A family story is like a puzzle. Each family member leaves some clues. Family members come together because they have a common tie with one another, sharing a name and special traditions. Exploring family roots and sharing past memories ensure each tradition lives on.

    Ancestory.com has created customized (订做的) “Our Name is History” books to give your family a look into your history by learning about your last name. By visiting it, you can check if information is available for your last name. Ancestory.com researchers have collected more than 5 billion names from records such as passenger lists, immigration records and from birth, marriage and death records. The collected information is then used for each customized book.

    “Our Name is History” books are available for nearly 200,000 last names, accounting form 85 percent of all the US homes. The collected information is a great start of learning about your family roots. This book will not only surprise your mother, but also become a precious memory to pass down through the generations. It can also be an inspiration for her to talk about all the special women in her life. So instead of just giving her flowers or jewelry, give her a special family name book and share your favorite memories with her.

    After learning the general history of your last name, your might be inspired to continue your exploration. The “Our Name is History” books include a special software product for building, searching and sharing your family history.

    To learn more about “Our Name is History” books, visit www. Ournameinhistory.com. The deadline to order in time for Mother's Day is April 30.

    Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.

    Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.

    Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death.

    The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.

    When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.

    John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s.His song Take Me Home, Country Roads is well­known and people still play it today.

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    Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he's an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein's jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.

    Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.

    Among the bag makers' arguments: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.

    The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.

    Environmentalists don't dispute（质疑） these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.

    If you want to convince the boss you deserve a pay rise or promotion, the solution could be simple—eat the same food as they do.Psychologists have discovered managers are much more likely to instantly trust us if we choose the same dishes as them.

    During experiments, discussions over wages and work conditions were much more successful if both sides chose to snack on the same treats.And shoppers were much more likely to buy a product advertised on TV by someone eating a similar food to them at the time.

    The reason is thought to be so­called similarity attraction theory—where people tend to like others who have similar tastes or habits to themselves.But this is believed to be one of the first studies highlighting the role of food in this relationship.Researchers at Chicago University in the US conducted a series of experiments to examine food's role in earning trust.

    In a test, participants were told to watch TV—where someone pretending to be a member of the public praised a certain product.The volunteers were given Kit Kat bars to nibble, while the TV people ate either a Kit Kat or grapes as they talked.

    The results showed viewers were much more likely to express an interest in buying the product if the TV showed the other person eating a Kit Kat too.

    The researchers added, “Although similarity in food consumption is not a sign of whether two people will get along, we find consumers treat this as such.They feel more trusting of those who consume as they do.It means people can immediately begin to feel friendship and develop a bond, leading to smoother transactions from the start.”

    Harley Street psychologist Dr.Lucy Atcheson said it was already known that wearing similar clothes could instantly create trust.But this was the first report that food had the same effect.She said, “This is really interesting.It makes sense as people feel they have common ground and can trust the other person.That means negotiations are more likely to be successful.”

    This happened when I was ten.

    My girl cousin had decided to be a boy for Halloween, so my aunt called my mom to borrow some of my clothes. The next morning, they came to our house early before school. My cousin told me that she was going to be a boy for Halloween and wear some of my clothes. I told her that I didn't care. Then, with a big grin(咧嘴笑) on her face, she told me that I was going to be a girl. I told her she was crazy but she said that she had overheard my mom's plan and that her mom had brought some of her clothes for me.

    So I went to the living room to see our moms. Then I knew she wasn't lying. There was a wig(假发）on the table and my mom and aunt were both smiling at me. I shook my head and told them “NO WAY!” before they even said a word. My aunt said that it would be really cute. Then Mom told me not to be a stick-in-the-mud. She said that it would be fun and she wanted to see what I'd look like as a little girl. I told them I absolutely would not do it!

    I was still refusing twenty minutes later… when my aunt was putting make-up on me. I was wearing a pink party dress, the blond wig with pigtails(辫子) and earrings. My cousin wore one of my sweatshirts, my jeans and a baseball cap. We were sent to school like that, where I spent a sad day. The kids thought it funny that we were dressed that way and made stupid comments about us. They also played jokes on us and I've never been so uncomfortable.

    I still don't like Halloween to this day!