Your grandfather is sitting in the living room working on a crossword puzzle on a Saturday morning. He thinks these word puzzles are fun, but he also does them for another _______. He knows that brain games, like crosswords, help build his “mental muscles.”

The term “mental muscles” describes your brain’s ability to finish _______ tasks. Like the muscles in your body, your brain’s “muscles” need exercise. While your brain works all the time, that work does not necessarily exercise your brain.

_______, sometimes your brain just needs time to relax and play. It is believed that brain games, like crossword puzzles, make your brain work while playing. They build your concentration by making you focus on some skills for a long time. For example, when doing a Sudoku puzzle, you focus on organization. Other games that may improve brain power are jigsaw puzzles, mahjong(麻将)and chess. They can help you to _______ patterns(图案), solve problems and memorize information.

Games build your brain by making you think differently than you normally do. For example, crosswords use clues to help you fill in a grid(方格) with words. A crossword clue might be “a fruit with yellow skin.”. Your answer must fit in the grid. The word for this clue has six boxes. To fill in those boxes, you need to answer the clue with the word “banana.” Other words in the puzzle share some of the same letters. Because of this, answers to previous clues help you find answers to other clues. Crosswords make you remember the words you know and also help you learn new words. _______, filling out crosswords builds vocabulary and memory. When choosing a game, choose something that will improve a skill you are working on. It should challenge you. If it does not, it will not make your brain work hard enough. But a puzzle that is too hard isn’t any fun. So _______ something that is fun for you, and enjoy building your brain.

Paddling (用桨划船）a dragon boat is no piece of cake. Besides the key time required to be part of a team, it’s a full-body exercise. When I joined a team, they told me it took at least three years to become a good paddler. There’s so much to remember: correct posture and movement as well as team synchronization(同步，同时性）are necessary for a team’s success.

Dragon boat racing is a well-honored tradition in China and the highlight of the Dragon Boat Festival. However, because of the pandemic (疫情）, last year’ s races were put off from June to October. For the first time, Taipei’s dragon boat championships were held during the October holiday,

Our team knew racing conditions on the river would be different in October, but we had no idea how different they would be. A nearby typhoon brought in the fierce winds and big waves on the river. With about 40 teams participating, I didn’t expect our team to go very far. This was the first competition for most of us. And only the top two finishers in each group would advance to the next round.

Simply getting to the race’s starting point for our first group was a challenge. The big waves threatened to flip(翻转）us over. Paddling against wave was tough, but we crossed the finish line and surprisingly, advanced to the second round.

The next day, there was no shortage of accidents. Boats flipped over and others lost control and weren’t able to finish their races. In our final race that day, we narrowly advanced to the following day’s semifinals.

We faced strong competitors in the semifinals, including a semiprofessional team. Being held back by their boat’s waves was highly frustrating. However, in dragon boat racing, no one ever stops paddling, no matter what! So I kept paddling working my hardest to keep pace with the team. We trailed the other boats, but we didn’t lose hope. In the final push, filled with both excitement and exhaustion, we persisted and advanced to the finals!

Although we had expectations, never did we imagine we’d make it into the top three. How come? Let me tell you! To win a dragon boat race, you need three things:

     6     ,      6      and      6     .