Trying to Find a Partner
One of the most striking findings of a recent poll in the UK is that of the people interviewed， one in two believes that it is becoming more difficult to meet someone to start a family with.
Why are many finding it increasingly difficult to start and sustain intimate relationships？ Does modern life really make it harder to fall in love？ Or are we making it harder for ourselves？
It is certainly the case today that contemporary couples benefit in different ways from relationships. Women no longer rely upon partners for economic security or status. A man doesn't expect his spouse to be in sole charge of running his household and raising his children.
But perhaps the knowledge that we can live perfectly well without a partnership means that it takes much more to persuade people to abandon their independence.
In theory， finding a partner should be much simpler these days. Only a few generations ago， your choice of soulmate （心上人） was constrained by geography， social convention and family tradition. Although it was never explicit， many marriages were essentially arranged.
Now those barriers have been broken down. You can approach a builder or a brain surgeon in any bar in any city on any given evening. When the world is your oyster （牡蛎） ，you surely have a better chance of finding a pearl.
But it seems that the old conventions have been replaced by an even tighter constraint： the tyranny of choice. The expectations of partners are inflated to an unmanageable degree： good looks， impressive salary， kind to grandmother， and right socks. There is no room for error in the first impression.
We think that a relationship can be perfect. If it isn't， it is disposable. We work to protect ourselves against future heartache and don't put in the hard emotional labor needed to build a strong relationship. Of course， this is complicated by realities. The cost of housing and child-rearing creates pressure to have a stable income and career before a life partnership.

Majored Finance
An increase in students （11）to study economics at university is being attributed to （归因于）the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the（12）system works.
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January， according to UCAS， the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A（13）for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.
Professor John Beath， the president of the society and a leading lecturer at St Andrews University， said his first-year lectures—which are open to students from all departments—were （14）crowds of 400， rather than the usual 250.
"There are a large number of students who are not （15）majors， who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary （16）in a way that one hasn't traditionally done，" he added.
University applications rose 7% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump， with people's renewed interest in （17）in the public sector （部门） ，which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.
A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents （18）schools should do more to teach pupils about financial
matters， and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on， although a （19）of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.
Zack Hocking， the head of child trust funds， said： "It's possible that one good thing to（20）from the downturn will be a generation that's financially wiser and better equipped to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty."

Literacy Volunteer
Last summer I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer （扫盲志愿者）. The training I received， though excellent， did not tell me how it was to work with a real student， however. When I began to discover what other people's lives were like because they could not read， I realized the true importance of reading.
My first student Jane was a 44-year-old single mother of three. In the first lesson， I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn't know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule， she told me it would not help because she could not read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket because she couldn't always remember what she needed. Since she did not know words， she could not write out a shopping list. Also， she could only recognize items by their labels. As a result， if the product had a different label， she would not recognize it as the product she wanted.
As we worked together， learning how to read built Jane's self-confidence， which encouraged her to continue in her studies. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarket. After this successful trip， she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program， she began helping her youngest son， Tony， a shy first grader， with his reading. She sat with him before he went to sleep and together they would read bedtime stories. When his eyes became wide with excitement as she read pride was written all over her face， and she began to see how her own hard work in learning to read paid off. As she described this experience， I was proud of myself， too. I found that helping Jane to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before.
As a literacy volunteer， I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact， I may have learned more from the experience than Jane did.