Calorie(卡路里)counts are everywhere. They appear on restaurant menus, milk boxes and bags of baby carrots. Grocery stores display lots of foods packaged with bright and colorful “low-calorie” claims.

A calorie is the measure of stored energy in something—energy that can be released as heat when burned. The term calorie on food labels is short for kilocalorie. A kilocalorie is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. But what does boiling water have to do with your body's release of energy from food? After all, your body doesn't start boiling after eating. It does, however, chemically break down food into sugars. The body then releases the energy to fuel processes and activities throughout each hour of the day.

    Food contains three main types of nutrients that deliver energy: fats, proteins and carbs(碳水化合物). A process called metabolism(新陈代谢) first cuts these into small pieces; Proteins break down into amino acids(氨基酸), fats into fatty acids and carbs into simple sugars. Then, the body uses oxygen to break down these materials to release heat.

Most of this energy goes toward powering the heart, lungs, brain and other vital processes. Exercise and other activities also use energy. If energy-rich nutrients aren't used right away, your body will hoard them—first in the liver(肝脏), and then later as body fat.

    In general, someone should eat the same amount of energy each day as his or her body will use. If the balance is off, they will win lose or gain weight. It's very easy to eat more calories than the body needs. Having two 200-calorie donuts in addition to regular meals could easily put teens over their daily needs. At the same time, it's nearly impossible to balance overeating with extra exercise. Running a mile burns just 100 calories. Knowing how many calories are in the food we eat can help keep the energy in and out balanced.

    College graduation eventually means taking much of your attention in your first job search. This process can be challenging, especially for those students who had second thoughts about their chosen major and intended career path — or those who majored in a field not directly connected to a specific career. If you are in one of these groups, fear not! Although your major, coursework, and academic performance are relevant to landing a job, they are not the only deciding factors on where you can work. So, just how important is your major to your job search?

    Some majors are tied directly to specific career fields. For example, if you wish to become a teacher, you will likely have needed to complete an education program and eventually sit for a licensing exam. Successfully completing a specific major is very important to landing a job in the matching field.

    Other majors, however, are closely related to career paths but don't necessarily require a degree in the area. For example, students who majored in finance or math, may also have the necessary skills to be hired as an accountant.

    Lastly, there are many industries, such as professional sales, education (non-teaching positions), insurance, and customer service management, which hire new graduates from several more majors, looking for more generalized (笼统的) requirements. They may simply want to know the student has completed his or her bachelor's degree, which proves students' college-level math and writing, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

    Hopefully, as a college student, you were able to do more than just attend classes. Your non-academic experiences can be very influential on your future career as well. If you worked or volunteered during college and if you enjoyed these activities, seek out related careers. You may qualify for a position regardless of your major.

    Although it often seems like your college major alone determines your career fate, this just isn't the case. It may influence it, but there are other factors that influence your career options as well. If you don't know what career choices you have, talk to your faculty or academic adviser. You may be surprised at what opportunities await!

    Travel is fun and exciting, but it's not if you get sick. You may think, “Not me, I won't get sick on my vacation. ”But for many people, that is what happens.

    A vacation is supposed to be a time for relaxing. But very often it is not.  “What can I do when I am a tourist?” This is what we should often think about.  Usually there are so many places to visit： museums, shops, parks and churches. You may spend most days walking around these places. This can be very tiring. Your feet may hurt.  And you may have a terrible headache after a few hours. If this is what you feel, you should take a rest. Don't ask your body to do too much. A tired body means a weak body. And a weak body can make you get sick easily. Just sit down for a few hours in a nice spot. In good weather, look for a quiet park bench. Or you can rest at a café. You can learn a lot by watching people when you have a rest.

    Sleep is also important. If you want to stay healthy you need enough sleep.  You may have trouble sleeping at night when you travel. Your hotel room may be noisy, or the bed may be uncomfortable.  If that is true, don't be afraid to change rooms or hotels. You may not get enough sleep for another reason. You may want to stay out late at night. In many cities the night life can be very exciting. Then you should plan to sleep for an hour during the day. That extra hour can make a big difference.

    Finally, if you want to stay healthy, you must eat well. That means eating the right kinds of foods. Your body needs fresh fruit and vegetables, and some meat, milk or cheese. When you are in a new country you may want to try new foods but you need to be careful about how much you eat. Lots of rich food is not very good for you.

    About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚) to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

    We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real (that it made us feel cold).

    The next scene was a complete contrast (对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen(幕).An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

    Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film "stars"!

    He is regarded as having one of the brightest minds on the planet. But outstanding astrophysicist (天体物理学家) Stephen Hawking has admitted that he did not learn to read until he was eight years old.

    In a public lecture at the Royal Albert Hall, Professor Hawking also admitted that he was not active in studying while at Oxford University, where he studied physics, and that only the diagnosis that he might die young from motor neurone (神经元) disease made him concentrate on his work.

    Professor Hawking said: "My sister Philippa could read by the age of 4 but then she was definitely brighter than me." He said that he was unexceptional at school and was never further than halfway up his class. "My classwork was very untidy, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers," he said. "But my classmates gave me the nickname Einstein, so presumably they saw signs of something better."

    But he said that it was when doctors told him that he probably only had a few years to live at the age of 21 that galvanized him into focusing on his work and a period of productivity that resulted in some of his early breakthroughs. He said, "When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and there are lots of things you want to do."

Every day, as I took long walks through North Vancouver, I would think about the potential joys of a physically closer network. Wouldn't it be great to have someone who could join me at a moment's notice? How good would it be to have more non-scheduled hangs instead of ones that had to be planned weeks in advance?

This doesn't have to be just a dream. Although technology is making it easier to maintain long-distance connections nothing can replace seeing friends in person. Researchers have found that happiness spreads "like an emotional contagion (传染)", especially among those who live close together.

Friends who live in the same city could decide to move within walking distance of one another — the same neighborhood, block, or even apartment building. Doing so would likely involve a lot of effort, but the resulting community could pay emotional dividends for years. Doing so would make it easier to support one another materially and emotionally.

Moving close to your friends requires some masterminding. Cities can make doing so easier by ending single-family zoning codes and encouraging a variety of housing types in neighborhoods. But even without official policies, people can make it work on their own. Sam Unger, 32, a food scientist and a friend of mine, has created a chosen family like this in Montreal, where about 15 of her friends live within walking distance of one another. When someone moves away, they try to transfer (移交) their lease (租约) to other friends. And when pals based elsewhere in the city are looking to move, Unger will try selling them on the positives of her neighborhood and sometimes even look for housing for them. "It's funny," she told me. "The other day, I bought a fire extinguisher, and she's like, ‘Oh, well, I have one. You could just call me if you had a fire, and I'd be right over with it.'"