1 . Battle of wits(智力)

Do you feel a rush during discussions about your favorite sport? Do you experience excitement when discussing your favorite team with your friends? Are you the one who turns to the last few pages of a newspaper first to run through the sports columns?

SPJIMR’s SPRINT brings to you Battle of Wits, the flagship sports quiz. Your chance to go head-to-head with sports enthusiasts from B-Schools across the country is here. Will you be able to stand till the end to win this battle?

Participation is open to all B-School students either in teams of 3 or as a lone wolf. There is no restriction on the number of teams participating from the same B-School. In the case of 3 members, all must be from the same institute.

This event has two rounds: A Preliminary(预备的) round which will take place on Dare2Compete on 20 October and then the Finals which will take place on Zoom on 26 October. The top 8 teams will qualify for the Finals. However, in case multiple teams from the same B-school top the charts, only the top 2 teams from that B-School will be allowed to play in the Finals. The qualifying teams will be announced on https://sprint-spjimr.com/ on 23 October.

The Finals will be conducted in a Pounce-Bounce format. The exact details of the format will be announced on the above website on 24 October.

2 . Growing old is something that happens to all of us. But often, older people seem “invisible” in society. Many people see them as physically weak, helpless or unable to contribute anything.

Starting in 1990, the United Nations has made Oct 1 of every year the International Day of Older Persons. It is a day to fight this stereotype (刻板印象) and raise awareness of issues faced by older people in society.

How do you feel about getting old? I chatted with my grandma to find out her opinions. Born in 1927, my grandma Solveig King grew up in Sweden during the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War Ⅱ. Everything was rationed (定量配给). There were no outdoor lights and no running water. “But it was a very happy childhood: snow every winter and always sunshine in summer, enough food, but no luxuries,” she said. This explains where she got her habit of keeping old boxes and containers and never wasting any food. It’s a habit many people of her generation seem to have.

In 2015, I went to live with my grandma for a few months. We would sit together and read books, go to the swimming pool, watch some travel programs or documentaries on TV, do some gardening, try some crossword puzzles, and then do it all again the next day. It was quite fun!

Now 96 years old and in a wheelchair, Solveig can’t go swimming any more, but she still keeps up with her other hobbies. “I don’t feel ‘old’, just a little disabled! But I never wish I could do something I know I can’t do. I remember one of my favorite teachers saying: ‘That is just wasted mental energy!’ Nor do I ever wish to relive any part of my life. I am very happy with the road I have taken.”

As for getting older and wiser, Solveig thinks wisdom comes with experience and reasoning, but not everyone is willing to take notice of it. And she keeps a curious and adventurous mindset. “Soon, I’ll need to go live at a nursing home for two weeks while my family is away. I’m excited because I’ll get to learn all about old people!” she said.

Every year after the rainy season, around the     1     (nine) month of the Tibetan calendar, the Potala Palace carries out     2     (it) annual painting project. This year, the “makeover” started on Oct 18. Many people in Lhasa joined in the work of painting the outside walls of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Potala Palace is a landmark of Lhasa, capital of Tibet,     3     was built in the 7th century by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo (松赞干布). According to locals, in the past, painting the Potala Palace would take about a month. Now, thanks     4     the progress in technology, the painting can be finished within a week. Before painting, workers mix local lime (石灰) with things such as milk, honey and sugar. As they     5     (use), locals also call the Potala Palace the “sweet palace”.

Many locals queued up in long lines in the early morning to take part in the painting,     6     (consider) it to be an honor. “We queued for a long time yesterday     7     we failed to enter the palace,” said a young woman. “Today, we came to line up in the early morning. We were so lucky to get the chance     8     (participate) in the painting of the palace.”

“I have been taking part in the annual paintings of the palace for more than 20 years,” said Dawa, 57, another happy     9     (paint). “I consider the palace to be a very     10     (value) heritage, and I am proud to be part of the painting team.”

5 . If your stress-response is always on, your immune system suffers and your blood pressure increases.     1    . So what are some ways to quiet your body’s stress response and gain some much-needed calm?

    2    

The first way to start your relaxation mode is to breathe. Now, you may be saying, “I breathe all day. If I didn’t, I’d be dead.”    3     . But many of us go through our days without breathing deeply. There’s a difference between stressed-out shallow breathing and slow, deep breaths. This kind of deep breathing leads to all sorts of health benefits such as decreased oxygen consumption, decreased blood pressure, and increased carefulness.

Practice Imagination

You can experience that relaxation mode by trying imagination. My favorite is to imagine I’m on a beach. I use all five senses to try to bury myself in the imagined experience of relaxation on a beach. I try to smell the ocean air and see and hear the waves.     4    .

Play Pretend

    5    . I find that if I pretend I’m a professional California surfer, it’s much easier to decrease stress and get into my relaxation mode. A simple “No problem” can go a really long way.

8 . Why was school created?    1    Especially on test days, many students wonder exactly why they’re being subjected to such terrible and unusual punishment!

If you’re honest with yourself, though, you know what a great place school is.    2    . Sure, tests can be stressful, but think of how boring life would be if you didn’t get to learn new things and see other people so often!

Schools are not a new invention. You may have seen some old one-room schoolhouses that have been around for several hundred years or more.    3    .

In fact, education dates back to the very first humans ever to live on Earth. Why? To survive, every generation has found it necessary to pass on its knowledge, skills, values, and traditions to the next generation. How can they do this? Education! Each subsequent generation (后代) must be taught these things.

    4    They educated young people within the family unit. Over time, however, populations grew and societies formed.

Rather than every family being responsible for education, people soon found out that it would be easier and more efficient to have a small group of adults teach a larger group of children.    5    .

9 . My 16-month-old daughter jumped onto the floor again, after climbing onto the low windowsill. She made it many times a day—it is her own Mount Qomolangma. With a sense of _________, she ran into my arms, laughing. I was almost crying as I _________ her.

I felt I was a(n)_________. No one had prepared me for working from home daring the COVID-19 pandemic while _________ a wild, fearless kid. I felt so sad. I wasn’t _________ enough and I wasn’t a good mother. I was defeated by life.

Then came a sound from my cellphone. After getting my _________ child back on her feet and, watching her go to climb the windowsill, I read the _________: “Watching you be a mommy has been my favorite. It brings me so much     _______! How talented you are, and how kind and funny you are!”

And immediately, my friend Megan got me out of a complete _________. This was exactly what I needed to ________, at the exact moment I felt so ________ . She rebuilt my confidence and __________ me that motherhood is my mission, my happiness, and my greatest achievement, even when it’s __________.

Sometimes the greatest kindnesses are some words of __________ at just the right time. Therefore, I headed back to Baby Qomolangma, ready for her next __________.