Mental Workout--Translation practice

Dear students,

AWA is never an easy task for all test takers primarily because of its complexity of the issue topics and its multifaceted perspectives on certain themes, as well as its challenging writing tyle, which always frustrates many novice writers. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but to make you more familiar with this invariable, yet defeatable, dilemma. As long as you are willing to make efforts to enhance your writing ability and , most importantly, the critical thinking, you will definitely make a great stride in your AWA writing.
No matter what situation you are in now or what level your writing skill is, you need to envision your future in terms of your studying career overseas. Writing can be regarded as the ultimate expression of a language not only in formal writing tasks, but also in your profound understanding of a culture. I hope you will learn to love English writing, instead of avoiding or rejecting it, not to mention the fact that your graduate programs require you to write one after one research paper in the near future.
Writing is fun, which can be a useful instrument to evaluate your progress. Only when you love it will you find it not torture anymore. Keep on practicing as well as reading. Good luck to you all!

Best regards,
Christine

Mental Workout
When training our physical muscles, we gradually lift heavier weights or do more strenuous exercise. Something similar happens when we train our “mental muscles”—our mental capacity increases and our intellectual horizons expand. Similarly, you can deliberately do things that are just outside of your comfort zone to increase your mental capacity.
Just as we use a variety of equipment and exercises to train different muscles, there are all sorts of activities we can participate in to strengthen our minds. Techniques such as visualization, meditation and hypnosis can be quite useful, but may require professional guidance in order to be effective. They are often used by athletes to enhance their performance under pressure, or by ordinary people to overcome bad habits such as smoking or overeating.
Here are some examples of how to break out of your comfort zone and give your mind a little extra workout in your daily life. You can simply start by eating at a new restaurant, trying a new kind of food or beverage, buying your groceries at a different store, taking a different route to school or work, or finding the most unpleasant task on your to-do list and tackling it first. You will be surprised at how much you can learn in a short time by making such changes in your life.
It’s widely accepted that learning a new language is one of the most effective ways to train your mind. Yet while language learning can be time-consuming and frustrating (it’s commonly known that learning a new language becomes more difficult the older you get), people of all ages can certainly benefit from learning new things, such as how to play an instrument, cook, or give massages. You can also cultivate a new hobby, attend a study group on a subject you’re unfamiliar with, or simply visit somewhere you’ve never been before.
Learning something new every day helps familiarize us with new concepts and ways of doing things. In doing so, we stimulate our minds and see the world through different perspectives. And the broader our experience and understanding of the world around us, the better our minds become at comprehending novel situations and accommodating sudden changes.
Another effective way to train your mind is to be open and sociable. When someone asks you to do something, make your default answer “yes,” but don’t forget to say “no” when appropriate. Dare to ask questions—either for help, or simply to initiate conversations with strangers. Try to sit next to someone you don’t know at a gathering, whether it’s a formal business conference or a friend’s wedding banquet. Or you can rekindle a friendship by calling or e-mailing an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time.
Joining a club or group is a great way to meet like-minded people. Just think of a subject or hobby you’re interested in, and see if there are any related clubs in your local area. Doing volunteer work for a non-profit organization is another excellent choice. You’ll not only get to meet interesting people and learn new skills, but also enjoy the satisfaction of helping others. As you actively expand your personal contacts in your daily life, you will be exposed to people of different occupations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and cultures. Through interaction with a diverse range of people, we can learn from each other and gain a better understanding of our similarities and differences.
Ultimately, all these forms of mental training will make you a more open and expressive person. As you become a better listener and communicator, you’ll not only learn more from those around you, but begin to inspire others as well. Your creativity will also blossom, as your mind will learn to embrace new possibilities and invent new solutions when necessary. In the rapidly changing world of today, our chances of success, and even survival, are dependant on flexibility and adaptability in the face of challenges to our conventional ways of thinking. Maintaining regular mental workout habits can therefore provide our minds with the exercise and nutrition required to keep us healthy and happy.