The most widespread fallacy (谬论)of all is that colds ire caused by cold. They are actually caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coining into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in the isolated Arctic Regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.

    During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.

    In the Second World War prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp，naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty rooms. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.

    If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter. Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.

    Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.

    Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.

Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain's owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy's restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers' speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.

The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.

    Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover (营业额) .

    These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated.

My Favourite Travel Books

    The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux

    Choosing my favorite Paul Theroux book is like picking my favorite place in the world: It's impossible to settle on just one. But The Old Patagonian Express, which is about a train journey Theroux made from Boston, USA to southern Argentina, is right up there at the top of my list. Theroux has a wicked sense of humor. He brings so much wisdom and experience to his travels.

    Walden by Henry David Thoreau

    If he were alive today, Thoreau would probably frown if he heard someone refer to Walden as a travel book. But I regard it as a travel-writing masterpiece. I went into the woods, he writes, because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. That's the same spirit of discovery that defines so many great contemporary travel records.

    The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

    Like so many people, I fell in love with Kerouac's novels in my late teens and early 20s. On the Road gets all the press, but I always love The Dharma Bums. Kerouac beautifully captures the romance of California trains, Berkeley, and backpacking in the Sierras. It's hard to read this book without wanting to leave for the mountains to brainstorm bad haikus on the trail and cook canned macaroni and cheese over a crackling campfire.

    Confucius Lives Next Door by T. R. Reid

    This is sort of A Year in Provence in Japan, only the cross-cultural differences are much greater. Reid and his family moved to Tokyo when he became the chief for The Washington Post, enabling him to uncover truths about the country. Among the highlights are his observations about Japanese schools, including Yodobashi No. 6 Elementary School, where his daughters were greeted by the whole school staff.

    Robert is a boss who hires me as a helper.He has lost his house and now has to live back at home,with his mother,at 46.

    We had a job in Fort Bending.Robert bought me breakfast there.As we were leaving,a man walked to us asking if he could get some work from Roberts' company.Robert explained there was no work for the man and the man started to walk away.As I looked at the man leaving from Robert,I saw Robert taking out some money and went after the man to gave it to him.I asked Robert,"Why did you do that?"Robert said "He really had bad luck—what does a few dollars matter?"

    After a very long,hard day,we stopped at a Quick Trip for a soda.I got through the checkout ahead of Robert and went back out to the work truck.Beside the truck was a woman in a car.She had 3 kids and asked me if I could help—she had been evicted and had nowhere to go with her children.They were living in the car.I told her I was also hurting in these times,so I could not.Robert came out,opened the work truck and we got in.I told him about the lady.I didn't even finish the story when Robert was out his door around the truck and gave the women money to help them out.When Robert returned I asked,"Why did you do that,she didn't even ask you".He said,“I have an ex-wife（前妻）and a kid.If they need help and I am not able,someone will help them”.

    Standing in line for the latest iPhone at the Apple store, queuing for tickets to the match or even just waiting at the post office might just have got a lot easier.

Japanese car-maker Nissan announces that it has just the thing to relieve the painful legs of tired queuers.

    The new system of self-driving chairs is designed to detect when someone at the front of the queue is called, and automatically move everyone else one step forward in line.

    The new invention is shown in a company video, which shows a busy restaurant with customers waiting outside. In the video, diners are sitting in a row of chairs, but will not have to stand when the next hungry diner is called to a table. Instead, the chairs, equipped with autonomous technology that detects the seat ahead, move along a path toward the front of the line. When the person at the front of the queue is called, the empty chair at the front can sense it is empty and so moves out of line. Cameras on the remaining chairs then sense the movement and follow automatically.

    "The system, which is similar to the kind used in Nissan's autonomous vehicle technology, will be tested at select restaurants in Japan this year," Nissan said. "It appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant: it rids the boredom and physical pain of standing in line," Nissan added.

    Although Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, long queues are not uncommon. Chosen restaurants that meet the criteria will be able to show the chairs outside their restaurants next year. Nissan also released a short video showing the chairs being used in an art gallery, moving slowly in front of the various paintings to let viewers appreciate the art without the need to stand up.

    In the book The Best Little Girl in the World, Kessa has a serious eating disorder (进食障碍) called anorexia nervosa. But she is not alone. Many people have this eating disorder.

    In the beginning of her story, Kessa is a normal 15-year-old girl. She is good at many things, especially dancing. She has danced for many years and loves it. One day her dance teacher tells her to continue eating right, but maybe lose a few pounds. Once Kessa hears this, she takes things too far. Instead of cutting down on snacks and junk food, she decides not to eat at all. She does not eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. She begins losing weight and becomes slimmer (更加苗条的) and slimmer. But she loses weight to a point where she is unhealthy.

    As her poor eating habits continue, her parents start getting as much help as possible to cure (治疗) their beautiful daughter. But it is just as hard for Kessa's parents to deal with her disorder as it is for her.

    Every day she exercises to lose more pounds and plans what and when she will eat. Her parents try everything, but Kessa decides not to have any fat on her body.

    Kessa's doctor and parents finally take her to the hospital. She is now so thin that she can hardly walk. There, she is given good care.

    In the rest of the book, Kessa goes through a lot of trouble in order to cure her eating disorder. This book, I think, can help to prevent people from doing this to themselves. It shows the trouble that people go through just to be slimmer, and all the terrible things they must experience to be cured. It is a book I think every teenager should read.