1 . The true test of an effective team is one where the members operate as a self-managing team. The _________ allows the members on the team to establish teamwork, adjust its work processes, and _________ a communication channel to the rest of the organization.

I followed up with one of our customers to see first-hand what a very successful team looked and felt like. Here is their story on what they do to _________ as a team.

This team _________ eighteen members that worked in a manufacturing facility in Texas. Their working _________ were not the best. During the night when I _________ them, they were performing a hot and dirty job and _________ that, they worked from 12 pm to 8 am. Their _________ was not the best and the products they were making had a terrible _________, which most people can’t stand.

The reason why I know this information is that when you have the opportunity to see how a team really works, you want to __________ their secrets. So I was looking for answers.

As I stayed and communicated with the team members to find out how they worked together, they described to me their requirements for team development.

They said, “Each member has a good time, and we are in tune (协调) with each other, and we have a great __________ of team spirit, believe in our __________, and run the operation without a formal leader in the middle of things. We have a ‘shared’ philosophy.”

Their hard work and effort paid off as they became known as “the stars” of the company. They were described as “__________” compared to other 156 teams. They were motivated by the positive attention, and the __________ that went along with being the best.

It is clear that this team developed to compete for the goal instead of against each other. This team has stayed __________ and self-directed because of being allowed to become more than their “individual selves”.

2 . It all began innocently—I rushed to the local market for a few items, deciding not to use a cart (推车). As I approached the checkout area with my hands full, it was clear that the _________ service management had momentarily checked out. Three cashiers faced long lines, and chaos _________ with shoppers and carts full of groceries.

Like most, I surveyed the checkout lines, _________ choosing what seemed the fastest. However, my choice turned out to be the slowest, and _________ spread through the line. A middle-aged man murmured, setting off a chain reaction of complaints about the slow pace. The negativity _________, with one person declaring they would never shop there again.

_________ by the negativity, I turned my attention to the stressed cashier. The crowd’s displeasure didn’t _________ her work; instead, her stress increased, leading to mistakes and the need for a supervisor (主管). As my turn approached, I _________ the cashier’s discomfort, trembling and sweating despite the cold store.

In a(an) _________ tone, I said, “Some days are quite the adventure, aren’t they?” The cashier, relieved to see a_ __________ face, met my eyes and smiled. I encouraged her, saying impatience affects everyone, and I was in no rush.

Then came a(an) __________ lesson, a gift I never imagined. By sharing it, I hope to ________ others. The cashier thanked me for my patience, revealing she was a new employee still in training. We shared a laugh, and in that moment, strangers became friends.

Leaving the store, I felt __________ for the experience, unlike the dissatisfied shoppers. This incident taught that in the journey of love and understanding, mistakes happen, and patience is a __________ learning process. We are all, and always will be, in training when it comes to __________.

3 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere _________ it. I scrolled through my friends’ _________ into late night and turned my phone on before my eyes were fully open. I enjoyed having it until that day when I realized that what had started as a useful tool had turned into a(n) _________. So, I made a _________ decision to turn off that smartphone and _________ my old dumb phone out of hiding.

When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I _________ picking up the phone and checking out “what everyone else was doing.” Now I had to pay attention or find a way to _________ myself with my thoughts instead. When I visited New York City, I had to write out _________ and ask people where an intersection (十字路口) was _________ pulling out my phone.

I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased __________ from not constantly having to fight with the __________ to check my phone while I’m trying to get something done. I am allowing my thoughts to speak to me instead of my phone. I am connecting with others in a __________ way that isn’t all about me. Instead of always posting about what’s going on in my __________ perfect life, I am connecting with my friends one-on-one, talking about the reality of our lives and being there for them from a place of __________.

As much as having a smartphone was __________, not having one is freeing on a much bigger level.

4 . Recently, a man who thinks himself wise complained to me about his bad luck. He interviewed an architect for his project, but he intended her to offer a plan right away and he thought she _______ him too much. Afterwards, he was totally stuck in the cost problem because he _______ to find another nice architect at a lower price.

Was this a poor choice or just bad luck? If we play out the same situation 100 times —where a man _______ the selection of an architect, and focuses on picking the cheapest and immediately _______ project plan —how many times do you think it runs in a _______ way? Not once.

One way to visualize the man’s _______ is through the game of billiards (台球).We focus on making the first shot instead of considering how we _______the ball for the next shot. When we go to take the next shot, the difficulty _______ .

Life is full of such examples. We _______ the $500-an-hour lawyer with years of relevant experience and choose the $200-an-hour lawyer. Unavoidably, we find ourselves paying for the ________ sooner or later. We do the same when it comes to ________ .Often, we choose the “cheaper” alternatives ________ we realize our mistakes. As the saying goes, buy nice or buy twice. The current cheapness ________ means the overall cheapness.

The main ________ here is to aim at the long-term consequences. ________ might appear to win in the short term, but foresight undoubtedly wins in the end.

5 . This morning, I was flagged down by an elderly Chinese woman speaking to me in Mandarin. She spoke no English at all. She was _________ and was trying to walk home. Although I was on my morning exercise, I knew her reaching out had to be _________.

I quickly downloaded a(n) _________ App, and tried to find someone who could _________ Chinese but without success. So we used the microphone to translate and talk. Then I _________ she was at least 45 minutes walking distance from home. She didn’t want to take a taxi, but agreed to let me walk her to a bus stop where she could go by bus _________.

It was such a lovely encounter (相遇), despite having to _________ by an App and having to put trust in someone entirely strange. I was so pleased to be able to _________ this woman. This lost, elderly woman was extra grateful for my time and kept _________ for taking my time. I had to keep reminding her that was no __________ at all, and I only wanted to __________ she got home safely.

The time spent with her was really special. We chatted through the App, and I was __________ by her ability to ask for help from a total stranger and put her faith in me. We walked, talked and laughed for she had an awesome sense of __________.

We said goodbye, and my heart was filled with __________ for human. It’s one of the few times I’ve been so grateful for __________ because I could communicate with someone despite the language barriers.

6 . My father was always able to cheer me on to complete any task. No matter what I _______, “Tomorrow will be a better day” were the words he _______ hundreds if not thousands of times.

In my mid-twenties, still trying to _______ what I wanted to do with my life, I realized I was frequently changing _______because of a difficult economic (经济的) downturn. Even though I lived in a common apartment, which meant being rich in others’ eyes, I was _______.

When my father called one day to invite me out for dinner, I almost _______ him. But I will always be thankful that I _______ joined him that evening. What he said to me when he finally drove me home changed my life and my entire _______ about life.

He asked why I looked so_______. I looked at him with tears in my eyes and said that I felt so       ________ . Hugging me to his side, he told me, “You may be broke, but you aren’t poor at all. ‘Broke’ means you don’t have any money, but ‘poor’ means you don’t have any   ________. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

Now, I’m still________ every time I share these wise words with others. There have been more ________ in my life since that cold winter night, but I’ve never forgotten the lesson my father taught me. Hope has kept me ________ thick, thin and even thinner.________ that dinner with my dad, I know it always will.

7 . I was cleaning out a cupboard the other day when I made an amazing discovery. Inside I _________ the manuscript (手稿) for a novel. It included an outline of the _________ and a pile of typed pages telling a story. It was written, to my _________, by my father who has been dead for more than 50 years. It isn’t _________, as novels go, perhaps fifty or sixty typed pages, but without my _________ it has somehow accompanied me through my years of _________, several jobs, a marriage, the birth of my children and grandchildren, retirement and even a relocation across the country where I live.

Yet there it was, resting under a lot of paper to be recycled. I might have _________ my father’s legacy (遗产). I was truly _________ by my discovery.

I’m in the middle of reading another book _________ my dad’s novel has a place on my bed-side table. I want to have some __________ time for it so I haven’t __________ examined it yet. I’m going to spend a whole afternoon to give it the __________ it deserves. As yet I don’t know what the story line is about and I don’t even know if it is complete but I __________ a highly emotional process of finding out.

I find it fascinating to think that this could happen; that after more than fifty years my father could __________ his only son through the mists of time. It’s one of those things that we don’t see coming and that make life so __________.

8 . Teenagers are more likely to cause conflict with their parents than any other age child. Teens often think what they are saying is _______. They believe that if they keep arguing, they can _______ their parents’ minds.

Teenagers argue with their parents because two things are still _______ during the adolescent period: the limbic system (边缘系统) and the frontal lobe (额叶). The former _______ emotions, and the latter helps with people’s decision making.

With not everything fully developed in teenage bodies, it _______ how they react to discipline and the word “no”. Teenagers want to have freedom and the _______ to do what they want. Being teenagers is very _______. There are too many things happening in a teen’s _______ all at once and their bodies are not quite ready to _______ everything that’s happening. They are still in the ________ of growing and making all these life decisions.

With teens having little free time, it’s an unhappy thing to hear “no” coming from ________. Teens want to do something interesting with friends or just simply ________ without worrying about anything. They trust themselves to be ________. Some teens don’t understand why they’re told they can’t do something. Without reasoning behind the “no”, there is often a spark (火花) of ________ leading into an argument. If parents gave a ________ reason for their decision, it could ________ many arguments and keep a healthy ________. Even if they disagree, when knowing their parents’ reason ________, teenagers are less likely to respond in a negative way.

Parents should not ________ intervene with (干预) their kids’ choices. It is a part of growing up, and making ________ and suffering the consequences is an important lesson to learn.

9 . I believe I have a personal responsibility to have a positive influence on society and I’ve tried to achieve this goal by choosing to be a doctor and a scientist. I have ________ principles that guide my life. I think about them every day and have ________ them all my professional life.

First, I am always hungry for ________ I seek and learn every day: from an experiment in the lab, from reading a(n) ________ journal, from taking care of a ________. Because of this, I ________ get bored. I have accepted that I will never know or understand as much as I want.

Second, I believe in working for excellence. I am ________ about the big and small things! I do not ________ for this. This is not anxiety without a ________. This anxiety creates a ________ tension that drives me to reach my limited potential. This has made me a ________ doctor and scientist. Without this tension, I wouldn’t be as focused. This is what keeps the search for knowledge ________!

Third, I believe that as a doctor my goal is to reduce the ________ of humankind. When I chose to ________ AIDS in the 1980s, many of my colleagues thought I was misguided to focus all of my attention on what was ________ considered “just a gay man’s disease”. But I knew deep down that this was going to become a public health ________. Therefore, I have spent all of my professional ________ in AIDS research, care of AIDS patients and public health policy.

I believe that I must ________ seek and learn, accept ________ short of excellence if I want to put this terrible disease under ________.

10 . The scars that Pat Rribble carried through life were formed nearly 50 years ago, inflicted (欺负) by fellow students in Woodland, who _______him because he was different.

Pat never _______or had children after graduating. He never had a _______, only a series of jobs. Now 65, Pat appears _______with his long gray hair and beard, whom you might cross the street to _______. But, to talk with him reveals (展现出) a _______side. He speaks quietly, measuring his words to _______his weakness, for which others once seized upon to _______him.

In 2021, when Carey Jim, Pat's classmate, learned Pat _______to attend his high school class's party ________ he'd been hurt in school, he ________. “Pat had it rougher than the rest of us.” Days later, Carey found Pat's ________and called. Pat answered. “We talked about the ________things, and the good things too,” Pat said. “Carey's love and ________caught me unexpectedly.” After that, Carey asked all his ________to call Pat. And so they did. They made a ________that they wouldn't lose track of Pat, and they have ________it for over ten years. Every week, one or more of them call Pat to see how he's doing.

The recovery of the ________from the past has allowed Pat to look to the ________. “I'll be at the next party,” he says. “These guys…” He pauses, stifling (强忍) ________. “Let's just say that everyone needs people like these guys in their lives.”