1 . Kindness May Keep You Healthy

If you are driving in the United States, you may see a common bumper (汽车保险杠) sticker on passing vehicles that reads:     1     The saying is meant to urge people to behave in a gentle, caring, and helpful way towards others without thinking or planning ahead.

    2     In one experiment, Brian are, an anthropologist (人类学家) at Duke University, asked a group of people to perform three acts of generosity for other individuals each week. These acts could be small, like opening a door for someone. The people who were caring, gentle and friendly towards others reported experiencing contentment, satisfaction and happiness.

However, being kind is not just emotionally beneficial. Lyubomirsky studied a group of people with the disease Multiple Sclerosis (多发性硬化).     3     Her research also pointed out that people showing kindness to others had less inflammation (炎症) in their bodies. And in other studies, Lyubomirsky said more anti-viral genes were found in people who extended a helping hand to other people

    4     In one study, researchers gave people a list of values — such as kindness, creativity, ambition, tradition, security, seeking social justice, and seeking power. When asked to pick the most important, kindness won.

“The basic reason why people are kind,” Oliver Curry, explained, the research director at Kind-lab that is a non-profit organization, “is that we are social animals. Kindness is as much a part of us as our anger, grief or desire.”    5    

2 . It takes Sanduk Ruit about five minutes to change someone’s life. The Nepalese doctor can make a small incision (切口) in his patient’s eye, remove the cataract (白内障) damaging the patient’s vision and replace it with an inexpensive artificial lens. He said, “Some of our younger doctors even do it faster than that.”

In the past decades, Ruit has personally restored the sight of more than 100,000 people across Asia and Africa, and taught his rapid-fire technique to countless other eye doctors in parts of the world. His patients suffer from eye conditions that are mostly preventable. But because of poverty and limited access to public health services, they have been unable to seek treatment. Their stories are all too common in the developing world.

Driven by a belief that the world’s poorest people deserve safe, affordable and high-quality eye care just as much as anyone else, Ruit has made it his mission to root out avoidable blindness.

In 1994,he joined the late Australian eye doctor Fred Hollows, who was his mentor and close friend, in establishing Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology-an eye hospital in Kathmandu devoted to providing world-class eyecare for the people of Nepal. The hospital makes the state-of-the-art lens that is commonly used in treating cataracts or myopia, and exports it to more than 30 countries worldwide.

For the patients who cannot reach urban areas, Ruit and his team conduct mobile eye camps in remote parts of Nepal and neighboring countries. They often trek for days to those areas and clean out structures like tents, classrooms or even stables for use as temporary operating rooms. When the eyepatches (眼罩) come off the day after an operation, it’s an extremely moving moment for all relevant persons. Ruit said that he was so grateful that he could make a difference in so many people’s lives.

4 . “Supermarket girl” wasn’t her name. It was the way I’d always________ the numbers of random people who weren’t friends or family in my phone.

I met “supermarket girl” while shopping for groceries. We________ numbers and promised to meet up, but I walked away knowing we probably never would. This is Japan. The________work culture demands that I leave my day job at 5: 00 P. M. and________to my evening and weekend part-time job by 6: 00 P. M. Sparing________ to meet and greet was a concept I’d given up on.

Every day felt like an eternity (漫长时间). The supermarket became my________. That’s where I ran into her again: supermarket girl. This time, I learned her name: Julia. She explained that she felt________ too. So we made a date to go for a Saturday morning walk together. That’s how it started.

Ten kilometers to the nearest recycle shop. We talked about the stress that comes with settling in a foreign land: the differences in culture, the language________. We talked about how we always felt like the odd one out, an outsider. Oftentimes, we felt that we didn’t________there.

Eight kilometers to Costco. This time, we bonded over the main thing we had in common:________that come with being a woman. She shared that her insecurities kept layers of sadness beneath her________of happiness. I gave her a glimpse into what was happening behind my surface as well.

Every single Saturday, rain or sun, we were ________ to our tradition, never missing an outing. Walking outdoors gave us the beautiful simplicity of human________. I was able to open up to someone who________my experience. I’m proud of us. Instead of________ in despair, we took control.

7 . Companion planting (混栽) is the practice of planting things together to help each other grow. Its goal is to create a healthy and productive garden ecosystem (生态系统). But you should consider choosing right species together in your garden.     1     .

It saves space

One of the common uses of companion planting is to save space.     2    . It can be used in many ways. For example, you can plant quick-growing crops between rows of slow-growing ones for more efficient gardening.

It helps with disease issues

Diseases can spread quickly through plants of the same species.     3    . As previously mentioned, plant interaction isn’t fully understood. However, certain plants have been shown to make other plants healthier.

    4    

If there is plenty of habitat of food, then lots of beneficial insects will likely spend lots of time traveling in your garden. They feed on harmful insects. Some plants attract pollinators that help produce fruits. They make a great addition to the garden.

It increases productivity

The main benefit of companion planting is its ability to increase crop yields. It helps with pest (害虫) control, pollination and increases the available space. We now talk about nutrients.     5    . Some plants can help to provide the nutrients that others need. By planting complementary (互补的) species together, gardeners can create an environment for higher yields.

8 . Cody looked over the sand dunes (沙丘) of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the Atlantic Ocean shining in the distance. The warm ocean wind swept across his face as he held the harness (降落伞背带) of the hang glider(悬挂式滑翔机). He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“How are you feeling? Ready?” Cody’s sister Briana asked him. Cody didn’t know how to interact with Briana, who was eight years older than him. But every time Briana visited from college, she followed him to his tennis lessons and took him to climb mountains. But Briana had never taken him to try hang gliding. Cody knew she loved it — she had finally become a certified (持有证书 的)instructor last month. So when she offered to take him, Cody jumped at the chance.

Now Cody was fixed onto what was just a big kite, standing near the edge of a giant dune. Cody’s brain was sounding the alarm. The confidence Cody had felt back at the training facility had all but disappeared. Briana looked over at him knowingly. “Before my first flight, I almost backed out more times than I can count,” she said. “You just have to believe in yourself.”

Cody took another deep breath and nodded. “Now start walking toward the edge,” directed Briana. Cody pushed himself forward. “Walk, walk, walk ... now run, run, run, RUN!” Briana coached.

Cody ran. He ran right off the edge of the tall dune. He was airborne! What an amazing feeling! Cody gently pushed the bar forward to increase his speed, just as Briana had shown him. Then Cody saw that he was rapidly approaching the ground! He remembered to pull the bar back at the end to slow himself down, but it was too late for a smooth, on-foot landing. Cody landed on his knees, leaving him face down.

“Are you okay?” Briana said, pulling Cody upright in his harness. Cody was definitely okay. Smiling from ear to ear, he said, “Let’s go again!” He was already looking forward to his future in flight, with his sister by his side.