Maggie was assigned to a public school in the middle of the year, and the headmaster asked her to teach Class 4-B right away. She heard that the former teacher had 1 suddenly, but the headmaster didn't tell her 2. All he told her was that this was a class of  “3 students”.    

    First day, she walked into the classroom, spitballs (纸团) 4 through the air, feet on desks, the noise deafening. She walked to the front of the classroom and 5 the attendance book(考勤簿). Next to 20 names on the list were IQ scores: 140,141...160. “Oh,” she thought to herself, “6 they are so high-spirited. These children have exceptional IQs.” She 7 and brought them to order, 8 that she could teach such high-quality students.       

    At first Maggie found the students 9 to turn in work, and that assignments that were handed in were done 10, full of mistakes. She spoke to everyone, “ With your IQ, I  11 nothing short of (除…之外) the best work from you.”       

    The whole term Maggie continually 12 them of their responsibility to use all the extra intelligence God had given them. Things began to 13. The children worked hard. Their work was creative and excellent. At the end of the term, the headmaster 14 Maggie into his office. “What magic have you done to these kids? ” He asked 15. “Their work has surpassed (超过) all the regular classes.” “It is just 16. They're smarter than regular students! You said yourself they are special students.” Maggie was 17. “I said they are special because they are the special need students—behavioral disordered.” “Then why are their IQs so 18 on the attendance sheet?” Maggie pulled out the sheet and passed it to the headmaster. “Those aren't their IQs. Those are their locker 19 at the gym. Sorry, Ms. Maggie, your kids are not geniuses(天才).” Maggie paused a bit, and smiled, “If someone 20 himself to be a genius, he will become one. I'm teaching them as geniuses again next year.”      

I had never expected such an answer from my son.

    I was 28 at the time and my son had just been1 into elementary school, and was sitting on a park bench(长凳) with me, telling me all about his friends and teachers in the new school. He was extremely2 , I could tell. Looking up into the cloudy blue sky while I 3 , I was having a hard time thinking of questions to ask him about his new4 , probably because he was answering every single one of them before I even5  them.

    Being in America, there were people of many different races and 6  that lived here, 7  I decided to ask him about those people. He loved8 , and if he heard someone who had a different 9  or something like that, he would ask them where they were from. It was 10  for me. I thought he was being rude and didn't 11  it. But the people would always12  and tell him where, whether it was the UK, China, you name it. 13 , he would get into his seat in my car and demand that I take him to the 14  so that he could learn about those places. I would 15  do it, giving him every bit of 16  he craved(渴望). He would even tell me fun facts, things that I didn't know about. He was 17  the word “foreigner”, even though he had no idea what it 18 . I signed and spoke, “So, David, are there any 19  at your school?” He looked at me 20  the biggest smile I had ever seen, swing his legs back and force on the bench.

    “No, Daddy. Just kids.”

    I lifted my wet woollen gloves to my face and wiped the snowflakes from my eyes. I could not feel my nose and my 1 formed a thick fog in the air. The biting wind was making me 2. I was fed up! I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go home. But Mum and Dad had 3me to go for a Sunday afternoon walk in the park. I could see my4 in the snowy path, like a trail of breadcrumbs (一串面包屑) in the forest showing me the way5.

    I stopped and listened to my 6 I could 7 the wind crying like a homeless dog hungry for a delicious 8 The once-green tree 9 which used to wave gently in the breeze, had become bare, and the grass was covered with a 10 blanket of fresh snow. Then I saw a broken spider's web shining golden beneath a pale sun. My breath was like silky soft 11floating up into the freezing cold air.

    Suddenly there was Mum, 12 handing me a big cup of hot chocolate. Her big smile immediately 13 my heart.

“Here you are, Jo. This will keep you 14” she said as she placed a comforting arm around my shoulders and 15her cheek against mine.

    I slowly took a mouthful of the hot16and felt it slowly dripping down my throat like lava (熔岩)17 down a mountainside. My wet woollen gloves were now warm, not 18.  My breath warmed, and I was 19fed up or cold. I was happy and 20.

    John Carpenter

    John Carpenter did nod like to buy toys that somebody else had made. He like the fun of 1 them himself. The thought that they were his own work 2 him.

    Tom,one of his playmates,thought a toy was worth nothing 3 it cost a great deal of money. He never tried to make 4,but bought all his toys."Come and look at my horse," said he, one day,"it 5 a dollar, and it is such a beauty!" John was soon 6 his friend's horse, and he was examining it 7 to see how it was made. The same evening he tried to make a 8one for himself. He went into the wood shed and 9 two pieces of wood—one for the head of his horse, the other for the body. It took him two or three days to shape them to his 10 But what about the wheels? This11 him. With great efforts, he finally got some 12 pieces of wood which could suit his 13 Proud of his great 14he ran to his friend Tom, crying, "Now then, Tom, here is my horse, —look!"

    "Well, that is a 15 horse,"said Tom," Where did you but it?"

    "I didn't buy it,"16 John, "I made it".

    "You made it yourself! Oh, well, it's a good horse for you to make.17it is not as good as mine. Mine cost a 18 and yours didn't cost anything."

    "It was real fun to make it, though," said John, and away he ran with his horse 19 after him.

    Does it really cost nothing and all his efforts are 20 ? Of course not, I will tell you. John Carpenter now is a master workman, and will soon have a shop of his own.

    I've learned a lesson that accepting kindness is important, too. I'm a social worker and have been 1 more time recently with those unlucky people that some might say are less 2. I had a wonderful interaction (互动) this past week, when I had the 3 of being the receiver of kindness. I was speaking to a gentleman who has bad luck and is in 4. We were just talking for a while and getting to 5 each other.

    Towards the end of our evening he said he wanted to 6 me a hamburger at the nearby fast food restaurant. In time before, I would have 7 that he let me buy him a meal, since he had a greater 8 than I. But my kindness experience has taught me the 9 of being a good receiver, too. So I told him if he 10 wanted to do that I would be 11 to share a meal with him.

    It was great! He was so happy to be able to 12 something like that and he was 13 the entire time. I felt glad to 14 the wonderful feeling of someone's giving. We 15 some great conversation and I could see it 16 so much to him.

    As we parted ways, instead of me feeling bad that he probably spent his last few 17 on our meal, I smiled and felt with a wonderful 18 of connection and gratitude. It's not only fun to be a receiver of kindness, 19 this also gives someone else the chance to be the 20. That is important, too.

In early 2021, I hit a rut in my studies. Although I had been productive early in my graduate career, my long hours and hard work were no longer translating into success in the laboratory, and I felt hopeless about achieving my goals.

As I began to search for the cause of my struggles, I became increasingly aware that my "quiet time" at the lab bench was anything but. Instead of thinking about science, I was watching television or interacting with social media on my smartphone. Although I could mask this inefficiency (低效率) with longer hours, my work felt disorganized. Through reflection, I came to understand my problem.

To make a change, I reduced my connectivity by using a basic mobile phone without an Internet connection during work hours, and removing unnecessary apps from my smartphone when I did use it. Things didn't go smoothly in the beginning, but with time, I started reading papers during long experiments, and began a habit of writing in my down time. These practices have already made success: I am currently preparing a review article for publication with my adviser. I have also felt more engaged in meetings – coming better prepared, asking questions and taking hand-written notes. Perhaps most importantly, I have felt my anxiety about work efficiency disappear and that my disorganized work-life relationship is traded for one with clearer boundaries.

Changing my smartphone habits has also created challenges. Not all my friends have been supportive of my reduced connectivity, and I have missed messages on communication services. Yet these problems have been a small price to pay for increased productivity. So if you find yourself in this situation, I encourage you to build down time and uninterrupted study into your schedule, which could be significant for your success.