One day I took a taxi to the airport. We were driving when a black _______ suddenly ran right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes（猛踩刹车）and the taxi _______ the car by just inches! The car driver stuck his head out of the car window and _______ shouting at us. My taxi driver just smiled and _______ the guy. He was really friendly.

So I asked, “Why did you do that? This guy almost hit your car and sent us to the _______!” This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call “the law of the rubbish truck.”

He _______ that many people are like rubbish trucks. They run around with rubbish — anger, disappointment and so on. As their rubbish truck gets _______, they need a place to empty it and sometimes they’ll throw the rubbish on you.

Don’t take it _______. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. _______ take their rubbish and throw it to other people around you.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent ________ you take it. Love the people who treat you right, and pray for the ones who don’t.

There was once a rich man who was very happy with his wine collection. There was one bottle of old wine that he kept for a special day. But he wouldn’t tell anyone what that day was. A state official visited him one day. The official asked about the man’s old wine. The man said, “That bottle of wine will not be opened for a mere official.”

Then a businessman visited the man. The man said again, “ I will not open that bottle. You wouldn’t know its value. You’ll never taste it.”

Then a best friend of his came to eat dinner with the man. But again, the man said, “My wine is too valuable for a mere man.”

Even on the day his own son got married, the man said to himself, “No, these guests will not drink my special wine.”

As the years passed, the man got older. One day, he died, as old men always do, and he was buried just like any other man.

On that day, the man’s bottle of old wine was opened. It was shared among the man’s neighbors among many other bottles. None of them knew its age or history. To them, it was just wine.

What do you usually do in your spare time? Chatting online is now a national pastime(消遣) in China, especially among the post-90s and post-00s generation. To some people, however, online chats can seem like a kind of polite conversation. Yet hidden rules do exist(存在), as long as you take the time to look for them.

Get to the Point

When sending a friend request, include your real name and any other identifying(身份辨别) information. Remember, everybody’s time is valuable. If there’s something you want, cut right to the chase. Never send an “Are you there?” without any follow-up messages. The quicker that you get to the point, the more likely the other person is to reply.

Send the Right Things

Please send texts, not voice messages. It might be easier for you to speak than type, but what about the person on the other end? They may be unable to listen to a 59-second message right now. Also, never send information by voice message—it is hard to note down. Emojis(表情符号) and GIFs can save the day when you find yourself in an embarrassing conversation, or words fail you.

Try to Understand

You can always judge a person’s mood by their text messages. If the person you’re talking to says “Good night” or “I’m going to take a shower.” that’s probably not what they’re actually going to do. It is just an excuse to stop talking to you. If someone waits for longer than three seconds before saying “Yes”, they probably really mean “No”. If you receive these emojis from friends who are older, read them literally (照字面地) (such as a smile or a wave). For the post-90s and post-00s generation, however, they could be speechlessness(无语).