My Family’s Reunion Dinner

4 . It was six years ago that something unforgettable happened. My wife and I celebrated our 40th wedding _______ that year. We drove from Ontario into Alberta, then southward into Glacier National Park in Montana, and _______ to Yellowstone National Park.

It was a _______ spring day, and the Beartooth Highway had opened for the season just days before. Alongside the road, there was still a great amount of snow there. The scenery was so impressive that we made lots of _______ to record memories with my camera. At the highest point of the highway, I stopped at a lookout to catch the _______ views, with my wife in the center of my camera lens.

There were not many cars on the road. Sometimes, cars with energetic young tourists _______. And then we heard a motorcycle in the distance. The driver of the motorcycle, who wore dirty clothes, _______ behind our cars. As he _______ us, his only words were, “Give me your camera and get over there with your wife.” I must _______ I felt nervous that we might be robbed where we just created some beautiful memories. ________, he just took a picture of us, handed back my camera and rode off ________we could express our ________. The photo he took is one of the most valuable and ________ of our trip.

I learned my lesson somewhere I ________ expected it. We should never judge a man by his ________. If the motorcycle driver reads this story and remembers the situation, we would like to say “Thank you” to him.

5 . Quiet Quitting

While not a new concept, the term “quiet quitting” has recently gained popularity on social media.

Quiet quitting doesn’t mean an employee has left their job, but rather has limited their tasks to avoid working longer hours.     1     They stick to what is in their job description and when they go home, they leave work behind them and focus on non-work duties and activities.

    2     It may also mean they are ready to change positions or may be currently looking for another job.

Quiet quitting may be a popular term, but this practice isn’t new. Workers have quietly quit their jobs for years to look for something new, whether it was because of poor pay, unmanageable workload, burnout or lack of growth opportunities.

Working from home has also changed the dynamics of the workplace because employees and managers are communicating in different ways through online meetings. These interactions may feel more formal than the chat sessions that happen in an office. Limited meetings can cause a disconnect between employees and management.     4    

The biggest way to prevent disengagement is to improve the employees’ experience. Talk to employees, gather their feedback and discuss what can be done to make them feel appreciated. Make sure workloads are realistic and that there are appropriate boundaries to maintain a work-life balance.

Further, managers should clearly outline paths of career progression to each employee.    5     A recent report revealed that more than half of employees surveyed would accept 10% less pay in exchange for a “more interesting career path or more opportunities to learn new skills”.

6 . Since the beginning of the summer in 2022, China has been sweltering under the worst heatwave in decades. A number of people in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Sichuan provinces were diagnosed with thermoplegia (热射病), the most severe form of heatstroke, and some even died of this disease.

In a warming world, the hazards of heatwaves are increasing. “Over the past four decades, the main drivers of the large increase in heatwave-related deaths in China are the rapid increase in the frequency of heatwaves, followed by population growth, population aging, and rising baseline mortality (基线死亡率),” said Prof. Huang Cunrui, a researcher from Tsinghua University. According to a study, the number of deaths caused by heatwaves in China has increased rapidly since 1979, from 3679 persons per year in the 1980s to 15,500 persons per year in the 2010s.

High temperatures would accelerate the loss in soil moisture (水分). What’ s more, each additional degree of warming will increase crop losses to insects by 10 - 25 percent, threatening food security for billions of people. China has witnessed a range of extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall, flooding, tornadoes, and record heatwaves this year. Meteorological officials said the country had an average temperature of 21.3 degrees Celsius in June, 0.9 degrees Celsius higher than the same period on average, and the highest record for the same period since 1961.

Experts say that while extreme summer heat is not entirely new, these sorts of occurrences could be something that becomes a standard part of life, requiring people to start learning how to cope with heatwaves that may continue for the rest of summer and well into the future.

Remember that even healthy, young athletes can be harmed by extreme heat, so every activity should be evaluated when extreme heat hits. There are some ways to stay safe during extreme heat events, such as drinking plenty of water, looking for shade or remaining in shade when outside, and avoiding cooking large meals.

7 . If a president, a legendary philosopher, and one of the best-selling authors of all time credited the same secret for their success, would you try to follow it too? What if the secret was something you already knew how to do? In fact, you probably do it every day. Here’s what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” Thomas Jefferson: “Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.” And Charles Dickens made his point: “If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish (死亡).”

Researchers have traced numerous connections between walking and generating ideas. A Stanford University study found that participants were 81 percent more creative when walking as opposed to sitting. According to the study, walking outside — versus on a treadmill (跑步机) — produces the most novel and highest-quality ideas in participants who walked and then sat down to do creative work.

The movement aspect of walking is obviously key. You’ve probably heard the phrase Exercise your creativity, which refers to the brain as muscle. Our creative mindset is triggered by physical movement, which is exactly why walking — with your dog, a friend, or alone — feeds creative thinking. Just by going outside, you are stepping out of your habitual surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if you want to open your mind to new possibilities.

Research has shown that immersion in nature, and the corresponding disconnection from multimedia and technology, increased performance on a creative problem-solving task by a full 50 percent in a group of hikers.

So why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking? Turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to be present in the world, to hear conversations and natural sounds, to notice the way people move, the way the sun reflects in a puddle. Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.