Sidewalks in Chicago were packed during the rush hour. I marched along as quickly as I could. If I didn't get to the station fast I would miss the early train out of the city. That meant even less time to spend at home with my baby.

    On my left was Saint Peter's Church. I'd passed it on the way to the station many times, but today I stopped. Other commuters (使用月票乘车者) rushed around me. I knew I should follow them since my train wouldn't wait. But I had the strangest compulsion to go into the church instead. I hesitated for a moment, but the feeling was strong. I went inside.

    I sat down in a comer. It seemed like ages since I'd sat down to think. Mary Ellen had been born in October, on the very date of her due date, in fact, October 16. A month before my husband, Rick, had lost his job. I often worked as a designer, but I'd planned on taking time off after the baby was born. With Rick out of work, I didn't have the choice. One of us had to find a job fast. I was lucky to find the job I had now. Unfortunately, it wasn't one I could work on at home. Every day I had to take the train into Chicago, a two-hour commute in both directions. I left the house so early and came home so late, so I felt like I barely got to see my baby.

    I was grateful that Rick was at home caring for her, but it was not her mother. Every minute away from her I felt like I was abandoning her.

    Looking around at the windows, I remembered when Rick and I bad first decided to try for a baby. My friend Renee was almost as excited as I was when I told her about it.

    “I've got something for you,” she said one afternoon when I her for lunch. She pulled a medal out of her purse.

    “Fix this to your clothes every day,” she said. “You'll have a baby in no time.”

    Not long after I learned I was pregnant, I was thrilled at first. But little by little I started to worry: Was my baby okay? What if something happened? The doctor assured me things were going smoothly. My family gave me support. Rick tried to encourage me. I even continued to wear my medal. But no matter what anyone said, I couldn't shake off my worries.

    Now that Mary Ellen was born I had new worries about motherhood. Is this how life was going to be from now on, with every stage of my child's life bringing new fears and anxieties?

    I thought of Renee and her gift of the medal, feeling hopeful. On my way to the door I stopped at the gift counter. I'd missed the early train, so there was time to look around. I went over to a box full of angel cards, thinking of Renee. So many things could happen in the future as Mary Ellen grew up, went to school and went out on her own. So many things to worry about. It would take an army of angels to cover them all.

    I saw a familiar face in the box. It almost felt like I was looking at a friend, someone who cared about my baby as much as her father and I did: On the back of the card was a date. “October sixteenth?” I said, not believing my eyes.

    “That's the angel's birthday,” the woman at the counter told me. I nearly burst out laughing right there. Mary Ellen's birthday! Maybe I couldn't be with Mary Ellen every minute. But never again would I worry that she was out of the angers protection, or doubt that she had a special friend.

    A new study suggests a simple getting-to-know-you exercise might improve classroom relationships. The teacher-student relationship affects every aspect of the educational experience. When students don't feel safe and respected by their teacher, they are less likely to devote themselves to their education. And when teacher feel distanced from their students, it is nearly impossible to walk into the classroom each day actively, let alone encourage motivation or investment in students.

    Hunter Gehlbach, a professor, explained that his research is primarily concerned with social perspectivetaking(换位思考), or the ability to understand what drives the people around us. As he explained, "My focus is classrooms and social perspective-taking--figuring out the thoughts and feelings of others seems important. We want teachers to be able to engage in this process and figure out the thought process of students as much as possible, in order to understand where and why they are making mistakes."

    Gehlbach and his colleagues gave 315 students and 25 teachers a "getting-to-know-you" survey of 30 items at the beginning of a school year. The researchers matched similarities between the teacher and the student, and then showed those similarities to the teachers and students. Five weeks later, the researchers returned to start a more indepth survey of both students and teachers, and to measure their opinions of their relationships and the classroom experience as a whole. The second survey showed that when teachers and students know they have five things in common, relationships and educational outcomes both improve.

    Gehlbach explained that the similarities he and his colleagues established were not based on personal information, but on shared preferences. Gehlbach explained: one of the biggest surprises in reading the similarity research was how little some of the similarities were that caused positive feelings towards others.

    Though Gehlbach's study has limitations, he is encouraged by the results and eager to explore the phenomenon further.

    The Harvard Pre-College Program is a nice experience for high school students. Alongside peers(同辈)from around the world, you'll be introduced to college life as you attend classes, live on campus, and enjoy fun outings and activities.

    Learning without limits

    Biology, physics, law, writing and philosophy — these are just a few of the 30-plus courses you can choose from in each session. In our noncredit classes, we set aside grades so that you can fully commit to your growth as a well-rounded student. Class sizes typically range from 14 to 18 students to encourage interactive learning.

    Living at Harvard

    When you attend the Pre-College Program, you'll live in a historic undergraduate house, near Harvard Square. You will be with your fellow Pre-College students, resident directors, and proctors who provide support. You'll also enjoy meals in one of Harvard's dining halls, which are a short walk from Harvard Yard and provide many options for a variety of dietary needs.

    Thriving outside the classroom

    The summer Pre-College Program offers many mentally challenging co-curricular(补充课程的)activities beyond the classroom. With faculty and Harvard-affiliated experts, you will have the opportunity to participate in workshops on topics like the psychology of color-blindness, classic literature from around the world and science of happiness. From our Cambridge scavenger hunt to a trip to the Sand Sculpting Festival at America's first public beach, there's no shortage of fun activities in the Pre-College Program.

    Last year my children gifted me a stainless steel (不锈钢的) coffee plunger (法式按压咖啡壶). I love to start the day with a strong black coffee and couldn't wait to use it. I looked forward to the following morning's coffee making, knowing that I probably wouldn't smash (打碎) this plunger as easily as I had done so often in the past.

    But as I poured my first cup of coffee, the plunger spilled (洒出) all over the table. Thankfully no one was around to see my disappointed face! I kept trying, but each morning would see me wiping up the coffee. Then I realized that if I poured very slowly there would be no spilling.

    This was at first a very painful experience. My normal practice was to rush through breakfast so that I could get on with my day.

    But in time I learned not only to pour slowly but to enjoy the experience: the smell, the taste, and the stillness of a new day.

    It prompted (促使) me to reflect upon whether there were other areas of my life I was rushing through. Most of life, it seemed.

    I started to leave extra time to do even the most ordinary tasks. When shop owners would apologize for keeping me waiting, I'd say, "Not a problem, I'm not in a hurry." Even hanging out washing became pleasurable when a couple of extra minutes of standing still and listening to the birds singing in the trees around me became part of my routine.

    Besides, one of my favorite experiences living in the inner city for many years was sitting on the front doorstep of our home spending time with strangers. We sat on the steps, each of us with a cup of coffee in our hands, listening to each other's stories. It was one of the warmest things about living in a busy city. It was as if the world around us slowed to a pace (步伐) we could both handle.

    Stillness and quietness not only slow the pace of life, but also feed the soul, helping us to enjoy the world's small pleasures.

    The weather affects many aspects of people's daily life. Knowing and understanding what the weather is doing is useful.

    However, the weather is also one of the most unpredictable elements in the world. Although many people watch the morning news and gather the information about the weather, this is often wrong. Whole days can be ruined by believing that the weather will be one thing, when it turns out to be another. However, owning wireless weather stations allows the owners to monitor the weather for themselves.

    Not only will these weather stations allow the owners to see what the weather is doing, but it is personalized(个性化)to them and their area. Wireless weather, stations are specifically prepared for the immediate neighborhood. Plans will be able to be made, and important decisions will no longer be ruined by bad weather.

    Although these weather stations are typically seen in homes, they can also be used very easily on farms and fishing boats. Both farmers and fishermen rely on the weather for their business and using up-to-date weather information is quite indispensable. By using the wireless weather stations, it can determine for them when to harvest crops and head back to the shore. Because of the size of the weather station, they can be moved very easily and used wherever necessary for people.

    The wireless weather stations are great for all homes, especially for areas that suffer from extreme weather conditions. The up-to-date, instant weather reports will allow a person to monitor what the weather is doing and if the bad weather is heading in their direction. Extreme weather tends to come very quickly; therefore, any information that is received is helpful.

    The weather stations are very simple to set up and are run by solar panels(太阳能板), ensuring they will work even if there is a power-cut. They are far smaller than those in previous years and give a couple of very simple read-outs for the owner. They are easy to use and fascinating to understand.

Workers are returning to their careers, or starting new ones after age 65.

More than ever, work is where many of us get our sense of purpose. That doesn't end at age 65. After being retired for only three months, Sue Ellen King returned to work at the University of Florida Health in Jacksonville, Florida, where she had been a care nurse and nursing educator for 38 years. She is now working part-time in a position created just for her. "It's perfect," she told The New York Times. "I get the satisfaction of having people appreciate what I do." With the average lifespan for those who reach age 64 now getting all the way to 84 years old, those who reach retirement age still have many potential years of work to go.

Job sites connected toward part-timers, temporary positions, and some can also turn up opportunities that may lead to longer-term work. Fred Dodd tried a part-time job after his unemployment as a clerk for large banks at age 63. He'd thought about retiring then. "But part of me just wanted to keep working partly for the money, but more just because I felt I wanted to do more in my career, " he said.

The retired have the advantage of not needing to focus on the earnings potential of whatever jobs they take on, so these older workers are attracted to more meaningful work. And since they are voluntarily putting their skills and experience to good use, they may well have more flexibility than mid-career people. Two-thirds of retirees who'd come back to the work world were doing meaningful work they enjoyed. Legal work and community service were popular choices, as was teaching—all areas in which older workers might have an opportunity to make their own schedules.

Earning more money rarely seems like a bad idea, but it can cause issues for retirees, including effects when they claim Social Security (申请社会保障) benefits early.