1 . Psychologists have long believed that human beings have a fairly consistent “negativity bias（消极偏见）” that leads us to pay more attention to negative thoughts, feelings and events than to positive ones.     1    There is a positive explanation for the question. After all, we are motivated to grow after a misstep. However, we can't abandon ourselves to the negativity bias forever. How?     2    

Practice Positivity. Like your muscles, your thought patterns respond to how they are used and exercised. You don't have to erase the negativity bias from your mind.     3    For example, set calendar reminders throughout your day to convey an expression of gratitude or simply adjust your body language so you're holding yourself with strength and confidence.

    4    We're living in a time of pandemic or financial stress and deep division. Our negativity biases call our attention toward those realities. But we are well served to also see the opportunities in this moment：Maybe there's a home project we otherwise wouldn't have found time to tackle.

Ask for Positive Reminders. Get in the habit of checking in with people who are with you when goodness finds you today. Mention to them, “That is an unexpected bit of praise from the boss, isn't it?”     5    And who knows, you may help your friend, family member or coworker have a more positive day as well!

3 . Will Covid-19 Kill the Handshake?

The handshake might date back to the 14^th century, when knights and soldiers would extend their unclenched (松开的) right hands toward each other in greeting to show that they were carrying no weapons.

    1     Or rather, its tendency for picking up and holding onto germs from polluted surfaces, or from our own eyes or noses when we have certain illnesses. Those germs can then be transferred into the hands of the people we greet, while we can pick up their germs. We then will probably touch our own eyes or noses or mouths, potentially sickening ourselves and restarting the cycle.

Now that a novel coronavirus is spreading fast, our hands are being cast in a new, doubtful light.     2    . And lately, the Internet has been full of suggestions for socially acceptable ways to greet each other that don’t involve passing germs along unintentionally from one person to the next.

Could this be the end of the handshake? In fact, the tradition of shaking hands isn’t the only greeting to take a fresh look. A Maori tribe in New Zealand put the brakes on hongi, the traditional nose-to-nose hello.     3    . Maybe people will stop making fun of the Hollywood air kiss, though it’s not a huge improvement health-wise.

COVID-19 is a real threat, and we shouldn’t take the warning lightly. We may, indeed, need to keep our hands to ourselves for the time being.     4    . Humans long for making a physical connection with friends. For now, perhaps, a regretful smile and nod might work as a shared acknowledgment.    5    

4 . A year after Benjamin Canlas died at 17，his love of helping others lives on. Through a foundation _________ by his parents，this kind young man is _________ making the world a better place ——one bike at a time.

In the Philippines，many jobs have been lost _________ the coronavirus crisis. Thousands of people have to travel to take_________ jobs to survive. But public transportation has been _________limited. Benjamin’s parents had the idea to _________ bikes to deserving individuals.

At first，their _________ was to donate seven bicycles. But then they received more than fifty _______. And then 27 people were awarded’ bicycles. These bicycles are _________ to help make their lives a little easier.

Among the __________ is Ronaldo Rosario. He sold rice cakes in the morning and smoked fish in the afternoon. ________ many kilometers each day，which caused the borrowed bike to break often. So，he often lost __________ time and some of his earning on repairs.

There are people still in need and much more __________ needs to be offered. The foundation is working on launching more sustainable __________. The goal is that these programs will help more people while also ________ others to be kind and help those in need.

5 . Small talk has a reputation for being uninteresting, and for good reason. Pointing out the fact that it’s raining seems as ridiculous as pointing out the fact that you have a head—you’re fully aware of both things, and don’t require an outsider to confirm them. But despite being evident and often painfully dull, small talk has an important role to fulfil, enabling us to leap over a number of social obstacles towards improved, meaningful interaction.

Humans can be sensitive souls. We each have our boundaries and lists of potential upsets, which when broken, cause us to either gently back away to an alternative position in the room, or become cross at the person. Small talk is first a way to test the waters with an unfamiliar person, so that you may better understand their personality. When finding yourself positioned closely to a person who you know little about, it’s much safer to point out the rainy sky than to share your political views on a sensitive topic. Until you know the person better, heavier topics should probably be kept under wraps, so you won’t find yourself on the receiving end of a cold stare.

Though insignificant, small talk still has great power. When talking with fellow humans, much of our soul is exposed through non-verbal communication. A response to “how was your weekend” can unveil much about the person’s character. The length of their response might indicate their level of self-confidence; the tone of speaking might show how agreeable a person is; their slightly lowered head, as if protecting themselves from attack, a possible sign of a regrettable history of bullying.

As more of a person’s character is revealed, we have the insight needed to determine whether to broach more significant topics—the things that we actually want to talk about. Conversation is a great educator, and deep conversation establish lasting bonds with our fellow humans, forming precious friendships that paint our lives with vibrant colors. Such friendships begin with small talk.

Recently I graduated from high school, and as a gift I received a huge hunch of flowers, 40 to be exact! I had so many that I didn't know what to do with them. The next weekend my niece and nephew, Sue and Mike, aged 6 and 7, came and suddenly I had an idea. I might let them give out these flowers to people they met on the street, and in this way they could learn how to be friendly to others. So I told them about my plan and explained that these flowers would make people feel happy and smile. They loved the idea and were eager to have a try. So at once we took every single flower and tied a smile card to it. We then went to the street with the flowers.

The first flower went to a policeman. As soon as she saw the policeman, my niece ran up to him and handed him a flower. His smile was so big, but hers was even bigger!

In no time, we neared the end of our flowers. It was lunch time and we went to Subway for lunch. There the kids gave a flower to the waitress, who was really excited to receive the flower. As we were eating our lunch, the waitress came up to the kids with two big chocolate cookies! She said the chocolate cookies were for them and that she really liked the flower! As they ate the cookies, my niece and nephew looked at me with the biggest smiles I had ever seen.

With just one flower left, I said it should be given to the person who needed it most.

It turned out to be a great day for us.

7 . How to Level up Your Self-Control

By definition, self-control is the ability to do something that benefits your long-term goals, instead of something that might satisfy your immediate desires.    1    --we end up sacrificing the well-being of our future selves all too easily.

    2    ?

Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, says allocating resources between your present self and future self is an ongoing struggle. For example, exhibiting self-control over spending time on video games and social media, two of the most common temptations（诱惑）of the current era, means battling against age-old mechanisms in your brain.

If you're willing to look deeply into your tendencies and weak points, you can recognize the handful of problems that you need to work on.

    3    To improve self-control at work, Duckworth first recommends taking a future-oriented approach to your day, such as planning breaks and the time for checking emails in advance.

The problem of looking at your cell phone too often, say, can be solved by putting it on mute or, better yet, sticking it in your bag until lunch.    4    .

Finally, Duckworth advises laying a foundation of self-control that you can build of in the future.    5    because of too little sleep the night before, or an insufficient meal in the morning. By practicing healthier living away from the workplace, you can gather the strength and stamina（毅力）to help you control your worst urges when it matters most.

9 . Byrd is in her eighth year of teaching at Wilder Elementary in Mansfield. She has taught fifth grader Fisher Croney every year since he was in kindergarten. Fisher _______ in the class by helping in Byrd's classroom whenever he has free time after class.

Byrd also _______ Fisher's mother, Shannon Croney, as an acquaintance. They would occasionally chat at their boys' baseball games. She had heard that Croney was having some _______ problems. In January 2019 Croney received a routine blood test and found her kidneys （肾）were not _______ normally. After going through a string of tests, doctors could not figure what caused her kidneys to _______. But Byrd didn't know what the _______ was until she saw a Facebook post from Fisher around Christmas of 2019. It was _______ to help his mother find a kidney. Byrd did not _______ to help. In March, Byrd, learned that she and Croney were a close _______ Even doctors were ________ that they were not related in blood.

Byrd was in the hospital for ________ in June. She was never ________ about the transplant（移植）. Actually, she felt honored that her donation enabled another person to live a totally ________ life.

Today, both women are doing well. They are turning their ________ to another member of their community, who is also sick and ________ a kidney transplant.