I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签 ) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got nearer and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

    War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, "Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

    The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, sobbing.

    Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart. Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks."

    Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in cleaning up and holding on.

    Put technology in the hands of someone like Elon Musk and it can send people into space, make a future of clean and renewable energy a reality, or build electric cars. Put in your hands, and it can help you achieve all sorts of things, from learning to code to learning a language.

    Educational apps are becoming increasingly popular as a supplement(补充), and sometimes as an alternative(替代物), to traditional education. Why? Well, for starters, it's extremely convenient to learn on a pocket-sized device that you already carry around with you at all times. The best apps are also highly interactive and adaptive, coaxing you in and getting you hooked on learning.

 But apps, just like textbooks and language lessons, are a medium through which a language can be studied. The way you use them will affect how successful you are. If you flick through a textbook and don't dare say a word in your language lessons, you'll make slow progress. The keen reader who repeats each exercise in the textbook and engages the teacher in the conversation will move ahead. So how do you ensure you get the most out of your app, and what should you consider before you install(安装) one?

    Before that, a very quick introduction: I developed the following five points from my experience as both a language teacher and learner, and from working in startups in the field of language. I spent six years teaching in Germany and Spain as well as developing a video learning startup. However, I first came to language learning late. I started learning Spanish at 22, and was able to use Spanish and German freely by about 28. I've been using language apps for the last few years, and participated in two successful one-week challenges to go from zero to hero in Italian and French. If you're interested, you can see the French challenge here.

    So, just before downloading an app, here's what you should think about…

    What's going on under Liverpool?
A Rainy Day in Liverpool

    Dark clouds appear over the River Mersey and a cold wind is blowing. A few rain drops are beginning to fall. We're in the famous city of Liverpool and we're going to spend this rainy day in the Williamson Tunnels.
  An Interesting Life Story

    Joseph Williamson was born into a poor family in 1769，but left home and went to work for a tobacco company aged 11. He began at the bottom, and finally became head of the business.

 An Unsolved Mystery

    Nobody knows why Williamson dug tunnels under most of Liverpool, but many think it was to create jobs. Perhaps half of Liverpool's population worked for him. The industry of war had made enormous amounts of money, but now Liverpool was in a terrible financial situation.

 The King of Edge Hill

    I went on a guided tour starting close to where his empire began in Edge Hill. In the tunnels, the steps leading from rooms below ground to those buildings, which no longer exist, seem particularly ghostly.

Incredible Engineering

    We go into the Double Tunnel. It's just been discovered that it's actually a triple tunnel - but nobody knows why the three tunnels were built on top of each other.

    We finish the tour and decide we'll have a coffee in the Williamson Tunnels Cafe Bar. There, I notice lots of flyers for bands and theater groups that are coming to play there.

Why Liverpool?

    Apart from the obvious attractions like the football clubs, or anything to do with the Beatles, Liverpool has a lot to offer. Princes Park and Croxteth Park were royal hunting grounds and the trees are 200 years old. Renshaw Street displays are an unusual mix of architecture styles. The nightlife is exciting. If you want to experience a part of the British Isles with a character entirely different from London, you should definitely come to Liverpool.

    If you don't use your arms 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 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, 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 can not read or write and they have to remember things; they can not write down in a little notebook; they have to remember days, songs and stories; so their memory is the whole time being exercised. So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering.

    ①About 43.5 million Americans are taking care of aging relatives and friends, sacrificing(牺牲) time, money and sometimes their careers and personal health. They are doing the work of professional caregivers, who spend years training for the job. As baby boomers age, the demand for unpaid caregivers is rising. Meanwhile, the number of them is dropping rapidly thanks to smaller family sizes, higher divorce rates and increasingly demanding jobs. This November, actor Rob Lowe offered to tell his story and send some encouragement to the millions struggling to care for a loved one.

    ②I had my first experience with unpaid care giving fairly early. My father, Charles, was diagnosed(诊断)with lymphoma at age 50. I was 26. Luckily, he was financially successful and had a loving wife, my stepmother. It was challenging, but she was there from taking care of my father.

    ③In my late 30s, my mother, Barbara Hepler, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. That was when I was introduced to the front lines of what so many millions are experiencing. She did not have a husband or a significant other, so it fell to me and my two brothers to handle everything from her initial diagnosis to doctor shopping, treatment options, driving her to appointments and, finally, the end of life-which was profoundly difficult, obviously.

    ④At the time, I was starring in and producing a network television show, The Lyon's Den. It was fighting for its ratings life. If I took time off, the show would be canceled, I was responsible for 150 crew members, so I had to find a way to do both.

⑤Besides, there is the negotiation of medical coverage, which requires phone calls, weeding through paperwork and talking to insurance companies and doctors. I remember thinking, Jesus Christ, if I were sick and had to do this on my own? I don't think I could get out of bed in the morning.

    ⑥The people we are talking about-the friends and family members who are out there doing important work-are unpaid. Watching a loved one go through an illness, possibly ending in death, is stressful and depressing. Add economic and scheduling burdens, and the load for caregivers is heavy. To them I say, "Don't forget about yourself. When you get on an airplane, the crew says, Secure your own mask first before helping others.” Why? Because without you taking care of yourself, you can't take care of anybody else. That's why I've partnered with EMD Serono andEmbracingCarers.com, where you'll find invaluable information regarding everything you'll be, or are, going through.

    I have never been a fan of the phrase, "No pains, no gains." I prefer the alternative version, "No pains, no pains!" When it comes to exercise, for example, I learned years ago that pushing through pain was more likely to lay me up with an aching back than to leave me feeling strong and healthy.

    But there are times when stressful situations actually do lead to greater happiness. A new study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that people who pursue (追求) goals that are tough to achieve feel more stress in the moment, but greater happiness in the aftermath particularly if they feel connected to others along the way.

    The researchers concluded that happiness increases when people develop greater competence in something and greater competence only comes when people keep on working through the stress-inducing phase of trying, fighting, and trying again to learn and grow. If the psychological needs to be autonomous or self-directed, and to be connected to others are met, the momentary stresses will be less acute, and the resulting happiness will be more lasting.

    This idea reminds me of another often quoted phrase, which I have heard in reference to challenging tasks, such as exercise —"Fill-in-the-blank-stressful-task is the worst thing to do, but the greatest thing to have done." In other words, suffering from the stress of an exercise class that leaves us feeling sweat-drenched shouldn't lead us to walk away from exercising. And if we can pass those stressful moments with a friend, colleague or family member who is trustworthy and supportive, all will be better.

    As I travel my positive path, I'm certainly not seeking out stress. But life will offer me plenty of it, whether I ask for it or not. My task is to choose wisely when and how to face it head-on, knowing that happiness awaits on the other side.