“It’s good to talk,” some people say. I take a bus in London, there are certainly plenty of people talking on their mobile phones, sometimes too loudly, discussing and sharing personal information with a friend.   

Many of us meet strangers every day no matter where we are. Some scientists studied this silent relationship and wondered if staying alone is a more positive（积极的）experience than communicating with strangers. They found that many people felt uncomfortable and ashamed talking to others and they said that many people just couldn’t understand how much a new person liked them when they started a conversation.

Their research showed that people who actually tried to talk to a stranger found the people sitting next to them was happy to chat with them. From this, this conclusion（结论）is that connecting with strangers is surprisingly pleasant and it has a good influence on our health. People are in a better mood after they have a conversation. It’s true that talking can make us feel happier and happiness can lead to                                 better mental health.

However, if we’re shy, the thought of speaking to strangers might make us anxious. But an American research found that all people were happier when they were asked to behave in a brave manner. So maybe, if we’re alone, it’s time to go out of our house and make some small talks with a stranger — it could be the beginning of a new friendship.

It is important for students to learn some team skills to help solve different kinds of problems. Here are two fun team activities.

Activity 1: Water Relay（接力赛）

Tools

Two large buckets（水桶）to hold water

One small bucket for each team member

Instructions

Fill one large bucket with water.

Make holes in the bottom of the small buckets.

Have the team members line up between the two large buckets.

Pass the water from one large bucket to the other, using small buckets. Try to keep as much water as possible.

Why It’s Fun

It’s fun to work out a way to lose as little water as possible.

It’s water. Isn’t it fun to get you wet on a hot summer day?

Activity 2: Truth and Lie

This activity will allow team members to learn about each other.

Instructions

Have each team member think of three pieces of information about themselves, and one of them is a lie.

Each team member tells the group all the three pieces of information. Let the other team members guess which is the lie.

Why It’s Fun

Students love talking about themselves and this gives them the chance to do so.

Members can learn about each other.

Members will be surprised at what others think of them.

My husband lived in another city and we met twice a month. Sometimes we had bad fights. I felt terrible. But stopping hard times was not easy.

I usually went to work by bus, sometimes by subway. One day, in order not to be late, I took a taxi.

To kill time, I talked with the driver. “Where are you from?” I asked. “Canada. I came here 25 years ago,” he answered. Then I asked him how long he had been a driver. “A month,” he said. He also told me his daughter was disabled and she did not well at school. He didn’t have money to cure her. So he had to be a driver. I listened to him quietly. Suddenly, I got an idea. I gave some tickets for comedies to him. I advised him to take his daughter to watch them. He smiled and shook my hand. Then he drove away.

I called my husband, telling him his love made me a better person. I made peace with him.

My little act of kindness was just to give away some tickets for comedies. I didn’t change his life. But he surely changed mine.