1 . Only about 20% of U.S.adults say they have a best friend at work.Should the other 80% start looking for one?Yes and no.    1     ,says psychologist Catherine Heaney. That support can come from a coworker who has become a close friend,but it doesn’t have to;interactions with managers and friendly acquaintances can also boost your well-being, Heaney notes.

    2    : having friends in the workplace can improve wellness.It’s linked to a lower risk of burnout,better mental health,and maybe even a longer lifespan.Meanwhile,research is equally clear that loneliness is bad for your health.    3     , given its links to various health problems.

But if becoming best friends with your coworkers feels too daunting (使人气馁的),or just not your style,you can still benefit from social support.When most people hear “social support”,they think of emotional support,like venting (发泄) to a coworker over coffee, Heaney says.    4     :when someone steps in to help you on a busy day,for instance,or shares advice.Even relatively minor interactions,like a manager allowing you to leave early to pick up your sick child,can buffer (缓解) the negative effects of stress, Heaney explains.    5    —although it is great if you do—but rather to promote “a sense of being in the right place” by becoming part of a community.

2 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。

3 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。

Kevin and I were friends in the elementary school. As honor students, both of us sat in the front of the class, but in opposite sides. He was the smartest boy I’d ever known, who almost always got straight A’s in study. Actually, I was second only to him. Part of me wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. After all, we were close companions. Instead, I envied him and longed with all my heart to be just like him.

Mrs. Becker, our teacher, was a patient, kind old lady. She would flash a pleasant smile, when the class got into an argument, and patiently guide us toward the correct answer. Last week, Mrs. Becker, put a big circle on the blackboard and said it was a pizza pie. “David,” she said to me, “If I were to divide the pizza, would you like one-third or one-tenth?”. Ten is the bigger number, so that’s what I picked. At that moment, Kevin started waving his hand in the air, shouting that he chose one-third. Mrs. Becker drew lines on the circle, showing that Kevin’s piece of the pie was bigger than mine. “David’s gonna get hungry,” Kevin joked. Then the whole class was laughing. My expression changed from a half smile, to a half frown, to one hundred percent unhappy face.

With a mixture of bitterness and envy slipping into my heart, I began to argue with him on purpose during the rest of class. Thus, a heated argument unavoidably broke out when a controversial topic appeared. After hearing our separate statements patiently, Mrs. Becker brought us up to the front of the class and placed Kevin on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked Kevin what color the object was. “White,” he answered. I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black!

Another argument started between us, but this time about the color of the object.

Then, Mrs. Becker asked us what the color of the object was, after we changed places.

7 . My grandma passed away last week. My mum began the painful yet necessary task of sorting through her belongings.

“Is there anything you want from grandma’s flat?” Mum texted me.

“Her aloe (芦荟), please.” I required zero thinking time.

Sometime around 1975, Grandma, always believing good things would happen in the future, received this plant as a gift, which she appreciated and placed in her doorway. It came from the local butcher. Five years later, my mum married the butcher’s son and had me. Grandma revealed to me this particular plant was a living relationship between the two families. And so was I.

Recently, whenever we visited Grandma’s flat, I attempted to fix this concept in my children’s minds. “That was a gift your great-grandma bought your other great-grandma! It’s older than me!” Then my kids would nod and ask Grandma for a sweet.

Numerous times, Grandma gave me cuttings or clippings of the plant, hoping I might raise my own and continue the legend. Yet, every time, my new branch died with my awful gardening skills. But that didn’t used to matter, because I could turn to Grandma, who would wait and accept my disturbance without becoming upset. Then I got another clipping and tried again. But now I can’t. So, I decided that the plant will go and live with Ann, my mother-in-law, who is a genius with a greenhouse.

The plan is for Ann to keep hold of the original plant. In time, she can teach me how to deal with its cuttings properly, and then maybe one day I can settle the plant in my place.

In the meantime, Ann will allocate (分配) clippings among my relatives, as Grandma used to do. My wife’s two sisters, for example, are both better at tending plants than I am, so it is quite imaginable they, too, will offer cuttings of the plant to their partners, spreading this loving plant across my entire extended family.

Finding the Real Me

I had thought losing my job was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Losing my job was not the end of who I was but literally the beginning of discovering the real me.

It started out as one of the best days of my life, and certainly, of my career. My staff and I had been named the number one unit in our company, and I was taking them out for a celebratory lunch. Lunch was fun, the food was excellent, and the friendly atmosphere at the table made me smile. The weather was crisp, cool and sunny. I thought to myself “It just doesn’t get any better than this.” It was a perfect day!

Then came the teleconference at two o’clock as usual.

“Er, if you... if you are willing to move?” stuttered our associate director, voice trembling, “and if you cannot move, you will be given a severance package (遣散费), and ...”

How could this be happening? I felt numb, my world slowly coming to an end. My husband and family comforted me, but I was scared. Financially, I knew we would be okay. But I had worked full-time my whole life and it had become my identity — who I was and how I defined myself. I was a leader, and I felt, a good one. What would I be with that taken from me?

After sitting around feeling sorry for myself, I just casually turned on the television. A program caught my attention — a group of volunteers were helping children and hungry people all over the world. It struck me! I felt guilty knowing that even though I had lost my job, we had plenty of good, healthy food on the table every night. The words spoken by a volunteer seemed directed specifically at me — The best way to be blessed and to forget about your own problem is to help someone else. Ashamed, I realized that I had been abandoned to self-pity when I had so much to be thankful for and to do — a loving husband, beautiful children, and family and friends who needed me.

Paragraph 1: I decided to cook a great meal for my family that night.

Paragraph 2: The next morning, I announced to my family that I was going to start a cooking school for them.