1 . Almost everyone gossips. And a new study finds that people spend about 52 minutes per day, on average, talking to someone about others who are not present

But here’s the surprise: Despite the assumption that most gossip is trash talk, the study finds the majority of gossip is nonjudgmental chat.

“People love to talk about others,” says Jeremy Cone, a psychologist at Williams College. “Think about your own conversations with a family member or friend: You talk about everyday things that keep you connected. You share your daughter got her driver’s license or your uncle has a kidney stone. Much of it is just documenting facts.”

Of course, the study also finds that some gossip is negative or mean-spirited. About 15% of the gossip included some type of negative judgement.

But even negative gossip can serve a purpose, as more research has found.

“I think gossiping can be a smart thing to do,” says Elena Martinescu who has studied gossip in the workplace. “It allows people to keep track of what’s going on and form social connection with other people.”

Research has shown that gossip can help build group cohesion (凝聚力) and cooperation. “When you gossip, you can keep track of who is contributing to the group and who's being selfish,” Martinescu explains. “And by sharing this information, you can exclude those group members who are social loafers (游手好闲的人).”

“We also found negative gossip makes people likely to repair the aspects of their behavior that they were criticized for,” Martinescu says.

So, say, for instance, you were criticized for always arriving at work late. Hearing that gossip about yourself may motivate you to want to be on time.

Of course, this isn’t a license to be loose lips or to repeat baseless claims that can damage someone’s reputation unfairly. But confiding (吐露个人隐私) in your friends and colleagues and sharing impressions about another person — even when they’re negative — may be helpful.

2 . Honest Thanks

I sat down at my desk and started writing. I wrote an emotional letter of gratitude. I put the note card into the ______, sealed it and stuck the stamps on it, but when it came to actually placing the letter into the mailbox... I ______.

The letter was to a schoolmate with whom I kept in contact via Facebook ______. She had inspired me to live a different life—for example, by ______ more.

Her volunteer efforts weren’t ______—she wasn’t building wells in Uganda, but instead she was doing small, local good deeds, such as serving as a crossing guard. These were things I could do, too. She made me ______ I could make a difference here at home. I felt I should let her know how her example positively influenced my life. I could have easily sent her an e-mail, ______ that seemed a bit lame for such an important thank you. That’s why I ended up ______ the letter. But now I stood before the mailbox, unable to place the envelope inside. What was ______ me? Why was this so ______ to do? I guessed l felt strange because it wasn’t like she was my best friend. I just knew her. “People don’t ______ do this,” I thought to myself. However, after thinking it over, I still felt a(n) ______ to let her know how grateful I was. Finally, I put the envelope into the mailbox.

Weeks later I received her reply. She was ______ a tough time and my letter meant the world to her. She didn’t know she had such a(n) ______ on others. Not only did this letter make her happy, but her response to it increased my ______ of happiness. I decided to write a gratitude letter to someone each month. Cultivating gratitude is a great skill to practice. Life is too short not to do it.

3 . Teens who have good, supportive relationships with their teachers enjoy better health as adults, according to research published by an American research center.

“This research suggests that improving students’ relationships with teachers could have positive and long-lasting effects beyond just academic success,” said Jinho Kim, a professor at Korea University and author of the study. “It could also bring about health implications in the long run.” Previous research has suggested that teens’ social relationships might be linked to health outcomes in adulthood. However, it is not clear whether the link between teen relationships and lifetime health is causal (因果的) — it could be that other factors, such as different family backgrounds, might contribute to both relationship problems in adolescence and to poor health in adulthood. Also, most research has focused on teens’ relationships with their peers (同龄人), rather than on their relationships with teachers.

To explore those questions further, Kim analyzed data on nearly 20, 000 participants from the Add Health study, a national study in the U. S. that followed participants from seventh grade into early adulthood. The participant pool included more than 3, 400 pairs of siblings (兄弟姐妹). As teens, participants answered questions, like “How often have you had trouble getting along with other students and your teachers?” As adults, participants were asked about their physical and mental health.

Kim found that participants who had reported better relationships with both their peers and teachers in middle and high school also reported better physical and mental health in their mid-20s. However, when he controlled for family background by looking at pairs of siblings together, only the link between good teacher relationships and adult health remained significant.

The results suggest teacher relationships are more important than previously realized and that schools should invest in training teachers on how to build warm and supportive relationships with their students. “This is not something that most teachers receive much training in,” Kim said, “but it should be.”

4 . Everyone can benefit from better communication.     1    . Of course, we know that isn’t true, but this shouldn’t stop you improving you communication skills. Here are a few tips to help you become a better communicator.

    2    

Verbal language is only one aspect of the communication—body language is another aspect. If you ever wanted to know how to tell if someone is lying, body language is the answer. Your body language tells other people what you aren’t verbally saying, such as if you are anxious, confident, confused, angry or any other type of emotion or state of mind. If you become great at reading body language,it will help you become a better communicator.

Listen to others

Before you ever begin to speak, take a minute to see if anyone else has something to say.     3     Listening to others has many benefits, such as allowing you to learn new things or get information that you may later need.

Think before you speak

You parents probably told you this as a child, but many people still do not take a moment to think about the words they are about to say.     4    . There is a time and place for all words and tones of voice.

    5    You will have to practice your communication skills before you can ever become an excellent communicator.

Sports should help a man to learn fairness，not only in games but also in life.If two teams play     1     game，one team must lose.If a dozen     2     (team) attend an athletic competition，one team will get the most points and all the     3     eleven teams will get     4     points.If a school team comes out last，that is no loss of face.    5     that team and that school must do is to admit that it     6    (lose).The only intelligent reaction     7     defeat must be：next year we will do our best to come out on top，because from now on we will devote     8     (we) to a stricter course of training under competent instructors.

Lessons     9    (learn) in sports can help us in our dealing with other people.But even more     10    (value) are the lessons learned in extra-curricular activities in school：in speech，dramatic and musical contests，in “house” activities，and，especially，in the student council.

10 . I have neighbors whose adult son has been living with them since he lost his job. He is the fifth one of ________ of his parents. He had no job but still enjoyed himself because he had a dog staying together with him.

________， his dog died in July last year. That ________ hit him deeply, which was understandable, because he had spent most of his time walking the dog; Besides, he had made friends in the neighborhood with other dog ________.

His parents didn't ________ his idea of buying another dog because they wanted him to find work. It was a(n) ________ time for him; I could see he was lonely ________ his dog. All he could do was help his mom with cooking or ________ at home.

I wanted to help him get rid of the bad feelings, so I invited him to ________ the dog with me. We also ________ in some picnic activities together. Then I thought maybe something else would help.

It was volunteering (自愿做) at the local humane society (动物保护协会), not far from where we live. It took only several ________ for us to get there by bike. At first, he refused to volunteer to love the ________ there. However, after only one week, he began to ________ me excitedly how happy he was. Now he seems to have purposes to return to school to learn zoology (动物学) and study animals in the future. I feel happy that he has ________. I am more pleased that he feels ________ and valued. And that is so important to all of us.