“Conventional wisdom tells us that we can feel happier if we smile or that we can get ourselves     1     a more serious mood if we scowl(怒视),” said Nicholas Coles, a PhD at Utah University. His team combined data from 138 studies testing more than 11,000 participants and found facial     2    (express) do have impact on feelings. For example, smiling makes people happier, scowling makes them feel angrier, and frowning makes them     3    (sad). These finding are exciting because they provide a clue about how the mind and body interact     4    (influence) our conscious experience of emotion.

Crying is a natural response to emotions. Regardless of     1     causes the tears to flow, the physical reaction is usually the same with puffy cheeks and tight eyes     2     (lead) to streaming tears down one’s face. Despite its stigma (污名), crying can be an act     3     relieves tension and clears feelings of negativity and sadness. Crying can communicate our emotions to others and foster greater understanding and compassion. Ultimately, crying is a powerful tool we ought to use to free ourselves     4     negativity.

Gratitude is more than just saying “thank you”. Gratitude is a deeper appreciation for someone or something. Expressing gratitude makes us feel a positive emotion. Over the past thirty years, there    1     (be) many studies showing that writing a gratitude letter to another person offers us an opportunity    2     (escape) from negative emotions. Even if we don’t share our writing with anyone, the act of completing the exercise alone makes us happier and    3     (satisfied) with life. The more we express gratitude, the more positive we feel.

Coping With the Sunday Scaries

A few years ago, I was in the kitchen of a friend’s house preparing a meal. When we all sat down to eat, my friend’s wife wolfed down her supper and then disappeared into another room to do some work. He smiled and said, “Sunday nights are the new Monday mornings around here.”

I was surprised at the time. Now, I find myself     1    (behave) in exactly the same manner. Every time I open up my calendar on Sunday evening, a subtle sense of dread comes over me. I feel as     2     I am behind before the week has even begun.

Apparently, my Sunday-night anxieties and Monday-morning blues are not unique to me alone. A new study led by Ilke Inceoglu from the University of Exeter found that this phenomenon often takes the form of mental concerns about the week ahead, as well as feelings of nervousness and difficulty with sleeping. “It’s as if your mind moves away from     3     has been experienced over the weekend as the general sense of relaxation or enjoyment, and quickly shifts towards whatever worries you have about everything you’ve got to do in the work week ahead,” said one of Inceoglu’s respondents.

Inceoglu found that these Sunday scaries were particularly pronounced     4     people who frequently checked their emails during the weekend, had tasks left over from the previous week, and had unreasonably high expectations of themselves. These matters seem     5    (make) worse as a result of the pandemic, where the rise of working from home     6    (blur) the boundaries between work and leisure.

What should we do about the “Sunday scaries”? Researchers have offered some useful suggestions that     7     help us make Monday less depressing. One is to change     8     you think about the weekend. One U.S. study found that when participants were asked to treat their weekend as a mini-vacation, they tended to do more cheerful activities and returned to work on Monday satisfied with their jobs.     9     second way is to redesign our Monday so that it has some of the features that make us feel good during the weekend. Introducing simple changes, such as starting the day with something you are good at, setting aside a little unstructured time where you are able to do what you want, or setting up a lunchtime date with     10     you find enjoyable to be around, could make all the difference.

We’ve all heard that laughter is the     1     (good) medicine, and it’s true. Laughter makes you feel better and it’s also good     2     your relationships. Laughter brings people closer, and is a     3     (power) tool for making you relax when feelings are running high. Whether with your friends and family, or co-workers, you can learn to use humor     4     (solve) disagreements, lower everyone’s stress levels, and communicate in a way that deepens the relationships.

Humor plays     5     important role in all kinds of relationships. In new relationships, humor can be a useful tool not just for attracting the other person but also for getting over any awkwardness (尴尬)     6     (arise) when we get to know each other. In old relationships, humor can keep things more exciting and fresher.

Sharing the pleasure of humor     7     (create) a sense of closeness and connection between two people—    8     (quality) that are signs of strong and successful relationships. When you laugh with one another, you create a positive relationship between you,     9     acts as a strong buffer (缓冲剂) against stress, disagreements and disappointments in your relationship. And laughter is spreading—just hearing someone laugh often makes you smile     10     (happy) and join in the fun.

My English teacher was very tall. The moment she     1    (enter) the class, we would all sit     2    (quiet) and open the books. She would encourage me by giving me important assignments and also morning news to read during the assembly. She would come down and listen to my English debate,    3    made me take part in all debate competitions.

    4    same was true of my biology and science teacher. She was very nice and sweet. She would always give me extra information on the biology project. I could not go to the lab for experiments, so she would bring the lab down and help me with the biology and science     5    (experiment) and would give me excellent marks.

My friends made me monitor and the naughty boys listened to me. My friends used to help me with my notes when I was     6    (absence). My teachers always gave me important project work and I felt proud when they patted me     7    the back after I finished it quickly and correctly. I was never shouted at or made fun of or scolded by any of my friends and teachers.

Today I often see the terrible punishments     8    (give) to students on TVs. I feel very sad.

I really want to express my love and thanks to all my wonderful teachers and friends. Without them my school life would not     9    (be) so excellent and     10    (forget).

Happiness does not appear to be associated with age, gender, race, or geographical location. Instead, it     1     (relate) to the feeling you have when you are self-satisfied. Researchers have found that happy people tend to be     2     (energy), decisive, flexible, creative, and sociable and tend to look at the brighter side of life, and are more willing to help those in need. Furthermore, happy people have high self-esteem and a sense of personal control, are optimistic, and enjoy social support—that is, they have a large circle of friends and often engage in rewarding social     3     (activity). An important factor     4     (affect) happiness is the tendency to compare one’s situation with     5     of other people. If you feel that you are struggling to make ends meet while everyone around you     6     (appear) to be living in comfort and     7     (secure), you will feel less joy and more stress. Indeed, surveys have shown that perceived wealth matters more than absolute wealth.     8     David G. Myers, a leader of the field of happiness research, points out, “Actual income doesn’t much influence happiness; how satisfied we are     9     our income does. If we’re content with our income, regardless of how much it is, we’re likely to say we’re happy.     10     (put) it another way, “Satisfaction isn’t so much getting what you want as wanting what you have”.

An Excerpt from Mo Yan’s Nobel Speech

Distinguished members of the Swedish Academy, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Through the mediums of television and the Internet, I imagine that everyone here has at least a    1    （nod）acquaintance with far-off Northeast Gaomi Township. You    2     have seen my ninety-year-old father, as well as my brothers, my sister, my wife and my daughter, even my granddaughter, now a year and four months old. But the person who is most on my mind at this moment, my mother, is someone you will never see. Many people have shared in the honor of winning this prize, everyone    3     her.

My mother was born in 1922 and died in 1994. We buried her in a peach orchard east of the village. Last year we were forced to move her grave    4    （far）away from the village in order to make room for a    5    （propose）rail line. When we dug up the grave, we saw that the coffin had rotted away and that her body had merged with the damp earth around it. So we dug up some of that soil, a symbolic act, and took it to the new gravesite. That was when I grasped the knowledge that my mother had become part of the earth, and    6     when I spoke to mother earth, I was really speaking to my mother.

I was my mother’s youngest child.

…

My most remorseful memory involves helping Mother sell cabbages at market, and me    7    （overcharge）an old villager one jiao-intentionally or not, I can’t recall-before heading off to school. When I came home that afternoon, I saw that Mother was crying,     8     that she rarely did. Instead of scolding me, she merely said softly, “Son, you embarrassed your mother today.”

I was born ugly. Villagers often laughed in my face, and school bullies sometimes beat me up because of it. I’d run home crying,     9     my mother would say, “You’re not ugly, son. You’ve got a nose and two eyes, and there’s nothing wrong with your arms and legs, so how could you be ugly? If you have a good heart and always do the right thing,     10     is considered ugly becomes beautiful.” Later on, when I moved to the city, there were educated people who laughed at me behind my back, some even to my face; but when I recalled what Mother had said, I just calmly offered my apologies.

What is the definition of “happiness”? Is it material wealth filled     1     fancy cars, a dream house and jewelry? Or does happiness simply mean having a roof over your head? Love? Money?

For a child of divorce, maybe the     2     (big) happiness is for Mom and Dad to get back together again. Then as he gets older, he will be full of happiness if he     3     (give) a chance to a party. During college, good passing grades are bound to delight him,     4     (make) him feel happy for a short while.

We work hard to accumulate things so we can pay our rents, credit card debts, car payments and the list goes on and on. At some point,     5    we have most of what we want, we still aren’t happy. Now since we’ve learned to adapt to new standards which we’ve created for     6    , we find that we have less time, less patience, less sleep,     7     leads to more stress and more anxiety. Therefore, don’t stupidly make a conclusion that happiness is just the “things”    8     (base) on material wealth.

Happiness is a part of love, and love is an ocean. Go dive in and get some, and then share    9    with everyone, which can be an     10     (end) supply of happiness.

Many people think that money brings happiness. However, according to Professor Michael Argyle, this is not true. In Britain, we are     1     (rich) but unhappier than fifty years   ago. The USA is the richest country in the world but Americans are not the happiest people in the world.

Professor Argyle has found that very poor people and very rich people are unhappier than those in between. For example, very poor people in     2    developing world live in overcrowded houses without any running water and     3    no electricity. However, there are many millionaires (百万富翁) with     4     (person) problems. A lot of young people     5    get rich very quickly are at risk.

Because of this, a few young millionaires are changing their life styles. Richard Cross, a multi-millionaire computer analyst ( 分 析 师 ) from California is an example. His house     6     (show) no signs of his wealth. There is a small garden   and there only two   cars     7     (park) outside the house. “I want my kids     8     (live) a normal life,” says Richard.

So what can make     9     (we) happy? According to Professor Argyle, you should have one close relationship and some close     10     (friend). You should do a little sport and have a lot of contact (联系) with other people. Other people make you happy, not money!