Nearly all of us have a bad habit, whether we know it or not. Some people say they want to get rid of (去除) it but don't know the proper ways. Here's some advice on how to get rid of bad habits.

    Make a list. Write down all the reasons why you want to stop a certain behavior, how it's hurting you and why to get rid of it, this will help a lot. Look at that list regularly.

    Join in other activities. It's wise of you to do something else when you want to stop your bad habit. If you get angry easily, for example, you can practice having a deep breath or going for a walk.

    Give yourself a present. Before you take action against a bad habit, decide what you'll do to celebrate it if you reach your goal.

    Keep off bad habits. If you are fat and want to lose weight, keep junk food out of your house. If you are a heavy smoker with coffee, turn to tea and keep away from friends who like smoking.

    Be patient. Bad habits develop over years, so you probably won't be able to get rid of them quickly. In fact, people often give up several times before being successful, so you should be patient.

    Find support. Don't be afraid to ask for support from friends, family or other people who have the same bad habits as you. When you talk to others, they might be able to provide advice or encouragement that you usually wouldn't get from yourself.

    Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night一as well as during the day, British-based researchers say.

    David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clocks, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.

    Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds' health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night.

    He told people at a conference, "There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy."

    And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, "In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to me saying `You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'.During the breeding(繁殖)season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep."

    Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.

    However, some birds thrive(兴旺)in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas.

    A MENTORING (导师制）program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth. Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.

    Alex Goldberg, the program's founder, said： "We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook." "We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth. For example, we've secured internships (实习）with world-famous firms such as Honda."

    "At a time of funding cutbacks, schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring because of that- It is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures." Kieran Hepbum, 14, is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far. In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) International Youth Forum(论坛).

    The event was held for young people from around the world, to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look. Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event. Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience. Before we left 1 didn't quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn't stop, it was amazing" he said, "We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon."

    The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life. It  dealt with issues(问题）such as drug abuse, violence and unemployment. kieran said： It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August."

    The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury. For details visit www.younginsviratiom.com.

    Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.

    AVOID BIG EVENTS     Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19 Oct.) cost ￡169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost ￡118.15.

    If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid -or you're looking for a big event to pass your time—check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.

    STAY AWAY FROM THE STATION     If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.

    Don't be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge's Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was ￡95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was ￡75.75.And at Farringdon, a double room cost just ￡f62.95.

    LOOK AFTER YOURSELF     Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre buildings. A great example is the historic O'Neill Flat on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, available for ￡420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults.

    A family in Florida had a happy Christmas this year thanks to two local police officers, who answered a 911 call only to discover there was no emergency at all.

    When they arrived at the house of a single mother with two children, the officers discovered the younger child, about two years old, was playing with the phone. There were no signs of Christmas or holiday cheer in the house. "They weren't smiling. It seemed like they weren't happy at all. They were missing something," Officer Paramore said. "The mother mentioned that they weren't going to have a Christmas that year. It was pretty obvious that the family was struggling," he said. "So we told each other that something had to be done."

    Paramore and his partner, Barry Ward, left the house with a plan. The next day, they went to a supermarket and bought a tree, lights and some ornaments (装饰物) with their own money. Then they returned to the apartment to deliver some holiday cheer. "They hugged the tree," Paramore said. "I was glad to see that this family was going to have something to sit around and use." The police department posted the video on YouTube, hoping to share the happy news and inspire others.

    The department has received tons of donations and phone calls from people around the country asking how they can help the family. "We are covered," said Stephanie Slater, public information officer for the Boynton Beach Police Department. "We're asking people to do good in their communities on behalf of our officers. We appreciate it very much that people are talking about this after watching the news on TV because they need to see and need to be reminded that police officers are good guys," she said. "They are human beings who have a kind heart and they do things that go unnoticed like this every day."

    Eating out is such a pleasure ― the food, the wine, the joy of having it all brought to you by someone else—that it's a pity to ruin the experience by sharing it with other people.

    Well, I do like visiting restaurants with friends. But dining out alone has its own very special attractions. For a start you can give all your attention to the food. There's nothing worse than having to invent and deliver an opinion on school league tables or Sanchez's move to Manchester United, plus listen to everyone else's opinions, when all you really want to do is enjoy each mouthful along the way.

    A second great thing about eating out alone is the chance to combine food with one of life's other true pleasures: reading. You have to plan this carefully: Indian or Chinese restaurants are best ― you need food you can eat with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold your reading material.

    But perhaps the biggest attraction of a table for one is the chance it gives to people-watching. Restaurants and the different reasons for visiting them ― first date, business meeting, night out with friends ― produce human behaviour of surprising richness and variety. Will the man selling his business idea get any joy out of his possible investor (投资者)? Will the married couple think of anything to say to each other before their main courses arrive?

    This "human zoo" part of eating out alone is one of the reasons I'd hate to be famous: everyone would be watching you, so you wouldn't be able to watch them. The snooker player Steve Davis says this was one of the strangest consequences (后果) of becoming well-known: he got very worried about his eating in public, almost to the level of doubting whether he was "doing it right."

    So next time you're considering your eating out choices, remember the advice of the businessman Nubar Gulbenkian: "The best number for a dinner party is two ― myself and a super head waiter."