Low-Hanging Fruit

If you are the first person to arrive at an apple tree during harvest time, you can easily find some low-hanging fruit. These are the apples that     1     (be) on the branches closest to the ground. Low-hanging fruit describes the most obvious or     2     (easy) things to do to help you reach a goal. Anyone or anything     3     can be won over or gained very easily is low-hanging fruit. Here is an example: “Changing the company logo is low-hanging fruit. It won’t cost much, and I can do it in an hour.”

The idiom “No ‘I’ in Team” is based on a pun (双关语)-The word “team” does not contain the letter “i”, which highlights the idea that instead of focusing on themselves as individuals, team members should work together to achieve their common goals.

When it comes to achieving success, there’s no denying that teamwork plays a crucial role. We’ve all been there-group projects at school, working with colleagues at the office or playing sports with teammates. A successful team agrees and sets goals based on outcomes and results to complete its tasks. It’s important that each member knows the direction the team is working toward, their responsibilities, and how they aim to achieve the team’s collective goals. It’s essential that group members within the team share workloads and help each other to succeed.

Mostly, in typical workplace culture, being focus on individual pursuits is considered plain selfish, but is supporting individuals in their own pursuits really anti-team? Evidence suggests that putting the “I” back into team can improve workplace productivity and employee engagement. In the 1990s the Harvard Business School did research, demonstrating the benefits of giving employees paid time to follow their own individual pursuits. Since then, some notable companies have introduced unstructured time into their workplaces.

Globally, 85% of employees are disengaged in their work. In Daniel Pink’s book Drive, he argues that the best way to motivate employees is not through the carrot and stick approach but rather through allowing and enabling them to direct their own lives. When teams understand what matters to the individuals within them, they are able to better empathize with each other and have each others’ backs.

There is an “I” in team and when we start to implement programs that support individuals in their pursuits, we may just find they are more creative, more engaged and more productive.

Can you speak more than one language? Being able to communicate with people in another language is a great way to make friends and feel more confident.

Language is the way we communicate with each other. It includes speaking, writing and using hand and face movements, known as sign language. Unlike countries, languages have no borders (边界) and can connect people around the world.

Speaking another language helps you talk to people you may, not understand, and makes you feel more connected to them. A girl from Hungary, Havana, who is aged 12, says speaking Hungarian as well as English means she can talk to her friends from England. This makes her feel closer to her British friends because they’re able to share their interests. Learning another language can also help you gain confidence—for example, by being able to chat to local people when you travel. Studies show that being able to speak two languages also exercises the brain and makes you better at concentrating on more than one thing at a time.

Alex Rawlings is a language teacher and writer who speaks more than 15 languages. He finds it’s easier to learn words that he can see or hear, rather than from a list. “For example, the words of a song are more memorable because they rhyme (押韵) and are sung,” he says. It’s also important to understand why you learn a language. Rawlings recommends writing down reasons why you want to learn the language and keep reminding yourself of them. “I’ve met lots of friends through my languages,” says Rawlings. “The more you learn, the easier it gets.”

6 . For many of us, the desire to speak a foreign language is overshadowed by the idea that it’s a long journey or that there’s no practical reason to learn. However, research has shown that speaking two languages has many advantages in this connected world today. Businesses with people around the world need someone who is not only capable of communicating in another language but also culturally aware and open-minded. Many companies prefer the people who are able to speak more than one language since they have faced more difficult situations in their language learning than the people who only speak one language, thus they desire to deal with more challenges in the work.

While creativity can be a difficult thing to measure, researchers have attempted to measure creative ability in a number of ways. One of the tools that are most widely used to understand creativity is a test known as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The TTCT was first introduced in 1962 by Ellis Paul Torrance and measures one’s divergent (发散的) thinking in some key areas.

Divergent thinking is how well and how quickly your mind can solve problems. A study conducted by the University of Mashhad collected the TTCT results of the people who speak only one language and the people who have learned two languages and clearly showed that the second of the two groups performed better.

Some reasons for this could be that people who speak two languages are often faced with situations where they must consider various things, which can have an effect on problem-solving ability.

Language allows you to express your thoughts to other people, but what if there are no words to express what you’re thinking and feeling? Understanding a second language can allow you to express something you may not be able to with only one language.

Because language is linked to culture, you will find that by speaking more than one language you have a better understanding and appreciation of other cultures. This allows you to establish stronger connections with people from other cultural backgrounds. Nelson Mandela once said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Communicating in someone’s native language is not only a great way to show respect, but also helps you develop a deeper personal connection that goes beyond just being understood.

Xu Yuanchong dedicated his career to building     1     (bridge) among the world’s Chinese, English and French speaking people. He devoted     2     (he) to literary translation for more than 60 years, primarily     3     (focus) on English translations of ancient Chinese poetry. Xu was awarded the “Aurora Borealis” Prize     4     September 10th in 2014 for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature, one of the highest honors that celebrate excellence in international translators.

For any problem my English teacher finds with us, she talks to us face to face. Although it is very     1     for my teacher, it is more     2     than other types of feedback. During the face-to-face communication, my teacher tells us exactly where our problems are and how we can     3    . It also gives us an opportunity to     4    further questions about anything we don’t understand. I think this kind of feedback is helpful. I love it.

I don’t think memorizing the word list is the best way to learn words. First, you should learn words in     1    . For example, when reading English stories, try to keep reading on even when you come across some new words. A lot of time, you’ll be able to guess the meaning of an     2     word without looking it up. Also, you should learn words in     3    . For example, we say “open the book”, but “turn on the computer”. Or we say “eat an apple”, but “    4     the medicine”.