It encouraged us to visit Quora. com, the online question and answer community, to find out how users get the most out of every tank of gas.

    Light makes right

    Alex Elderfield noted that excess weight prevents an engine from burning fuel efficiently. "Only carry what is essential in your car, clean out any junk or necessary items otherwise you are paying for the fuel to cart these from place to place," he wrote.

    Driving smoothly — that is, not mashing the gas and then slamming the brakes later down the road — was a fixture of many responses. Quora user Clint Law agreed on that advice, who wrote, "Every little bit of kinetic energy that your brakes lose, your engine burned in fuel to build up." Overbraking should consequently be viewed as wasted acceleration. "That's really what kills your fuel economy," he argued.

    Keep the pressure up

    Keeping the recommended tire pressure for your car was another mantra among Quora users. Marlyn Rosent said she checked her tire pressure every time she filled up her SUV. Quora user Doug Dingus checks his tire pressure every weekend. “Less tire contact means reduced rubbing, requiring less fuel,” he said.

    Air conditioning or windows

    Though the summer heat get many drivers to roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning, some people argued that running the A/C wastes too much gas. In between were many shades of grey.

    Achilleas Vortselas said it would depend largely on a car's speed. He wrote that as a general rule, people should drive with the windows down around the city and turn the air conditioning on when hitting the highway, where a car's aerodynamic(空气动力的) characteristics would be influenced by opened windows.

    More seriously minded people, however, said to travel as much as possible with windows up and the A/C off. Eddie Xue gets by with just a wisp of outside air. “Use the fan and open your windows every now and then at lower speeds," he wrote.

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New York City Tour Guide

CENTRAL PARK PHOTO TOUR $79

With Sam L.

    Come to shoot in the Central Park of New York that will allow you to take home digital postcards. This tour is a great introduction to Central Park and combines views of the bridges, lakes and skyline.

    At each stop of the photo tour, I will provide you with explanations around photography(摄影)，camera settings etc. You will be able to put these tips to good use immediately.

NEW YORK RUNMNG TOUR $50

With Sebastien B.

    Love running? Love New York? Do you want to see the sites of the city? Contact me and we'll take a special tour. All you'll need to do is to put on your sports shoes and we'll be off. I'll show you my favorite running spots along the Hudson River or north of Central Park and away from all the tourists.

    If you re thinking of training for something, I'll give you the explanations and tips to make the best of your time training!

GREENWICH VILLAGE FOOD TOUR $75

With Manhattan W.

    Discover unbelievable places to eat. This is the real Greenwich Village gastronomic(美食的) experience. Along the way, find out how the village has kept its unique character throughout the years, from the Dutch and English controlled periods to today.

Tour runs every day from 12:30 PM—2:30 PM.

NEW YORK BY NIGHT PHOTO TOUR $115

With Sam L.

    We have already prepared NYC for the most unique points for you. During the -hour walking tour, we share these special comers of NYC.

    The night tour teaches night photography techniques while discovering the “darker” side of the city that never sleeps： the UN headquarters, 42nd street, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

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    Food serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture's celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural (农村的) and urban areas within one country.

    Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.

    Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.

    Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.

    Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.

    You can't imagine how terrible I felt at that time. A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

    I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was "not athletic".

    The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

    The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

    Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

    At mile 3, I passed a sign: "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!"

    By mile17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

    By mile 21, I was starving!

    As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

    I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

    Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a "marathon winner".

    Self-driving cars have been backed by the hope that they will save lives by getting involved in fewer crashes with fewer injuries and deaths than human-driven cars. But so far, most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been unfair. Crash statistics for human-driven cars arc gathered from all sorts of driving situations and all types of roads. However, most of the data on self-driving cars' safety have been recorded often in good weather and on highways, where the most important tasks are staying in the car's own lane and not getting too close to the vehicle-ahead. Automated cars are good at those tasks, but so are humans.

    It is true that self-driving cars don't get tired, angry, frustrated or drunk .But neither can they yet react to uncertain situations with the same skill or anticipation of an attentive Unban driver. Nor do they possess the foresight to avoid potential dangers. They largely drive from moment to moment, rather than think ahead to possible events literally down the road.

    To a self-driving car, a bus full of people might appear quite similar to an uninhabited field. Indeed, deciding what action to take in an emergency is difficult for humans, but drivers have sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others. An automated system's limited understanding of the world means it will almost never evaluate (评估)a Situation the same way a human would. And machines can't be programmed in advance to handle every imaginable set of events.

    Some people may argue that the promise of simply reducing the number of injuries and deaths is enough to support driverless cars. But experience from aviation(航空)shows that as new automated systems are introduced, there is often an increase in the rate of disasters.

    Therefore, comparisons between humans and automated vehicles have to be performed carefully. To fairly evaluate driverless cars on how well they fulfill their promise of improved safety, it's important to ensure the data being presented actually provide a true comparison. After all, choosing to replace humans with automation has more effects than simply a one-for-one exchange.

    Family fights are never pleasant. Whether you are dealing with a loud sister or a stubborn mom or dad, the situation can be bad. At least that's what we have learned to expect.

    What if it could be different? What if family fights and conflicts could be turned into opportunities to become closer? What if problems could be solved with everyone walking away feeling more deeply cared for and loved?

    Family fighting is, on one level, about power. Someone is telling someone else what to do. In a short moment, emotions can be brought out and the fight is on. You can go down that old road or you can try something different.

    In any fight, you have a need to be listened to and understood. People raise their voices and shout at each other because they're not being listened to. It's totally unconscious. You want your mom or dad to listen and understand. But you always seems to forget the person you're fighting with has the same need to be listened to. So if you can put aside your need for a few minutes, the situation will change quickly. Give the other person some time to express his or her feelings, and you will earn your turn to be listened to.

    And while you are listening, you have to listen for the right information. The best way to do this in emotional situations is to forget most of the words because many people can't express what they are feeling with words alone, especially when they are upset.

    But if the situation starts to get out of hand, it would be wise to just calm down and leave the problem until later because many fights happen at the wrong time. The situation will die down quickly, usually in less than 30 seconds. You can either move on to problem solving or reach an agreement to work on it at a better time.

    This way, everyone will feel respected and listened to, even when there is conflict. Emotions will be understood and respected, and it will bring your family closer together.