Miss Ellis came to class with an adult woman and two younger girls. “Today I have brought ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Snow White’ with me. ‘Cruella’, their stepmother (继母), is with them.” The students were quite ______ about what kind of lesson Miss Ellis would be teaching that day after such a strange ______ .

After everyone was seated, Cruella prepared to speak. But then, all the lights in the classroom went out. Two loud slaps (拍打) could be ______ . Then, the lights came on.

Cinderella and Snow White were ______ “Who did that?” Miss Ellis asked. All of the children ______ Cruella without hesitation (犹豫). Cruella shook her head and said that she hadn’t done it. But once again, the lights ______ in the classroom. When they came back on again, two students named Clara and Phillip were crying. All of the students once again accused (指责) Cruella of hitting the children. She started to speak for herself when the lights went out for a third time.

But this time, the lights came back on within just a few ______. Everyone saw Cinderella and Snow White getting closer to two other students with their arms ______, ready to hit the children. The students asked Cruella to stop them. As it turned out, Cruella was actually a nice and kind mother who didn’t know what to do with her naughty (淘气的) stepdaughters, who ______ problems everywhere they went.

“That’s what I wanted to teach you today,” Miss Ellis said. “We shouldn’t judge (评判) others based on prejudice (偏见). We should, ______ everyone equally (平地) no matter what prejudices people might have against them.”

That evening Holmes again wore different clothes, and a large, black hat. He changed his face, his hair—everything. He was a different man.

We walked together to Serpentine Avenue. “You see,” said Holmes to me, “I don’t think she wants others to see the photo. But where is it? At her bank? No. Such a woman likes to keep important things herself. I’m sure it’s in her house.”

“But how will you know?” I asked. He said, “She’ll show me. She’ll have to.” Just then Irene’s taxi arrived. One of the men in the street ran to open the door and then another man pushed him. Other men were also pushing and shouting, and a fight began. Irene was in the middle of it, but Holmes ran to help her. Then suddenly he fell to the ground, with blood running down his face. Irene hurried to her front door, but she looked back. “How kind of him to help me! Is the poor man hurt?” she called.

Some people carried Holmes into the house. I waited outside the window and watched. Then Holmes put up his hand, and I threw the smoke-stick into the room. At once, the people in the street and in the house all began to shout “Fire!” very loudly.

The house was full of smoke. I walked away, and ten minutes later Holmes came to meet me.

“Well done, Watson,” he said. “Have you got the photo?” I asked.

“I know where it is. She showed me,” he answered.

“But why did she show you?”

“It’s easy,” he said, and laughed. “You saw all those people in the street? I paid them to help us. It wasn’t a real fight and the blood wasn’t real. When people shout “Fire!”, a woman runs to the most important thing in her house, her baby, her gold, or a photo. Irene ran to find her photo which is in a cupboard in the living room. I saw it. But I did not take it. Tomorrow we will go to the palace and tell it to the King first. The King himself can take the photo from the cupboard. And then we will go.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people under lockdown feel lonely and bored. “There is a loneliness epidemic,” said John Dattilo from Pennsylvania State University, US.

So he, together with an international team of researchers, studied how to reduce loneliness and increase positive feelings during the pandemic.

According to their new study, reduced loneliness has something to do with doing enjoyable activities that require both concentration (注意力) and skill.

“When people are absorbed in (全神贯注于) what they are doing, they enter a state (状态) called ‘flow’.” Dattilo explained. “Flow can be achieved by doing activities that we value and that require us to concentrate fully to use our skills.”

To achieve a state of flow, there must be a balance between the challenge of the task and your skill level. For example, if you’re trying to create a complex (复杂的) computer program but your skill level is low, then you’re likely to feel stressed instead of achieving “flow”. On the contrary (相反地), if the task is too easy, then boredom will set in and “flow” will not appear, either.

If you have artistic skills, for example, playing the piano or painting can lead to flow. So can things like skiing, writing and storytelling, depending on who you are.

“When we enter a state of flow, we become absorbed and focused, and we experience momentary (片刻的) enjoyment,” Dattilo said. “When we leave a state of flow, we are often surprised by how much time has passed.”

However, watching television usually doesn’t help people enter flow, according to Dattilo, because there aren’t any challenges.

“People tend to thrive (茁壮成长) on healthy activities and challenge,” said Dattilo. “We hope this research will help people live fuller, happier, healthier lives.”