A qualified doctor who rarely practicedbut instead devoted his life to writing．He once said: “Medicine is my lawfulwife, and literature is my lover．” Russian writer Anton PavlovichChekhov, was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern shortstory．

When Chekhov entered the MoscowUniversity Medical School in 1879, he started to publish hundreds of comicshort stories to support his family．After he graduated, he wrote regularlyfor a local daily newspaper．

As a writer he was extremely fast, oftenproducing a short story in an hour or less．Chekhov's medical and science experiencecan be seen through the indifference (冷漠) many of his characters show to tragicevents．In1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorablestories．

Chekhov often wrote about the sufferingsof life in small town Russia．Tragic events control his characters whoare filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair．

It is often said that nothing happens inChekhov's stories and plays．He made up for this with his excitingtechnique for developing drama within his characters．Chekhov'swork combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity(敏感) of anartist．

Some of Chekhov's works were translatedinto Chinese as early as the 1940s．One of his famous stories, The Man in aShell, about a school teacher's extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as atext for Chinese senior students．

    The next time you go grocery shopping, try speaking to other customers. One summer day, I took a smile and a warm heart into a small store in Oregon and got far more than groceries.

    I love fresh produce(农产品) in the store, and not just for the amazing colors provided by summer's bounty (慷慨) or the chance to joy over new choices from other countries. It's also because I just love watching people pick their produce.

    The day I was there I found a sale on amazing cherry tomatoes—along with a woman in her late 70s. Despite the fact that we were strangers, we began to discuss apples. She noted a problem with the Pink Ladies. "They tasted like I was eating an unripe green apple from the tree," she said, twisting her face as if still tasting the sour apple.

    I wondered if this is something most of my generation can even remember doing. I surely do. I mentioned that I often could not resist the green yet tempting fruit swinging from an apple tree. This was the start for a series of discussions as we shopped-covering such topics as nutrition, new foods and the quality of produce.

    By this time a third woman had joined in our conversation. The three of us continued along, unexpected friends, chatting about family size and the troubles a mom might have serving healthful foods that please the whole family.

    Eventually we all went our separate ways, but in the dairy(奶制品) section I heard a small voice say, "I finally caught up with you." It was the first woman I'd talked to, extending a bag of apricots(杏) to me. "I don't know if your family will eat these," she added, "but they have a super deal on them."

    Again I was brought back to my childhood, when I also ate apricots straight from the tree. My mouth watered at the remembered flavor.

    The old lady didn't realize that she'd given me far more than produce. With that offering came a sense of community, a flashback to days when it was OK to talk to a stranger. She brought back memories of summer fruits right from the tree—and a feeling that somehow those apricots were a thank-you for sharing my time with her in a very unlikely place.

    Recently some articles claim the word “selfie” as one of the most annoying words. But I'd like to offer that maybe it isn't not so bad.

    The “selfie” is used to describe the self taken photo, often from a smart phone. Women and men alike adorn their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts with these pictures, sometimes with puckered lips or large smiles. In fact, the selfie has become so widely known that over 31 million photos on Instagram are captioned with the selfie.

    Let's think about it. Someone takes about 10 seizes each time they do, and they only end up posting one or two of those. They pick the one that they feel makes them look the best. Isn't that beautiful? In that one picture, someone has even him or herself confidence.

    Self-image is important. In society today, we are so often consumed with what society tells us is perfect. But maybe, with that one selfie, we feel like we fit that bill. We feel handsome, beautiful, confident, smart, happy and content. For that moment, everything bad or terrible that has ever happened to us is erased, because that smile or that pucker is what gives us the determination to love ourselves.

    I saw a spoken word poem recently and the young man said: If I ask you what you love the answers will most likely roll off your tongue. You love to read. You love to write. You love birds, music, tattoos… Your mom, your brother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend, your dog. How long do you think you could go on and on before you said “I love myself”？

    That statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I've struggled with confidence all of my life. I still do. And in no way am I saying that taking a selfie is a gateway to that confidence. However, the selfie does deserve some credit for allowing individuals to express themselves. Pamela Rutledge agrees, stating, “There are many more photographs available now of real people than models.”

    Have you ever awakened and felt like you couldn't move? If so, it probably scared you. You may have thought something terrible had happened to you. Actually, many people have this experience on a regular basis. It is called sleep paralysis. Although it sounds scary, it is normal.

    Sleep paralysis happens when a person is falling asleep or waking up. As the person falls asleep, his or her body slowly relaxes. Usually the person's mind relaxes at the same time, but occasionally the mind stays awake longer than the body. As a result, the person can be conscious, or aware, but have trouble moving or speaking. Sleep paralysis can also occur as you wake up. Fortunately, the condition rarely lasts for more than a few seconds. Movement and speech soon return to normal.

    Some people report unusual experiences during sleep paralysis. They may hear, see, or feel things that don't exist. At one time, people thought that ghosts or monsters had entered the room and were holding them down, keeping them from moving. Science has helped us understand that such visions are actually a part of sleep paralysis. Now we know that getting too little sleep, taking certain medications, and changing your sleep schedule can cause sleep paralysis. This condition can be scary if you, but it's just a trick that your mind is playing on your body.

    It's common knowledge that the woman in Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting seems to look back at observers, following them with her eyes no matter where they stand in the room. But this common knowledge turns out wrong.

    A new study finds that the woman in the painting is actually looking out at an angle that's 15.4 degrees off to the observer's right­well outside of the range that people normally believe when they think someone is looking right at them. In other words, said the study author, Horstmann, "She's not looking at you." This is somewhat ironic, because the entire phenomenon of a person's gaze (凝视) in a photograph or painting seeming to follow the viewer is called the "Mona Lisa effect" . That effect is absolutely real, Horstmann said. If a person is illustrated or photographed looking straight ahead, even people viewing the portrait from an angle will feel they are being looked at. As long as the angle of the person's gaze is no more than about 5 degrees off to either side, the Mona Lisa effect occurs.

    This is important for human interaction with on-screen characters. If you want someone off to the right side of a room to feel that a person on-screen is looking at him or her, you don't cut the gaze of the character to that side­surprisingly, doing so would make an observer feel like the character isn't looking at anyone in the room at all. Instead, you keep the gaze straight ahead.

    Horstmann and his co-author were studying this effect for its application in the creation of artificial-intelligence avatars(虚拟头像) when Horstmann took a long look at the "Mona Lisa" and realized she wasn't looking at him.

    To make sure it wasn't just him, the researchers asked 24 people to view images of the "Mona Lisa" on a computer screen. They set a ruler between the viewer and the screen and asked the participants to note which number on the ruler intersected Mona Lisa's gaze. To calculate the angle of Mona Lisa's gaze as she looked at the viewer, they moved the ruler farther from or closer to the screen during the study. Consistently, the researchers found, participants judged that the woman in the "Mona Lisa" portrait was not looking straight at them, but slightly off to their right.

    So why do people repeat the belief that her eyes seem to follow the viewer? Horstmann isn't sure. It's possible, he said, that people have the desire to be looked at, so they think the woman is looking straight at them. Or maybe the people who first coined the term "Mona Lisa effect" just thought it was a cool name.

    Hawaii, 2nd Edition

    Original price: $ 22.95

    Sale price: $ 20. 95

    Summary: Hawaii is one of the world's premier(最著名的) vacation destinations, and this practical and fact- packed book shows why. Like other Traveler guides, it's a treasure of special features - walking and driving tours, in-depth Hawaiian history, a sample of the best of each island's activities, plus a selection of hotels and restaurants in every price range.

    Be the Pack Leader

    Original price: $ 25.95

    Sale price: $ 18. 95

    Summary: Bestselling author Cesar Millan takes principles of dog psychology a step further, showing you how to develop the calm energy of a successful leader and use it to improve your dog's life and your own life. With practical tips and techniques, Cesar helps you understand and read your dog's energy as well as your own energy so that you can take your connection with your dog to the next level.

    Celebrate Hanukkah

    Original price: $ 15.85

    Sale price: $7.85

    Summary: The US astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman brought a menorah(烛台) and a dreidel(陀螺)on his Space Shuttle mission in 1993. Hoffman observed the traditional spinning of the dreidel, but wisely left the menorah unlit in several thousand liters of rocket fuel. Also included is the author's sure-to-please potato pancakes' recipe.

    A New Perspective(观点) of Earth

    Original price: $26.85

    Sale price: $ 20.85

    Summary: The author Benjamin Grant describes a unique collection of satellite images of the earth that offer an unexpected look at humanity. More than 200 images of industry, agriculture, architecture and nature highlight incredible patterns while also revealing a deeper story about human influence. This extraordinary photographic journey around our planet captures the sense of wonder gained from a new, aerial point and creates a perspective of the earth as it has never been seen before.