填空题A. Monitor your alcohol use B. Pay attention to table manners C. Don"t be a gossip D. Network with higher-ups E. Keep the conversation light F. Dress appropriately G. Make new friends For young workers, holiday parties can be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a successful year gone by, catch up with colleagues and hobnob with senior executives to try to get ahead. But a host of challenges confront young employees—from figuring out whom to bring to walking the fine line between being friendly and being flirty. Some do"s and don"ts when it comes to these events: 1 If you"re new to the company, talk to co-workers who have attended previous office functions to get a sense of what you should wear. Dress conservatively, not "like you"re going to a club in Vegas," says Tom Gimbel, CEO of staffing firm LaSalle Network in Chicago. But, he adds, don"t take it "to the point where (you"re) wearing a suit where everybody else is wearing jeans." 2 Steer clear of talking about those layoffs or pay freezes that have hit morale, experts advise. "Try to keep the conversation upbeat," says Barbara Pachter, president of Pachter & Associates, a business-etiquette and communications firm in Cherry Hill, N.J. "If you"re merging, that could be an exciting thing, (or if) you"re adding new product lines, that could be an exciting thing" to talk about. 3 While it"s fun to indulge in rumors about colleagues, you don"t want to be known as the person who"s always spreading juicy gossip. "You want to be known for your work ethic, you want to be known for the work product that you put out, and at a holiday party, you don"t want to be the one telling everybody who"s making out with whom and who"s fighting with whom," says Mr. Gimbel. Instead, he encourages people to stick to safe topics like sports, entertainment and what"s going on in the world. 4 Even if you"re intimidated by the clique of VPs huddling in their own circle, don"t pass up the opportunity to meet these people, who could be interviewing you when you"re up for your next pro- motion. Look for an opening to chime in on a topic that you know about. If they don"t already know you, introduce yourself and say how long you"ve been with the company and what you do. Afterward, if you feel like you connected with someone senior, send them a follow-up email saying it was nice to meet them, says Ms. Pachter. "What have you got to lose?" 5 Holiday parties are one of the few workplace events where imbibing is allowed and even encouraged to get people relaxed. However, just because alcohol is free-flowing at the bar doesn"t mean you should take that as a license to reprise your college fiat parties. "Most people head toward the bar and the buffet when they get to a holiday party, and if they drink on an empty stomach they tend to get inebriated and then they could say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing," says Ms. Whitmore. "No.1 rule is: Don"t drink too much, monitor your alcohol intake. Usually, one or two drinks is plenty."

填空题A. You are not alone B. Experience helps you grow C. Pave your own unique path D. Most of your fears are unreal E. Think about the present moment F. Don"t fear responsibility for your life G. There are many things to be grateful for Some Old Truths to Help You Overcome Tough Times Unfortunately, life is not a bed of roses. We are going through life facing sad experiences. Moreover, we are grieving various kinds of loss: a friendship, a romantic relationship or a house. Hard times may hold you down at what usually seems like the most inopportune time, but you should remember that they won"t last forever. When our time of mourning is over, we press forward, stronger with a greater understanding and respect for life. Furthermore, these losses make us mature and eventually move us toward future opportunities for growth and happiness. I want to share these old truths I"ve learned along the way. 1 Fear is both useful and harmful. This normal human reaction is used to protect us by signaling danger and preparing us to deal with it. Unfortunately, people create inner barriers with a help of exaggerating fears. My favorite actor Will Smith once said, "Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice." I do completely agree that fears are just the product of our luxuriant imagination. 2 If you are surrounded by problems and cannot stop thinking about the past, try to focus on the present moment. Many of us are weighed down by the past or anxious about the future. You may feel guilty over your past, but you are poisoning the present with the things and circumstances you cannot change. Value the present moment and remember how fortunate you are to be alive. Enjoy the beauty of the world around and keep the eyes open to see the possibilities before you. Happiness is not a point of future and not a moment from the past, but a mindset that can be designed into the present. 3 Sometimes it is easy to feel bad because you are going through tough times. You can be easily caught up by life problems that you forget to pause and appreciate the things you have. Only strong people prefer to smile and value their life instead of crying and complaining about something. 4 No matter how isolated you might feel and how serious the situation is, you should always remember that you are not alone. Try to keep in mind that almost everyone respects and wants to help you if you are trying to make a good change in your life, especially your dearest and nearest people. You may have a circle of friends who provide constant good humor, help and companionship. If you have no friends or relatives, try to participate in several online communities, full of people who are always willing to share advice and encouragement. 5 Today many people find it difficult to trust their own opinion and seek balance by gaining objectivity from external sources. This way you devalue your opinion and show that you are incapable of managing your own life. When you are struggling to achieve something important you should believe in yourself and be sure that your decision is the best. You live in your skin, think your own thoughts, have your own values and make your own choices.

填空题A. Think about how your attitude change will affect your life B. Look for a role model C. Be clear about your traits D. Identify and understand what you want to change E. Believe that you are able to change F. Get rid of the pessimistic friends G. Choose the right company "Our attitude toward life determines life"s attitude towards us." We"ve all heard about the power of our attitude, and that it"s our attitude that determines how much we succeed in life. If you look around you, you will see that people with a positive attitude enjoy life more and are generally happier and more successful than those who walk around grumpy and pessimistic. Our attitude is the driving force in our lives—it can either push you to do great things or pull you down to your demise. All the things that you have been through, all the people you have met and interacted with can have an impact on your attitude. If you think that all these factors have molded you into a person with a poor attitude towards life, there is no need to worry as there is always an opportunity for change. Let me share with you how I did it. 1 The first step towards change is clearly understanding what needs to be changed. Setting clear goals is the key to success in any endeavor. When it comes to changing your attitude, you need to do an honest and in-depth self-evaluation so you could point out exactly which of your traits need to be improved or totally changed. 2 We all need to know that what we"re trying to accomplish can in fact be achieved; that we can be more optimistic, more social or more patient. Find someone who has the kind of attitude that you want to have, and let his or her life give you inspiration and encouragement to move beyond your temporary failures in your journey towards becoming a better person. 3 To be able to overcome all the difficulties that lie ahead of you in your journey towards self betterment, you need to figure out exactly what this supposed change could bring to your life. Will changing your attitude mean a happier family or social life? Will a change in your attitude mean a more successful career or business? Fix your mind on the things that would come as a result of your attitude change and you will have a greater chance of reaching your goal. 4 As they say, "Bad company corrupts good character." You don"t expect yourself to be able to change if you go on surrounding yourself with people who possess all the negative traits that you want to change. Consider befriending new people, especially those who are optimistic and have a healthy attitude towards life. You will see that your effort to change will be easier with these kinds of people as friends. 5 Often, the greatest obstacle between us and our goals is ourselves or our inability to trust in what we are able to do. If you don"t believe in yourself or believe that you or your life can change, it just won"t happen—you will either never start, or give up quickly so you won"t have even given yourself the opportunity to succeed. It cannot be denied that a positive attitude is very important for living a successful and satisfying life, so it is only fight to strive to have a positive attitude.

填空题A．Higher living standard. B．Importance of transport in trade. C．Various , means of transport. D．Birth of transport-related industries and trade. E．Role of information in trade. F．Public transportation. G．Transport facilitating trade. 1 Transport is one of the aids to trade. By moving goods from places where they are plentiful to places where they are scarce, transport adds to their value. The more easily goods can be brought over the distance that separates producer and consumer, the better for trade. When there were no railways, no good roads, no canals, and only small sailing ships, trade was on a small scale. 2 The great advances made in transport during the last two hundred years were accompanied by a big increase in trade. Bigger and faster ships enabled a trade in meat to develop between Britain and New Zealand, for instance. Quicker transport makes possible mass-production and big business, drawing supplies from, and selling goods to, all parts of the globe. Big factories could not exist without transport to carry the large number of workers they need to and from their homes. Big city stores could not have developed unless customers could travel easily from the suburbs and goods delivered to their homes. Big cities could not survive unless food could be brought from a distance. 3 Transport also prevents waste. Much of the fish landed at the ports would be wasted if it could not be taken quickly to inland towns. Transport has given us a much greater variety of foods and goods since we no longer have to live on what is produced locally. Foods, which at one time could be obtained (获得) only during a part of the year, can now be obtained all through the year. Transport has raised the standard of living. 4 By moving fuel, raw materials, and even power, for example, through electric cables, transport has led to the establishment of industries and trade in areas where they would have been impossible before. Districts and countries can concentrate on making things which they can do better and more cheaply than others and can then exchange them with one another. The cheaper and quicker transport becomes, the longer the distance over which goods can profitably be carried. Countries with poor transport have a lower standard of living. 5 Commerce requires not only the moving of goods and people but also the carrying of messages and information. Means of communication, like telephones, cables and radio, send information about prices, supplies, and changing conditions in different parts of the world. In this way, advanced communication systems also help to develop trade.

填空题Take much of what you know about how the best executives make decisions. Now, forget it. For instance, we all "know" that tight deadlines lead to inspiration. Except they often don"t. Instead, they typically are counterproductive—making people less creative precisely when they need to be. Or most of us assume that when we try to solve problems, we"re drawing on the logical parts of our brains. But, in fact, great strategists seem to draw on the emotional and intuitive parts of their brain much more. Here"s a closer look at some of the discoveries researchers have made. Want innovation? Be wary of deadlines. We often think a deadline can help us shake off inertia and focus on getting a job done. But the brain research suggests precisely the opposite is true. A deadline, instead, more often limits our thinking and can lead to much worse decision making. Richard Boyatzis is a professor in Case Western Reserve University. He—along with others—has found that a tight deadline increases people"s urgency and stress levels. "The research shows us that the more stressful a deadline is, the less open you are to other ways of approaching the problem," he says. "The very moments when in organizations we want people to think outside the box, they can"t even see the box." Does that mean companies should get rid of deadlines? In most cases, that"s not realistic. So Srini Pillay, an assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, suggests that companies help employees reduce stress and access the creative parts of the brain even when they"re under pressure. Big unknowns lead to bad choices. The ticking clock of a deadline isn"t the only kind of pressure that makes for bad decisions. So does uncertainty, such as feeling that your job or your company"s future is under threat. Srini Pillay cites a study that discovered that feelings of uncertainty activated brain centers associated with anxiety and disgust, and that such concerns naturally lead to certain kinds of decisions. "In times of uncertainty," he says, "you start acting out of that sense of doom and gloom." Good thinkers look past facts. Everybody is aware of the revered image of the hardheaded decision maker, who goes after cold facts. But researchers are finding the truth is much more complex: The best leaders seem to lean on their emotions much more than logic. Roderick Gilkey, a professor of management at Emory University, conducted a study with colleagues to look at what happens when executives are making strategic decisions. For example, a good strategic thinker would pay attention to emotional reaction and think through the full, long-term impact of the cuts on things like employee morale, retention and productivity. The result might be a different way of improving profitability. "When you"re making a decision in an organization, you also need to think about people and their reactions," says David Rock, director of the research organization NeuroLeadership Institute. "A lot of the strategies that go wrong are because managers haven"t thought through what happens when this hits people." A. in uncertain situations, you make reactions based on the sense of pessimism. B. companies should get rid of deadlines. C. firms help employees keep the creative part of the brain active. D. when making decisions, you should have a good capacity to look at a problem through other people"s eyes. E. what happens when executives are making decisions. F. a deadline increases your stress of finding ways of solving the problems. G. feelings of uncertainty activates brain centers associated with anxiety and disgust.

填空题A．Monitor your alcohol use B．Pay attention to table manners C．Don"t be a gossip D．Network with higher-ups E．Keep the conversation light F．Dress appropriately G．Make new friends For young workers, holiday parties can be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a successful year gone by, catch up with colleagues and hobnob with senior executives to try to get ahead. But a host of challenges confront young employees—from figuring out whom to bring to walking the fine line between being friendly and being flirty. Some do"s and don"ts when it comes to these events: 1 If you"re new to the company, talk to co-workers who have attended previous office functions to get a sense of what you should wear. Dress conservatively, not "like you"re going to a club in Vegas," says Tom Gimbel, CEO of staffing firm LaSalle Network in Chicago. But, he adds, don"t take it "to the point where (you"re) wearing a suit where everybody else is wearing jeans." 2 Steer clear of talking about those layoffs or pay freezes that have hit morale, experts advise. "Try to keep the conversation upbeat," says Barbara Pachter, president of Pachter & Associates, a business-etiquette and communications firm in Cherry Hill, N.J. "If you"re merging, that could be an exciting thing, (or if) you"re adding new product lines, that could be an exciting thing" to talk about. 3 While it"s fun to indulge in rumors about colleagues, you don"t want to be known as the person who"s always spreading juicy gossip. "You want to be known for your work ethic, you want to be known for the work product that you put out, and at a holiday party, you don"t want to be the one telling everybody who"s making out with whom and who"s fighting with whom," says Mr. Gimbel. Instead, he encourages people to stick to safe topics like sports, entertainment and what"s going on in the world. 4 Even if you"re intimidated by the clique of VPs huddling in their own circle, don"t pass up the opportunity to meet these people, who could be interviewing you when you"re up for your next promotion. Look for an opening to chime in on a topic that you know about. If they don"t already know you, introduce yourself and say how long you"ve been with the company and what you do. Afterward, if you feel like you connected with someone senior, send them a follow-up email saying it was nice to meet them, says Ms. Pachter. "What have you got to lose?" 5 Holiday parties are one of the few workplace events where imbibing is allowed and even encouraged to get people relaxed. However, just because alcohol is free-flowing at the bar doesn"t mean you should take that as a license to reprise your college frat parties. "Most people head toward the bar and the buffet when they get to a holiday party, and if they drink on an empty stomach they tend to get inebriated and then they could say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing," says Ms. Whitmore. "No.1 rule is: Don"t drink too much, monitor your alcohol intake. Usually, one or two drinks is plenty."

填空题Directions: You are going to read a list of headings and a text about a park naturalist. Choose a heading from the list A-G that best fits the meaning of each numbered part of the text. The first paragraph of the text is not numbered. There is two extra headings which you do not need to use.A. Becoming a Naturalist. B. Seeing Wonder in the Ordinary. C. A Changing Role. D. Disgusting and Embarrassing Moments. E. What does a Park Naturalist Do? F. What does It Take to Be a Park Naturalist? G. Management Decisions Invloved. I have the best job in the Wisconsin State Park System. As a park naturalist at Peninsula State Park, I am busy writing reports, creating brochures about trees or flowers, and sometimes visiting schools. And, of course, I make sure Peninsula's feathered friends are well fed. {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}As a park naturalist I am a writer, a teacher, a historian and, if not a social worker, at least an instructor for young people interested in the environment. I love the diversity of my job. Every day is different. Most tasks require creativity. Now that I am an experienced naturalist, I have the freedom to plan my own day and make decisions about the types of programs that we offer at Peninsula. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}In my first naturalist job, I spent four out of five days leading school field trips and visiting classrooms. As a state park naturalist I still work with students, but more often lead programs like bird walks, nature crafts, outdoor skills, and trail hikes. I also find myself increasingly involved in management decisions. For example, sometimes the park naturalist is the person who knows where rare orchids grow or where ravens nest. When decisions are made about cutting trees, building trails, or creating more campsites, naturalists are asked to give the "ecological perspective" {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}Perhaps the grossest thing I've done as a naturalist is to boil animal skulls. Visitors like seeing bones and skins-at least after they have been cleaned up! Once, our nature needed more skulls. A trapper gave me muskrat, raccoon and fox skulls but I had to clean them. First, I boiled the skin and meat off. Boy, did that smell! Then I used dissecting tools and old toothbrushes to clean out the eyeballs. Finally, I soaked the skulls in a bleach solution I've had some embarrassing experiences, too. On my first hike as Peninsula's new naturalist, I was so excited that I identified a white pine tree as a red pine tree! That's quite a mistake since the trees are so easy to tell apart. White pine needles are in bundles of five and red pine needles are in bundles of two. {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}Not all State parks are as busy or as big as Peninsula. Not all park naturalists spend the seasons as I do. Nevertheless, Park naturalists share certain common interests and responsibilities: A park naturalist might notice that branches of a red maple growing in a field reach out to the side while those of a red maple in a thick forest reach up, and wonder why the trees look different. A naturalist makes things happen. It might be working with workers to clean up part of a river. Park naturalists share knowledge in different ways, but all of them communicate with people. A love of learning from other people, from plants and animals, from books, and more is an essential quality. Most naturalists don't work in places of rare beauty. Many work in city parks or in places that show "wear and tear", if you can wonder about an a pine bush, or a robin and cause others to wonder, too, then you are ready to become a park naturalist. {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}If you think you want to become a park naturalist, do the following: Explore your home landscape. Knowing how people have shaped the land where you live and how the land has shaped them will lend a comparison that will serve you well. Start a field sketch book Sketch what you see, where and when. The reason is not to practice art skills (though you may discover you have a talent) but, rather, to practice observation skills. Go to college. You will need a 4-year degree. There are several academic routes that lead to the naturalist's road. I have found ornithology, plant classification and human growth and development to be among my most helpful courses. Listen and learn. A college degree is like a ticket. It lets you board the plane but is only the beginning of the journey. Look and listen to those who have already traveled the road for ideas, knowledge and inspiration.

填空题A. Congressional Debate and Vote. B. Veto over Legislation of Bills. C. Committee Consideration. D. Counteracting a Presidential Veto. E. Passage in Both Chambers. F. Introduction of Bills. G. Functions of the Joint Committee. The U. S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation. The process by which a proposed bill becomes a law can be very complex and take years. (41) Bills may originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, except that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. Only Senators and Representatives (also known as Members of Congress) can introduce a bill in their respective chamber. When bills are introduced, they are given a bill number. The numbering system starts over with each session of Congress, and bill numbers run in chronological order according to when the bill is introduced. Bills in the House of Representatives are given the initial H. R. and Senate Bills are given the initial S. Thus, H. R. 1, would be the first bill introduced in a new session of Congress or the House of Representatives (a session of Congress lasts for two years). (42) After a bill is introduced, it is assigned to one or more committees in the chamber where it was introduced. A committee can amend, rewrite, recommend, or ignore the bill or report back to the full chamber with no recommendation. Committees typically also submit a report explaining their views of the bill when sending a bill to the full House or Senate. (43) Once the bill moves to the "floor" of either the House of Representatives or the Senate (again depending on where the bill was introduced), the entire chamber debates and may amend the bill. It then takes an open vote on the bill. For noncontroversial votes, the chamber will take a voice vote, but if any legislator asks for a roll call, then each member's vote is made separately and publicly. (44) If the bill passes the first chamber, it is sent to the other chamber where the process described above is repeated. If the bill is amended in the second chamber, it must be sent back to the first Chamber because both chambers must agree on the amendments. If the two chambers cannot immediately agree on how to pass identical legislation, the bill will be sent to a joint committee (comprised of both House of Representatives and Senate members), which will attempt to work out a compromise among the different versions of the bill. If the joint committee is successful, the bill will be returned to both chambersfor a vote. (45) Once an identical bill passes both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the President who can do the following: (1) sign it and thus make it a law; (2) do nothing and after 10 days, if Congress stays in session, it becomes law; (3) do nothing and if Congress adjourns within 10 days, it does not become law; or (4) reject the bill by vetoing it and the bill will not become law unless the veto is overturned by Congress. Congress may overturn the President's veto by approving the bill again with at least a two thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate. The bill then becomes a law despite the President's veto. The state legislatures act in much the same way, although the process for enacting a bill within the legislatures is often more streamlined. Every state legislature, except Nebraska's, has two chambers. Most governors have vetor Power over state legislation, analogous to the veto power of the President.

填空题A．Pick up the local paper B．Save from the first place C．Use a guidebook--your own D．Pick up the phone E．Choose cheap countries F．Download magazines from web G．Splurge when it matters You"ve mastered the art of modem-travel savings: Your airfare alerts are set up on Kayak; you flit around Europe on cheap carriers like EasyJet. You stay in apartments rented through Airbnb. You could probably shave a few more cents off travel costs by downloading five new apps and bookmarking 10 new sites. But real savings will come to those who go retro by stepping away from the screen, or using it differently, to find old-fashioned tactics that can save you big. Here are some old-school tips for getting the most out of your travel buck. 1 We think we can get everything done online these days, but sometimes a simple phone call is your best bet for saving money. Speak with an innkeeper and learn of potential discounts on extended stays or information on how to get there from the airport by public transit. Contact the specific location where you"ll pick up your rental car and reserve a compact to avoid getting "upgraded" to a bigger vehicle that will increase (sometimes even double) your gas costs. Call travel agencies that strike special deals with airlines to get your prices below anything you"ll find online. 2 Goodbye Norway, hello Bolivia. Or as a blogger put it, "Cheapest dorm bed in Zurich=nice room in Bangkok." Extrapolate that to tour guides, museum entries, food and more, and the savings start to add up. Of course, keep in mind how much it will cost you to get there in the first place. Luckily, a lot of the cheaper countries are also cheap to fly to; another blogger put together a list of 10 "Cheap Places to Travel on the U.S. Dollar," which includes Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Hun gary and Romania. 3 Most travelers will never be across-the-board cheapskates. Street food, nosebleed-theater seats and bunk beds are not for everyone. But you don"t have to be a purist. For each trip, decide on a themed "waste" or two—transportation, food, arts, lodging—and save on the rest. 4 No listings are more up-to-the-minute than Friday arts supplements, alternative weeklies or the local editions of Time Out magazine. Get them on actual paper while they last. You"ll not only find the nontouristy scene laid out for you in one handy package, but often come across coupons or specials you certainly won"t find on Yelp. 5 I still carry a travel guide around when I travel—as backup, if nothing else. But those books are pricey, and there"s so much free information online that, with a little copying and pasting (and printing out), you can come pretty close to matching them with your own bespoke travel guide. So, in a retro twist, no Wi-Fi needed.

填空题The typical picture of a corporate highflier is someone who survives on very little sleep. He or she rises when it is still dark, works late and is still answering emails at two o"clock in the morning. Such people do exist, of course. The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for example, was famous for operating on a few hours" sleep. Some entrepreneurs and Wall Street traders seem to follow suit. But if you think you need to do the same thing to get ahead, think again. A growing body of research is finding that, on the contrary, those who get a good night"s sleep are usually more productive at work. That"s because sleep doesn"t just rest the brain, say medical specialists. It allows the brain to perform vital maintenance and restoration tasks. Brains that get too little sleep simply can not perform as well as those that are rested. "There"s no doubt that sleep deprivation affects job performance," says the Detroit Medical Center"s Safwan Badr. "The evidence is compelling that when you do not get enough sleep...you are not as productive." Investors should also take heed: Numerous studies have found that those running on too little sleep tend to make poorer investment decisions and take needless risks as well. Charles Czeisler, a sleep specialist at Brigham you"ll see similar effects if you simply sleep too little each night over time. For the first time, new research has attempted to put some numbers on the link between more Zzzs and more Benjamins. Matthew Gibson, graduate researcher in the economics department of the University of California, San Diego, compared wage data with sleep times recorded in the U.S. Census Bureau"s American Time Use Survey. His conclusion: For those who are sleeping too little, "a onehour increase in longrun average sleep increases wages by 16%, equivalent to more than a year of schooling." Adults need eight hours of sleep on average, experts say. There is some variation between individuals. But when we are tired, we find it much harder to think innovatively and to make creative leaps, say researchers. We find it harder to adapt our thinking to new information or to learn new lessons. Consider: At England"s Loughborough University in 1999, researchers Yvonne Harrison tested the effects of sleep deprivation on a small group of healthy young participants. They were given complex business-situation tasks in the form of a game, as well as some critical reading tasks. Those who went short on sleep were able to keep up with the reading, they found. But when it came to the complex game, "their play collapsed," they Reported. A. agrees that sleep deprivation brings bad effects to investment. B. holds that adults need an average of 8 hours" sleep. C. believes that lack of sleep diminishes your performance. D. thinks it is difficult for people lacking sleep to take up creative work. E. points out the relation between sleep time and American dollars. F. is well known for very little sleep. G. maintains that sleep can rest the brain, and let the brain do other important tasks.

填空题A. Thinks Positively B. Knows That Principles Are More Important than Rules C. Possesses a Sense of Humor D. Communicates Facts That Are Hard to Take E. Cares for Others and Their Well-being F. Has Integrity and Authenticity G. Order Is Important Much has been written about the tasks of leaders and the skills required for leadership. There has been considerable debate about the question of whether leaders are born or made. Likely behind these arguments is the difference between personal characteristics that some people have at birth and skills that one can acquire through education and practice. But the important personal characteristics, while they may seem innate in some people, can be cultivated, and indeed, require cultivation in all of us. For unless they are strengthened through conscious attention and cultivation, they can, for example, easily be forgotten or ignored in the craziness of activity often associated with leadership. What are some of these characteristics? One could make many lists, but here are five personal traits that seem especially important. A good leader: (41) An effective leader is "genuine", internally and externally consistent. A good leader is one of whom it can be said, "What you see is what you get" —there is never any wonder as to whether the image, the "person" presented to the world, really reflects the person. Such a leader has honesty—he/she says what he/she means, means what he/she says. A good leader has a consistency of purpose, operates out of discernible principles, and "stands for" something worthwhile and detectable. Honesty and reliability require self-reflection, the ability to understand oneself honestly, the capacity to assess one's strengths and weaknesses accurately, and acceptance of one's self. (42) A good leader takes responsibility seriously but never takes himself seriously. Such a leader can help people relax and get through tough situations in good spirits. (43) A good leader understands that nothing except a great work of art can be done by one person alone—that something of lasting value is almost always the result of a group effort. But even more than that, a good leader genuinely is concerned with and interested in others. Such concerning means that a good leader is collegial, building a sense of group identity and purpose. A good leader "brings out the best" in each of those who follow, seeks the development and advancement of each member of the group, and delights in each person's growth in ability and of character. A good leader rejoices in the success of group members without announcement of jealousy. A good leader is deliberative, involving the group in decisions wherever possible and encourages, supports, and applauds the members of the group. (44) One of the primary roles of the leader is to inspire hope, even in a difficult situation. This is not the same as being blindly optimistic. We think, for example, of Franklin Roosevelt's "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" or of Desmond Tutu's observation about apartheid in South Africa that since "it is difficult to be optimistic, one must have hope" . Such a leader empowers followers, making them believe that they can accomplish worthwhile but very difficult things. He actually creates energy in the group by being active without becoming unrealistic. (45) A good leader understands that order is important to a group but that rigidity destroys the followers' emotion state. Lasting, empowering order comes more from trust and the development of group norms than from regulations imposed by a leader. Doubtless, everyone would develop a somewhat different, and in many cases, a longer list of personal characteristics. But a leader who is conscious of such a list, who questions the extent to which he or she lives and acts in accord with these traits, and who deliberately cultivates these characteristics is likely to be a successful and appreciated leader.