The tough economy is bringing new shoppers to the secondhand market.Plato's Closet in Charlotte,NC is a private company,which mainly buys and sells used clothes.While Charlotte has outstanding secondhand stores offering high-end and graceful brands for women,most of their stock applies to adults.Plato's closet targets teens and those in their 20s.

    Plato's Closet,with stores in Matthews and the university area,sells clothes and accessories（装饰品）that are currently popular at about one third the retail（零售）prices.

    The two hottest brands,for buying and selling,are Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch.Even though the offerings tend to be suitable for young people,there are a variety of shoppers at Plato's Closet of varying ages.Women in their 30s,40s,and older could easily find a purse,jacket or piece of jewelry they like.

    If you are selling

    Unlike higher-end resale stores which usually work on consignment（寄售）,Plato's Closet buys on the spot.

    Items can be gently used,but must be in very good condition.

    Clothes should be less than two years old and styles should be the same as those still being sold at the shopping center.

    There is no negotiation;prices are set company-wide.If what you sell amounts to $30 or less,they'll give you cash.More than that,you'll get a Visa cash card.

    Secondhand success

    Don't get discouraged if you can't find something on your first trip.Resale shops are always getting new lists of goods and change their styles with each season.

    Be sure to check each piece carefully before buying.

    Price comparison

    Jackets: New York & Company black blazer,$12; retail: $37.

    Pants: Express Editor-style pants,$12; retail: $69.90.

    Shoes: Nine West black peep-toe pumps,$12; retail: $89.

    Jewelry: Necklaces,$3-$5; retail: $18-$30.

    One day a few years ago, a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine. He is a teacher at one of London's big medical schools. He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.

    He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag , and he had put Rupert , the skeleton (人体骨架）to be used in his lecture , in a large brown suitcase. At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.

    When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.

    Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday. There are so many places of interest to visit. And if you enjoy seeing more than just the city centre, there's no better way to explore than by car.

    Conditions of Hire

    ⒈The shortest rental period at these especially low prices is three days. For prices and for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel.

    ⒉Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car. But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be ab le to help you.

    ⒊The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed.

    ⒋Upon delivery the driver(s) will be asked to sign the car hire company's Conditions of Hire.

    ⒌If you decide to hire a car, just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us. A booking fee of ￡12 as part of the car hire cost is required.

    ⒍Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before date of hire), a cancellation charge of ￡12 will be made.

    Why Black Friday Shoppers Still Crowd Stores

    To many of us, the ideas of rushing out to a superstore the day after Thanksgiving is appealing. Why would anyone race to crowded stores when they could stay in with family, or watch college football? We can't say we know the answer for sure. But we do feel amazed at those who pour into stores looking for Black Friday bargains. Seemingly, nothing can stop them. Not the weather. Not the crowds. And not the fact that hurrying to a store in the age of instant e-commerce seems so…last century.

    To be sure, holiday shopping habits do appear to be shifting. The National Retail (零售) Federation has stopped breaking up its holiday sales numbers by whether they come from e-tail purchases or from physical stores. It's a pretty good sign that retailers don't want to bring further attention to the declining fortunes of brick-and-mortar stores.

    But there is no denying that people still love going to stores. Actual shopping in actual places remains an important part of the holiday ceremony for millions of Americans. To many, it's the difference between playing a sport and playing a video game. As commercial as stores may be, they are still places where actual human beings interact. In a store, the “courageous” shopper performs the approving act of finding a present. That item might be heavily promoted by the store, but it doesn't drop into one's cart. It is picked up and examined before a decision is made. Maybe it gets put back on the shelf when the shopper changes his or her mind. Maybe there is a conversation with a sales clerk. The process is not that different than it would have been decades ago.

    Online, the shopper has barely logged in before being faced with disturbing algorithmic (大数据的) suggestions based on earlier purchases. This hardly qualifies as shopping. This hardly qualifies as thinking.

    Perhaps we are reading too much into the Black Friday phenomenon. But we suspect one reason Black Friday remains is that it involves an act of resistance against the Internet age. That would hardly be unreasonable. There aren't many studies showing that time spent in stores is bad for one's health, while there are quite a few drawing a link between time spent online and depression. Perhaps the people crowding into stores aren't the crazy ones after all.

    You've probably heard such reports. The number of college students majoring in the humanities (人文学科) is decreasing quickly. The news has caused a flood of high-minded essays criticizing the development as a symbol of American decline.

    The bright side is this: The destruction of the humanities is, finally, coming to an end. No more will literature, as part of an academic curriculum, put out the light of literature. No longer will the reading of, say, "King Lear" or D.H. Lawrence's "Women in Love" result in the annoying stuff of multiple-choice quizzes, exam essays and homework assignments.

    The discouraging fact is that for every college professor who made Shakespeare or Lawrence come alive for the lucky few, there were countless others who made the reading of literary masterpieces seem like two hours in the dentist's chair.

    The remarkably insignificant fact that, a half-century ago, 14% of the undergraduate population majored in the humanities (mostly in literature, but also in art, philosophy, history, classics and religion) as opposed to 7% today has given rise to serious reflections on the nature and purpose of an education in the liberal arts.

    Such reflections always come to the same conclusion: We are told that the lack of a formal education, mostly in literature, leads to numerous harmful personal conditions, such as the inability to think critically, to write clearly, to be curious about other people and places, to engage with great literature after graduation, to recognize truth, beauty and goodness.

    Literature changed my life long before I began to study it in college. Books took me far from myself into experiences that had nothing to do with my life, yet spoke to my life. But once in the college classroom, this precious, alternate life inside me got thrown back into that dimension of my existence that bored me. Homer, Chekhov and Yeats were reduced to right and wrong answers, clear-cut themes and clever interpretations. If there is anything to worry about, it should be the disappearance of what used to be an important part of every high-school education: the literature survey course, where books were not academically taught but thoroughly introduced—an experience unaffected by stupid commentary and useless testing.

    The literary classics are places of quiet, useless stillness in a world that despises (鄙视) any activity that is not profitable or productive. Literature is too sacred to be taught. It needs only to be read.

    Soon, if all goes well and literature at last disappears from the undergraduate curriculum—my fingers are crossed—increasing numbers of people will be able to say that reading the literary masterworks of the past outside the college classroom, simply in the course of living, was, in fact, their college classroom.

I stood outside my front door catching my breath. After a lazy Christmas holiday, I had to recover from climbing stairs with carry-on bags and a suitcase. I looked up — Red tape crossed the door. I didn't understand French, but the one English word said enough, "POLICE". Google Translate told me I would be caught if I entered, so I didn't.

Finally, I called my rental agent (收租人). He went to the police station for more details. The thief had taken a few items from the top drawer as well as a small amount of money in the bottom drawer. Not only were my files undisturbed, but so were the TV and printer. My agent also said something about fixing the locks tomorrow and making a list for the police.

Then one day, I remembered that I had left another jewelry box in the flat. My heart sank as I thought of a gold locket (项链坠) with a picture of my late Grandma inside. When I realized the box was missing, the whole experience seemed to crash down on me. I cried. At the end of January, I received a letter from the police. The thief hadn't been found, and the case was closed. I slept with my purse by my bed. I hid my laptop when I showered. And then another challenge came — I was unexpectedly fired by my company.

One July night, I reached into my third drawer to pull out my jean shorts. I heard something fall to the ground. I looked down: It was the tiny jewelry box I thought had been stolen six months earlier. Inside was the locket with honey Grandma smiling at me, being there for me, telling me not to give up. I started to cry. I knew that things were going to be OK.