Kenyon Scudder once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict (罪犯) returning home from a prison for away. What he did had brought shame on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.

    When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal (信号) for him when the train passed their little form. If the family had forgiven (原谅) him, they were to put up a white ribbon (丝带) in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.

    As the train neared his hometown, his suspense became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict's shoulder. “There it is,” he said, his eyes filled with sudden tears. “It's all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons.”

    There exist cruel wars, fighting and sadness in the world today, so it's not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us go through difficult times in out lives. Putting a smile on someone's face when you know they are feeling depressed, as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart.

    How would you feel if you could not joke around with wife, husband, child, co-worker, neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your corner store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don't know the person I'm joking around with. My Grandma always found humor in everything she did, even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine. This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is a common manner to speak to others that are around you.

    I know of a few people that don't have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say. Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their faces. They don't get the joke that makes others laugh. I am, busting a gut while they just sit there, looking at me as if I were from outer space. How can people not get a really funny joke?

    Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control. Without humor, we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy. There is too much sadness and bring a little light into our lives.

    Therefore, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together.

    Big Messaging Apps Abroad

    While WeChat is China's biggest mobile messaging app, there are many similar apps in other countries that offer similar features.

    WhatsApp (US)

    Users: more than 300 million

    Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry

    Features: Text chat, push-to-talk, file sharing, location sharing

    With more than 300 million active users, WhatsApp is one of We Chat's biggest competitors.

    Developed by two ex-Yahoo employees in 2009, WhatsApp originally focused on text chat, but on Aug. 6 it also started push - to - talk service. It's noted for its accessibility, ease of use and the absence of advertisements. The service is free for the first year, after which $ 0.99 (6. 06 yuan) is charged for a one –year subscription.

    Kakao Talk (South Korea)

    Users: more than 100 million

    Platform: Android, iOS, windows Phone, BlackBerry and Bada (an operate system developed by Samsung)

    Features: Text chat, group chat, push–to–talk, group calls, file sharing

    With more than 100 million users in more than 230 countries, Kakao Talk is a multi - platform (多平台) texting application that allows users to send and receive messages for tree. With Kakao Talk, users can message each other one-on-one or in group chats with unlimited numbers of friends. You can also choose from more than 250 animated emoticons and share them with friends.

    Line (Japan)

    Users: more than 200 million

    Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and PC

    Features: Text chat, group chat, push–to–talk, file sharing, location sharing, gaming, stickers

    Line tops the list of the most downloaded free apps in 52 countries. Apart from text and voice messaging, Line provides its users with more than 250 original stickers and emoticons to buy from its own shop. In the first quarter of 2013 alone, it made $ 17 million just from stickers. The popular app also allows friends to battle each other in the Line games.

    In Scotland, 600,000 tonnes of food are thrown away every year. This amount of food, which could as feed about 1.2 billion poor people, is almost a third of household (家庭) waste. And food waste isn't just a big problem in Scotland.

    Money time, and resources (资源) are often wasted by throwing away good food. It also causes very harmful greenhouse gas, which is perilous to the planet.

    In the production stage, some foods do not enter the food chain for many reasons. Supermarkets usually care about the quality of food from farms. They often refuse strange-looking and unusually sized produce. However, they seem to forget that it is almost impossible to grow the perfect produce. Food waste at the consumption (消费) stage includes food going out of date and leftovers (剩饭) because of too much food. In households, even mostly fresh fruit and vegetables are thrown away.

    In order to reduce food waste, here is what we can do:

    Understanding the terms “use by” and “best before” dates. “Use by” dates are there for your safety. It is dangerous to eat food after the use-by date and doing so risks your health. “Best before” dates tell you how long the food will be at its best quality. Once the food passes the date, it isn't necessarily bad, but you should still check, just to be sure.

    Every time you go shopping and you bring back new food, put them at the back of your fridge and bring the food that will expire (到期) soon closer to the front. That way, you know what needs to be eaten first.

    If you have any food that will expire soon, give it to charity if you aren't going to eat it. They will really appreciate the food you have given.

    On average, primary school children in England have at least three sugary snacks a day, Public Health England (PHE) found. This means that the sugar they consume is three times more than the recommended maximum.

    Children between the ages of 4 and 10 consume 51.2% of sugar from unhealthy snacks. PHE has launched a campaign, Change4Life, to encourage parents to look for healthier snacks of no more than 100 calories, and to limit them to two a day. The campaign advises parents to give their children a maximum of two snacks a day, with each containing no more than 100 calories. The campaign will also offer parents special suggestions on a range of healthier snacks—ones with 100 calories or fewer—at selected supermarkets, PHE said.

    PHE said it had also improved its app so that it could mark the content of sugar, salt and fat in food and drinks. Dr Alison Tedstone told the BBC she hoped the campaign would help parents to choose healthier snacks for their children. “If you wander through a supermarket, you can see much more goods being sold as snacks than ever before,” she said, “It's a common phenomenon that kids' lunchboxes are full of snacks, leading to a lot of calories for lunch. Our research shows that parents usually appreciate a rule of thumb (经验法则). However, they are surprised to know how much sugar their children are consuming in snacks now.”

    Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, said, “The intake (摄入量) of sugar that kids are getting from snacks and sugary drinks alone is pretty astonishing, and it can often be difficult to distinguish which snacks are healthy and which are not. The rule of thumb from Change4Life can help parents make their decision correctly and wisely. ”

    The hemlock(铁杉) trees along the Wappinger Creek, New York, look healthy. However, scientist Gary Lovett says the white balls which provide protection for the bugs are created by a tiny insect. It's hard to believe the tiny bug could kill a tree. However, trees can end up with millions and millions of the pests. When there are that many, it ends up killing the tree.

    The bug from East Asia is slowly killing trees across the USA. The trouble-making bug is just one of many invasive(入侵的) pests that have slipped into the United States. They can hurt other living things in their new home.

    Many invasive pests arrive on wooden pallets(运货板) piled inside shipping containers. They support and separate goods, and keep them from sliding around. Invasive pests often tunnel into the pallets. How can we stop pests from riding on pallets? Lovett says new rules are needed. The companies that make pallets don't want more rules. Congress has added an amendment(修正案) in the 2018 Farm Bill to try and prevent this problem. However, Lovett is not hopeful it will make much of a difference. Pallets are checked by inspectors. Many are sprayed with bug-killing pesticide. "I believe in the system," said Brent McClendon, president of The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. He also said shipping containers are checked very carefully.

    Still, each year 13 million containers are shipped to the U. S. Each is full of wooden pallets. Lovett says: "Inspectors can't possibly check everything. All it takes are a few bad pallets; we should get rid of wooden pallets." He believes pallets should be made of plastic or eco-composite wood. Eco-composite wood is a mix of wood fiber and plastic. Insects cannot hide into it. One problem is that these choices cost more. They may be worth the extra money, though. Invasive pests cost the U.S. $5 billion a year. Trees don't just die in forests. They also die in cities and our yards. Then, they need to be replaced. That costs money, too.