1 . We had a painter in our home recently. Unlike many, he was _________ and completed the work in a timely way. And he went above and beyond the call of _________, like filling in little nail holes in the hallways.

The painter was always friendly and his prices were _________. I happily handed him a bottle of wine as an extra reward of our _________. As a famous writer puts, “Kindness _________ another; the painter’s friendliness makes me be friendly to others and so it goes.” Unfortunately the _________ is also true. Sometimes, people are rude to us and we tend to _________ in a kind way. My daughter recently moved across the country. The movers couldn’t have been more unpleasant. First they _________ to put the boxes in certain rooms. They threw them around and _________ many things including an expensive dining room table, but they were ____________ to take responsibility. I give my kid credit for reacting to the company with ____________ instead of rudeness.

I recently ordered some avocados (牛油果) online. Every single one was bad. Although I ____________ got a refund, I was troubled by the seller’s complete indifference to doing his job well and to the impact on the ____________. I was about to ____________ about his lack of service awareness. But I stopped myself. I was ____________ by the negative behavior and I had to work not to react.

We have to stop greeting rudeness with ____________ behaviors or performance. What ____________ is that, instead of waiting for others to be kind to us, we should make a positive ____________ to be kind to others. It doesn’t take a lot — a smile, a kind word and an offer to help or to ____________ another person. What a great deal — low ____________ and high reward!

6 . It is an ancient Chinese tradition to cherish grain. In ancient China, farming promoted the development of civilization so people regarded grain as a God. The ancient people firmly believed that “food is the most important thing for the people”. The earth God “She” and the grain God “Ji” were the earliest gods worshipped by our ancestors and the country was called “Sheji”.

Chinese believe in food conservation. Scholars have strongly advocated that “every single grain is fruit of hard work” and nothing should be wasted. Strong daily practices are associated with “respecting” the grain. Families that run out of rice never leave their container completely empty. There is always a little rice left in it. Parts of the poultry (家禽) and livestock that are unsuitable to be the main dishes are always deliciously cooked.

Food also helps bring people together. In Chinese culture, “Ju” (get together)is a very particular word. There are many ways to get together, but the word “Can” is usually added to it in case of festivals, birthday celebrations, moving to new houses, weddings and funeral. “Ju Can”(get together and have dinner)is an important way for Chinese families to bond.

But these ordinarily frugal (节俭的) people often end up wasting food during “Ju Can”. Some reports show that the annual waste of grain in China is close to 6% of the total grain output, of which, the waste rate of a large party is as high as 38%. The food waste is driven by people’s flamboyant nature-they think the plates must be full and taking away packed food from a party is “disgraceful”. The dishes at a dinner party have become a symbol of a person’s wealth and having too many dishes at the menu has become fashionable, thus promoting waste.

Small to a person, a family, big to a country, the whole human race, to survive, to develop, we have to be frugal. Being frugal does not mean being mean, it simply means one is wise enough not to waste food. If the culture of diligence and frugality is more widespread in all countries, it would provide for a stronger foundation for national security and family happiness.

7 . Rending leadership literature, you’d sometimes think that everyone has the potential to be an effective lender.

I don’t believe that to, be true. In fact, there are fewer truly effective leaders, instead, I see many more leaders sadly incompetent, and seriously misguided about their own abilities.

Part of the reason this happens is a lack of honest self-assessment by those w ho pursue leadership in the first place.

We’ve all met the type of individual who simply must take charge. Whether it’s a decision-making session, a basketball game, or a family outing, they can’t help grabbing the lead position. They believe they are natural born leaders.

Truth is, they’re nothing of the sort. True leaders don’t assume that it’s their divine (神圣的) right to take charge every time two or more people get together. Quite the opposite. A great leader will assess each situation and will only take charge when their position, the situation, or the needs of the moment demand it.

Many leaders confuse leadership with action. They believe that constant motion somehow generates leadership as a byproduct (副产品). Faced with any situation that can’t be solved by the force of activity, they generate a dust cloud of impatience. Their one leadership tool is volume: if they think you aren’t working as hard as they think you should, their demands become increasingly louder and rougher.

True leaders understand the value of action, of course, but it isn’t their only tool. In fact, it isn’t ever their primary tool. Great leaders see more than everyone else: answers, solutions, patterns, problems, opportunities. They know it’s vitally important to do, but they also know that thinking, understanding, are equally important.

If you’re too concerned with outcomes, you aren’t leading at all, you’re dictating (独裁). A true leader is someone who develops his or her team so that they can hit their targets and achieve their goals.

9 . As smartphone users know, a sleeping device can still consume the power of a battery. One solution for extending the battery life of wireless devices is to add a wake - up receiver that can tun on a shut - off device.

Angad Rekhi, a university student, and Amin Arabians, an assistant professor have developed a wake - up receiver that turns on a device in response to ultrasonic (超声波的)signals. By working at a significantly smaller wavelength and switching from radio waves to ultrasound, this receiver is much smaller than similar wake - up receivers.

This wake - up receiver has many potential applications, particularly in designing the next generation of networked devices, including the smart devices that can communicate directly with one another without human’s role.

Once attached to a device, a wake - up receiver listens for a unique ultrasonic pattern that tells it when to turn the device on. It only needs a very small amount of power to maintain this constant listening, so it still saves energy.

The designing of these receivers presented a number of challenges. “Miniaturizing wake - up receivers and driving down power consumption while maintaining or extending range are fundamental challenges,” Angad said. “By doing so, the receivers can be small but powerful enough to fit in with the environment.”

By comparison, the ultrasound wake - up receiver requires a battery but has much greater range than the wirelessly powered devices, These two technologies - wireless power and wake - up receivers would likely serve different purposes, but both indicate a turning point in devices that make up the Internet of things.

“In light of a long - promised future where interconnected, autonomous, widespread and remarkable technologies make life easier, the networked devices available now, like video doorbells and app - enabled lights, seem like rather slight advances” the researchers explained. They believe technologies could help cross the gap between the Internet of things as we know it and the Internet of things at their best.

10 . Three years ago, at my class’s white coat ceremony during the first week of medical school, the photographer told us to smile and yell “Tuition-free!” rather than “Cheese!” We were horrified. The idea of tuition-free medical school seemed imaginative at that time and thoroughly inconsiderate on the first semester’s fourth day when most students borrowed money from the bank to pay for the tuition. The following week, the photographer issued an apology.

At yesterday’s white coat ceremony for its class of 2022, New York University School of Medicine announced it would cover tuition for all its medical students, regardless of their financial situation. The announcement(which I certainly wouldn’t have minded coming three years earlier) isn’t just great news for NYU medical students. It could greatly ease the approaching doctor shortage in the United States.

Tuition alone for four years of medical school has increased up to fourfold in the past three decades. It now averages $125,000 for public schools and $212,000 for private ones. The American Association of Medical Colleges(AAMC)estimates that more than 8 in 10 graduating students bear a debt burden of over $100,000, with an average debt of $192,000. That’s a major challenge for qualified premedical students considering a medical degree. Tuition and its debt burden may be a factor contributing to the estimated shortage of up to 120,000 physicians in the United States by 2030.

The educational debt in medical schools can even affect practicing physicians on a personal level according to a survey. The 48 percent of students graduating with greater than $200.000 in debt are 1.7 times more likely to experience symptoms of burnout. To the extent that burnout leads to depression and early retirement, as well as increased medical error rates and poorer patient care.

The decision’ made by NYU to provide free tuition for all of its students may cause ripples among other medical schools. But based on the findings, the New York University’s move will be sure to do good to physicians which in turn will provide a bonus for patients. And these profits would be vastly compounded(加深)if other schools follow suit.