2 . Teamwork is important in any workplace, and effective teamwork is the key to productivity. What improves teamwork and makes a team successful? Read the tips below to find out.

A team has no direction without a leader.    1    . This leader must also prioritize team goals over individual goals, ensuring they are committed to getting the job done.

From the moment the team is formed, particular attention must be paid to assigning direct responsibilities to each member.    2    . This is an important step to make before going deeper into the project so that everyone is on the same page. If everyone is clear on what they are responsible for producing, it helps prevent people doing the same thing and less desirable tasks being avoided.

Each team will comprise a range of people from diverse backgrounds. It is important to set common goals the team is working towards so that the focus always remains on the finished product. Each team member must understand that personal goals must be set aside and team goals must remain the focus.    4    .

Encouraging team members to be forthcoming about their ideas is important for the success of the team.    5    . It is also important to establish two-way communication of information between both different team members, as well as between team members and their manager.

3 . 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.

4 . Located in Ontario, Canada, the Niagara Falls is the seventh wonder of the world and the fastest flowing waterfall in the world. When I went to tour it, I found there were some truly amazing ways to _______ the waterfall.

One way was to take a _______ to the center of the Niagara Falls. Everyone on board was given a raincoat that looked more like a garbage bag. We would need it later on when we got close to the waterfall. There were huge waves and thick mist (迷雾), although we were still far away from Niagara Falls. Inside the mist, another boat approached us. As that boat _______, we waved hello to the blue-coated _______. After a while, we were as _______ as possible to the waterfall, which was like a wall in front of the boat. The _______ here was white with huge waves that threatened (有……危险) to _______ over the boat. A few minutes was enough to make this a very exciting trip.

Another _______ was to go behind the waterfall. This adventure started with everybody walking into a wet and _______ tunnel (隧道) one by one. It was ________ by several lanterns, making us see the tunnel clearly. As the tunnel came to an end, I could see that we had ________ onto a platform at the foot of the waterfall. Here, I had a good ________ of how thick the waterfall was. It was at least one meter ________.

________ I experienced Niagara Falls, I was shocked by how ________ it was. And I look forward to taking the zip line (滑索) next time to view Niagara Falls from the sky. It will definitely be a wonderful time, too.

5 . As a child I was one of the 125 people at our family gathering for New Year. These days we were a much smaller group in Belle Valley, Ohio. I insisted (坚持要求的) on acting as hostess and wanted to bring back the joy I’d felt at my childhood New Year that filled with love.

As family members arrived at the hall, I handed each one of them a numbered card and said, “Time for the alphabet game.” “What kind of game is that?” one of my great-grandchildren asked. “well,” I said, “who’s got number one?” A cousin raised her hand. “Tell us something you never forget,” I said. “Something that begins with the letter A.” My cousin smiled. “Apple pie!” she said. Great-granddaughter Mindy was next. “B,” she said. “I am impressed by Buckeye Country.” “Cookies!” Number 3 shouted.

Until Number 17, “The next one’s a challenge,” I said. “Who’s got 17?” Ryan, my son, slowly raised his hand. “Q,” he said. “Quaker City Carnival (嘉年华).” The room went silent.

“It’s one of the oldest traditions in Ohio,” Ryan said. “Grandma and Grandpa met there. That’s where they fell in love. That’s where this whole thing started. This whole family.” Ryan looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone. “We wouldn’t be here celebrating New Year together if it wasn’t for Quaker City Carnival.”

The room burst into laughter and was full of the love that had kept us connected to our Ohio traditions. “This is the best New Year we’ve ever had,” a great-grandson said to me secretly. Whatever their New Year would look like when they grew up, they’d remember this one. And for me, I had an unforgettable New Year to treasure   — a memory where love started with the letter Q.

7 . Bruno went into the kitchen and got the biggest surprise of his life. He could barely believe his eyes. “Shmuel!” he said. “What are you doing here in my kitchen?”

Shmuel looked up and his terrified face _________ a broad smile on seeing his friend. “Bruno!” he said. “They asked me to polish the glasses. They said they needed someone with tiny _________.”

He held his hand out and Bruno noticed that it was like the hand of the pretend skeleton. In reply, Bruno held his own hand out, which appeared _________ and full of life. The veins (血管) weren’t visible through the skin, the fingers weren’t little more than dying twigs (细枝). Shmuel’s hand, however, told a very _________ story.

“Shmuel! Here!” said Bruno, stepping forward and putting some slices of chicken in his friend’s hand. “Just eat them.” The boy stared at the food in his hand for a moment and then looked up at Bruno with wide and _________ but terrified eyes. He threw a _________ in the direction of the door and then thrust all the slices into his mouth in one go.

“Thank you, Bruno.” said Shmuel, giving a faint smile.

Bruno smiled back and was about to offer him more food, but just at that moment Lieutenant Kotler reappeared. Bruno stared at him, feeling the _________ grow heavy, sensing Shmuel’s shoulders sinking down.

_________ Bruno, Lieutenant Kotler marched over to Shmuel and glared at him. Shmuel looked up at Lieutenant Kotler, who frowned, leaning forward slightly as he examined the boy’s face. “You have been eating,” said Lieutenant Kotler. “Did you _________ something from that fridge?” Shmuel looked toward Bruno, his eyes pleading for __________.

“Answer me!” shouted Lieutenant Kotler.

“No, sir. He gave it to me,” said Shmuel, tears welling up in his eyes. “He’s my friend,” he added.

“Do you know this boy, Bruno?” he asked in a loud voice.

Bruno’s mouth __________ and he tried to say the word “yes”, but then he realized that he couldn’t because he was feeling just as __________ himself.

“Tell me, Bruno!” shouted Kotler, his face growing red. “I won’t ask you a third time.”

“I’ve __________ seen him before in my life,” said Bruno immediately, “I don’t know him.”

Hearing that, Shmuel wasn’t crying any more, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to __________ his soul not to live inside his tiny body any more, but to __________ away and sail to the door and rise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was far away.

8 . Kindness is seen as a true strength, and the success of civilizations relies on kindness. As parents and teachers, we also teach children from a young age to “be kind to one another” and “treat others the way you want to be treated.”

In addition to being helpful to our interpersonal relationships, research has shown that kindness can even contribute to our well-being. According to the Mayo Clinic, when we perform acts of kindness, the pleasure center in our brain is activated, releasing the stress-reducing hormone (激素). Individuals who volunteer on a regular basis report greater life satisfaction. And what is even greater is that kindness rarely stops with just one person. There can be a positive contagion (扩散) effect, where other people are motivated to be nice if they receive a random act of kindness. The question then arises: Could kindness be harmful to us when it has such clear benefits? Let’s think about this in the workplace or in an organization.

You are the new person on the team and you want to be well-liked and respected by your colleagues. You are a kind person and tell your team, “Let me know how I can help you; I’m always available to help.” Though you may truly mean this, there are unfortunately people in this world who can see your kindness as a weakness. This can lead to you being taken advantage of by others.

Let’s fast forward a year. You have been in your position now for one year, and you are working with the same team. You are noticing that your colleagues continue asking for your help over and over again. In fact, the only time they communicate with you is when they need something. You have been so helpful to your colleagues and there has rarely been any return from them.

In a very broad sense, it is advantageous to be kind to others, and your kind acts will be appreciated and, perhaps, paid forward. However, you need to be willing to say “no”. Recognize when your plate is already too full. When people ask you a favor, assess if you have the time, energy, and attention to give to them. To truly be kind, sometimes you need to be more comfortable saying “no” to others and saying “yes” to yourself.

10 . A year after Benjamin Canlas died at 17, his love of helping others lives on. Through a foundation _______ by his parents, this kind young man is _______ making the world a better place —one bike at a time.

In the Philippines, many jobs have been lost _______ the coronavirus crisis. Thousands of people have to travel to take _______ jobs to survive. But public transportation has been _______limited. Benjamin’s parents had the idea to _______ bikes to deserving individuals.

At first, their _______ was to donate seven bicycles. But then they received more than fifty _______. And then 27 people were awarded bicycles. These bicycles are _______ to help make their lives a little easier.

Among the ________ is Ronaldo Rosario. He sold rice cakes in the morning and smoked fish in the afternoon, ________ many kilometers each day, which caused the borrowed bike to break often. So, he often lost ________ time and some of his earnings on repairs.

There are people still in need and much more ________ needs to be offered. The foundation is working on launching more sustainable ________. The goal is that these programs will help more people while also ________ others to be kind and help those in need.