In ancient Greece, Socrates was a widely-recognized wise man. One day one fellow met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”. “Triple filter?”. “That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?” “No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”. “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t know if it’s true or not.

Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?” . “No, on the contrary…”. “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true.

You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?” “No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

Well we can always participate in loose talks to curb our boredom. But when it comes to your friends its not worth it. Always avoid talking behind the back about your near and dear friends.

Girls can easily get sad. If your friend is feeling blue and calls you, what will you do? Here are some tips on how you can make her smile again.

Listen to her. When people feel sad, they often have the feeling of needing to be heard. So, listen carefully to what she is saying and do nothing else. Your friend will surely thank you for being the shoulder she can cry on.

Once you are done with listening, you can offer some advice or remain silent and let her feel everything and let it all out by crying. As a friend, you might think you should give her some advice. But if you have no idea about what to say, just remain silent and be there for her.

In order to be able to help your friend in need, don't be sad yourself. How can you help your friend when you are also feeling down.

A hug can make a difference in the world. It makes you feel warm and special. A hug makes you feel safe. So give your friend a hug when she needs it the most.

Spend more time with your friend who wants to be happy. Do things together like washing dishes, cleaning, or going out for fun. The more time you spend together, the stronger your friendship will become.

Sometimes, it is much better that you avoid a crying friend in your life. But by doing so, you are also keeping your friend at a distance and will make her wonder if you are her true friend. If you are there when she needs you, your friendship will be much stronger.

Mirroring body language is a way to bond and to build understanding. It is a powerful tool that we use without even knowing it.

The most obvious forms of mirroring are yawning and smiling. When you see someone yawn, you are likely to yawn immediately. Smiling is also pretty contagious-seeing a smiling person makes you want to smile too.

Mirroring body language is a nonverbal way to say “I am like you, I feel the same”. Research shows that people who experience the same feelings are likely to trust, understand and accept each other.

Women have the natural ability to pick up and understand body signals. Therefore, it is not surprising that a woman is more likely to mirror another woman than a man is to mirror another man. That's why women are regarded as better talkers, even if they might not really have more close friends.

It is interesting that when a man tries to mirror a woman's body language while she is talking, he may seem to her as caring, intelligent and attractive.

Mirroring body language is an excellent way to build trust and understanding quickly. If you want to set up a connection with a new person, mirror his or her gestures, sitting position, tone of voice and talking pace. This will make them feel that there is something about you that they like.

While mirroring body language gains you acceptance, you still need to take into consideration your relationship with the person you are mirroring. If you are in a lower social position and are mirroring the body language of your boss, he will view you as arrogant. However, if you want to defeat those who are trying to prove superior to you, mirroring their body language will help defeat them and change their position.

Why are certain people so memorable, while some fade from our memories in time?

Several examples come to mind with my youngest son, Ken. He was always more comfortable around his dad’s friends than his own. He loved to spend time with them, fish with them, listen to their stories and just be with them.

He has experienced the loss of several really meaningful friendships over the past few years, and it has been very painful for him. One, Dr. George, was a neighbour and fishing buddy who would call to see if Ken could go fishing with him. Dr. George always said Ken was the son he never had and that it meant everything to him. He died very suddenly while fishing with all of his best buddies a few years ago. The huge hole that left in so many lives simply cannot be filled—for Ken it was immensely painful.

There was another fishing buddy of his dad’s, Frank, who was always fun to be around. Ken was very young then, but really enjoyed getting along with “the guys” when they were fishing. Frank and his family went to the Kens in the same week we did one year and the memory remains to this day. Cheerful and happy, he was able to laugh at himself and accept everyone’s abilities or lack of them, all qualities that impressed Ken so much.

When he became deadly ill, Ken drove from his home in North Carolina to Florida for an overnight visit with him. He died a short time later. The day after his funeral (葬礼), Frank came to Ken in a dream and asked if he would take care of his wife, Carol. To Ken this was very meaningful, and today they share a special bond that Frank somehow knew would be important for them both.

When you are raising children, you realise that some people become very important to them, draw them in, accept and respect them. It changes them.

The first World Friendship Day was proposed for July 30, 1958 by the World Friendship Crusade, an international civil organization to foster a culture of peace through friendship.     16     Just as in the US and several other countries, the festival has been greatly commercialized（商业化）.

Days before the festival, card and gift companies launch a large campaign(活动) to attract people into buying cards and gifts for their friends. Streets and stores are filled with advertising programs aimed at young people.     17     This marketing strategy(策略) has been severely criticized(批判) by many people. Many feel that such crazy commercialization has damaged the meaning of Friendship Day.

    18     especially the pink and yellow ones. The day is observed with great pleasure and merry. A highly popular thing connected with the day is the well-known friendship band—the modern day symbol of friendship that friends give to one another to form an everlasting bond. Friendship bands are the favorite items for youngsters and available in stores all over the country. Friendship poems and Friendship Day gifts are exchanged between best friends to renew the bond of friendship and express gratitude and love for each other.     19    

Since its beginning in 1935, Friendship Day celebrations have come a long way.     20     Friendship Day remains the time when you acknowledge your friends’ contribution in your life, express love for them, cherish their presence in your life and pay them a salute. Today, Friendship Day is being celebrated around the globe, across diverse cultures and social periods.

Haze Mabry has been working as a cleaner at Pike County Elementary School for 13 years. Students and teachers in this school decided to do something extra special last week to ________ Mabry, or “Mr. Haze” as he’s known at the school, for his 80th ________.

Reading teacher Lori Gilreath who has worked with Mabry for 10 years said they ________ the celebration for weeks and that keeping the plans ________ was a challenge since Mabry works from 6：30 a. m. to 5：30 p. m. They ________ a “birthday throne” for him on the school’s stage and lined the walls with photos of Mabry with the ________ and other decorations with the theme “80 years loved, 80 years blessed”. The students also ________ 80 reasons why they loved Mr. Haze. On the day before the________， they turned Gilreath’s classroom into a secret art center to finish the preparations. Mabry said he ________ her moving some tables around in the lunchroom, but he didn’t give it much ________.

Next morning, they led Mabry on a parade through the school and more than 750 students, ________ and staff members lined the halls, shouting ________ “Mr. Haze! Mr. Haze！”

“It really surprises me and I feel ________. All little kids are giving me cards, running up and hugging me. It’s something else, you know，” Mabry said. “It’s a(n) ________ experience.”

Aged 80, Mabry said he likes to keep a busy schedule and loves the kids. “________ I’m able to work，” he said, “I think I’ll work.”

Friendship is one of the most important things in everyone’s life.     36     is very difficult to find a better definition(定义) of friendship. A true friend is the person     37    can share all our sadness and all our happiness. In time of trial(尝试) , he or she is always at our side to give us his or her help and comfort.

Knowing how valuable friendship is, we should be very     38    (care) with our choice of a friend. We should     39    (choice) those people with a good character as our friends, but we must try to avoid    40    (make) friends with a bad man. Besides, we should forgive their mistakes and try to help them as much     41    possible.

A true friend can always be trusted, loved and respected. If you tell a friend your secrets, he or she     42     not tell others. Friends share their joys     43    unhappiness. They help each other when they are     44    trouble, and cheer each other up when they are sad.     45     most important thing is that a friend always understands you. In conclusion, when you have made a good friend, don’t forget him or her.

47. Though it is one of the faded memories of my life today, there are times when I remember his face clearly, especially his eyes. As he had yellow spots on his eyes we called him Spotty. He would have been a stray (流浪) dog, until he came to me.

I was seven years old. My dad had just got a new job in Nasik. We had moved into a rented house. It was raining very heavily on the day we moved.

It was a cold dark night. We had our meal and went to sleep. Somehow in the midnight I heard some strange sounds outside the main door. I gathered courage and looked out through the window and I was really amused with what I saw outside.

There was a small puppy lying on an old doormat which my mother had put outside the door. It was wet and trembling. At first it was difficult to see the lite one. It was the yellow spots on its eyes that made me realize its presence.

It was trying to get under the doormat to avoid the cold air outside and it had managed to get in as I could see only its head outside the doormat. Was it sick or injured?

I felt pity for the poor soul. I went in and came out with an old towel. I went near the innocent one and held it in my hand and wiped the puppy till he had become dry. I took him into my room and made a bed for him with a woolen blanket and a small pillow. He seemed very healthy and comfortable in his new bed as he went to sleep immediately.

The next morning, everyone in the family came to know about the unusual guest "Shall we keep him with us?" I questioned my mom.

Like any other parents would, my parents first tally refused my idea but my sister and I convinced them to keep Spotty.

Slowly Spotty got on with everyone and became one of the family members.

One day, Spotty returned from his daily walk with a broken leg.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Almost a year later, one midnight we heard Spotty barking breathlessly.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________