One day I wandered into a small Indian shop in the mountainous area of the Sierras in Northern California. And soon I began a(n)  (1)  with the Native American woman who was the owner of the shop. My own Modoc Indian heritage (传承) and love of Indian jewelry encouraged me to tell her of the  (2)   I suffered when my mother's silver belt was stolen. My mother had  (3)   it almost every day of her life. It has  (4)   to me when she had passed through the arch (拱门) of life to the other  (5)  .

   I remember as a  (6)   girl putting my arms around my mother's  (7)   and feeling the warmth of her body through the silver belt. Having her belt gave me great   (8)  after her death.

     (9)   I talked with the Indian woman, I could  (10)  her sympathy. But when I  (11)  expressing my grief at having lost the belt, her   (12)   was not the one of sympathy I   (13)  . What she gave me was a new  (14)   and an insight into my mother.

   "Remember," she said, "the  (15)  gift you were given was things of the   (16)  . Don't ever cry over things that can't cry over you."

   My mother is not a belt. My mother is   (17)   in the woman who now stands in her   (18)   — me. My true heritage is the talents and strengths that she left to me  (19)   cry over things that can't cry over me. I cherish (珍爱) the courage and the love a woman  (20)  to me.

D   

Daydreaming was viewed as a waste of time．Or it was considered an unhealthy escape from real life and its duties．Daydreaming has always had a bad reputation，but now scientific research has showed that daydreaming may actually improve your mental health and creativity．It can even help you achieve your desired goals．

Now some people are taking a fresh look at daydreaming．Some think it may be a very healthy thing to do．Researchers are finding daydreaming，they tell us，is a good means of relaxation．But its benefits go beyond this．A number of psychologists have conducted experiments and have reached some surprising conclusions．   

Dr．Joan T．Freyberg has concluded that daydreaming contributes to intellectual growth．It also improves concentration，attention span，and the ability to get along with others，she says．In an experiment with school children, the same researcher found that daydreaming led the children to pay more attention to details．They had more happy feelings．They worked together better．Another researcher reported that daydreaming seemed to produce improved self-control and creative abilities．

But that’s only part of the story．The most remarkable thing about daydreaming may be its usefulness in shaping our future lives as we want them to be．Industrialist Henry J．Kaiser believed that much of his success was due to the positive use of daydreaming．He maintained that “you can imagine your future．”Florence Nightingale dreamed of becoming a nurse．The young Thomas Edison pictured himself as an inventor. For these famous achievers，it appears that their daydreams came true．

Of course daydreaming is no substitute(代替者)for hard work．You have to work hard to develop skills．Daydreaming alone can’t turn you into your heart’s desire．But in，combination with the more usual methods of self-development，it might make a critical difference．And who knows：You might see your own daydreams come true．

D

       Some of the best research on daily experience is rooted in rates of positive and negative interactions, which has proved that being blindly positive or negative can cause others to be frustrated or annoyed or to simply tune out.

    Over the last two decades, scientists have made remarkable predictions simply by watching people interact with one another and then scoring the conversations based on the rate of positive and negative interactions. Researchers have used the findings to predict everything from the likelihood a couple will divorce to the chances of a work team having high customer satisfaction and productivity levels.

    More recent research helps explain why these brief exchanges matter so much. When you experience negative emotions as a result of criticism or rejection, for example, your body produces higher levels of the stress hormone, which shuts down much of your thinking and activates (激活) conflict and defense mechanisms (机制). You assume situations as being worse than they actually are.

    When you experience a positive interaction, it activates a very different response. Positive exchanges increase your body’s production of oxytocin, a feel-good hormone that increases your ability to communicate with, cooperate with and trust others. But the effects of a positive occurrence are less dramatic and lasting than they are for a negative one.

    We need at least three to five positive interactions to outweigh (超过) every one negative exchange. Bad moments simply outweigh good ones. Whether you’re having a conversation, keep this simple short cut in mind: At least 80 percent of your conversations should be focused on what’s going right.

    Workplaces, for example, often have this backward. During performance reviews, managers routinely spend 80 percent of their time on weaknesses and “areas for improvement”. They spend roughly 20 percent of the time on strengths and positive aspects. Any time you have discussions with a person or group, spend the vast majority of the time talking about what is working, and use the remaining time to address weaknesses.

“Donˈt worry if you have problems!” It is easy to say until you are in the midst of a really big one. The only people who donˈt have troubles are gathered in little neighborhoods. Most communities have at least one. We call them cemeteries（墓地）. If youˈre breathing, you have difficulties. Itˈs the way of life. And believe it or not, most of your problems may actually be good for you! Let me explain. 

Maybe you have heard the Great Barrier Reef(大堡礁), stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef.

On one tour, a traveler asked the guide an interesting question. "I notice that the lagoon(环礁湖)side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant(充满生气的) and colorful," the traveler observed. Why is this?

The guide gave an interesting answer, "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves and storms. It has to fight for its survival every day. As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces."

Then he added, “Thatˈs the way it is with every living organism.”

Thatˈs how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency（弹回）. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness. So, you have problems? No problem! Just tell yourself, "There I grow again!" 

Remember: A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner（水手）.

Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?

The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.

The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either.The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons （神经细胞）, making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what’s going

on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done.

So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving?

We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.

It was just over five years ago that we were waiting with decreased breath for Apple’s table!computer(平板电脑)．The company delivered．released its new creation，and set about redefining what a “tablet”could be．Remember?Table computers used to be heavy，folding laptops that ran Microsoft Windows and much terrible sofeware．The release of the new creation helped redraw that too1 in consumers’minds．No．this wasn’t the weighty thick of steel powered by UPS(不间断电源)any more；this was the future of the computer．

    I was always doubtful about them．Sure．they seemed wonderful and light and perfect for bed-based computing．But they weren’t the right type for a lot of the ways I used a computer．They were great for a meeting but less so for my desk．When I needed to finish a report carefully or design a page，I needed the accuracy of my otherwise anachronistic(过时的) mouse．And，most important of all，I already owned a laptop．like most people．Buying another computer seemed more of a“nice to have”than a“must have．”

    New figures from IDC，the market research firm，suggest that we’ve reached an upper limit for the modem tablet computer．According to the firm，shipments(发货)of the tool in the second quarter of this year dropped 7％worldwide compared to the same time last year．Apple and Samsung，the market leaders(41％ combined market share),each experienced a drop year over year as competitors like LG and Huawei exploded．

    But the overall market is minishing，just five years after it appeared．For good reason：Laptops continue to decrease—have you seen the latest Macbook?——and smartphones continue to grow,even as both get lighter and longer-lasting in terms of battery life．Tablets．stuck in the middle,still have their place．But the meaning of that place is decreasing.Not very encouraging for a young，new computing type．

    Are tablets dead?I don’t think so．They remain important to specialized uses，from hospitals to delivery trucks to sales meetings．Hundreds of millions continue to be sold every year．And some of their best qualities have been absorbed by the latest generation of laptops．(What is the new Macbook if not a touchscreen-lacking iPad with a keyboard and IOS X，Apple’s desktop operating system?) But from the looks of these numbers．tablets have an identity problem that can’t be ignored．