In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the specialist tested him again. To my    (1)  , it was the same score.

       Later that evening, I    (2)  told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agreed that we knew our    (3)  much better than an IQ test. We    (4)  that Michael’s score must have been a  

   (5)  and we should treat him    (6)  as usual.

       We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got    (7)  grades in the school, especially    (8)  biology and chemistry, which was a great comfort.

       Michael    (9)  Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than    (10)   . In 1968, he was accepted by the School of Medicine, Yale University.

       On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I    (11)  the ceremony at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the    (12)  IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say    (13)  , “My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!” It is his special way of thanking us for the    (14)  we had in him.

       Interestingly, Michael then    (15)  another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had    (16)  

the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be    (17)  .

       Children often do as    (18)  as what adults, particularly parents and teachers,    (19)  of them. That is, tell a child he is “    (20)  ”, and he may play the role of a foolish child.

 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

       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）.

B

Courtney was just 15 years old when she joined a team of space researchers．Those scientists landed NaSa’s robot，Spirit，on the planet Mars．But this was neither Courtney’s first nor her last adventure in space research．When she was in fifth grade，Courtney had already decided to spend her life“exploring the mysteries of the universe．”She checked out space books from her library，studied hard in math and science classes，and later，attended United States Space Camp in A labama．   

Then Courtney entered a contest to become part of the Student Astronaut program run by a group called the Planetary Society．After a lot of hard work，interviews，and months of waiting．Courtney found out that she was one of 16 students who made it—out of 500 entered．

Courtney and fellow student astronaut Rafael Morozowski，a 16-year-old from Brazil，were at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California with NASA scientists when Spirit reached Mars．

“The most exciting part of the thing occurred late at night on January3，2004，when we received signals indicating that Spirit had landed successfully, ”Courtney says．“I joined the rest of the scientists in jumping up and cheering．”

Courtney and Rafael spent seven nights working with and learning from the NASA scientists. (They worked at night because that was daying on Mars．)They studied the photographs that Spirit was sending to Earth of Gusev Crater on Mars．They spoke to television reporters at NASA press conferences and attended meetings in which the NASA team named the rocks and hills that Spirit was finding．

When Courtney was 17 years old，she went to work for NASA as a student intern at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland．With two NASA scientists，Courtney plans to study astrophysics or planetary science at Princeton University，then return to work at NASA．She encourages other kids and teens to follow their dreams of getting involved with space research．

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.

When social media first gained attention, I heard many people say online connections couldn’t possibly be real friends. But now the majority of the people I know consider at least some of their online friends to be like extended family, which made me wonder--- does social media actually encourage people to connect “in real life”?

   One example of online life translating into real-life interaction happens on Mashable’s Social Media Day, when thousands of people attend in-person meet-ups to celebrate the power of online connections. Another example is location-based apps that help users connect face to face by allowing them to see who else has checked in at the same store, restaurant, or party--- or even who is living in a city they plan to visit. They might then decide to seek each other out “in real life”.

   A Pew Internet and American Life Project (PIALA) report found that people using social networking sites have more close relationships and receive more support than others. They are also more likely to reconnect with old friends and keep up with those they are already close to.

   Other research shows that social media may also deepen what could otherwise be passing relationships. “What I find most interesting is that I’ve consistently seen that students who start a course being more introverted and not speaking up during class discussions become more outgoing and participate more when encouraged to communicate through social media with their professors and their classmates,” said Dr. Rey Junco.

   However, if social media does increase the possibilities of real-life interaction, it can also sometimes complicate it. When fans of social media meet face to face, their computers and mobile devices may actually make the meeting less productive. Instead of looking at each other, they may be glued to their screens!

B

     Sometimes in a big city, there are a large number of things to drive you mad on your daily route, and it’s not just overcrowded subway trains.

      Vicky is a mainlander working in Hong Kong. For her, one thing she can’t put up with is people standing on the wrong side of the escalator（自动扶梯）in subway stations. “Escalators help us move faster and save time. It isn’t a place to rest,” the 24-year-old says. “I often see tourists block the way with their suitcases or chatting on the escalators during rush hours. It annoys me to no end.”

Admitting she is not the patient type, Vicky says things are much better in Hong Kong than in cities on the mainland where “stand right, walk left” signs are often ignored.

       The logic behind the “stand right, walk left” escalator etiquette（礼仪）seems obvious. Even though you may want to catch your breath while you’re transported up or down, you should still consider others and leave enough space for people in a hurry, so that they can run and catch the train.

        Many cities’ escalators, including London’s and Beijing’s, use the “stand right, walk left” system to speed up the flow of people.（Australia is an exception and you should stand on the left side instead.）But some cities discourage people from moving on escalators out of safety reasons. In Hong Kong’s subway stations there are regular announcements asking people to “stand still” on escalators. Even so, most people in this fast-paced city observe the “stand right, walk left” etiquette.

      But the people who stand on escalators defend themselves by telling the walkers not to be so impatient. The BBC quotes one stander as saying：“If the person is in such a rush, why not just take the stairs? Even when the escalator is packed and there’s nowhere to move, I see these same people complaining about not being able to pass.

     Whatever the escalator etiquette is in the place you live or visit, do what most people are doing and always be mindful of others: leave enough space between each other, don’t stay at the end of the escalator, and if someone is blocking your way, a simple “excuse me” is enough.

Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the websiteBookCrossing.comturns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.

Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.

    Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both.”

    Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.

    People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossing to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.

    BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual(虚拟). The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries.