Most people have an inner(内心的) voice. It’s the discussion that goes on inside your ________. What you say to yourself and how you say it make a difference to how you think and ________, so it’s worth paying attention to what you say to yourself.

Your inner voice is always with you. You might ________ it when you make a mistake or when you try something new. Your inner voice has ________ tones(语气). Sometimes it sounds kind but at other times it sounds scary. It should be treated with ________.

If you keep telling yourself you’re not good at making friends ________ you’re not creative, over time you’ll believe what your inner voice is saying. When you talk to yourself using words like “I’ve got to tidy my room.”, it makes the task become ________. Instead, if you say, “I choose to tidy my room, and then I’ll be able to find the books I want ________.”, it will be more active. In this way, you’re telling yourself how you’ll benefit from ________ your room.

Choosing to talk kindly to yourself can help you feel more confident(自信的). For example, when you make a ________, tell yourself it’s OK to get things wrong. If you are not sure what to say, imagine you’re talking to your best friend and trying to help him inside your head.

Working in Hoh Xil, police officer Zhao Xinlu’s two main tasks are to catch poachers(偷猎者) and to protect the Tibetan antelopes(藏羚羊), especially when they are giving birth.

After leaving the army in Tianshui, Zhao began to work at the Hoh Xil Protection Station. He has been on patrol(巡逻) since 1997. In 2020, snowstorms caught him and his team in a no man’s land for as long as 18 days, even though he was familiar with the area. When Zhao first arrived there, he experienced headaches and breathing difficulties. He didn’t get used to it until the fifth day.

Every year in May, tens of thousands of antelopes head for lakes in the heartlands to give birth. For about two months, Zhao and his team had stayed at the Zonag Lake Protection Station, in the heart of Hoh Xil, to protect antelopes from poachers. At night, there were often brown bears and wolves. “We light a fire in the tent to drive them away.” Zhao said.

During the last two years, Zhao shared his experiences with people across the province to call on more people to join in the protection of Hoh Xil. “This is a pure(纯净的) land. Protecting it is also protecting hu-man beings.” he said.

Asking for help can feel scary. We may worry that the requests(请求) will be refused. But a new research shows that people are gladder to help out than we think.

Scientists performed some experiments(实验). In one experiment, participants(参与者) had to ask strangers to take a photo for them in the park. In another, participants answered questions when they had asked for or been given help. Researchers let people guess how the “helpers” might feel about the requests. Then they asked the helpers how they really felt.

In each experiment, people who asked for help underestimated the helpers’ gladness to help and how good they would feel. For example, people thought strangers would feel uncomfortable when being asked to take a photo. However, only 4 out of 100 people refused to take the photo, and those who did take one said they felt relaxed about doing this helpful act for a stranger.

The study also showed that askers’ fears stopped them from asking for help. Experts said that if asking for help made people feel uncomfortable, it could be useful to practice. A study which came out earlier this year found that people thank acts of kindness much more than expected. The researchers found that the recipients(接受者) praise the acts much more than the givers thought.

Of all the frogs (青蛙) who lived in the pond (池塘) in the woods, Giuseppe was by far the cleverest. Giuseppe was a very friendly and polite frog. He thought he was the smartest in the pond. So he believed he never needed others’ suggestions.

One day, he was reading in the woods. After reading for a few hours, Giuseppe felt bored. “I might walk around for a bit!” he said. “I’ll take the long way back to the pond and no one knows what I will find along the way.” He walked along the road, but before long, he had lost his way.

By now, it was getting quite dark. Would Giuseppe be able to get back home before nightfall? He suddenly heard a loud voice. It was from an old frog. He was looking at him. “What’s a little frog like you doing in the woods at this time of night? Do you know the direction?” the old frog asked. But Giuseppe was still too proud to say that he couldn’t find his way home.

It was now really dark, and Giuseppe had lost all sense of direction. “How will I be able to find my way home now?” he thought to himself sadly. He finally knew that he needed to ask others for advice and care about their opinions.