In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: People range in their ability to hear and understand language, and you have a greater chance of being heard and understood when you speak clearly. Practice with a recorder or ask a friend to help you learn to pronounce your words with more clarity. Things that can help include slowing down, lowering the tone of your voice, listening to and borrowing from actors whose accent or tone you like, etc.  Avoid using a monotone (no variances in your speech). This suggests that you don't have confidence in what you're saying and it tends to bore people after a short time. Avoid mumbling. People feel very embarrassed when they continually fail to "catch" what is being said and will soon find and excuse to get away from someone who is mumbling a lot. If you mumble as a result of shyness, it's important to address this cause; for example, see How to overcome shyness. Try to tone down any hint of aggression or loudness in your voice when talking to others. Loudness causes people to be on the alert and even on the defensive, and can set them on edge. As for aggressiveness coming through the voice, few people will miss this intent and will feel very uncomfortable.
Summary: Pronounce your words clearly. Speak more softly.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Once you've recognized areas where you need to improve, you can take the steps to do so. Make positive changes in your life where necessary:  Write out a study schedule and follow it routinely. Consider other activities and obligations you have and allow for plenty of time to complete each assignment. A regular schedule can significantly reduce anxiety and improve performance. Just be sure to avoid procrastination. Get more sleep. The amount of sleep you get heavily affects your mood and ability to absorb and retain information.   Eliminate distractions. Prioritize the things that matter most. Oftentimes, teachers just want to see that you’re willing to put effort into your work. Ask if they’d be willing to let you improve your grade by completing extra assignments. If you can’t change your grade, maybe you can supplement it. It’s a good idea to calculate your grade and figure out what scores you’ll need on the remaining assignments and exams to achieve the final grade you desire in the course. Tutoring centers, teacher office hours, and study groups all exist to help you succeed. Consider restructuring your future study habits by incorporating some of these resources into your routine. While you may not be able to change the grade you’ve received, you can take the necessary steps to improve. Try to consider it a learning experience. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. One bad grade isn’t going to determine your future, and it isn’t going to define your aptitude as a student either.
Summary: Commit to your goals for improvement. Seek extra credit opportunities to make up lost points. Be mindful of helpful resources at your disposal. Move on.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: When you sell a stock for a profit, you are subject to what is known as a capital gains tax, or a tax on your profit. Profits can be taxed at two levels.  If you hold your investment for more than one year, the profits will be taxed as capital gains at their tax rate, which is 15%.  If you held your investment less than one year, they will be taxed as normal income. This means they would be taxed at the same level as your regular income as per your tax return. Tax loss harvesting refers to selling a stock at a loss, which can then be used to offset capital gains taxes on a gain. This is a powerful tool to use your losses to reduce your overall taxes.  This means that if you sold a stock for a large capital gain this year, and also decide to sell a different stock (which may have lost money and be overvalued), you can use to the loss to offset the gain, and reduce your overall taxes. For example, assume you held a stock for over one year, and that stock increased in value from $10,000 to $17,000. If you sell that stock, you would normally be taxed $1,050, or 15% of the gain ($7,000). If you also had a stock that has lost a total of $5,000, you can choose to sell that stock to offset the $7,000 gain. In this case, your net gain would only be $2000, and you would therefore only pay $300 in taxes (15% of $2000). Short-term capital losses must first be applied against short-term capital gains (under a year), any extra can be applied against long-term gains (over a year). Long-term losses must first be applied to long-term gains, and then to short-term gains. If total losses for the year exceed gains, you can apply up to $3,000 towards reducing personal income taxes, and any extra can be carried forward to additional years to reduce future gains. A wash sale refers to selling a stock at a loss, and then re-purchasing the same stock, or a substantially similar stock, within a short time period. In this case, the IRS will disallow using the loss to offset gains.  For example, you bought a XYZ stock for $100 in January 2014. On November 15th of the same year, you sell it at $90 and plan to claim the $10 per share loss on your income tax return. However, you hear a rumor that the company is selling very well going into the Christmas holidays after Black Friday so you buy the stock back at $88 on December 3rd. The government decides that you bought again because you expect the price to go up. They know that there was no real loss incurred. It was just a temporary exit from the investment which you plan to hold going forward. There is nothing that prevents you from buying and selling as often as you want, you just can’t deduct short-term losses if you break the wash sale rule. If you have a stock that has lost money, you can consider selling it for tax harvesting purposes. There are, however, several considerations. Make sure you have good reason to sell any stock with losses, and make sure not to sell for tax-loss harvesting purposes alone. For example, if you have a stock that has lost money, and has become overvalued, this may be grounds to sell. Similarly, if you have a stock that has lost money, and you need to re-balance your portfolio, selling your losing stock can be a wise idea if the other stocks are still favorable.
Summary:
Learn about capital gains taxes. Understand tax loss harvesting. Learn the wash-sale rules before deciding to sell. Sell a stock for tax harvesting purposes.