When looking to meet new people, try to be open to new experiences.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here is something new you can experience and hopefully you will have some fun.

    Volunteer. Volunteering can be a great way to help others while meeting new people{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Take a class or join a club.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}In those places, you will meet people with common interests. Websites such as Meetup. com can help you find local groups or start your own and connect with others who share similar interests.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Dog owners often stop and chat while their dogs play with each other. If dog ownership isn't right for you, volunteer to walk dogs from a shelter or a local rescue group.

    Unplug(拔掉插头). It's difficult to meet new people in any social situation if you're more interested in your phone than the people around you.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Making eye contact and exchanging small talk with strangers is great practice for making connections-and you never know where it may lead!

A. Walk a dog

B. Play with dogs

C. Take a class or join a club such as a book group, dinner club, or sports team

D. Volunteering also gives you the chance to practice and develop your social skills

E. For example, you can share your mobile games when you meet with new people

F. Not everything you try will be successful but you can always learn from the experience.

G. So remove your headphones and put your smartphone away while you're waiting for a bus.

    Are you interested in hi-tech products? Here are some that you might find at the market pretty soon.

    CX-1

    Tired of dragging your bag through busy airports? Then you might want to consider CX-1. The smart suitcase uses facial recognizing software to follow its owner as he / she is checking in or heading to the gate. Though CX-1 can only move at a speed of up to seven miles per hour, a tiny tool enables owners to keep track of the suitcase's location. It is expected to be sold on the market by late 2018.

    Aibo

    Sony's latest version of the Aibo robotic dog is aslmost as fun as the real thing—but much less work. The pet dog can recognize its owner, obey several commands, and even recall the behavior that pleases its master the most. Aibo can also learn new tricks, take photographs, and over time, develop its own unique personality.

    Forpheus

    Forpheus, an "athletic" robot developed by Japanese technology company Omron. It teaches users how to play ping-pong. The 10-feet-tall machine uses a camera and artificial intelligence to track the ball's speed and can predict the ball's direction correctly. The smart Forpheus can also quickly test its player's abilities and adjust the playing level, making the game fun.

    Black Box VR

    Though many people determine to go to the gym once a week, few reach their goal. Black Box VR wants to change that by turning hard exercise into fun video games. Using it, gym users will find themselves fighting enemies, including big creatures—all while getting exercise.

    As an old saying in China goes, “The days of the Sanjiu period are the coldest days.” “Sanjiu period” , which is in Minor Cold, refers to the third nine-day period (the l9th to the 27th day) after the day of the Winter Solstice(冬至). There are many different customs related to Minor Cold in China.

    Eating hotpot

    During Minor Cold people should eat some hot food to benefit the body and defend against the cold weather. Winter is the best time to have hotpot and braised mutton with soy sauce. But it is important to notice that too much spicy food may cause health problems.

    Eating huangyacai

    In Tianjin, there is a custom to have huangyacai, a kind of Chinese cabbage, during Minor Cold. There are large amounts of vitamins A and B in huangyacai. As huangyacai is fresh and tender, it is fit for frying, roasting and braising.

    Eating glutinous rice (糯米饭)

    According to tradition, the Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning during Minor Cold. Cantonese people add some fried preserved pork, sausages and peanuts and mix them into the rice.

    Eating vegetable rice

    In ancient times, people in Nanjing took Minor Cold quite seriously, but as time went by, the celebration of Minor Cold gradually disappeared. However, the custom of eating vegetable rice is still followed today. The rice is steamed and is unspeakably delicious. Among the ingredients (原料), aijiaohuang (a kind of green vegetable), sausages and salted duck are the specialties in Nanjing.

    Walk through the Amazon rainforest today and you will find it is steamy, warm, damp and thick. But if you had been around 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age, would it have been the same? For more than 30 years, scientists have been arguing about how rainforests like the Amazon might have reacted to the cold, dry climates of the ice ages, but until now, no one has reached a satisfying answer.

    Rainforests like the Amazon are important for mopping up CO₂ from the atmosphere and helping to slow global warming. Currently the trees in the Amazon take in around 500 million tons of CO₂ each year: equal to the total amount of CO₂ giving off in the UK each year. But how will the Amazon react to future climate change? If it gets drier, will it still survive and continue to draw down CO₂?

    Scientists hope that they will be able to learn in advance how the rainforest will manage in the future by understanding how rainforests reacted to climate change in the past. Unfortunately, getting into the Amazon rainforest and collecting information are very difficult. To study past climate, scientists need to look at fossilized pollen, kept in lake mud. Going back to the last ice age means drilling deep down into lake sediments （沉淀物）which requires specialized equipment and heavy machinery. There are very few roads and paths, or places to land helicopters and aeroplanes. Rivers tend to be the easiest way to enter the forest, but this still leaves vast areas between the rivers completely unsampled（未取样）.So far, only a handful of cores have been drilled that go back to the last ice age and none of them provide enough information to prove how the Amazon rainforest reacts to climate change.

    On October 23, 2016, David Pologruto, a high school physics teacher, was stabbed by his smart student Jason Haffizulla. Jason got straight A's and was determined to study medicine at Harvard, yet this was his downfall. His physics teacher gave Jason a B, a mark Jason believed would undermine his entrance to Harvard. After receiving his B, Jason took a butcher knife to school and stabbed his physics teacher.

    How can someone as smart as Jason do something so dumb? Studies show there is little or no connection between IQ and emotional intelligence.

    During my early university years, I regarded myself as an intelligent guy. I got good marks in mathematics, physics, and other subjects. I thought such skills would surely give me a bright future. After one year of study with decent marks, I began to see two major classes of students. The first category of students turned up to few lectures, partied every weekend, enjoyed a great social life, and did minimal work to pass courses. The second category of students were intelligent and hard workers who got good grades and were very focused on their studies. Surely would these intelligent and hard-working students find the great jobs before the other lazier class of students?

    Not so. Students are often shocked upon graduation that their qualifications are not as important as they once thought. Graduates enter the workforce only to realize that co-workers hate them and less intelligent people are the ones receiving promotions (晋升).

    Educational skills are useless in some industries when interpersonal skills are absent. You can have great ideas, theories, and solve complex problems, but if you cannot effectively communicate with your colleagues, you will face difficult situations. It's not that people dislike you because of your intelligence; it's that people dislike you because you're rude and not understanding. The intelligent person with poor communication skills is unaware of others' emotions.