1 . For nearly ten years, I have spent my Monday evenings attending rehearsals for my amateur choir (合唱队). Mondays are not my favourite day, and I often arrive in a bad mood but by the end of the rehearsal, I usually feel _________. The singing does me good. So do the people. With a few exceptions, I would not describe my fellow choir members as close friends. We exchange _________ chats, smiles and jokes - but that is enough for me to come away feeling a little better about the world.

There is no choir practice now, and won’t be for a long time. I miss it. In lockdown, I do not feel _________ emotional support, but I do miss the friendly faces and casual conversations. _________, I miss my “weak ties.”

In 1973, Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, published a paper entitled “The Strength of Weak Ties.” Until then, scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the _________ of their relationships with their close friends and family. Granovetter showed that quantity mattered, too. He categorized a person’s _________ world as “strong ties” and “weak ties.” His central insight was that for new ideas, weak ties are more important to us than strong ones. As Granovetter pointed out, the people whom we often talk to usually turn to the same _________ of information as we do. We depend on acquaintances whom we _________ see to bring us news of opportunities.

This was the idea behind the Pixer building, the design of which was _________ by Steve Jobs, who was responsible for making sure that the Pixar building project runs safely and smoothly. The building has a large central hall through which employees from different departments have to pass several times a day. Jobs wanted colleagues to ______________ each other and shoot the breeze (闲聊). He believed in the power of these seemingly random conversations to ______________ creativity.

Encounters with weak ties can be good for our ______________, too. Gillian Sandstrom, a senior lecturer at the University of Essex, found that when a person had more casual interactions with weak ties - say, a local gardener, a neighbour, a member of yoga class — they experienced more happiness and a greater sense of ______________.

______________, we should continue to find ways to cultivate weak-tie relationships, during lockdown and beyond. Sandstrom adds that we can also ______________ more weak-tie-style interactions with our strong ties. The goal is to let others know that you are thinking of them without asking for a great deal of time, energy or attention.

3 . To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do.

Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those whoare toiledto death, those who are worried to death and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend. As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who can gratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire — for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation. In vain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from the avenging boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form or another is the most hopeful path.

It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their mind.

4 . Truth be told, a life-changing college experience doesn’t begin or end with a high GPA or great university tour. And although parents and teachers alike work diligently to prep their students with the cutting-edge classes and impressive transcripts, they’re _______ one vital skill: emotional intelligence.

A poll of 1,502 first-year college students in the U.S. found that a majority of them wish they had received more _________ preparation for college. Emotional preparedness is _________ “the ability to take care of oneself, adapt to new environments, _______ negative emotions or behavior and build positive relationship,” according to the survey.

“Survey data indicate that college readiness requires far more than just a solid academic foundation — a finding that seems _________ conventional higher education preparation, said John MacPhee, Executive Director of the Jed Foundation, which co-sponsored the survey. “It is clear that emotional preparedness should be better _______ the work that high school communities are doing to guide students through the transition into college.”

Data show that college students _______ far more than their academics — and their stress can take a serious toll(代价) on their _______ in school. Forty percent of survey participants felt pressure to pay for college expenses, followed by 30 percent who said their biggest _______ was to make new friends. __________, keeping in touch with family and friends not at their college (28 percent) and being independent (16 percent) also weighed heavily on college studnets’ shoulders.

All of these __________ had a negative impact inside and outside of the classroom. Students who felt less emotionally prepared for college were more likely to have a lower grade point average, regularly ____________ drugs and/or alcohol, and rate their overall college experience as terrible or poor.

“As high school seniors start applying to college around this time of year, parents and people ____________ in their lives can play an important role in helping children build confidence and life skills, said Marisa Giarnella-Porco, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jordan Porco Foundation, a survey co-sponsor. “It is important to __________ them to choose a college that best fits their needs first and foremost — not only in a(n) __________ sense, but also relative to emotional needs.”

Thankfully, whether your child is packing up for school this fall or still in diapers, it’s never too late (or too early!) to begin prepping them for university life. Here’s what parents should do to help their college-bound kid, starting now.