When was the last time someone unexpectedly did something nice for you? Not someone you knew, but a total stranger? It's happened to me a few times, but two instances really stand out.

    A few years ago, I was dining in a restaurant with a friend who kept talking about himself, completely not aware of the fact that I was sitting there in misery. It wasn't my friend's talks that made me suffer. I was recovering from a broken heart, and just sitting down to dinner reminded me of my last relationship. I could have burst into tears right there at the table.

    When we picked up the check, the waitress said, ―Your meal was already paid for.  My friend and I didn't have a clue how it happened. Then I remembered a man coming in out of the corner of my eye. He was dressed in mostly white, sat down at the bar, had a beer, and stayed for maybe ten minutes. The waitress said, ―Yes, the gentleman in white paid for you.  It felt like an angel was saying ―I see you, honey. It's going to be okay.

    Just last year, I was running a half-marathon. With just 1 mile to go, I was out of gas. Runners call it ―hitting the wall . I thought I couldn't move another inch. Out of nowhere, a stranger came up to me and said, ―What's your name, sweetie? Jennifer? Okay, Jennifer, let's go! Come on! It's just around the corner! You can do it!  And he ran with me until I picked up my pace. I found him at the finish line to thank him for the encouragement only to learn he wasn't even supposed to be in the race that day.

    I still shake my head when I think of these momentary angels that came to me at my point of need.

    Do you have any experiences like these?

    Four days after Dad's 67th birthday, he had a heart attack. Luckily, he survived. But something inside him had died. His enthusiasm for life was gone. He refused to follow doctor's orders, and his sour attitude made everyone upset when they visit him. Dad was left alone.

    So I asked Dad to come to live with me on my small farm, hoping the fresh air would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated. Something had to be done.

    One day I read an article which said when given dogs, depressed patients would be better off. So I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. As soon as I got there, a pointer's eyes caught my attention. They watched me calmly.

    A staff member said: “He got here two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.”

    I turned to the man in horror. “You mean you're going to kill him?”

    “Ma'am,” he said gently. “We don't have room for every unclaimed dog.”

    The staff member's calm brown eyes awaited my decision. “I'll take him,” I said.

    I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. I was helping it out of the car when Dad walked onto the front porch. “Look what I got you!” I said excitedly.

    Dad wrinkled his face. “I don't want it,” he muttered, turning back towards the house. Then, suddenly, the dog pulled free from my grasp. He sat down in front of my Dad.

    Dad's anger melted, and soon he was hugging the dog.

    This was the beginning of a warm friendship. Dad named the dog Cheyenne. Together they spent long hours walking down dusty lanes and relaxing on the banks of streams.

    Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne went on to make many friends. Then, late one night two years later, I felt Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing(搜寻) through my bed covers. He had never before come into my bedroom at night. I ran into my father's room and found that he had passed away.

    Two days later, my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. As I buried him near their favorite stream, I silently thanked the dog for restoring Dad's peace of mind.

    Many people all over the world enjoy an alcoholic drink, such as wine or beer, during dinner. Many people raise a glass of alcohol to celebrate a wedding or a birthday. And having drinks after work with friends and co-workers is called "happy hour".

    All these situations are considered "social drinking" because they happen at social events. But when does "social drinking" become problem drinking?

    According to the World Health Organization alcohol abuse kills 3.3 million people each year. That is six percent of all deaths around the world. And in a new report on alcohol use around the world, the WHO says alcohol can create dependency, or addiction, in some people. The report also warns that alcohol use can increase the risk of developing more than 200 diseases, including some kinds of cancers. And, the WHO says alcohol abuse can put people at greater risk of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis(肺结核), pneumonia (肺炎)and HIV.

    WHO Mental Health and Substance Abuse Director Shekhar Saxena says the organization is concerned about drinking among young people between the ages 15 and 19. And it is most concerned about "binge-drinking", or an extended period of heavy drinking.

    The report concludes that worldwide 16 percent of drinkers over the age of 15 engage in binge-drinking, which is much more harmful than other kind of drinking and causes the most harm in terms of accidents, self-harm and harm to others. High income countries have the highest alcohol consumption and also the highest prevalence(盛行) of binge-drinking.

    The report also found that the highest rates of alcohol-linked deaths are in Europe, followed by the West Pacific and then the Americans. The report also finds Europe is the area with the highest alcohol use. Central and Eastern Europe are especially high.

    The World Health Organization suggests ways countries can protect people from alcohol abuse. These include increasing taxes on alcohol sales, raising the drinking age limit, and controlling the marketing of alcoholic beverages.

    Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.

    Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

    Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

    Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. “When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

    He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled. All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

    Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.

    Do you believe in the power of music? If you're like most kids these days, you probably have an electronic device loaded with hundreds or even thousands of your favorite songs. At any moment in time, you can fill your headphones with the sounds of a particular song that suits your mood at that exact time.

    Are you getting ready for a big soccer match or do you need to get excited? Maybe some hip hop with a strong beat will do the trick! Besides, you might be ready to study for a big exam the next day. To calm your nerves and help you concentrate, a little bit of Mozart might make memorization more manageable.

    But is there any scientific evidence of these effects that music seems to have? You bet there is! Scientists have long recognized the power of music. Over the years, many studies have been conducted to examine in greater depth the nature and extent of the effects music has on people.

    For example, scientists at the University of Missouri have found that listening to music can have a positive effect on your mood. Their research gives scientific credibility(可信性) to the behavior that many people have already experienced on their own: listening to upbeat music can brighten your day and boost your mood.

    Other studies have shown that upbeat music isn't the only type of music that can be helpful, however. When people are sad or have suffered a personal loss, sad music can be helpful because people identify with the tone and lyrias(歌词) of the music. Likewise, people under a lot of stress or experiencing upsetting situations can benefit from listening to angry music. Although angry music might not help you if you're in a normal mood, its tone can benefit you when you are dealing with stressful and upsetting situations.

In recent years, labels have increasingly been used by the food industry. Whether "non-GMO（转基因）"or"zero trans fat","no added hormones" or"sugar-free", consumers are demanding more information about what's in their food.

A report by Nielsen found that 39 percent of consumers would switch from the brands they currently buy to others that provide clearer, more accurate product information. Food manufacturers are using the new labels to meet consumers' demand, with an eye towards giving their products a leg up over the competition, and their bottom lines a boost as well.

On its face, the new marketing strategy makes sense. But these so-called "absence claims" labels are harmful both to the consumers who purchase the products and the industry that supplies them. For example, Hunt's put a "non-GMO" label on its tomatoes a few years ago — despite the fact that, at the time, there was no such thing as a GMO tomato on the market. Over the long term, this strategy will have the opposite effect: by creating fear, we run the risk of damaging consumers' trust.

Eventually, it becomes a question in consumers' minds: Should I have ever been eating these foods in the first place? By purchasing and consuming these types of products, have I already done some kind of harm to me?

For food manufacturers, it will damage consumers' trust, which in turn would lower sales for the whole food industry. And this isn't just supposition. A recent study by a group of academics at the University of Delaware found that "absence claims" labels can stigmatize(污名化)food produced with conventional processes even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm.

In addition to the likely negative long-term impact on sales, it sends a message that innovations in farming and food processing are unwelcome, eventually leading to less efficiency, fewer choices for consumers, and, ultimately, more costly food products. Therefore, it's clear that food manufacturers must be careful when using "absence claims" as a marketing strategy. If we allow this kind of label fear-mongering to continue, the losers will be all of us.