Yours,

Li Hua

3 . I got on an overnight, bus journey from Kolhapur to Aurangabad in India. The bus — an ordinary, air-conditioning-free one—was more than ______. All 55seats were taken and there were some 20 people ______ in the aisle (过道). The hot day ______ the discomfort of the 10-hour journey. Because I was travelling on a student bus pass I had no choice but to-stand.

After approximately two extended hours, I was wet with _______ in the noise of the bus. I suddenly ______ a hand tapping my hand, asking for ______. Turning around, I found a middle-aged man with a smile looking up at me. He stood up and said I could take his ______ for a little while. I was pleasantly ______ and immediately accepted his offer, my entire body feeling a sense of relief. And the man just stood next to me, looking around. After about.20 minutes, I signaled him to ______ his space. Another man, who was sitting by the window on the other side of the bus, had observed our’ ______.

Just then, something ______ happened. Our observer stood up and offered his seat to another standing man. Unexpectedly, we had caused a chain reaction: almost all the standees got a(n)______ to be seated. More surprisingly, people-even started chatting with each other while exchanging their positions, and soon began sharing jokes. Needless to say, the rest of the journey was quite ______.

The bus reached its destination the next morning. I stood in the early morning light, waving goodbye to the groups, who-went-their separate routines. But this extraordinary experience has stayed with me after all the years. I am always ______ of an important life lesson—that we can all ______ what we have, including our burdens, and help our co-passengers in the journey of life.

4 . Like other penguins, African penguins have white feathers covering their chests and black feathers covering their backs. They have lifelong mates, and they live in huge numbers —so, scientists wondered how the birds were able to identify their partners among a sea of black-and-white birds. To find it out, they studied 12 African penguins at a marine park called Zoomarine Italia.

In one test, they hung two life-size photographs of the African penguins. One is selected randomly(随机选择地), while the other is the test subject’s mate. The scientists recorded their interactions with the photos: How long did they spend looking at each photo, as well as how much time did they spend standing near each one? The penguins spent more time looking at the photo of their partners—about 23 seconds longer, on average —than looking at the other photo. They also stood next to the mate’s photo for twice as long. Then, the researchers covered up the heads of the birds in the photographs, and the penguins still stayed near their partners’ photos.

In another experiment, the researchers hung up two photos of a bird’s mate —but, in one, they had digitally removed its spots(点). In this case, the penguin again spent more time looking at the photo with the spots. In the third experiment, the researchers hung two penguin photos with digitally removed spots—one of the test subject’s mate and the other: a random penguin. In this case, the penguins did not appear to recognize their partners—they spent almost the same time looking at or standing near both photos.

Together, the research results suggest African penguins are zeroing in on their partners’ spots and using them like name tags. Scientists say: “Our results prove birds recognize their mates by specific visual patterns and all sensory modalities(模态)should be considered in the study of animal communication.”

5 . Improved mental health is on the schedule for many people in 2024 and being organized is an ideal method of realizing it.

Disorganization (无序) is often considered to have a negative impact on the way we see ourselves and the lives we lead. The disadvantages of living in a disorganized environment include memory problems, poor eating habits, and decreased self-control. “There’s an obvious link between increased stress and anxiety disorders and living in a messy space,” says Daniel Levitin, a behavioral neuroscientist (行为神经科学家) at McGill University.

“Disorganization reduces productivity (生产力) that is difficult to measure” says Levitin. He points people loses a large amount of time when looking for lost items, missing appointments, or falling behind at work or school because of disordered living. “The average person likely loses 5 percent of their time due to disorganization,” he says. “Take your annual salary, multiply(乘)that by5percent, and you can measure what disorganization may be society you.”

Joseph Ferrari, another researcher on disorganization, says that nearly every mental health downside coming from disorganization can be improved by getting organized. “You’ll feel more energetio, enhance your productivity in the office, and greatly improve the quality of your life,” he says.

Tidy homes mean physical health. “Those whose houses are cleaner are more active and physically healthy,” says Libby Sander, an assistant professor of organizational behavior. It is partly because those people are better at managing their time, and partly because less mess can help improve one’s diet. “Studies show a close link between disorganization and overweight,” says Libby.

Getting organized has also been shown to decrease one’s stress levels, increase personal efficiency, and even improve sleep. Another studied advantage of getting organized may be improving the quality of one’s relationships. Libby explains that relationships can be negatively impacted when too much mess affects communication or distracts (分散) one’s brain from noticing important message from their partner. Research shows this can cause others to feel ignored, misunderstood, or unimportant.

6 . I started the topic “question of the day” in my family text group. We’d talk about everything from movies to politics. But my loved ones warned me that some of my answers were judgmental(武断的)and that I was too quick to attack an opinion. I all but killed that group text. It had a good 12 people in it. We’d shared laughs, encouragement, and funny memes (表情包). It took only one conversation-which I was in the middle of-to end it.

I realized that I had a problem. The reason for my problem is the smartphone. Smartphones enable instant communication. When in the past people talked on the telephone, you could cut in a “What do you mean by that?” to correct a misunderstanding before it got out of hand. But don’t-misunderstand me: I love a good group text. It makes me feel connected to people in a way that I just can’t seem to anymore, now that I have a wife and kids.

I’m learning, but I made mistakes again recently. I joined a new text group. I introduced my topic “question of the day” again. I thought foolishly that I was encouraging a healthy debate on current eyes. No. Others in the group saw it as me trying to prove that my way was the right way. Then I made the mistake of sharing a friend’s personal information, which he had told me during a phone conversation. I thought everyone knew it. Then this friend started referring to me as a snitch--not a kind word. So I asked him about it in person. That’s when he told me I’d shared sensitive information he hadn’t told anyone else. I apologized plentifully and came away from the conversation and more determined to slow down my texts.

My new determination seems to be working. Now I have avoided making a few points that I had meant to make in individual and group texts. In some cases, I didn’t even respond, but I haven’t lost any more connections by doing this.

10 . “I have cancer.” Mom said and held me in a tight hug. I could feel her chest _________ as she tried not to cry but failed.

For all of my twenty-four years, my mom had been _________. Strength and protection had always flowed from her to me. Now I knew it would have to flow _________.

Mom didn’t stay _________ for long. After the shock of breast-cancer, she armed herself with a notebook and a pen and a thousand questions for the doctors. “The not-knowing is the _________.” she said.

The operation was successful. The chemo(化疗) was the _________ part. I went with Mom to every chemo treatment. She rarely _________, though her hair was gone and her toenails and fingernails _________ one by one. She joked that she could _________ money on nail polish and put it toward the doctor bills, even though she never wore nail polish. “Cancer can take my hair, my nails, my health, my very life. But it can’t take my smile.” Mom said.

Mom learned to share her fears with me, and it formed an even deeper __________ between us. Yet I am certain there were fears she didn’t share because she was still __________ me—worries she only shared with Dad. Even in the darkest hours, she would just __________ about the cancer. Mom always said. “When you look your greatest fear in the eye and laugh at it, you take away some of its __________.”

Basically, no matter where you are, the waves of life will always __________ you. What matters most is how you __________ during those moments and what they teach about yourselves along this journey called life.