1 . In 1990, Hal Donaldson was 23 years old, fresh out of college and found himself in Calcutta, India, where he was asked to interview Mother Teresa.

Donaldson says about the great woman famed for feeding the hungry, “She wasn’t wearing shoes and her ankles were swollen. She sat down with me and was very polite.” After the interview, Mother Teresa asked him, “What are you doing to help the poor?” Donaldson admitted that he was young and wasn’t focused on helping others. With a smile on her face, Mother Teresa said, “Everyone can do something.”

Those words deeply struck Donaldson and forced him to face hard truths about himself.

Hal Donaldson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When he was 12 years old, his parents were hit by a drunk driver; his father died, and his mother was seriously injured. To make ends meet, they went on welfare. Donaldson says, “I had holes in my shoes and clothes. When you’re teased at school for that, you just want to escape.”

He managed to do just that. Donaldson got into college and turned his focus to making money for himself. He says, “I was just trying to find my way out of insignificance.” However, it’s easy to overlook others along the way. I was the guy that would see a homeless person and cross the street, so I didn’t have to confront (面对) him. My focus was on climbing to the top instead of helping those trying to climb with me.

Donaldson returned home from India with a different thought. He traveled to eight cities in America and stayed on the streets and listened to stories of the homeless. “My heart broke,” he says. “I knew I could no longer just live for myself.”

Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words and the stories he’d heard across America, Donaldson loaded a pick up truck with $300 worth of groceries and handed them out to anyone who needed help. In 1994, Donaldson created the nonprofit organization, Convoy for Hope, which works with communities across America and around the world. Their work focuses on feeding children, women’s empowerment, helping farmers and disaster services.

2 . To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, I called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “A lot of people think about being bored as being lazy. And it’s absolutely not that,” he says. “Bored people want to be engaged with their world, eager to do something satisfying and exciting. But any attempt to do so is failing.”

That means boredom is usually very upsetting. And it can have physical consequences. In one of his experiments, Danckert made people extremely bored by showing them a video of two people hanging clothes to dry. He found that when people got bored, their hearts beat faster and their levels of a hormone called cortisol (皮质醇) went up, compared to when they watched another video that made them sad. These physical changes were signs that boredom was stressing them out. “It’s not like having a full-on panic attack,”Danckert says. But it’s certainly enough to make boredom unpleasant.

Let’s come back to if boredom can kill you. Back in the 1980s, scientists asked people who worked for the British government a whole bunch of questions, including how bored they felt in their daily lives. The study tracked the participants over time. When any one of them died, the survey recorded the cause of death. In 2010, two researchers matched up these causes of death with the participants’ level of boredom. It turned out that people who said they were more bored were also more likely to have died of heart disease. “We know that prolonged exposure to stress is bad for your health,” Danckert says. A single boring day can’t kill you. But if you’re always bored, the stress could add up into something dangerous.

“Oh no,” you might be thinking. “School is boring, my friends are boring, everything is boring! What’s going to happen to me?” Don’t worry, Danckert says, “As you get older, you get less bored,” mainly because you gain more independence and have to get busy to achieve your long-term goals. And trust me: that’s anything but boring.

3 . North Americans value independence, and Europeans value togetherness. I never fully understood that stereotype until two months ago, when I left Canada for a 4-month period in a lab in France. On my first day, Pierre, a Ph. D. student, tapped me on my shoulder and asked: “Coffee?” I nodded and followed him to the common room, where other grad students were filling in. I sat there, cautiously sipping the bitter liquid and trying hard not to reveal my uncultured tastes, while lab chatter filled the air.

Coffee breaks are a ceremonial part of lab culture here. The chatter sometimes turns to serious scientific topics. But mostly, the meet-ups offer a chance to wind down, to share stories about life inside and outside the lab and to sympathize with people who understand what you’re going through.

The lighthearted atmosphere and sense of community is a welcome contrast to my life in Canada, where I spent most of my workdays in isolation. I went into the lab each morning with set goals for my day. At lunch, I’d keep my eyes glued to my computer while I fed forkfuls of salad into my mouth, trying to power through my to-do list. For 9 months, I struggled to figure out why I couldn’t exactly copy the results of another study. I didn’t want to trouble my advisor too much. I was also hesitant to ask my labmates for help.

How much we were missing! Researchers need community because good ideas don’t just come from reading literature and thinking deep thoughts. It’s helpful to bounce ideas off others, and, to have a venue to share the day-to-day ups and downs of life.

Would coffee breaks have solved all my problems? Probably not. But I think sharing ideas with my peers would have helped solve my research dilemma. My time in France has taught me that it’s important to create space for organic conversations about lab life. A scientist’s life can feel isolating, but it’s not necessarily so when you’re connected to a supportive community.

4 . Scientific studies show that laughter produces chemicals to make people feel better, which________clown doctors can be helpful.

I chose this________because of my experience of going to hospital when I was a kid. Although the doctors and nurses did a great job, hospitals weren’t really designed for________. I stayed there feeling________and a little bored.

After years’________training, I work as part of a program known as “hospital clowning”. Being a clown doctor means I can help people by________ them.

One day,________my curly rainbow wig and big red nose, I walked into the waiting area, where there was a familiar atmosphere of ________and tension. At that time I spotted a small girl crying in pain, with her ankle was twice its________ size. Her________parents sitting________ on plastic chairs were trying their best to________the nervous and crying girl.

While the doctor concentrated on________ her ankle, I got her________by doing a magic trick. Although she was clearly still in some pain, her scared and anxious look had been________ —first by a small smile and then by loud laughter as I________produced her sock from out of my pocket. Seeing their daughter so much happier________ made her parents more relaxed. My magic medicine did indeed seem to________.

Even today, I still________a big smile as I remember all the fun and laughter of the day. After all, it is true that________is the best medicine.

5 . The Chinese manned submersible (潜水器) Fendouzhe, over 96.5 percent of whose core components have been independently developed by China, reached one of the deepest spots on the planet, a dizzying and dark depth of 10,909 meters.

Extreme water pressure is the first challenge that requires dealing with during the exploration. At 10,000 meters down in the ocean, the submersible has to stand about 1,100 atmospheres of pressure, equal to 2,000 elephants stepping on a person’s back. As the solid “armour (盔甲)”, the manned cabin is a safety guarantee for humans to reach down to 10,000 meters deep in the ocean. To overcome the technical bottleneck, the Chinese researchers developed a new material-Ti62A, successfully solving problems of the strength and toughness of the manned cabin.

To avoid risks of crashes in the dark deep sea with complex terrain (地形), Fendouzhe requires its control system, a smart “brain” to give the exact instructions. Researchers designed a neural network algorithm (神经网络算法), which enables Fendouzhe to travel automatically according to the seabed terrain and locate fixed points. Its control system has reached the international frontier level.

The submersible is equipped with two flexible and strong “arms”. Each 7-joint arm with 6 degrees-of-freedom control and a weight-carrying ability of more than 60 kilograms can cover the sampling basket and its front areas. With the arms, Fendouzhe collected samples of ocean rocks, deep-sea living things and seabed sediments (沉淀物).

The ocean, especially the deep sea, is widely regarded as Earth’s final frontier. Deep down in the ocean are unusual creatures, strange environments and impressive geological wonders, yet humanity knows less about the ocean floor than about the far side of the moon. These samples and data collected from the deep ocean can be used for geological and biological research, as well as study the human impact on the planet.

6 . It is easy to get carried away in an argument.

While having a rational conversation with someone who has a different opinion might seem like a challenge, it is possible. One way is to approach the other person with empathy.

The Empathy Challenge is an exercise created by Zoe Chance, senior lecturer at the Yale School of Management. At Yale, Chance teaches a course called “Mastering Influence and Persuasion” where students learn to communicate more effectively.

In her blog, Chance explains that it’s important to listen to people who disagree with you. “As they explain their position, you listen for their underlying values. Finally, you look for common ground as you reflect those values back. That’s it.”

Chance first took this challenge herself before asking her students to try. As she couldn’t understand why many people chose to vote for Donald Trump, she found three Trump’s voters and spoke with them.

Through asking questions, Chance was able to empathize with them and realize they had similar feelings. One man, an Orthodox Jew, explained that he supported Trump because Trump’s daughter and son-in-law are Jewish. The next man was a Russian immigrant passionate about freedom. The third was a lawyer who believed that authenticity (真诚) was important in political leaders.

Although Chance and Chose people had different political beliefs, they were able to relate to the life values of others. And that’s the point of the exercise-to understand others as fellow human beings.

7 . The Best Photography Contests to Enter

Moscow International Foto Awards

Deadline: April 30,2023

Prize: The Photographer of the Year title along with a $ 3,000 prize

There are nine: categories for you to enter. The entry expenses vary according to the level of proficiency, and students can enter at a reduced price. Here you can hand in up to twenty images. which can be individual images or photo series in either category.

Monochrome Photography Awards

Deadline: November 13,2022

There’re thirteen categories to enter, ranging across landscapes, fashion and abstract photography. If you’re in the top three of any of them, you will get a certificate and an exhibition of-your work. Each image costs $15.The only rule is that the image has to be black and white.

Prize:$ 2,000,certificate and exhibition

World Press Photography Awards

Deadline: January 13,2023

Prize:$ 5,000 for each category

There’re eight categories for you to enter. Each of these is aiming to find the best visual journalist in that particular field. Every category is judged by three photographers specializing in that area. The competition definitely captures the reality of our world. If you’re a press photographer and feel like you’re excellent at capturing important contemporary topics, this contest is for you.

BigPicture Natural World Photography Awards

Deadline: March 3,2023

Prize: Each category winner receives $1,000

The contest accepts nature, wildlife and protection images from all around the world, organized into seven categories. Sea life, wild animals, and humans’ interaction with nature are especially welcome. You can hand in up to 10 single images for $ 25,or 4-6 images in the Photo Story category for $ 10.

8 . Ann worked for a big company. One of the duties of her ________ was to go to the post office every day and ________ the company mail. One day in December, she ________ a beggar making himself up as a Santa Claus________on the corner of the street. Each day she ________her coins and dropped them in his bowl. He would smile and ________ her a Merry Christmas.

At night the temperature dropped below 0℃, but the Santa Claus ________stood in the cold wind. ________ she dropped her coins into his bowl, she handed him a pair of gloves.

A week later, a(n) ________ Santa Claus was standing there. “What happened to the other Santa Claus?” she asked. He told her, “He’s very ________ today.” She prayed for his health.

Later that day, a colleague came into her office________. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” “What’s wrong?” she asked. “It’s my ex—husband,” her colleague ________, “I don’t have any money to buy my boys anything for Christmas, ________ my ex—husband refuses to send money to them. It breaks my heart that they won’t have anything this year. ” The lady ________ her colleague, “I’m sure everything will________ It’s Christmas. Believe in miracles (奇迹).”

That evening, she told her husband about her colleague’s ________, “I know we don’t have much money to________, but I’d like to give her fifty or a hundred dollars. We’ll just get ourselves less this year. Last year we couldn’t afford to buy anything for________ but we still had a wonderful Christmas.” Her husband smiled, “Give her one hundred dollars. She needs it more than we do.”

She reached up and held him. Warmth spread ________ her body. He held her and realized that there really was a Santa Claus—and he had ________ her !

9 . The Kindness Tour Bus is hard to miss. Wishes for peace, happiness and kindness _________ nearly every inch of its blue outside surface. Bob Votruba is the man behind the _________. Often, he will stand with a sign on a street corner right outside his _________ vehicle, waving at every person who looks in his _________. “It just fills my heart when people are _________ with seeing the word ‘kindness’，” Votruba says. He tries to talk to everyone, _________ if it looks like they feel_________ for a bad day. He tries to make those people smile.

The tour began when all of his children went to college, and he felt he had to take action. He _________ his car, furniture and most of his clothing to _________ this passion. Everything he owned was on his Kindness Tour Bus. The tour has continued since, based on his __________ that it’s possible to __________ kindness through words and actions. Actions can be as simple as a smile or a greeting or as __________ as working with a charity.

“The __________ of what I do is that there’s a certain amount of anonymity (匿名)，” he says. “If somebody’s really having a tough time, they may not want to __________ it with their friends, brothers or sisters, but a(n) __________ pulling into their town with the __________.”

The Kindness Tour has already __________ more than 10 years, and Votruba plans to __________ going. He says there’s only one thing that could make him end this __________. “Death，” he says. “My last __________.”