80% of our waking hours up to the age of eighteen

are spent under their direct influence.

We are who we are because of where we’ve been.

We build our own brands of self-esteem from four ingredients:

fate, the positive things life offers, the negative things life offers

and our own decisions about how to respond to fate, the positives and the negatives.

Neither fate nor decisions can be determined by other people in our own life.

No one can change fate.

We can control our thinking and therefore our decisions in life.