There is a growing number of kidults—or adults who wear themask of maturity but prefer to pander(迎合) to their inner child.

    They feel ill equipped for parenthood, because they don't see what values or lessons they could honestly pass on to their young, besides self-centeredness and a passion for the good things in life. They are trying to live by not acting their age.

    As Ms Jane put it in her letter: I'm married, in my late 20s and enjoy a lifestyle other married graduate couples enjoy: winning and dining, tasteful clothes, travel and a career. Why give up all these for a baby?

    It is reported that when asked whether they were adults, most people in their 20s answered they were not sure. This reflected a global economy in which people chased more papers to get better jobs that would comfortably support middle class living.

    Being a kidult is not all about being selfish, though. With the untold uncertainties of war, fluctuating(波动) markets, disease and terrorism, many see this world as a poor place to live in—let alone bring kids up in. This seems especially so in urban living. All anyone wants after a long, hard day at work is some peace and quiet.

    My classmate, Jenny, mused(沉思) recently howour friends living in small Malaysian towns were onto their second or third kids. Maybe they just loved having children around. Or maybe, in their own way, they wanted to leave the world a better place than they found it.

    That's how you, I and everyone know we have the chance tobreathe air, touch grass and see sky. I think out parents understand that just being alive is an experience worth passing on.

    Many Americans spend more time in cars these days than in the kitchen. But as lives grow busier—and waistlines grow larger—a number of health experts are calling for Americans to reduce their risk of cancer and other diseases by cooking at home more and eating out less.

    “When dining out, people are likely to gravitate towards all the wrong thing,” says Rachel Brandeis of the American Dietetic Association. “People take in 50% more fat and sodium when they eat out than when they cook at home. And they often miss out on fruits, vegetables and other vitamin-rich ‘powerhouse foods' that may reduce the risk of cancer.”

    Nutritionists know it's not easy to break old habits. Many people say they hardly have time to exercise, let alone fix dinner.

    Brandeis says her secret is organization. She cooks six nights a week, even though she and her husband both work. She spends 20 minutes thinking about a week's worth of menus and writing a list. She shops just once a week. Brandeis says she chooses easy cooking methods, too. Since she is not quite good at cooking.

    The American Institute for Cancer Research has produced a guide filled with tips like “Homemade for Health”. Melanie Polk, the institute's director of nutrition education, says cooking at home has many advantages. It teaches children about nutrition as well as the importance of sharing housework.

    The 39-year-old homemaker Kirstin Kristinus of Washington, D.C. says cooking at home brings her family together. She also tries to reduce her family's cancer risk by preparing every meal with many different kinds of food.

    “The only way to know that you are getting all the good things is to expose yourself to a wide variety of food,” says Steven Shiff, a doctor in New Jersey. “If you eat out at a restaurant, it's a lot easier to choose unhealthful things.”

    However, “families don't have to give up restaurants,” Shiff says. “It is possible to eat healthfully if you eat outside the home. But it takes probably the same sort of planning that you would have to do to prepare meals at home.”

    Would you like to travel? Here is some advice for you.

    Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out .Up to two children under age five may travel free with a paying customer .

    Farecard machines are in every station .Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the stations and farecard machines only provide up to $5 in change.

    Get one ticket of unlimited Metrorall rides with a One Day Pass .Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro stations .Use it after 9:30 a,m. until closing on weekdays , and all day on weekends and holidays .

    Hours of service

    Open 5am  Mon-Fri             7a.m  Sat-Sun

    Open midnight Sun-Thur.

    Last train times vary .

Train times Posted in stations

    Metrobus

    When paying with exact charge , the fare is $1.35.When paying with a SmarTripⓇcard , the fare is

    1.25.

    Fares

    Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare .On Metrorail and Metrobus , use a senior/disabled farecard or Smar/Trip Ⓡ card .For more information about buying senior .disabled farecard , SmarTripⓇcards and passes , please visit MetroOpensDoors .com or call 202-637-7000and 202-637-8000.

    Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorall services by calling 202-962-1100.

    Travel tips (提示)

    Avoid riding during weekday rush periods –before 9:30 a.m. and between 4and 6p.m.

    If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost &Found at 202-962-1195,

    Last week, two companies, Kitty Hawk and Uber, announced their plans to bring flying cars to reality very soon.

    Imagine never having to worry about traffic, stop lights, or road construction. A flying car would get to a place much faster than one travelling by road. On the other hand, imagine having to avoid drones (无人驾驶飞机) and other flying cars. Also, what if your battery dies when you are in the air? And, how will you know where to land?

    Kitty Hawk is a start-up tech company supported by Google co-founder, Larry Page. According to the Kitty Hawk website, its car will be able to travel at speeds up to 40 kilometers an hour in the air. It says under US aviation law such a machine “does not require registration or a pilot's license and may be flown in uncongested (不拥挤的) areas for recreational purposes.” As of now, the car can only be flown over fresh water.

    Kitty Hawk is making a list of people interested in buying the flying car. They must pay a deposit of US$100. Those who get their names on the list early will receive US$2, 000 off the final cost of the car. However, Kitty Hawk has not yet announced the price. Kitty Hawk expects its first flying cars will go on sale by the end of this year.

    At a conference last week, Uber announced plans for flying taxis to begin carrying passengers. Unlike the Kitty Hawk company, Uber does not plan to build its flying cars. Instead, it will use the resources of partner companies.

    Like the Kitty Hawk car, Uber flying taxis will use electric power. Uber says its flying taxis could travel up to 241 kilometers an hour. The company said that could reduce the travel time between San Francisco and San Jose, California from two hours on the road to 15 minutes in the air.

    Riders could use the Uber app to book a flying taxi to take them to their destinations. The company has not yet said how costly air taxi travel would be compared to road taxi travel.

    Babies teach their older brothers and sisters empathy (移情), according to a new research. Empathy means understanding and entering others' feelings. Until now, younger kids have generally been regarded to learn plenty from their older brothers or sisters but don't give back much. But this study, published in Child Development, confirms that younger siblings (兄弟姐妹) ensure their big brothers and sisters don't grow into disgusting people—no easy task.

    “Although it's assumed that older siblings and parents are the primary socializing influences on younger siblings' development but not vice versa, we found that both younger and older siblings positively contributed to each other's empathy over time,” study co-author Marc Jambon said in a statement. Prior sibling studies have focused on the influence of older brothers and sisters, probably because their impact is most obvious. As one review of literature notes, studies have shown that older siblings influence everything from their younger siblings' motor development to their risk of smoking later in life. And although separated studies have tried to pin down effects that younger siblings have on their older siblings, the influence of baby brothers and sisters remains unclear.

    For this new study, Jambon and his colleagues recruited (招募) a diverse group of 452 Canadian sibling pairs between the ages of 18 months and four years. At the start of the study, individual researchers assessed children's baseline empathy levels by visiting the kids at home and then pretending to hurt themselves or break a valuable item. Eighteen months later, they found small but significant increases in empathy.

    One unexpected exception—older sisters did not appear to experience increased empathy after 18 months living with their little brothers, specifically. The researchers aren't sure why this exception appeared, and they recommend that future studies dive into more complex phenomena.