Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.

    Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as 'bracketing'. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else's world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.

    Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don't want to hear.

    It wasn't until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic(有疗效的) In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy(心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient's sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.

There is plenty of complaints about how social media-texting in particular—may be harming children's social and intellectual development. But a new study suggests that constant instant messaging (IM'ing) and texting among teens may also provide benefits, particularly for those who are introverted (内向的).

British researchers studied instant messages exchanged by 231 teens, aged 14 to 18. All of the participants were “regular” or “extensive” IM'ers. In the U. S., two thirds of teens use instant messaging services regularly, with a full third messaging at least once every day.

The researchers analyzed 150 conversations in the study, and reported the results in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. In 100 of these chats, the study participant began IM'ing while in a negative emotional state such as sadness, distress or anger. The rest were conversations begun when the participant was feeling good or neutral. After the chat, participants reported about a 20% reduction in their distress—not enough to completely eliminate it, but enough to leave them feeling better than they had before reaching out.

“Our findings suggest that IM'ing between distressed adolescents and their peers may provide emotional relief and consequently contribute to their well-being,” the authors write, noting that prior research has shown that people assigned to talk to a stranger either in real life or online improved their mood in both settings, but even more with IM. And people who talk with their real-life friends online also report feeling closer to them than those who just communicate face-to-face, implying a strengthening of their bond.

    Why would digital communication do better than human contact? The reasons are complex, but may have something to do with the fact that users can control expression of sadness and other emotions via IM without exposing emotional elements like tears that some may consider as embarrassing or sources of discomfort. Studies also show that the anonymity (匿名) of writing on a device blankets the users in a sense of safety that may cause people to feel more comfortable in sharing and discussing their deepest and most authentic feelings. The research has shown that expressive writing itself can vent the stress and provide a sense of relief—and doing so, knowing that your words are reaching a sympathetic friend, may provide even more comfort and potentially be therapeutic(治愈的). Researchers also found that introverted participants reported more relief from IM conversations when they were distressed than extroverts did. Susan Cain, author of Quiet wrote recently for TIME: Introverts are often overfilled with thoughts and care deeply for their friends, family and colleagues. But even the most socially skilled introverts sometimes long for a free pass from socializing or talking on the phone. This is what the Internet offers: the chance to connect—but in measured doses and from behind a screen.

    A Chinese team claimed victory at an international e-sports（电子竞技）championship held in Paris on Sunday.

    Royal Never Give Up beat South Korean team Dragon X 3-1 to lift the crown at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2018. It marked the first time in 1,106 days that a South Korean team had been defeated by a team from elsewhere at a major international League of Legends tournament（锦标赛）.

    League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game that was launched in 2009 and rapidly built a following among members of the competitive gaming community. The tournament in Paris featured teams from 13 countries and regions competing for cash and a place in the global rankings.

    Royal Never Give Up entered the contest fresh from their victory at the spring season of the Tencent League of Legends Pro League, the top level of China's professional League of Legends league system. Their win in Paris was largely owing to star player Jian Zihao, aka Uzi. “I've been trying to win this title for six years now,” Jian said on stage following the victory. “I can't imagine I'm standing here with this trophy. I'm super excited for this moment.” Royal Never Give Up's victory has boosted confidence in China's ability to win at major international e-sports events.

    E-sports' popularity has ballooned in recent years, with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to meet in July to further discuss the possibility of including e-sports in future Olympic Games. According to Penguin Intelligence's 2017 China Game Industry Report, released in June, the annual market value of China's e-sports sector reached 20 billion yuan ($3.13 billion) in 2016, generated by gamers' spending, copyright distribution, merchandising and e-commerce. The number of registered online gamers jumped to 220 million in 2017 from 170 million the year before.

    Good health is the most valuable thing in the world. When you've got it, you never think about it. When you haven't got it, you think about it all the time. Our biggest enemies are not terrible diseases and so on. We are our own biggest enemies because we sometimes destroy our own good health. Some of us eat too much, drink too much and smoke too much. And though our reason tells us we should control ourselves, we find it difficult. The fact is that most human beings need stimulation (刺激). Who doesn't enjoy a drink after a busy day? Only a smoker knows the pleasure of a cigarette with a cup of coffee.

    The danger is when these innocent pleasures run our lives and so destroy our health. When you find yourself eating between meals or eating too much rich food, when you can only keep yourself going by taking frequent drinks or by smoking one cigarette after another, then it's time to stop and think what you might be doing to yourself. The funny thing is that when we don't control ourselves, simple pleasures are no longer simple pleasures.

    All right, I know what you're thinking. You're probably saying, “It's easy to say, but I can't help myself. I need that extra bit of food, that extra drink, that extra cigarette. Life has so many pleasures that I can't do without them.” But I'm saying you can help yourself. Not only that, you must help yourself. Because if you don't help yourself, no one else can. So be your own best friend.

    The audiences of the UK will have an opportunity to enjoy a feast of Chinese culture when the China National Peking Opera Company returns to the country for the fourth time for a series of workshops and performances. Events will be held at the British Library, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum and the world-famous dance theater of Sadler's Wells, featuring artists including Lisa Lu, Yu Kuizhi and Li Shengsu.

    On Thursday at the British Library, Lisa Lu, who also played a role in recent cinema hit Crazy Rich Asians, will lead a group of artists from China, the US and the UK to discuss their experiences of working across a variety of artistic fields in different cultures over many decades.

    The series of activities also include interactive workshops, which explain the intricacies（错综复杂）of the attractive art of Peking Opera. The secrets behind a great opera, from music to instruments, from make-up to martial arts, will be revealed at the British Library workshops on Saturday and Sunday.

    Events end on Oct 19 and 20 at Sadler's Wells in North London, with two performances of The Emperor and the Concubine, one of the most celebrated operas, as well as The Crossroads Inn and The Monkey King and The Leopard.

    Li Shengsu, who led the cast of The Emperor and the Concubine, explained that the show is the beautiful love story championed by Peking Opera Master Mei Lanfang, and it is one of the very few works from the Master Mei's that had been handed down since 1920s.

    The productions are being presented in partnership with London-based Sinolink Productions, a company that promotes Chinese art, culture and performance to British audiences.

    Zhang Kewei, producer and director of Sinolink, said, “It is delightful to see that the China National Peking Opera Company returns to London for the fourth time with another two masterpieces this year. The performances so far have received very positive comments from audiences and the United Kingdom's media and we are looking forward to further expanding our program.”

    Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear(鞋类)in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.

    Room 1

    The celebrity(名人)footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities" choice of footwear extremely interesting.

    Room 2

    Most of our visitors are amazed-and shocked-by the collection of “special purpose” shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much！

    Room 3

    As well as shoes and boots, the museum also exhibits shoe­shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles(类似于) a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that look like legs！

    The Footwear Library

    People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear.