America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

    Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

    Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

    For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

    Imagine that you're looking at your company-issued smartphone and you notice an e-mail from Linkedln: “These companies are looking for candidates like you!” You aren't necessarily searching for a job, but you're always open to opportunities, so out of curiosity, you click on the link. A few minutes later your boss appears at your desk. “We've noticed that you're spending more time on Linkedln lately, so I wanted to talk with you about your career and whether you're happy here,” she says. Uh-oh.

     It's an awkward scene. Attrition (损耗) has always been expensive for companies, but in many industries the cost of losing good workers is rising, owing to tight labor markets. Thus companies are making greater efforts to predict which workers are at high risk of leaving ,so that managers can try to stop them. Methods range from electronic monitor to well-designed analyses of employees' social media lives.

     Some of this work may be a reason to let employees to quit. In general, people leave their jobs because they don't like their boss, don't see opportunities for promotion or growth, or are offered a higher pay; these reasons have held steady for years.

    New research conducted by CEB, a Washington-based technology company, looks not just at why workers quit but also at when. “We've learned that what really affects people is their sense of how they're doing compared with other people in their peer group, or with where they thought they would be at a certain point in life, says Brian Kropp, who heads CEB's HR practice. “We've learned to focus on moments that allow people to make these comparisons.”

Technology also provides clues about which star employees might be eyeing the exit. Companies can tell whether employees using work computers or phones are spending time on (or even just opening e-mails from) career websites, and research shows that more firms are paying attention to these things. Large companies have also begun searching for badge swipes (浏览痕迹)—- employees' use of an ID to enter and exit the building or the parking garage—to identify patterns that suggest a worker may be interviewing for a job.

    A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

    One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don't say!” “You don't say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic. “Well, I'd better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall By the way, have you ever been there. “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It is magnificent.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide, “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his order, “You don't say!” I couldn't help asking. I said, “Didn't you say you don't say” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “You don't say actually means really It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don't pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I realize I had made a fool of myself. Since then, I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.

    Some people think the government should move the big companies and factories in cities to the countryside. To what extent do you agree?

    Due to the increased urbanization, there appears a bunch of heated social problems. Some people have noticed that there are many big companies and factories in the city and they believe that moving those big companies and factories into countryside could be a good way to solve many of the city problems, such as traffic issues and housing problems. However, I hold an opposite opinion to them and I will explain it as below.

    Cities have much more advantages than countryside. There are more cinemas, restaurants and shopping malls in cities, let alone better education and health care. Living in cities makes life more convenient and enjoyable. Thus not everyone is willing to move to countryside in spite of their companies' moving. They have got cars, which transfers them easily between work and home. Therefore, the pressure of traffic will not be released due to such solution. As for the available empty places spared by the big companies, the newest small companies will take good care of them—with the realization of the benefits that running a business in cities will bring to them. In other words, situation of housing will not be improved much.

    Besides, there will be more problems if big companies and factories move out. Where there are big companies and factories, there will be cities sooner or later. Consequently, countryside is to be disappearing. What's more, industrial pollution is not an easily mended problem.

    In conclusion, moving big companies and factories out of cities is never a final solution. It tackles(解决) no problem but causes lots of them. Just imagine. The traffic is still terrible, and there is no more scenic countryside. We should look into other ways to solve the problems.

    Hollywood is still seen as a “man's world”, but one woman is doing her best to change that.

    In May, 2017, U.S. director Sofia Coppola, 46, became the second woman in the history of the Cannes Film Festival to win the Best Director Award for her movie The Beguiled. The last time a woman won the award was 56 years ago.

    Coppola seemed to be born for a career in film. Her father is Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the famous movie The God father. Coppola first appeared as a, baby boy, Michael, in The God father.

    However, it didn't make her path to success easier. Instead, she grew up in the shadow of her father. People often criticized her for nepotism（裙带关系）and bad acting. She was named the “Worst Supporting Actress（配角）” and “Worst New Star” at the 1990 Golden Raspberry Awards for her acting in The God father Part III.

    After that, she turned to directing-what she really wanted to do all along. Her first film Lick the Star came out in 1998. And Lost in Translation soon won her an Academy Award in 2003. She gradually became famous for films focusing on women. “I just think, half the world is female,” she told Elle.com. She makes films with these females in mind. From the cute Lisbon girls in the Virgin Suicides to the teen queen Marie Antoinette, Coppola brings us into the amazing worlds of girls, rather than simply showing them as stupid, unimportant or useless, Deviant World noted.

    There was once a man who had a donkey and a beautiful lapdog. The donkey was kept in a barn and had plenty of corn and hay to eat. Indeed, he was just as lucky as any donkey could be. The little dog stayed in the house and was well liked by the master. He was always playing and jumping about in an funny way and was allowed  to lie in his master's lap (膝盖). Meanwhile, the donkey had plenty to do. He pulled wood all day long and had to take his turn at the mill during the night. He often complained about his problems, and it bored him to see the lapdog living such an easy life, while he had to work so hard. Finally he thought to himself that if he acted the same way as the lapdog to his master, he would be treated the same way. So, one day he ran out of his barn and went fast into the house, where he began to kick about in a very strange way. Then, swaying his tail and imitating the funny behavior of the pet lapdog, he knocked over the table where his master was eating. He also broke all the dishes into very small pieces and did not stop until he jumped onto his master, trying to lick and paw him with his rough feet.

    Seeing their master in great danger, the servants thought it was time to help him. They beat the foolish donkey with sticks until he could not get up again. As he was about to die, he cried, "Why couldn't I have remained satisfied the way I was? Why did I try to imitate a creature who was nothing but a lazy puppy after all?"