Best friends may be priceless but the cost of keeping the relationship alive is £23,870.

    According to a study, a BFF (best friends forever) does not come cheap with devoted friends spending £4,679 on birthday presents alone over a lifetime. And while it costs nothing to be a shoulder to cry on, big-hearted Britons go the extra mile and spend £168 on pick-me-ups(提神物品) to get their mate through a rocky patch (艰难时刻)like the breakup of a relationship.

    There's a further £242 spent on presents to show how much they mean from gifts bought on holiday to treats for no reason. And distance does not break up a close friendship as BFFs spend a whopping(巨大的) £18,000 on travel to see each other despite being miles apart because of university, jobs and marriage.

    The study by cashback site TopCashBack found on average BEFs who marry can expect £431 spent on them and a further £283 on gifts when they have children. And they can rely on their pals to help out when they move houses as they will obtain £127 worth of housewarming presents and takeaways(a kind of food).

    The survey based on a friendship lasting 40 years found more than eight in ten adults with a BFF felt their friendships were worth every penny.

    TopCashback spokesperson Natasha Smith said: “Those friendships which stand the test of time are often the most important in our lives. However, they come at a cost. From train tickets once a month to flights and a new dress for a wedding on the Italian coast, the price paid for having a best mate can soon add up. But when we asked people to compare their friendship with the financial investment(投资), only 14% thought their friendship was equal to their investment with the vast majority thinking it was worth more."

    Smoking is harmful. But as soon as you quit the habit, everything will be OK, right?

    Wrong

    New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes(基因) will stay there for a much longer time. In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed—a number that is one-third of known human genes.

    According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.

    When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.

    This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years. It's almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥)—it will always be there, even when you've walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

    Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.

Dear God,

    Now that I am no longer young. I have friends whose mothers have passed away. I have heard these sons and daughters say they never fully thanked their mothers until it was too late to tell them.

    I am blessed with the dear mother who is still alive. I appreciate her devotion more each day. My mother does not change, but I do. As I grow older and wiser, I realize what an extraordinary person she is. It's sad that I am unable to say these words in her presence, but they flow easily from my pen.

    How does a daughter begin to thank her mother for life itself? For the love, patience and just plain hard work that go into raising a child? For running after a toddler（学步儿童）, for understanding a moody teenager, and for tolerating a college student who knows everything? For wailing for the day when the daughter realizes what her mother really is?

    How does a grown woman thank a mother for continuing to be a mother? For being ready with advice when asked or remaining silent when it is needed? For not saying “I told you so.” when she could have voiced these words dozens of times? For being essentially herself－loving, thoughtful, patient and forgiving?

    I don't know how to thank her, dear God, except to bless her and live up to the example she has set. I pray that I will look as good in the eyes of my children as my mother looks in mine.

    Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty- three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route—through the boot (行李箱).

    Mr. Johnson's car had finished up in a ditch (沟渠) at Romney Marsin, Kent, after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. "Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly," Mr. Johnson said. "I couldn't force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in."

    Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home, Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.

    Later he said, "It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came."

    It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench (扳手) and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. "It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up."

    His hands and arms cut and bruised，Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer's wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Trembling in a blanket, he said, "That thirty minutes seemed like hours." Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.

    I was 16 when my father finally decided he would send me to wilderness camp for several months. He had threatened to do it many times before, but my mother had always managed to prevent him from doing so. This ti me he insisted on doing it.

    The latest incident was the last straw. Impulsively (冲动地), I had pushed Mr. Ford, my math teacher, down a flight of steps at school. He broke his arm in two places. Anyway, he had agreed not to accuse me as a favor to my dad, who was in the middle of a tight race for sheriff (执法官) in our town. But my reckless behavior had my dad's closest advisor talking.

    "John, he's your son and he's a kid, but he is dragging you down," I heard Jake Hutch tell my dad through his closed office door the night after I pushed Mr. Ford. "If you can't make your son obey the rules, how can you make the law obeyed in this town?"

    So, off to Pisgah National Forest I went. I imagined hours of untold abuse at the hands of some strong sergeants (军士). I was determined not to be broken. I was who I was,

    Nearly every day for six months, a small group of other troubled teens and I carried our 30-pound backpacks on a difficult journey covering about 10 miles. We hiked in a rough wilderness that seemed untouched by civilization.

    Our sergeants were firm but kind, not frightening as I had imagined. We learned how to make a fire without matches and create a shelter with branches and grass. We learned which plants were safe to eat out in the wild. I felt myself change. I was calm and often reflective. My old, impulsive self was gone.

    One morning, six months later, my dad came to pick me up. I ran to hug him and saw happiness and love in his eyes.

    "So what's it like being sheriff?" I asked on the ride home.

    "I lost the race, Danny," he said.

    "I'm sorry, Dad." I knew my behavior probably had a lot to do with the defeat.

    Dad squeezed my shoulder and brought me close. "As long as I don't ever lose you, I'm okay."

    The Best Way to See Singapore. See More for Less!

    City Sightseeing

    $33/A, S23/C, FREE/T

    24 hrs of Unlimited Touring — 9 am to 6 pm

    Duration: 1 Day (unlimited rides)

    Attractions: Civic District Orchard Road, Botanic Gardens, Little India, Chinatown & along the City & Heritage routes

    It is easy to enjoy Singapore with the City Sightseeing open-top touring system Spot an interesting place or sight? Simply hop off and walk around and you can continue the tour later by hopping on the next bus. With I bus arriving every 20 minutes, the City Sightseeing system links you to major sights attractions and hotels!

    Guests Helpline: 6338-6877

    DUCK

    S33/A, S23/C, S2/T

    Daily: 9:30 am — 5:30 pm

    Duration: 60 minutes

    Ride the original DUCK! Hop on this amphibious(两栖的)craft for a sightseeing tour which covers both land and sea!

    Free bus transfer, most popular tour; 1st and original DUCK; unique land & sea adventure

    For More Information, call 6338-6859

    Night Safari(旅行)

    S49/A, $33/C, FREEST

    Tour Time: 6:00 pm — 10:00 pm

    Duration: 4 hours observe the night activities of the 1,000 over noctumal(夜行的)animals in the Night Safari – the world's first wildlife night park, for an adventure you'll never forget. |

    Free & Easy with 2-way bus transfer

    For More Information, call 6338-6826

    Flyer

    $53/A, $37/C, FREE/T

    Open HoursoursHow: Daily 9:00 am — 9:00 pm

    Duration: 30 minutes

    Feast your eyes on Singapore's magnificent cityscape from a height of 165m on the world's largest observation wheel. Get your cameras ready as you experience a 360-degree panoramic view of the city and the Manna Bay area.

    Free bus transfer free river transfer

    For More Information, call 6338-3311

    A — adult, C — children (3- 12), T — toddler (2 & below)