1 . A minister had been on a long flight between church conferences. The first _________ of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane _________ on: Fasten Your Seat Belts. Then, after a while, a calm voice said, “We shall not be _________ the meal at this time _________ we are expecting a little turbulence (气流). Please be _________ your seat belt is fastened.”

As the minister looked around the aircraft, it was _________ that many of the passengers were becoming frightened.

And then the storm broke out. The cracks of thunder could be heard even _________ the roar of the engines. Lightning _________ the darkening skies. _________ the airplane was lifted on terrible current of air; the next, it __________ as if it were about to crash.

The minister admitted that he __________ the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, “I could see that nearly all the passengers were __________. Some of them even began to __________. The future seemed unpredictable and many were wondering if they would __________ it through the storm.”

“Then, I suddenly saw a little girl to whom apparently the storm __________ nothing. She was reading a book and, __________ within her small world was calm and orderly.”

‘‘The plane was being struck by the terrible storm when it swung this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity, and when all the adults were scared half to death, that child was completely calm and unafraid.” The minister could hardly believe his eyes.

It was not surprising, __________, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying off the plane, the minister stayed behind to speak to the girl whom he had __________ for such a long time.

Having __________ on the terrible experience, he asked why she had not been afraid. The sweet child replied, “Sir, my daddy is the __________. He’s taking me home.”

3 . While the arts can't stop the COVID-19 virus or the social unrest we see in the world today, they can give us insight into the choices we make when moving through crises and chaos. The arts invite everyone to think in new ways.

We often experience works of art as something that's pleasing to our senses without a full understanding of the creative effort. Great art often shows us contradictions and crises, and we can learn a great deal from their resolutions (解决). Through our understanding of art, we can gain a deeper understanding of how we might overcome our own challenges. In understanding extremes of contrast, we can see the beauty in art with themes that are not simply pleasing for their magnificent features or qualities.

Beethoven offers a wonderful example of moving artfully through crises and chaos. He composed his Symphony No.9 as his hearing loss became more and more pronounced. The opening of the symphony seems to come out of nowhere, from near silence in the opening to a full expression of what many consider to be the joy of freedom and universal brotherhood with Schiller’s Ode to joy (欢乐颂). Beethoven appears to have created a work of art that not only freed him from his personal struggles, but one that also speaks to the joy of living together in peace and harmony.

Have a dialogue between the two opposing parts and you will find that they always start out fighting each other until we come to an appreciation of difference — a oneness of the two opposing forces. The arts offer many lessons that can help us gain the knowledge we need to move more confidently in today's competitive and uncertain environment. An openness to arts-based solutions will give you more control over your future.

5 . A few years ago, Charles Barkley got into a lot of trouble for making the observation that sports figures didn’t need to be role models. Thousands of fans and professional journalists were cross at this attack on the fundamental principle that the person who jumps highest must aim highest and the person who handles the running back must also be able to deal with life’s problems with grace as well.

The problem is not that we look to these people for perfection when they take off their uniforms. It’s that we expect anyone to be our representatives for perfection. That’s stupid and it makes the rest of us down here lazy.

I get the importance of having heroes, the people who inspire us to cultivate the best potential within us and nurture our better angels. I personally have many heroes. from my mother, Lucy, to my favorite law professor, Howard. But these are personal contacts, people who have actually touched my hand and my heart, and who occupy a pedestal (基座) built of my own experiences and aspirations. To look at an athlete or an actress with high salary and demand that he or she match our dreams is not only a waste of time, but it’s dangerous. The danger comes in how this type of hero worship dehumanizes both the object of affection and the person who blindly adores. That was Barkley’s point, not that we should give public figures a pass for being faulty but that we shouldn’t abandon our own moral compasses and look to them for true north.

Recently on a television program I participated in, the discussion turned to Kathleen Kane. Someone suggested that the fact that the first female attorney general (首席检察官) in Pennsylvania was really messing things up could have unfortunate consequences for women seeking elected office. I offered the opinion that Kane was unquestionably criticized and that it was not hatred towards woman but incompetence at the root of the attacks. After the show aired, I had people emailing to tell me that I was either a traitor (叛徒) for publicly attacking a fellow female when we need to stand together behind this “role model”, or a fool for not going a step further to say that this incompetent lawyer had made it harder for all women to move to the next level.

How depressing! Why should the inferior performance of one woman lead to such diverse but passionate views in people? The answer is obvious: Kane has stopped being an attorney general but has instead become The First Female Attorney General. She can’t just make a mistake and pay the normal consequences.

If we stopped trying to live our lives through the accomplishments of public figures, many of whom look and sound like us, we’d learn how to recognize the heroic character of those we might actually know, and the heroic potential within ourselves. Or, perhaps, the honesty to accept our ordinary humanity.

6 . While it may be commonplace, snubbing one’s friends can have serious impacts on relationships, and there are a variety of factors that may drive individuals to ignore their friends in favor of an electronic screen, according to a new University of Georgia study.

The study reveals positive associations between depression and social anxiety and increasing snubbing: depressed people are likely to snub their friends more frequently, and socially anxious people, who prefer online social interactions, might also exhibit more snubbing behavior. These people are really sensitive to their messages. With each buzz or sound, they consciously or unconsciously look at their phones. The device’s various applications are key drivers contributing to this dynamic.

The finding also shows that agreeable individuals have a lower instance of snubbing in the presence of their friends. People who have agreeableness as a personality feature tend to show cooperative, polite and friendly behaviors in their interpersonal relationships and social settings. Though agreeable people may prioritize strong friendships, an exploratory study reveals they are also more likely to turn to phones in the presence of three or more people.

That dynamic may influence the spread of snubbing in the context of a work environment. “It’s ironic that while so many people believe that snubbing behavior is rude, they still do it,” Sun said. “A majority of people snub others, and in a group, it may seem OK, because it’s just me, the speaker doesn’t notice I’m using the phone. The number of people in a group can be one reason.”

Alternately, disabling or turning over a phone can indicate a show of respect for a situation and focus on a person. That, too, is a signal—I am listening to what you are saying and I am focusing on you.

8 . In 2012, James Cameron, creator of Avatar and Titanic, became the first person to reach the Challenger Deep. When he arrived at the deepest spot on Earth at 7 miles below sea level, he spent hours mapping the region and taking photos and samples.

“As human beings, we’re drawn to absolutes—the deepest, the highest, the coldest, the farthest.” he says. “And as a storyteller and curious monkey, I just wanted to see what was there.” The answer is obvious—plastic and more. “Our so-called civilization is using the ocean as its toilet,” Cameron says. “Unless this changes, ocean ecosystems are going to continue their rapid collapse.”

Despite decades of environmental studies, the impact of plastic and other forms of pollution on oceans are not entirely understood. Initial studies appear to indicate that ingesting them-either directly or indirectly-could cause disease. Plastics can also release poisonous substances into the water, which could potentially impact animal populations.

But plastic is just one of the problems facing oceans that have yet to be fully understood. “Plastic waste in the ocean is horrifying but is only the most obvious of our many deadly waste streams, which include carbon that’s heating the atmosphere and making the ocean acidic, and the run-off nutrients from all the world’s agriculture, which is causing anoxic dead zones the size of countries,” Cameron says.

Oceans, like the rest of the world, are impacted by the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide-about 30 percent of which is absorbed by the sea. This absorption causes ocean acidification, where the pH level is altered to become more acidic. As a result, it’s harder for some creatures to form shells and skeletons and countless species at the base of the food web can struggle to survive, which, scientists say, has the potential to cause huge disruptions to entire ecosystems. Indeed, ocean acidification is thought to have played an important role in Earth’s worst-ever mass extinction event 252 million years ago.

The effect of climate change on the world’s oceans will likely worsen in coming decades. Last June, scientists announced carbon dioxide levels had reached the highest levels since human records began. The last time carbon dioxide levels were this high was during the Pliocene era, between 3 and 5 million years ago, when global temperatures were about 4 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today. Current climate models suggest that if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trend, we may be on course to see 4 degrees of warming by 2100.

As a result, understanding the role oceans have on global systems is becoming more and more important.