When Jan and Brian Dutcher moved to San Diego for Brian's new job at San Diego State University, the neighbors smiled and introduced themselves. But there were no “ bring a plate” invitations, no car pooling for her daughters Liza, 12 and Erin, 15.

    “The family really didn't know each other, and we missed that,” says Jan.“We are far from relatives. Neighbors are our family.”

    So Jan, an artist, decided to repeat a project she had done for Liza's fifth-grade class: ask each person to paint his or her face on a big canvas(帆布).The finished piece would become the new family photo.

    First , Jan painted a grid(网格) on the canvas and put it up in the garage with a table of paints nearby. Then whenever she was home, the “art room” door was up , with an open invitation for neighbors to paint. The first to stop in were kids riding by. “They thought it was cool,” says Jan, but the adults weren't so keen. “ Most said they hadn't picked up a paint brush since kindergarten,” she says. “They were afraid they'd mess it up.” But as word slowly spread, they came, some using their driver's license photos as models.

Then something started to happen. They returned —to see who had painted, or if they could recognize who was who. In Jan's garage, they began to chat about schools, jobs, and families. Almost daily. Wendy, who lived across the street and was seriously ill, came in her wheelchair to watch the fun. Neighbors began to offer their support.

    When the worst things happened and Wendy died, they stood by her husband, Bill and invited him over for dinners.

    This year has been different in the neighborhood. Families take turns hosting happy hours. “We're watching over each other now just like in the painting.” says Jan.

    Welcome to Xiangshan City!

    Xiangshan City is an interesting place to visit. (1)It is a beautiful city with many old buildings.

    Take a walk through the center of the city on Main Street. Look first at the Xiangshan City Hotel. It is on the corner of Main Street and Park Avenue. It is about 150 years old and people like to stay there. There is an interesting old building across from the hotel. This is the old post office. Now it is a store for books and videos. There are many places to eat on Main Street. You can have lunch or dinner in one of these places. There is a park between Main Street and Bridge Street. You can sit on a bench(长凳)in the park. (2)It's nice and quiet, nd you can enjoy the clean air and sunshine.

    You can also take a walk down Park Avenue. Look at the old buildings and interesting stores on this street.

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    Friends are important in our life, because no one wants to be lonely. However, some people have difficulty in making friends and they often feel lonely. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} According to a new study from Chicago University, the reason is that this kind of people have brains（脑）different from common people. And they often feel unsafe when facing strangers.

Does that mean they have no way to become happy again?  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Scientists of this study have thought up ways to help these people deal with their loneliness. They provided four steps for getting out of loneliness.

    The first step is to accept social invitations even if you don't want to go." It's not enough for people just to get in touch with others online. That's because most people don't show their true selves there," said Dr. Cacioppo, one of this study's scientists. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} As" actions speak louder than words", people need to be active to communicate with others. They also need to meet people with the same interests. Also, they should try to expect the best from each activity.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Who knows what good things are waiting for us?

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Have you ever hiccupped(打嗝)in a quiet room full of people? Have you ever hiccupped so hard that you had to stop what you were doing? The hiccup is a problem that almost everyone has experienced.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}People get hiccups for some reasons. Hiccups might result from eating or drinking too much or too quickly. A sudden change in the stomach's temperature, such as drinking hot water immediately after drinking cold water, may also cause hiccups. They may even happen because of being excited or being under a lot of stress.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Ideas on how to stop hiccups have been created, shared, and tried for years. However, what works for one person may not work for everyone. Perhaps the most common method people use is to hold their breath for a few seconds. If this doesn't work, you can try swallowing(吞下)hard while holding your breath. There are also some strange-sounding ways, like drinking a lot of water.

   {#blank#}4{#/blank#}A young girl named Mallory Kievman couldn't make her hiccups go away. She knew that sweet and sour things were commonly used to cure hiccups, and she knew that swallowing hard could also help. She decided to use the two ideas to make a special lollipop(棒棒糖). After she failed many times, Mallory invented a lollipop that worked by putting water, sugar and vinegar (醋)together.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Mallory wanted to find out whether her lollipops would help others. She gave her lollipops to friends. Most of them were cured of their hiccups after eating the lollipops. Mallory entered a competition with her lollipop and won three awards for her creative idea. She was successful.

    Have you ever heard of the story The Ant and the Grasshopper(蚱蜢) ?

    One fine winter day some ants were working in the field. They were very busy. Just then a grasshopper passed by." Good day, kind ants," said the grasshopper, "I am very hungry. Will you lend me a little food? I have nothing to eat. I will pay you before the next autumn."

    "You have no food of your own? Why didn't you gather any food during the summer? You know there was much food in the field last summer. What were you doing then?" asked an old ant. The grasshopper answered, "I was singing all day and night during the summer. So I had no time to gather any food. Please lend me some." "Well, then, "said the ant, "you could sing all the summer, and you also could dance all the winter. You only played and did not work during the summer. We'll never lend you any food." And the ants went on working.