Exploit your parking space

    An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to £200 or £300 a week. Put an advertisement for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.

    Rent a room

    Spare room? Not only will a lodger（房客）earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won't have to pay any tax on the first £4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.

    Make money during special events. Don't want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.

    Live on set

    Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free—but you will be charged if your home gets picked.

    Use your roof

    You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment(around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.

    Do you love holidays but hate the fact that you put on weight (增加体重) after the holidays? You are not alone.

    Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.

    With proper planning, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don't have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may help you.

    Do not miss meals. Before yon leave home for a feast(宴会), have a small, low-fat snack. This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods.

    Begin with clear soup, fruit or vegetables.

    A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full.

    Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.

    Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them.

    Choose lean（瘦的） meat. Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables.

    If you have a sweet tooth, try mints (薄荷) and fruits. They don't have fat content as cream and chocolate.

    Don't let exercise take a break during the holidays. A 20-minute walk after a meal can help burn off excess calories (多余的热量).

    Reader: For six years, I've run an office that has two employees: me and my boss. He used to be so appreciative that I didn't mind doing a little extra, but about two months ago, he started being rude and demanding. Now he even yells when I don't have time to bring his favorite wine to his home after work.

    This change started when we met a wealthy new customer, who is a huge jerk (古怪的人) — my boss's new behavior is just like his.

    My boss is a good man; he and his family have treated me like a little sister. Is there a good way to discuss this with him?

    Karla: Sounds like your new customer has set a bad example to your boss. You need to remind your boss that you're in his corner— but you're not his slave. My suggestions are as follows.

Start with a simple question in a calm moment: "Is everything okay?"

State the truth: "Until recently, I've felt like a valued teammate. But our relationship has become tense. Your expectations of me seem to have changed. Although I used to do occasional personal businesses for you as a favor, now it seems expected."

Draw your lines: "If you think my job description needs to change or my performance is not good enough, let's discuss that. Otherwise, I need you to stop yelling at me and to respect my personal time."

Ideally, you'll get an apology and a promise to do better. After that, it's a matter of reinforcement (加强) . If he starts yelling, look at him with a calm expression. After he cools down, restate his request and add, "Is that correct?" For the unreasonable request, such as fetching his favorite wine after work: "I'm afraid I can't take care of that for you." If he keeps acting like a jerk, there are bosses out there who will better respect your time and talent.

    Karla L. Miller is ready to hear your work dramas. Send your questions to wpmagazine@washpost.com.

Something Fun

    A person is on trial for murder in a court room in Oklahoma. There is strong evidence indicating that he is guilty（有罪的）. However, the body is not found.

    In the defense's (辩护方) closing speech, the lawyer, knowing that his client (委托人) is guilty and that it looks like he'll probably be seriously punished, decided to play a clever trick.

    "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury (陪审团), I have a surprise for you all," the lawyer says as he looks at his watch. "Within one minute, the person assumed dead in this case will walk into this court room," he says and he looks towards the court-room door. The jury, somewhat surprised, looks at the door eagerly. A minute passes. Nothing happens.

    Finally the lawyer says, "Actually, I made up the previous statement. But you all waited with expectation. I, therefore, put it to you that there is a reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and insist that you pass a judgment of not guilty."

    The jury, clearly confused, back off to discuss.

    A very few minutes later, the jury returned and one of them pronounces a verdict (裁决) of guilty.

    "But how?" asks the lawyer in surprise  "You must have had some doubt; I saw all of you stare at the door."

    Answers the jury member, "Oh, we did look. But your client didn't."

    A society that lives by the plastic fork may very well die from it. That's how things are looking. Anyway, for a world so used to disposable(一次性的) habits, any hope for a solution(解决方案) also increasingly seems to be buried.

    Sure, there have been some hopeful ideas. Boyan Slat, the Dutch inventor developed a plan for Covering the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Not long after it started, Slat's system experienced "material fatigue(疲劳)"-likely the result of being strained(使受到压力) by all that trash-and the task was delayed.

    All the while, the plastic increases. Its growth is very fast, according to Linda Wang, a professor of chemical engineering at Purdue University. She says, "We'll have more plastic than fish by 2050." Yet Wang, along with other researchers at Purdue, may have a solution not only to this plastic problem, but also to the growing need for clean energy.  Her team has developed a system that turns waste, a durable, lightweight material that accounts for about a quarter of all plastic waste, into a highly pure form of gasoline.

    Publishing their findings in the journal Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, the scientists' state that instead of making plastic go away, they can break it down and reuse it, using chemistry to destroy what chemistry brought to the world when plastic was developed back in 1907.

    The process uses "supercritical" water-heated to around 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit),beyond the key point at which distinct liquid and vapor phases(气液态) exist-to boil plastic waste into an oil, the researchers explain. It takes a couple of hours for the supercritical water to complete the transformation, but the result is a kind of oil that can be used as gasoline or fuel. It can also be turned into other products.

    The researchers have only made the transformation in a laboratory setting so far, but they suggest turning the process to a commercial scale(规模) may not be far off. And considering the 300 million tons of plastic into the environment every year, that day can't come soon enough. But it will come in time.

Intelligence is traditionally viewed as the ability to think and learn. Yet in a complex world, there's another set of cognitive (认知的) skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink. Therefore, my aim in this book is to explore how rethinking happens by seeking out the most convincing evidence and some of the world's most skilled rethinkers.

The first section focuses on opening our own minds. You'll find out why a forward-thinking businessman got trapped in the past, how a Nobel Prize-winning scientist welcomes the joy of being wrong, how the world's best forecasters update their views, and how an Oscar-winning filmmaker has productive fights.

The second section examines how we can encourage other people to think again. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments and an African-American musician persuades people to abandon discrimination (歧视). You'll discover how a special kind of listening helped an officer convince the opposing side to join in peace talks. And if you're a Yankees fan, I'm going to see if I can convince you to root for the Red Sox.

The third section is about how we can create communities of lifelong learners. In social life, a lab that specializes in difficult conversations will cast light on how we can communicate better about debated issues like climate change. In schools, you'll find out how educators teach kids to think again by treating classrooms like museums, and approaching projects like rewriting time-honored textbooks. I close by examining the importance of reconsidering our best-laid plans.

This book is an invitation to let go of knowledge and opinions that are no longer serving you well, and to establish your sense of self in flexibility rather than consistency. If you can master the art of rethinking, I believe you'll be better positioned for success at work and happiness in life. Thinking again can help you generate new solutions to old problems and revisit old solutions to new problems. It's a path to learning more from the people around you and living with fewer regrets.