2 . It seems that friends often have similar body odor. Dogs greet other dogs using their noses first, as they are sniffing each other. People are not quite so open about the process of sniffing each other out.

    1     There is also evidence that human beings can infer kinship, deduce emotional states and even detect disease via the sense of smell.     2     They think they have shown, admittedly in a fairly small sample of individuals, that friends actually smell alike.

They have also shown that this is probably the case from the get-go, with people picking friends at least partly on the basis of body odor, rather than the body odor of people who become friends subsequently converging.

As they report in Science Advances, these scientists started their research by testing the odors of 20 pairs of established, non-romantic, same-sex friends.     3     The e-nose used a set of metal-oxide gas sensors to assess T-shirts worn by participants.     4     Those in the other group were asked to rate the odors of individual T-shirts on five subjective dimensions: pleasantness, intensity, sexual attractiveness, competence and warmth.

The e-nose results and the opinions of the second group of smellers were then subjected to a bit of multidimensional mathematical analysis, emerging as simple, comparable numbers.

All three approaches yielded the same result. The T-shirts of friends smelt more similar to each other than did the T-shirts of strangers.     5    

5 . A soldier returned to his castle at dawn. He was in a mess. His face was bloody; his horse was lame. His _________ met him at the gate, asking, “What has happened to you?”

_________ himself up as best he could, he replied, “Oh, Sir, I have been _________ in your service, robbing and burning and killing your enemies to the west.”

“You have been what?” cried the _________ king, “But I haven’t any enemies to the west!”

“Oh!” said the soldier. And then, after a(n) _________, he continued to say, “Well, I think you do now.”

What about you? Do you have enemies to the west? Or in some other directions? None of us will calmly sail through our lives in perfect _________ with everyone we meet. And though most struggles can be settled along the way, and most of our damaged _________ can eventually be healed, some issues may threaten to drive a _________wedge (楔) between people. Sincere morals and political ideas, especially, can divide folks who just hold different positions.

One person said, “I don’t have a personal enemy _________. They’ve all died off. I miss them terribly because they helped define me.”

So-called “enemies” can __________ a valuable purpose. If we let them, they can teach us about ourselves. By__________ a mirror before us, they can help us __________ what we may have missed. By disagreeing with our ideas, they can __________ our points of view. And, if we allow them, they can __________ help us practice strength and sympathy in the face of criticism.

If enemies cannot become friends, they can become __________. If we listen, they will teach us what our friends cannot.

7 . People are taught how to speak, but good sentence structure and a wide range of vocabulary words won’t always lead to being understood or understanding others.    1    

The good news is that it’s never too late to learn how to communicate more effectively. The first step is to realize you’ re having communication issues.    2    The following is a list of the top three signs that you need to learn healthier communication skills.

You have the same fights over and over.

Your fights are about the same topic again and again. If this is happening, it means you don’t yet have the skills to resolve conflicts.    3    The fight may end, but it’s only a matter of time before you argue about the same thing again. When you learn how to resolve conflicts, issues don’t pile up or become baggage that weighs down your relationship.

    4    

You don’t want to fight so you try not to bring up subjects that lead only to pain and disconnection. The problem is that avoiding them leads to pain and disconnection anyway. Unless you learn how to have hard conversations productively, you will get more and more disconnected until your relationship is in danger of ending.

You regularly feel misunderstood or unheard.

No matter how hard you try, you don’t feel understood. Perhaps your partner has expressed the same feeling.Over time the disconnected feeling does damage to your relationship. It’s important to learn how to communicate in a better way, so that both you and the other person feel heard and understood.    5    To be heard, your partner will need to learn how to listen. For you, to be able to hear your partner, you will need to do the same.

8 . A recent study by a group of researchers found that there is a link between happiness and a term that the researchers coined called “relational diversity.”

Using public data from sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the World Health Organization, the researchers were able to analyze data sets and survey responses from people who had shared their daily habits, schedules and interactions. They noticed a clear relationship between relational diversity and overall levels of satisfaction.

Hanne Collins, a Harvard Business School doctoral student who co-authored the study, says that relational diversity is composed of two elements: richness and evenness.

Richness measures relationship categories, or how many kinds of people you interact with in a day. That could be your romantic partner, a family member, a neighbor or a stranger. “The more relationship categories they talk to in a day and the more even their conversations are across those categories, the happier they are. And we find this in a large sample across many countries,” Collins said.

Evenness relates to the distribution of conversations among those different relationship categories. Some people may find themselves interacting with colleagues at work more than, say, their family members. “If you have a few conversations with colleagues, a few with friends, a few with a romantic partner or a couple chats with strangers, thats going to be more even across these categories,” Collins explained.

Ultimately, Collins says, the study gives insight to the idea that humans are social creatures at heart. Having a support system is important, but it goes beyond your inner circle. “Its about this mix. Its about connecting with people who are close to you, who are maybe less close to you, who connect you with other people, who provide different kinds of support,” she said. “Essentially, the idea is that the more diverse your social portfolio (社交档案), the happier you are and the higher your well-being.”

Next time you consider striking up a conversation with a stranger in line at the grocery store or while waiting at the coffee shop, keep in mind that it might be beneficial to your well-being.

10 . While everyone’s image of their dream home looks a little different, most people will agree that their ideal neighbourhood is filled with friendly faces. Getting to know your neighbours takes time and effort.     1    

Nick Tebbey, national executive officer of Relationships Australia, says spring is the perfect season to start getting to know your neighbours. “When the weather starts warming up we’re all spending more time outdoors.” It makes sense that the best way to get to know a neighbour is to first make sure they actually know you’re neighbours.     2    “ There are always opportunities to make a connection and they can be as small as a nod,a wave or a friendly good day,” says Tebbey.

To put yourself in the way of these opportunities, Tebbey suggests timing your outings to take place“when other people are out and about as well”. When it comes to actually introducing yourself to your neighbours, Tebbey notes it’s important to do what feels comfortable, whether that’s leaving a note on a building notice board or chatting to someone while you wait for the elevator.    3    

Once you’ve introduced yourself to a neighbor, you can start conversations.     4    “ If they’re gardening, ask what they’re planting–be interested in what people share.”Tebbey says. And once someone tells you their dog’s name or where they’re about to go on holiday, try your best to keep that in mind so you can continue the conversation next time you cross paths.

“It’s not about grand gestures or sharing everything about yourself with your neighbours.     5    ” Tebbey says.“ It’s small but meaningful interactions and taking interest in each other’s lives,but without any sense of expectation.”