The Healthy Habits Survey shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.

    A little old couple walked slowly into McDonald's one cold winter evening. They were so old that they looked out of place among the young families and young couples eating there that night.

    Some of the customers looked admiringly at them. You could tell what the admirers were thinking. “Look, there is a couple who has been through a lot together, probably for 60 years or more!”

    The little old man walked right up to the cash register (收银台), placed his order with no hesitation and then paid for their meal. The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off the tray (托盘). There was one hamburger, one order of French fries and one drink. The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. Then he carefully counted out the French fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them.

    As the man began to eat his few bites of hamburger the crowd began to get restless. Again you could tell what they were thinking, “That poor old couple. All they can afford is one meal for the two of them.”

    As the man began to eat his French fries one young man stood and came over to the old couple's table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple to eat. The old man replied that they were just fine. They were used to sharing everything.

    Then the crowd noticed that the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She just sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.

    Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy them something to eat. This time the lady explained that, no, they were used to sharing everything together.

    As the little old man finished eating and was wiping his face neatly with a napkin the young man could stand it no longer. Again he came over to their table and offered to buy some food.

    After being politely refused again, he finally asked a question of the little old lady. “Ma'am, why aren't you eating? You said that you share everything. What is it that you are waiting for?”

    She answered, “The teeth”.

    If you do not use your arm or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

    If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame (受责备), and few of us know that it is just his own fault.

    Have you ever found that some people can't read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things; they cannot write down in a little notebook. They have to remember days, names, songs and stories, so their memory is the whole time being exercised. Therefore, if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering.

    Here we introduce some rental houses to you.

    Apartment Levant in Komiza

    Overlooking one of the most beautiful fishing villages in Croatia, our two-storey house also gives you a full view of Komiza bay as well as neighboring island of Bisevo.The apartment has a wide，covered balcony and a small garden with lemon trees. It is only 10 minutes' walk from the centre of the village, although it is on the edge of the village, with forests behind the house.

    Apartment Domina

    Located in the centre of the city, the apartment is protected as a historical site. All other facilities are at your fingertips such as restaurants, shops and museums. The apartment is fully equipped and air-conditioned, having a kitchen with a dishwasher, a satellite TV and the free Web access. It contains a bedroom with a double bed and antique furniture. Besides, the apartment offers pet-friendly accommodation.

    Apartment Tonka

    The apartment is located in an old stone house in the centre of Komiza. It offers two bedrooms, each with a separate bathroom, and a living room with a furnished kitchen. The house is only a couple of minutes away from the old harbor, along the old town's street where you can enjoy Komiza's rich cultural history. The bus stop is less than 200 meters away, near the fruit and vegetable market.

    Pearl of Issa

    This two-bedroom apartment is only a few minutes' walk from beautiful beaches, shops, restaurants, cafés and bars. It consists of two bedrooms, a fully equipped modern kitchen, a dining room and a resting area with a sofa, which can be used as an extra sleeping place for one person, a bathroom and a balcony with comfortable garden furniture and barbecue equipment.

    According to a British study presented to an international conference on smoking, within a few short years, more girls in Europe will be smokers than boys, for reasons experts still fail to understand.

    Anti-smoking activists (积极分子) at the second "Tobacco or Health" conference on the Canary Islands pointed out that while adults were giving up smoking in ever growing numbers, more and more young people were taking up the habit, especially girls.

    One 15-year-old in four is a regular smoker, according to a study made in 27 countries in Europe, the United States, Canada and Israel by Edinburgh University together with the World Health Organization.

    In Western Europe, girls were more likely than boys to smoke. In Germany and England, one third of the girls were smokers compared to one in four boys. In Eastern Europe, the girls "still fall behind" those in the Western Europe but were "catching up" quickly, said the study.

    The study dealt with the behaviour of 15-year-olds in seven European countries over a four-year period.

    The percentages of young women smoking went from 17 percent to 36 percent in Austria, from 17 percent to 28 percent in Norway, and from 21 percent to 28 percent in Hungary.

    Of the seven countries and regions studied (Austria, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales), more girls than boys smoked in 1998, with the exception of Hungary.

    China's popular "Singles' Day", better known as "Double Eleven", started out as a day to celebrate singles symbolized by the four number ones on the date of November 11.

    With time that meaning has changed. In 2009, China's e-commerce leader Alibaba set the day as a lucky shopping day for online sales as the date was both easy to remember and perfectly timed as it hit between the consumer spending lull (间歇) between National Day and Chinese New Year. It soon became a hit, and Double Eleven became a buying frenzy (疯狂) spread across the world's second largest economy.

    In 2019, the Double Eleven Shopping Festival entered its eleventh year. During this decade, Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce giant, and other e-commerce platforms, together with consumers, have co-created a very big shopping event whose heat has swept the world. Foreign readers share their ideas on Singles' Day in China:

    GhostBuster (UK) I think Double Eleven is unbelievable. It is not a religious festival that people of the same religion but living in different countries share. As an e-commerce faithful fan, I really love the shopping festival.

    Emanreus (Australia) I work in Shanghai. Many of my young female colleagues are still single. They simply haven't time to date, as they tend to work long hours then travel two hours by subway to get to and from work. Single's Day is a day when they give themselves a treat with online shopping.

    BlondeAmber (Ireland) There is not hing to be proud of to be in a country that spends so much online on a particular day. It does nothing more than show the superficiality (肤浅) of the temporary pleasure of shopping, and produces nothing more than a mountain of environmental waste. I bet there is plenty of buyers' deep regret after this day.

    Ionstar (US) Singles Day became a big deal for Valentine's Day not for the singles! Well, Alibaba's 11. 11 has become more famous and important than that of Black Friday and Cyber Monday!