There are good reasons to value our friendships.Some years ago a public-opinion research firm,Roper Starch Worldwide,asked 2007 people to name one or two things that said the most about themselves.Friends far outranked homes jobs, clothes and cars.

    “Ironically,” says Brant R.Burleson, professor of communication at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., “the better friends you are, the more likely you'll face conflicts.” And the outcome can be what you don't want—an end to the relationship.

    The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended.

    Swallow your pride. It wasn't easy, but that's what Denise Moreland of Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii did when a friendship turned sour.For nearly four months,Moreland,45,had watched over Nora Huizenga's two young daughters, who were living with their father on the base,while Huizenga,40,completed training as a dental hygienist in Nevada.“I felt honored to be asked to step in,” Moreland says.

    “When Huizenga returned at Christmas,” Moreland recalls,“I had so much to tell her, but she never called.”

    One daughter had a birthday party, but Moreland wasn't invited. “I felt like I'd been used,” she says.At first, Moreland swore to avoid Huizenga.Then she decided to swallow her pride and let her friend know how she felt. Huizenga admitted that she'd been so worried about being separated from her family that she'd been blind to what her friend had done to help her. Today she says, “I would never have figured out what happened if Denise hadn't called me on it.”

    When a friend hurts you, your instinct is to protect yourself.But that makes it harder to solve problems,explains William Wilmot,author of Relational Communication.“Most of us are relieved when differences are brought out in the open.”

    Apologize when you're wrong—even if you've also been wronged.But over the course of a friendship, even the best people make mistakes. “We don't think clearly when we're arguing,” says Michael Lang,a professional mediator (调解人) in Pittsburgh. Instead, says Lang, ask: “What's going on? This doesn't make sense.”

    See things from your friend's point of view. Sociologists Rebecca Adams Rosemary and Blieszner interviewed 53 adults who each had many friendships lasting decades. “We were curious how these people managed to sustain strong friendships for so long,” says Blieszner. Tolerance is key, the researchers learned.” It's surprising how often a dispute results from a simple misunderstanding,” adds psychotherapist Anne Frenkel.

    Accept that friendships change. “Friendships change as our needs and lifestyles change,” Wilmot observes.

    Making friends can sometimes seem easy,says Yager.The hard part is keeping the connections strong during the natural ups and downs that affect all relationships.Her suggestion: Consider friendship an honor and a gift,and worth the effort to treasure and nurture.

    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So start off to travel around the world and to experience a lot.

    Enjoy much freedom.

    You will enjoy a much greater sense of freedom when no one is able to tell you what to do{#blank#}1{#/blank#}You decide where you want to go,what you want to do and how long you want to stay.

    Taste delicious food.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Do you like eating Chinese,Thai or Indian food?You will enjoy the food even more when you eat it from the place it originates（起源）.For foodies（吃货）,delicious food in different places on the journey is what attracts them most.

    Meet new people.

    You will have the chance to meet new people when you travel.Some are interesting,some boring,and some totally crazy.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Chances are that it will be worth listening to.Perhaps you will meet someone you can make friends with and get a life-long friendship.

    Appreciate beautiful nature.

    Instead of looking out your office window to see a hundred skyscrapers staring back at you,you will get the chance to see the world in all its natural beauty.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}You can walk throw the jungles of the Amazon.You can see most scenery with your own eyes instead of looking at a still image in a book.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}You might already be book-smart.But add street smart to your life and then there's no stopping you.Travelling teaches you many of life's lessons.You will gain pearls（珍殊）of wisdom along your journey,which will surely enables you to lead a smarter life.

A.You are the boss.

B.Live a colorful life.

C.Become street-smart.

D.Everyone has a story to tell.

E.You can see the deserts of Africa.

F.You will discover how simple life can be.

G.You will taste food from all corners of the world.

注意：每空一词。

    A recent study points out a so-called “gender-equality paradox(性别平等悖论)”: there are more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in countries with lower gender equality. Why do women make up 40 percent of engineering majors in Jordan, but only 34 percent in Sweden and 19 percent in the U.S.? The researchers suggest that women are just less interested in STEM, and when liberal Western countries let them choose freely, they freely choose different fields.

    We disagree.

    From cradle to classroom, a wealth of research shows that the environment has a major influence on girls' interest and ability in math and science. Early in school, teachers, unconscious prejudice push girls away from STEM. By their preteen years, girls outperform boys in science class and report equal interest in the subject, but parents think that science is harder and less interesting for their daughters than their sons, and these misunderstandings predict their children's career choices.

    Later in life, women get less credit than men for the same math performance. When female STEM majors write to potential PhD advisors, they are less likely to get a response. When STEM professors review applications for research positions, they are less likely to hire “Jennifer” than “John,” even when both applications are otherwise identical—and if they do hire “Jennifer,” they pay her $4,000 less.

    These findings make it clear that women in Western countries are not freely expressing their lack of “interest” in STEM. In fact, cultural attitudes and discrimination are shaping women's interests in a way that is anything but free, even in otherwise free countries.

    “Gender-equality paradox” research misses those social factors because it relies on a broad measure of equality called the Gender Gap Index (GGI), which tracks indicators such as wage difference, government representation and health outcomes. These are important markers of progress, but if we want to explain something as complicated as gender representation in STEM, we have to look into people's heads.

    Fortunately, we have ways to do that. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a well-validated tool for measuring how tightly two concepts are tied together in people's minds. The psychologist Brian Nosek and his colleagues analyzed over 500,000 responses to a version of the IAT that measures mental associations between men/women and science, and compared results from 34 countries. Across the world, people associated science more strongly with men than with women.

    But surprisingly, these gendered associations were stronger in supposedly egalitarian (主张平等的) Sweden than they were in the U.S., and the most pro-female scores came from Jordan. We re-analyzed the study's data and found that the GGI's assessment of overall gender equality of a country has nothing to do with that country's scores on the science IAT.

    That means the GGI fails to account for cultural attitudes toward women in science and the complicated mix of history and culture that forms those attitudes.

    Recently, I've been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination(拖延症) and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule.

    Part 1—If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, sending that email, and so on.

    If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

    Part 2—When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

    Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    It might sound like this strategy is too basic for grand life goals, but I beg to differ. The 2-Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia(惯性)of life. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I love the 2-Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started.

    The most important part of any new habit is getting started—not just the first time, but each time. It's not about performance, it's about consistently taking action.

    I can't guarantee whether or not the 2-Minute Rule will work for you. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds. Use this time to get one thing done. Go.

A. I call this little strategy the “2-Minute Rule”.

B. And that's the purpose behind this little rule.

C. Here's what you need to know to stop procrastinating.

D. Once you start doing something, it's easier to continue doing it.

E. But, I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it.

F. The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing.

G. It's surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less.

    Too many of us are waiting too long to live our best lives. We keep putting everything off until tomorrow. Then, before we know it, we find ourselves asking, "How did it get so late so soon?"

    So we'd better make today the beginning of our new life. Take time to figure ourselves out. Take time to realize what we want and need. Take time to love, laugh, cry, and learn. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five things we should start doing today:

    Accept ourselves. The secret to happiness and success is the acceptance of ourselves. We will never become who we want to be if we rely on everyone else to qualify us.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So always go with ourselves, never against ourselves. Be who we were created to be and we will set the world on fire.

    Make ourselves a priority. To tell the truth, there are only a few people in this world who will stay 100% true to us, so we should stay true to ourselves. Put our own needs into the list of things to do.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Don't sit back and let things happen to us. Go out and make things happen. We are what we do, not what we say we'll do. Stop saying "I wish" and start saying "I will". Turn our dreams into plans.

    Do the work. We can't underestimate (低估) a person who always works hard. Be that person. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Always remember that the task ahead of us is never greater than the strength within us. Do what's right, not what's easy. Our dreams are worth it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}We can't force things to happen; we can only drive ourselves trying crazily. There's a time and place for everything. So don't force what's not yet supposed to fit into our life. When it's meant to be, it will be. Work hard, and be patient.

A. Take positive action.

B. Enjoy every moment of life.

C. Life is shorter than it often seems.

D. Everyone has a different way of life.

E. Accept ourselves just the way we are.

F. Allow life to happen like it's supposed to.

G. In life, we don't get what we wish for; we get what we work for.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

    We all need to feel understood, recognized and affirmed by our friends, family and romantic partners. We all need to find our tribe.

    Research has shown that among the benefits that come with being in a relationship or group, feeling accepted is regarded as the most important driver of meaning. When other people think you matter and treat you as if you matter, you believe you matter, too.

    Though we all share a need to belong, in the first decades of the 20th century, many influential psychologists and physicians did not acknowledge this fundamental aspect of human nature. The idea that children needed parental love and care to live a full and meaningful life was not only considered medically dangerous, but also dismissed as immoral and disgusting.

    As behavioral psychology came into fashion and academic psychologists turned their attention to child- raising, this view shifted and they began to examine and affirm the vital importance of attachment in early life. They discovered that people, whatever their age, needed more than food and shelter to live full and healthy lives.

    But, sadly, many of us lack close ties. At a time when we are more connected digitally than ever before, rates of social isolation are rising. The results of an Age UK poll published recently suggest that half a million people over the age of 60 usually spend each day alone, and it's not unusual for another half a million people to go without someone to speak to for five or six days. All these figures reveal more than a rise in loneliness — they reveal a lack of meaning in people's lives. In surveys, we list our close relationships as our most important sources of meaning. Research shows that people who are lonely and isolated feel their lives are less meaningful.

    While close relationships are critical for living a meaningful life, they are not the only important social bonds we need to cultivate. Psychologists have also discovered the value of small moments of intimacy. “High-quality connections”, as one researcher calls them, are positive, short-term interactions between two people when a couple holds hands on a walk or when two strangers have an empathetic(移情作用的) conversation on a plane. High-quality connections have the potential to unlock meaning in our interactions with acquaintances, colleagues and strangers. We can't control whether someone will make a high-quality connection with us, but we can all choose to start one. We can say hello to a stranger on the street rather than look away. We can choose to value people rather than devalue them. We can invite people to belong.