What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed(展示) at the entrance? Or the soft background music?

    But have you ever notice the smell? Unless it is bad, the answer is, likely to be no. But while a shop's scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.

    A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance, via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for fresheningair. One sports goods company once reposed that when it first introduced scent into its stores, customers' intension to purchase increased by 80 percent.

    When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs, scent is justas important to a brand's success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales. That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.

    Some years ago, the focus forbrand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants' disproving attitude and don't-touch-what-you-can't afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce(e-commerce) has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But whilee-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar stores(实体店) can offer afull experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brandstore seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.

     Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut(椰子) scent in the swimsuit section. A departmentstore has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store's windows to smell books, pots andd rawers, in search of their perfect scent.

     “ Can we go now, Momma?” little Susie asked, pulling on her mom's arm. Her mother did not answer, only stared blankly at the scene below. Crowds of people marched about with what looked like picket(警戒队) signs. Other people gathered around them, shouting angry words that she couldn't make out from this distance. This relatively small town in Missouri had never seen so much action. She and Susie were standing at the top of the only high rise building in town for Susie loved to try to find their house among the rows and rows of little boxes.

    “Momma? ” Susie said in a frightened voice, two seconds before a gun shot went off, making her scream at the top of her lungs. Her mom grabbed her and held her over her shoulder as the tears started pouring. “What was that? I'm scared, Momma!!”

    “Sh Sh Sh,” her momma whispered in a soothing tone, rubbing her daughter's hair. “It's just a bad dream, baby. She said both to herself and Susie.

    Susie looked at her with confused eyes at the same time a fight broke out among some members of each group. The little girl gasped in surprise. “Why are those ants fighting , Momma?”

    “Those aren't ants, sweetie; they're people, or, at least they're supposed to be.”

    “I don't understand what's going on! I'm scared!!” the four-year-old child clung to her momma. “It looks like they're dancing, momma.”

    “Yeah, it sort of does, doesn't it?” her mother said with an air of disbelief. How could the expression of heated anger be so beautiful? It was so wondrously unexpected that it brought soft tears to her eyes.

    “Why are you scared, Momma? It's just bugs dancing,” Susie said with an innocent smile, wiping away her mother's tears.

    Did you know that something as simple as the wallpaper on your computer can tell people a lot about you? According to researcher Donna Dawson,our computers say something about what we're like because they are part of our “personal space.”

    A picture of a child or family on the screen often means the person cares deeply about their loved ones.A photo of the person surrounded by friends shows they value their popularity and probably work well with other people.On the other hand,pictures showing examples of past successes,like winning a prize may mean a person is only interested in themselves.

    Pictures of nature and natural scenery tell people that you are driven to succeed and use the pictures to relax and remove the pressure（压力）in your life.Cityscapes,pictures of cities or towns,show that you enjoy travel and adventure.Most people with cityscapes as their wallpaper are optimistic（乐观的）,happy people who feel even better thinking about the places they've visited or want to visit.

    Pictures of animals show that you are optimistic and kind-hearted.You are often happy and you enjoy life and act young.Cartoons（漫画）or drawings show that you are a multitasker,someone who does many things at once.You have many responsibilities,but you deal with them well.That's one reason you like having something to smile about when you look at your computer wallpaper.

    Then,what does plain blue wallpaper tell us about a person?According to Dawson,a person with plain blue wallpaper probably values their privacy and keeps work from becoming too personal,

    Phone batteries rarely last a full day anymore, so carrying compact chargers (小巧的充电器) is becoming normal. But many of these so-called portable devices are heavy, thick and inconvenient—until Solar Paper is developed.

    Chicago engineers have designed a super-thin, lightweight panel (面板) called Solar Paper capable of charging an iPhone in two hours and many panels can be combined to boost its power. It was created by Chicago-based Yolk. After raising more than $1million online for the production, it is now available to purchase throughout the country. It comes in four versions—2.5W, 5W, 7.5W and 10w—depending on the output needed for various devices. And these different models are created by combining individual 2. 5W panels together.

    A 2.5W panel will charge an iPhone 6 or Galaxy S3 in five hours. The 5W version charges the same devices but cuts changing time to two hours or three hours if it's cloudy. The 7.5W model Solar Paper changes the devices in the same time as the 5W version but produces more energy when it is cloudy. The 10W version is ideal(理想的) for the iPad Air 2, and will charge a device in 2.5 hours. Each individual panel measures 3.5 inches× 6.7 inches×0.6inches, weighs 60g and 1.5mm thick.

    Other features include a unique automatic reset (重置) function which stops and starts the Paper charging when cast with a shadow or placed in sunlight. Other solar chargers require you to re-plug the wire at these conditions. It also has a low-energy LCD screen that displays the amount of power the Solar Paper produces in real time.

    Humans are much worse at estimating risk than we think we are. While we overestimate the risk of rare but disastrous occurrences, such as being attacked by a shark, many of us seriously underestimate the risk of behaviors that reduce our lifespan (寿命), such as smoking.

    In fact, there are two types of risks — acute and chronic. Acute risks are those that may kill you immediately, such as a car accident.

    Chronic risks don't kill you immediately but rob you of your life a little at a time. If you choose to eat an unhealthy diet, for instance, you may appear to be getting away with this, but you risk developing illnesses in future that may shorten your life.

    The problem is we value things much less when they occur in the future. Distant events are abstract — we don't know how and when they might affect us -~ so we care less about them.

    Take smoking for example. It is just about the worst choice you can make for your health. Every two cigarettes that you smoke takes 30 minutes off your lifespan.

    In contrast, eating vegetables is clearly very good for you, with each serve increasing your lifespan by two hours. This is a massive health gain and clearly should be a strong motivator for you to eat healthily.

    Drinking coffee is also good for you, though with limited health gains. Each cup of coffee (assuming you drink reasonably), is associated with approximately a ten-minute gain in your lifespan.

    Even drinking alcohol may add to your lifespan, with each serve adding 30 minutes to the length of your life. But this health gain is only true for the first drink; following drinks shorten lifespan. Alcohol also causes an acute risk when consumed in excess. Too much drinking gives you a 25 in one million chance of sudden death.

    We shouldn't be too nervous about exposure to risks. Life is all about making decisions about risks and rewards, and we all have a different starting point for what we consider acceptable risks to take. Even if we don't always make the healthiest decisions, at least we can make ones that are fully informed.

    As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001, when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.

    In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that l was one of the winners. I just couldn't believe it. Inspired by this, I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.

    One June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn't frightened－I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute （降落伞）, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt－much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.

    Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don't stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there's something you want to experience, look into it. If it's something that is possible, make it happen.