Several years ago, a co-worker invited me over for a classic social tradition: a game night. I don’t like board games. When I’m hanging out with others, I much prefer the free flow of conversation 【小题1】 the structure of competition. 【小题2】 someone starts explaining the game rules, my brain tends to involuntarily tune out, a defense mechanism against unwanted and useless information.

So obviously, eager to make new friends. I told my co-work I was in.

The evening was disappointing. An alarmingly complex game was first explained and then repeated, upon my request. I 【小题3】 (assure) that I’d “get it after a couple of rounds,” which never happened. I was so bad that I was ruining everyone eles’s experience with my unpredictable plays and constant need 【小题4】 (remind) of what was happening.

【小题5】 these people kindly became my friends anyway, I was never invited back to another game night. “We just know you’re not really a game person, ” one of them later told me, eyes 【小题6】 (slide) sideward.

Not being a game person nowadays can make one feel like an exception. Board games, which in 2021 were a $13. 4 billion global market, are surging in popularity. There are people who love socializing through games in every town, 【小题7】 makes my resistance to them feel unacceptable. Maybe, I thought, I was missing 【小题8】 about the social value of games. Games can reveal people’s core qualities: how they react when they’re stressed, how they cooperate in a team, or how they behave when they win or lose.

However, I still have a general sense 【小题9】 they’re a silly way to pass time. When I think about the leisure activities I “indulge” in, such as cycling, they tend to have bonus benefits. Through cycling, my friends and I can share experiences that simulate the variable conditions of life: joy and pain, uncertainty and achievement. We can all reap rewards from bonding through playful activities: 【小题10】 we see as play just varies. I get that now. But to be clear, there’s still no need to invite me to your game night.

Pan, a silversmith (银匠) in Maliao village in Guizhou Province, used to dream of people living 【小题1】 abundant life in his village, 【小题2】 nobody has to work far away from home and customers go for beautiful silver jewellery. Now his dream has come true.

Maliao village is famous for its silver jewellery. In fact, Miao silver jewellery【小题3】 (list) as National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. But with cheaper, machine-produced trinkets (小首饰) 【小题4】 (rule) the market, they couldn’t rely on the old technique 【小题5】 (survive).

At that time, most people in the village lived with poverty, which means they could simply afford food and basic clothing, but seldom purchase things like bicycles or televisions. So many villagers left their hometown 【小题6】 (hope). But in 2019, the government allocated 580,000 yuan of poverty funds to set up the silverware workshop of Maliao village, helping Maliao villagers fight poverty with their own craft.

Since that year, most young craftsmen 【小题7】 (return) to their hometown and found a bright future. 【小题8】 the help of the government’s workshop, they learned the 【小题9】 (late) fashion trends and how to meet clients’ various 【小题10】 (request). Instead of holding on to old ideas and existing design, villagers enhanced their skills and made their products customized.

I had a chance to make a trip to Hong Kong 【小题1】 August 1, 2014. I had dreamed about 【小题2】(visit) it since I was a child and it was the 【小题3】(one) time that I had been there. The following was 【小题4】 I had seen.

Arriving there, I 【小题5】(impress) by its beautiful scenery and tall buildings. People in Hong Kong were kind, easygoing 【小题6】 ready to help others. Wherever I went, I saw many smiling 【小题7】 (face). Much to 【小题8】(I) surprise, I saw people there always keep order in public places. Crowds of people were waiting for the next train at the subway station but no one was talking in 【小题9】 high voice. Chinese and English are their official languages. English is 【小题10】(wide) used in governments, schools and other fields.

The one-week visit was a good experience for me, which I will never forget.