Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford, I've watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives (高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms,established law firms, and major corporations, many are now 1on their wayto impressive careers. By society's2, they seem to have it made.
On the surface, these people seem to bevery lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a3drink attheir cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with longtime roommates, and4out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations atrestaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine5a college year's monthlyrent. They replaced their beloved old cars with expensive new sports cars.
The thing is, a number of them have6 thatdespite their success, they aren't happy. Some 7of unfriendly coworkers andfeel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they 8. Some do notrespect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and 9. However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselvesworking to support the10 to which they have so quickly become11.
People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and 12 in the end the idea of leaving their jobs to workfor something they 13 or finding a position that would give themmore time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion: it's14 . They have loans, bills, a mortgage（抵押贷款）to 15, retirement to save for.They recognize there's something 16in their lives, but it's 17to stepoff the track.
In a society that tends to18 everything in terms of dollars andcents, we learn from a young age to consider the costs of our19infinancial terms. But what about the personal and social costs 20 in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of costsmany of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.
Joy in the Journey If you have ever been discouraged because of failure, please read on. For often, achieving what you set out to do is not the important thing. Let me explain.
Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to 1. “What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.“We plan to dig a hole all the way through the 2!” One of the brothers volunteered 3.
The older boys began to 4, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was 5. After a long silence, one of the 6 picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and many other kinds of insects. He 7 the lid and showed the wonderful 8 to the scoffing（嘲笑的）visitors. Then he said quietly and 9, “Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth, look at what we have found 10 the way!”
Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is 11 a goal is for — to cause us to move in the 12 we have chosen, in other words, to keep us 13! But not every goal will be fully 14. Not every job will end 15. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love will last. Not every dream will be 16. But when you fall 17 of your aim, perhaps you can say, “Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things 18 my life because I tried to do something!” It is in the digging 19 life is lived. And I believe it is the joy in the journey, in the end, that truly 20.
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Hundreds of people have formed impressions of you through that little device(装置) on your desk. And they've never actually 1 you. Everything they know about you 2 through this device, sometimes from hundreds of miles away. 3 they feel they can know you 4 from the sound of your voice. That's how powerful the 5is.
Powerful, yes, but not always 6 . For years I dealt with my travel agent only by phone. Rani, my faceless agent whom I'd never met 7 , got me rock-bottom prices on airfares, cars, and hotels. But her cold voice really 8 me. I sometimes wished to 9 another agent.
One morning, I had to 10 an immediate flight home for a family emergency. I ran into Rani's office 11 . The woman sitting at the desk, 12 my madness, sympathetically jumped up. She gave me a 13 smile, nodded while listening patiently, and then printed out the 14 immediately. “What a wonderful lady!” I thought.
Rushing out 15 I called out over my shoulder, “By the way, what's your name?” “I'm Rani,” she said. I turned around and saw a 16 woman with a big smile on her face waving to wish me a safe trip. I was 17 ! Why had I thought she was cold? Rani was, well, so 18 .
Sitting back in the car on the way to the airport, I figured it all out. Rani's 19her warm smile, her nods, her 'I'm here for you' 20 were all silent signals that didn't travel through wires.
No doubt we all have experienced frustration（受挫）. It may be something as 1 as growing flowers or as serious as developing better relationships with others. Whatever the 2 is, there comes a point when you just feel you can't go on any further.
And yet, the secret to 3 can be found in a tube of toothpaste. Every time I come to the 4 of a tube of a toothpaste, I am completely 5 that just when I think it is absolutely empty, I can 6more toothpaste out of it. I am sure you all have gone through the 7 thing.
So, next time you find yourself in such a situation, 8 the tube. We can all 9times that success came when we were on our 10 chance or when we were doing something for the final time. It is when you dig deep down for that one last burst of 11 that you achieve your goal.
12 , too many people give up too early. All they 13 to do is squeeze one more drop of toothpaste from the tube. There are hundreds of 14 of successful people who kept on going in the face of adversity(逆境) and 15. Even the writers of Chicken Soup for the Soul were 16 by 33 publishers before they found one who would 17their book.
If you have the passion to go for your 18, then keep squeezing that “inner tube of toothpaste”. It is only when you 19 the “passion” that you will know whether success is yours or not. Just make sure that you don't 20 too soon. Success may be just around the corner.
Many times we do something positive or say something kind, but we don't see the influence it has on other people. We may1these “random（随意的）acts of kindness”, but we never know what happens next. One time, I was lucky enough to2.
I was returning from a trip3I stopped to refuel and get snack at a gas station. It was late. I was4, and home was still more than two hours away. I was feeling5, and my back hurt from all the6.
I went7. The checker smiled at me, and we8for a moment. I don't remember9what she said, but I do remember the10she showed me. I was11by her kindness. It kept me going on my journey home.
The next week, I was cleaning my purse, and I12the receipt. The receipt（收据） reminded me of the clerk's13, and it had the address of the store. I decided to14a thank-you note to her manager. In the letter I told the manager that his employee's kind words and caring attitude stood out to me,15my trip home.
A week16, that clerk wrote me back. As a result of my note, she got a(n)17from her manager and a company award. I was18. Robin's kindness inspired me to return her positivity.
Mother Teresa19us to “do small things with great love”. Oftentimes, when we do such small things, we don't get to see the effects of our kind words or deeds,20every so often, we're blessed to discover the positive outcome.
I was tired and hungry after a long day of work.
When I walked into the living-room, my 12-year-old son 1 up at me and said, “I love you.” I didn't know what to say. For several 2 all I could do was to 3 there and looked down at him. My first thought was that he must need 4 with his homework or he was trying to 5 me for some news.
Finally I asked, “What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” he said. “My teacher said we should 6 our parents that we love them and sees what they say. It's 7.”
The next day I called his teacher to find out more about this “experiment” and how the other parents had 8.
“Most of the fathers had the 9 reacting (反应) as you did,” the teacher said. “When I first 10 we try this, I asked the children what they thought their parents would say. Some of them thought their parents would have heart trouble. “The 11 is,” the teacher explained, “feeling loved is an important part of 12. It is something all people 13. What I'm trying to tell the children is that it's too 14 we don't all express those feeling. A boy is 15 to tell his dad he loves him.”
The teacher, a middle-aged man, understands how 16 it is for some of us to say the things that would be good for us to say.
When my son came to me that evening, I held on to (抱着) him for17 second. And just before he 18 away, I said in my deepest, most manly (男子气概) voice, “Hey, I love you, too.”
I don't know if saying that made either of us healthier, but it did feel pretty good (感觉很好). Maybe next time one of my children says “I love you”, it would take me a whole 19 to think of the right 20.
I became lame（瘸的）in both legs in my childhood. I can't stand1 the support of two sticks. Only in my wheelchair can I “2”.
I still remembered the first day at 3 .When I appeared at the door,4 in the classroom stared（凝视）at me in 5 .My face turned6 .I couldn't help7back.It was the8and sympathy（同情）in their eyes that9me doing so.I went shyly towards an unoccupied（空的）seat.
Being lame,I didn't dare（敢）to10in front of my classmates.I was afraid that I might be 11at.In those days I was very sad to see others walking12.
One day, a few students came up to me and asked me to go outside.I was really13They encouraged me with a(n)14 smile and15 me in my wheelchair from place to place.I was16 to them for giving me a chance to see the 17of our lovely school with my own eyes.
After that we often read,played and talked together.My friends are always18to help me.It made me19I am handicapped（残疾的）.
Once they asked me, “What is the most beautiful thing in our school?”Without hesitation（犹豫）I said,“It is the20.”
The world always makes way for the dreamer
When I was twelve years old, my father took me to see Zig Zigler. I remember sitting in that dark hall listening to Mr. Zigler1everyone's spirits up to the ceiling. I 2there feeling like l could do anything. When we got to the car, I turned to my father and said, "Dad, I want to3 people feel like that." My father asked me 4 I meant. "I want to be a motivational speaker just like Mr. Zigler." I replied. A(An)5 was born.
Recently, I began seeking my dream of motivating others. 6 a four-year relationship with Fortune 100 Company 7as a sales-trainer and ending as a regional(地区的) sales manager, I left the company at the height of my8. Many people were9that I would leave after earning a six-figure income. And they wondered10I would risk everything for a dream.
I made my 11 to start my own company and leave my worryingless position after12a regional sales meeting. The vice-president of our company made a13 that changed my life. He asked us, "If a god would offer you three wishes, what would they be?" After giving us a(an)14 to write down the three wishes, he then asked us, "Why do you need a 15 ?" I would never forget the power I felt at that moment. I realize that 16 I had accomplished in the past had prepared me for this moment. I was ready and didn't need a god's help to become a motivational speaker. A motivational speaker was17 .
Having made that decision, I was immediately18 . One week after I gave notice, my husband was laid off from his job, and now we had no 19. But I held fast to my dream. The wonder really began to happen. In a short time my husband found a better job. And I was able to book several 20 engagements with new customers. I discovered the incredible power of dreams.
As science developed rapidly in the direction of technology, it supplies man a better and more comfortable 1. Men will be working shorter and shorter hours,2 and housewives will also be able to have more free time. Can you 3 doing housework without a housewife? Scientists believe this will 4 into realities in not very long time, and perhaps during your lifetime house-robots will take 5 of housewives.
When I 6 this kind of machine with housewives, some 90 percent of them replied 7 “How soon can I buy one?” The other 10 percent said, “I would be terrified to see it8 about my house.” But when I explained to them that it could be turned 9 or stopped, they quickly realized that it was a 10 object.
In my own 11 we have found that the washing-up machine is regarded as a good12in the room. There's no greater13than to go to bed in the evening and 14 that the washing-up is being done downstairs after we are 15.
Some families would 16 to have their robot slaves 17 all the downstairs housework after they were in 18 at night, while others would have it19 in the mornings. But this would be entirely a matter of20.
If your father never says to you “I love you” when you are a child, it 1 to be more and more difficult for him to say the words as he grows2.
I do not 3 hearing the words from my father when I was growing up.4, I could not recall (回忆) when I had 5 said those words to him either.
One day, I decided to 6 the ice and make the first 7. So in our next phone conversation I gathered all my 8 and let out the words in a low voice,” Dad… I love you!”
There was a 9at the other end and he awkwardly 10, “Well, same back at you!”
I was unexpectedly 11and my voice was raised,” Dad, I know you love me, and I know when you are ready, you will say what you want to say.”
Fifteen minutes later my mother called and 12 asked, “Paul, is everything okay?”
A few weeks later, Dad 13 our phone conversation with the words, “Paul, I love you.” I was so moved that tears were rolling down my cheeks as I finally “14” the love.
As I sat there in tears I realized that this 15 moment had taken our father-and-son relationship to a new 16. Shortly afterwards, my father narrowly 17death following heart surgery (外科手术). Many times 18, I have 19 if I had not taken the first step and Dad not 20 the surgery, I would have never “heard” the love.
"Always" and "never", two words opposite in meaning, tend to characterize the vocabulary of black and white thinkers. Black and white thinking means seeing the world in terms of 1. If things aren't 2, then black and white thinkers feel terrible. What a 3 way to live! In real life, situations are almost always shades of 4, not absolute black or white. Black and white thinking 5 to exacerbate（加剧）depression, conflicts in marriage, anxiety and many other everyday 6. Give yourself and the ones you love a break and 7 the beauty of shades of gray.
When small children are learning to use words and organize their thoughts, it is 8 for them to see and 9 their world in very black and white terms. When young children feel they are not 10, they think they 11 be hated. When a child feels his/her parents don't pay 12 attention to him/her, that child will say, "You never pay attention to me." Developmental psychologists 13 this "primitive thinking".
14, adults often regress（倒退） to primitive thinking. Adults tend to regress to primitive thinking 15 they have a hard 16 and feel frustrated by their own emotions. A regression is a slipping back from mature thinking to immature thinking.
If you learn to 17 the gray thinking in the difficult experiences you encounter in your life, you will be 18equipped to come out on top. Regression is not the only conclusion when you feel stressed, angry and confused. You can start to recognize when you are 19 to black and white thinking, and then make the choice to get rid of those extreme thoughts in favor of 20 living.
Most healthy children have a good appetite (胃口). They are ready to eat almost 1 that is offered to them. A child hardly 2 food unless it is badly cooked. The way a meal is cooked and served is most important. A(n) 3 served meal will often improve a child's appetite. Never ask a child 4 he likes or dislikes a food and never 5 likes and dislikes in front of him or allow 6 else to do so. If the father says he hates fat meat or the mother 7 vegetables before their child, he is 8 to follow them. Take it 9 granted that he likes everything and he probably 10. Anything that is good for a child's 11 in a meal should be cared about. At meal time it is a good 12 to give a child a small portion and let him 13 back for a second helping rather than give him as 14 as he is likely to eat at a time.
Don't talk too much to the child 15 meal time, but let him get on with his food. Don't 16 him to leave the table 17 his meal is finished. Or, he will soon learn to swallow (吞) his food 18 he can hurry back to his toys or favorite TV programmes. 19, it is not a good idea to 20 a child to eat something.
More and more shoppers are buying things online these days, allowing them to avoid 1 sales people and long lines at checkout counters. In spite of online convenience, 2, there are some items - like clothes - that customers prefer to 3 before buying. In light of this, two companies are finding ways to modernize stores and 4 the gap between online and in-store retail(零售).
A software company that also happens to sell designer jeans, Hointer has created a fast and painless shopping 5 for its customers.
Shoppers walk into a Hointer store and select one of the many pairs of jeans 6 down from bars. Then they point their smart-phones at the tag and 7 the Hointer app, after which they select the size and press "try on". The app then directs them to a specific dressing room. German-made robots bring out the 8 jeans and deliver them through a chute(斜槽) to the dressing room in about 30 seconds. Immediately after 9 pairs of jeans are dropped through another chute, the "outbox," they disappear from the list in the app.
Purchases at Hointer are made with a swipe(刷卡) of a credit card. And interacting with a salesperson is optional! This allows Hointer to hire fewer people and focus on their ultimate goal: developing 10 that supports a retail revolution.
Men's clothing retailer Bonobos has11 a more personalized shopping experience. Although it is -- in fact -- on online retailer, Bonobos had decided to open a handful of brick-and-mortar stores called Guide-shops. Shoppers make a(n) 12 online before arriving at a guide-shop, where they receive one-on-one 13 from a fitting guide. Because these shops have limited inventories(存货), shoppers aren't able to take home the outfits they select. But guides help shoppers make online purchases before they leave, after which the items will be 14 to customers in one or two days.
While Hointer focuses on convenience, Bonobos Guide-shops focus on customer service. But both efforts have one thing 15: giving clothing retailers a new look for the 21st century.
Friends are very important in our everyday life. Everyone1friends. We all like to feel close to someone.2 is nice to have a friend to talk, laugh, and do things with. 3, sometimes we need to be alone. We don't always want people 4. But we would feel lonely if we 5 had a friend.
No two people are 6. Friends 7 don't get on well. That doesn't mean that they no longer like each other. Most of the time they will make up (言归于好) and become 8 again.
Sometimes friends move away. Then we feel very9. We miss them very much, but we can 10 them and write to them. And we can 11 new friends. It is encouraging to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them.
There's more good news for people who have friends. They live12 than people who don't. Why? Friends can make us feel happy. 13 happy helps you stay well. Or it could be just done that someone cares. If some one cares about you, you take 14 care of 15.
Why liars lie: What science tells us about deception
We all do it sometimes, even though we know it's wrong. But here's the problem with lying: research shows that the more you lie, the easier it gets, and the more likely you are to do it again. "The dangerous thing about lying is that people don't understand how the act changes us," said Dan Ariely, a behavioral psychologist at Duke.
Psychologists have documented children lying as early as age 2. Some experts even consider lying a 1 milestone, like crawling and walking, because it requires complex planning, attention and the ability to see a situation from someone else's 2 to effectively control them. But for most people, lying gets 3 as we develop a sense of morality and the ability to self-regulate.
A 2010 study on the frequency of lying in America found that in a given 24-hour period, most adults reported not telling any lies. Almost half the lies recorded in the study could be 4 just 5 percent of participants. And most people 5 lying when they could, turning to deception only when the truth was troublesome.
Harvard cognitive neuroscientist Joshua Greene said, 6 , for most of us, lying takes work. In studies, he presented study subjects with a chance to deceive for monetary gain while examining their brains in a functional MRI(核磁共振) machine, which 7 blood flow to active parts of the brain.
Some people told the truth instinctively. But others 8 opted to lie, and they showed 9 activity in their frontal parietal (额顶叶) control network, which is involved in difficult or complex thinking. This suggests that they were deciding between truth and 10 – and ultimately opting for the latter.
For a follow-up analysis, he found that people whose neural reward centers were more active when they won money were also more likely to be among the group of liars – suggesting that lying may have to do with the 11 to resist temptation.
Scientists don't really know what prevents all of us from lying all the time. Some believe truth-telling is a social norm we internalize, or a result of conflict in our brains between the things we want and the 12 image of ourselves we strive to maintain. But the curious thing about this 13 mechanism is that it comes from within.
However, external conditions also matter 14 when and how often we lie. We are more likely to lie, research shows, when we are able to justify it, when we are 15 and exhausted, or when we see others being dishonest. And we are less likely to lie when we have moral reminders or when we think others are watching.
Sneaker is a kind of shoe worn by many people all over the world. Some say that the word "sneaker" is another word for tennis shoe, 1no one really knows where the word came from. 2 say it came from the old English verb "sneak", which 3 to move silently and quickly. The only thing we are 4 is that when you put on a pair of sneakers, you 5 light-hearted, light-footed and ready to play.
Sneakers of some kind are used by 6 who play tennis, basketball, and other sports. New design has been made 7 for people who run slowly. But perhaps sneakers are8used by children in the United States. In fact American children of 9 ages would much rather play in sneakers than anything else, except perhaps 10 at all.
New York City once held a poetry contest (诗歌比赛) for children. The subject was only "sneaker". Thousands of children sent in their 11 and praised the sneakers they love. One prize winner called 12 poem "The Sneaker and the World Peace". "When everyone is wearing sneakers," she said, "it will be impossible to 13."
American school children can be seen every day 14 sneakers of all colours. They put them on in the morning and take them off 15. Sneakers are 16 washed. In fact the older and dirtier they are, the 17 loveable they are. When their sneakers wear out (穿破), children hate to throw them off. How do you explain the closeness between 18? Perhaps another young 19 in the New York Poetry Contest said it best. "A shoe is just a shoe," he said. "But a sneaker is a 20."
I was once the guide on a wildlife-photography trip to the North Pole, where wildlife is abundant. After two days of travel, we reached a fjord (峡湾) and 1 several seals resting on the ice. I wished to get a picture of a seal as it came up for breath at a hole. Therefore, I 2 my camera and a motion sensor near the edge of a hole.
At two in the morning, a colleague 3 us. He had noticed a polar bear approaching in the distance. We ran to the bow of the boat to see what would happen. At first the bear walked toward the boat. Then it turned and 4 directly for my camera. The motion sensor 5 to its movement, starting the camera to take pictures. The bear 6 the camera, gently sniffing it. Suddenly the bear knocked the camera into the hole! My camera and all those 7 pictures disappeared beneath the ice.
Fortunately, a year later, I joined a similar trip to the same spot. I obtained 8 to bring a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and a colleague to 9 it. We would try to 10 the camera.
When we arrived back and set out our search, we 11 technical difficulties almost immediately and had to pull the ROV out of water twice. However, on the third try, the ROV found the camera. As we eventually got the camera up, we 12 loudly. I managed to take the memory card out and later 13 all 149 photos.
Regaining that camera is the most satisfying 14 of my career. I have never experienced such a 15 of excitement when we pulled that camera out of the water.
I log onto a computer at the doctor's office to say I have arrived and then wait until a voice calls me into the examination room. There, a robotic nurse 1 me onto the scales and then takes my blood pressure. Some time later, in steps the 2 , who is also a robot. He notes down my 3 and gives me a prescription (处方). I pay for my4 using a credit card and return home without having met another human being. This is my nightmarish vision of the 5 ， which hasn't happened 6yet.
I should say I really do like many aspects of7. I am a big fan of air conditioning in summer and heaters in 8. But I am writing this because I don't want machines to 9.
When I call my dentist's office and actually get a human being on the line, I am 10. And when I see the introduction of yet more selfservice checkout stations at the grocery store, I feel like 11, "When it comes to cashiers, make mine a(n) 12, please!"
After all, human cashiers sometimes 13you a store coupon (优惠券) for items you are14. Even more than that, reallife cashiers often take an interest in particularly cute children, which can 15young mothers' day. A cashier may also show compassion for an elderly person 16 to get that last penny out of his purse.
Machines can be 17 and costeffective and they often get the job done just fine. 18 they lack an element so important to everyday life.
Call it the spirit, the soul or the heart. It is 19 no machine will ever have. It is human being that 20 us to smile at others, which may be what they need at that moment.
As the coronavirus pandemic shuts down public life on the streets, a new kind of life is opening up online. Many people who are1enough to still have their jobs are working from home, often experimenting with video chats and virtual offices for the first time. The outbreak could change the internet as2 as it is changing our hand washing habits.
Our range of 3 apps has already started to shift. Almost overnight, the video conferencing app Zoom has gone from insignificance to necessity. People are using it to hold meetings with colleagues, teach university classes and have quarantine(隔离)-compliant cocktail hours with friends. For those who don't want to be "Zoom-bombed", where a(n) 4 person joins the video call by exploiting bugs in the app, there are video features you can use in Skype, Google Hangouts and Discord.
Popular streaming service Twitch, typically used to watch gaming live, has also had a 5 in fortunes. It has suddenly become a(n)6 performance space, with musicians, writers and comedians all using it to broadcast live shows that they have had to cancel—and 7 Twitch's tipping and subscription functions, they can get paid for it, too.
To 8 the experience of inviting people over for a movie night, there are countless apps for watching media online with friends. Though it isn't as good as a(n)9visit, these gatherings have eased my loneliness and made the days more bearable. Though we have had online video chat for years, it has always been a sideshow of most social media platforms. Now it is moving to the 10 of our internet experience because it is connecting us with people we would ordinarily see in our day-to-day lives. We want to feel like we are in the room with people we love and depend on, and seeing their faces makes the 11feel more official and real.
Until recently, the internet was mostly a place of leisure. We went there for entertainment, news and catching up with friends, both distant and imaginary. Yes, it has always been a 12 for some of us, but now millions more people are using apps like Slack and Asana to talk to colleagues all day and organize projects. When the time comes that the majority of us rely on the internet for work, it is13that we will have to take it more seriously.
Of course, the internet could also become an even more powerful means of14 for the millions of people who have lost work in an economic apocalypse(灾难)that is almost as terrifying as covid-19 itself. With nothing to lose, shut in our homes, we may be subjected to extremist manipulation.
After the pandemic is over, the internet won't feel as much like a(n)15 field any more. It will be as real as a pay cheque—and that might actually make us demand more accountability from our favourite social apps.
