When I was in the fourth grade, I worked part-time as a paperboy. Mrs. Stanley was one of my customers. She'd watch me coming down her street, and by the time I'd biked up to her doorstep, there would be a cold drink waiting. I'd sit and drink while she talked.

    Mrs.Stanley talked mostly about her dead husband, "Mr. Stanley and I went shopping this morning." she'd say. The first time she said that, soda (汽水) went up my nose.

    I told my father how Mrs. Stanley talked as if Mr. Stanley were still alive. Dad said she was probably lonely, and that I ought to sit and listen and nod my head and smile, and maybe she'd work it out of her system. So that's what I did, and it turned out Dad was right. After a while she seemed content to leave her husband over at the cemetery (墓地).

    I finally quit delivering newspapers and didn't see Mrs. Stanley for several years. Then we crossed paths at a church fund-raiser(募捐活动). She was spooning mashed potatoes and looking happy. Four years before, she'd had to offer her paperboy a drink to have someone to talk with. Now she had friends. Her husband was gone, but life went on.

    I live in the city now, and my paperboy is a lady named Edna with three kids. She asks me how I'm doing. When I don't say "fine", she sticks around to hear my problems. She's lived in the city most of her life, but she knows about community. Community isn't so much a place as it is a state of mind. You find it whenever people ask how you're doing because they care, and not because they're getting paid to do so. Sometimes it's good to just smile, nod your head and listen.

    When men get together, they seldom talk about their feelings or inner thoughts. However, they talk about a lot, like their newest computer, how to repair their car, or even business.

    Talk might move to the best place to find fish or women, jump to computer games, then continue to the sport of the season. They also like to tell jokes each other and spend a fair amount of time playing one up and boasting (吹牛). Men seldom call each other to chat.

    When a man meets a woman, he usually wants to make a good impression. Many single men try hard to carry on amusing, fun, and pleasant conversations. They use conversation to discover her interests and feelings in order to learn how to be attractive to her.

    Some men, either out of nervousness or ignorance, spend most of the time talking about themselves, often appearing to brag about their achievements or talk endlessly about their problems or work. Even the quietest man talks to his woman when love is new.

    When women get together, they talk about feelings and relationships, their work and their family. They enjoy talking but also want the give and lake of a talk, then listen. Women often call each other to chat. Conversation is an important part of most women's lives.

    As relationships progress, however, many a man turns on the television and forgets how to talk. This raises anger and cry from his woman partner who says. “You never talk to me anymore.'' Some men start talking. Many, however, mainly discuss their own achievements and problems.

    When the woman starts talking about her favorite subjects: feelings, family，relationships, friends and her work, many men lose interest or bring the conversation back to themselves. Pretty soon, the man is back to staring at the television each night, wondering where his relationship has gone. The woman is talking to her friends, mom, sister, or neighbor, often about that very relationship and how she is hurting.

    Do you find it difficult to put down your mobile phone?

    If yes, you're not alone. These days, many people suffer from the stress of FOMO (fear of missing out). They reach of their mobile phones when they wake up in the morning, and for the rest of the day, they constantly check their social media apps for the latest updates.

    Despite the convenience smart phones bring, many people struggle with their digital habits. This is why Google introduced an app called Dashboard for Android operating system. This new app includes well-being functions that aim to help users manage the time they spend on their digital devices.

    It all starts with a bird's-eye view. Dashboard allows users to look at all the details of their phone habits. For example, a user can see how many times they're unlocked their phone and how many times they're checked their social media apps, as well as how much time they spend on each app every day.

    Once the users see this information, they'll be able to make some changes. With the App Timer function, users can set a time limit for how long they can use each app for every day.

    But even if users become more mindful of their usage, they're still likely to be drawn in by notification（通知）. Such feature automatically（自动地）silences incoming calls and notifications when a user puts their phone face down.

    If people truly want to make full use of their free time instead of losing hours using their smart phones, these new functions are just one way of doing that.

    The easiest answer would be just to use your willpower.

    Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. So he took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.

    Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people's interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.

    Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities(大量) directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.

    By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made a lot of money and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

    Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in today's world. Your friends' lives may look more exciting than yours on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but a new research shows it is because they are faking (伪造) it.

    A recent survey has found around two-thirds of people on social media post images to their personal information to make their lives seem more adventurous. And more than three quarters of those asked said they judged their peers based on what they saw on their Instagrm, Snapehat or Facebook pages.

    The British survey, by smart phone maker HTC, found that, in order to make our own pages and lives appear more exciting, six percent also said they had borrowed items to include in the images in order to pass them off as their own. More than half of those surveyed said they posted images of items and places purely to show off, causing jealousy among friends and family.

    Behavioral psychologist Hemmings said the trend was unsurprising due to the rise of social media. "We're living in a world instant communication." she said. "Fashion and style used to live and die in magazines; now people are in search of authentic, peer-to-peer recommendations as well, making social media an equal power house to magazines and newspaper."

    "With images being shared in an instant, we desire to know what our friends are wearing, or what super stars are buying, as soon as they have got them." Such is the influence of social media sites like Instagram, 76 percent of those asked also said seeing items on social influences them to buy them, with men more likely to take style advice and buy what they see.

    Thirteen hours later we just arrived in Paris after many dramas (戏剧性事件).

    I rented a car, filled it up and moved ahead to Bristol airport that morning. We set off at 8:00 a.m. and all was going well until we got to the turn for Bristol airport. The airport sign (指示牌) suggested we went out from the M5, but Suri asked me to continue going straight ahead, so against my better judgment, I let the airport turn pass us by.

    Next we left for South Wales, the car was back and we had a plane to Paris to catch in a couple of hours. It was about then that I realized we were heading for Wales on a six­road highway. I felt very bad. We turned off the highway and turned into a country road, as directed by Suri and there was a sign saying that the road to the airport was closed. I saw a lady watering her garden and asked her about the best way to the airport. She said we were at least 30 minutes from the airport, but she couldn't help us with the right directions (方向).

    I was so worried as we really were out in the country without any guidance. All I could think of was to turn Suri off and follow the signs myself.

    Then finally after many butterflies in the stomach and feeling like my heart was going to burst (爆裂) out of my chest, there was a proper green sign to the airport and we followed it with so much joy.

    Driving from the airport into Paris was a shock, Lots of homeless people were sleeping under the highways with rubbish everywhere.

Anyway we're now in Paris. The experience of getting lost is now almost laughable. In another 24 hours will be my 50th birthday. I have a big party planned for myself in Paris.