Shoppers in the UK are spending less money on toilet paper to save money, research has shown.

    Penny saving UK consumers choose cheaper products from discounters such as Aldi and Lidi rather than expensive alternatives.

    This has wiped 6% off the value of the soft tissue paper market in the UK. It has reduced from £1.19 billion in 2011 to £1.12 billion in 2015, according to a new report from market research company Mintel. Furthermore, the future of the market looks far from positive, with sales expected to fall further to £1.11 billion in 2016.

    In the last year alone, despite an increase in the UK population and a rise in the number of households, sales of toilet paper fell by 2%, with the average household reducing their toilet roll spending from £43 in 2014 to £41 in 2015.

Overall, almost three in five people say they try to limit their usage of paper – including facial tissue and kitchen roll    to save money. “Strength, softness and thickness remain the leading signs of toilet paper quality, with just a small part of consumers preferring more expensive alternatives, such as those with flower patterns or perfume,” said analyst Jack Duckett. “These extra features are considered unnecessary by the majority of shoppers, which probably reflects how these types of products are typically more expensive than regular toilet paper, even when on special offer.”

    While consumers are spending less on toilet paper, they remain particular about it when it comes to paper quality. One in 10 buyers rank toilet rolls made from recycled paper among their top considerations, clearly showing how overall the environment is much less of a consideration for shoppers than product quality. In a challenge for makers, 81% of paper product users said they would consider buying recycled toilet tissue if it were comparable in quality to standard paper.

    As a Fulbright（富布莱特法案基金）scholar at Yale, I wanted very much to get some individual help from some famous professors, but their office-hours were only once a week and there were always students waiting outside. At first, I was too polite to get their help. Then I realized that Chinese politeness does not work in this society. I needed to be aggressive to get what I wanted. I also noticed that Chinese students or Asian students were very polite in class while American students often interrupted the professor, asking questions and dominating the discussion. The Chinese students were not as aggressive as American students.

    I was impressed by the role of the professor in the class. The professor didn't act as an authority, giving final conclusions, but as a researcher looking for answers to questions together with the students. One linguistic feature of his interacting with his students was that he used many modal verbs-far more than I did in Beiwai. When answering questions, he usually said: “this is my personal opinion and it could be wrong. It would be a good idea if you could read the book I mentioned the other day.” Or,“ You may find the book I recommended helpful.” Or,“You could be right, but you might find this point of view also interesting.” When making comments on students' performances, the professor usually said:” It might have been much clearer if you had taken in some of the ideas we discussed earlier this semester.”

    In China, authorities are always supposed to give wise decisions and correct directions. Therefore students always expect the professor to give an answer to the question. I still remember how annoyed they were when foreign teachers did not provide such an answer. Their expectations from authorities are much higher than those of American students. Once the Chinese students got the answer, they were sure about it. That is why they make far more certain statement than American students. That is why Chinese students find it difficult to use modal verbs because the function of modal verbs is to provide room for negotiation and different ideas.

    What do you often do when you wait for a bus or a train at the station?

    Tom arrived at the bus station quite early for Paris bus. The bus for Paris would not leave until five to twelve. He saw a lot of people waiting in the station. Some were standing in line, others were walking around. There was a group of schoolgirls. The teacher was trying to keep them in line. Tom looked around but there was no place for him to sit.

    He walked into the station cafe. He looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. He found a seat and sat down before a large mirror on the wall. Just then, Mike, one of Tom's workmates, came in and sat with Tom. "What time is your bus?" asked Mike. "There's plenty of time yet," answered Tom. "Well, I'll get you more tea then," said Mike.

    They talked while drinking. Then Tom looked at the clock again. "Oh! It's going backward!" he cried. "A few minutes ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven."

    "You're looking at the clock in the mirror," said Mike. Tom was so sad. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. Since then Tom has never liked mirrors.

    We all know that exercise is good for your health. But some kinds of exercise may be better than others.

    Running, for example, may help to protect against heart disease and other health problems. Running may also help you live longer. Researchers say it is not important how far you run. It also does not matter how fast or even how often you run. As advertisements for the running shoes Nike say, “Just Do It.”

    Recently researchers studied more than 55,000 adults. About one-fourth of the adults reported running regularly. The study found these runners were considerably less likely than non-runners to die of any form of disease, including heart disease. In fact, the runners lived, on average, three years longer than the non-runners.

    This study lasted 15 years. During that time, more than 3,400 of the individuals died. About 1.200 of the deaths were linked to heart disease, hear, attack or stroke.

    One of the researchers is a man named D.C. Lee, a professor of Iowa State University Compared to non-runners, he said, runners showed a much lower risk of dying from some diseases. “Compared to non-runners, runners showed 30 percent lower risk of death by any causes, including heart attack, stroke and cancer. Also, runners compared to non-runners showed 45 percent lower risk of death by cardiovascular diseases（心血管疾病）, including heart attack and stroke.”

    D. C. Lee and the other researchers found that speed, distance and how often one runs made little difference in reducing the risk of death. The runners in the study averaged between 10 and 16 kilometers per hour. Mr Lee said slower runners and those who only ran once or twice a week were helped nearly as much as those who ran faster and further. “And also we looked at the inning over time and we found that persistent runners（over six years）showed the biggest benefits, as well.”

    Travis is the manager of G&G where he is responsible for forty employees (雇员)and profits (利润) of over $2 million per year. He's never late to work. He does not get upset on the job. When one of his employees started crying after a customer screamed at her, Travis took her away. "Your working uniform is your shelter," he told her. "Nothing anyone says will ever hurt you. You will always be as strong as you want to be."

    Travis picked up that lecture in one of his G&G training courses, an education program that began on his first day and continues throughout an employee's occupation. The training has, Travis says, changed his life. G&G has taught him how to live, how to focus, how to get to work on time, and how to master his emotions (情绪). Most importantly, it taught him willpower.

    At the center of that education is an extreme focus on an all-important habit; willpower. Dozens of cases show that willpower is the single most important habit for a person's success.

     And the best way to strengthen willpower is to make it into a habit. "Sometimes it looks like people with great self-control aren't working hard—but that's because they've made it automatic," Angela Duckworth, one of the University of Pennsylvania researchers said. "Their willpower occurs without them having to think about it."

     The company spent millions of dollars developing programs of study to train employees on self-control. Managers wrote workbooks that serve as guides to how to make willpower a habit in workers' lives. Those courses arc, in part, why G&G has grown from a sleepy company into a large one with more than seventeen thousand stores and profits of more than $10 billion a year.

    "What kind of rubbish are you?" This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it has aroused complaints over the past week. On July 1st the city introduced strict rubbish-sorting regulations as a model for the country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and throw it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ask the nature of one's rubbish, otherwise, they will face fines or worse.

    Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9 million tonnes of garbage a year, more than London's annual output and rises quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Individuals who fail to recycle could be fined up to 200 yuan (＄29). For repeat, the city can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to obtain bank loans or even buy train tickets.

    Some object to this. Peng Feng of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences warns that the use of the credit system is overkill, raising a risk that officials will abuse their power. But others say a tough campaign is necessary. "Slowly people will get used to it," says Li Changjun of Fudan University.

    Many residents support recycling but are frustrated by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or harmful, the distinctions among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules surrounding food waste. They must put it straight in the requisite public bin, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss (撕开) it by hand. Most upsetting are the short windows for throwing rubbish, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out; no one wants to look bad.