They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-dateaccessories(配饰). Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies. A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favoring the same high street looks worn by those half their age.

    Professor Julia Twiggy, a social policy expert, said,“Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more requently than they did when they were young in the 1960s. In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter. It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years—now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to. Fashion is alot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly.”  Professor Twiggy analyzed family expending data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same—about 5 or 6 percent of spending, the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply.

    The professor said,“Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East. In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almostall of our clothes are sourced elsewhere. Everyone isbuying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them."

    Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs herown fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected by celebrity style than in previous years. She said,“When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them. Older women are much more aware of celebrities. There's also the boom in TV programmers showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties. When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now theyare what I would call ordinary women. My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago.”

       Although I started learning English during my college years, when I entered the States, I only understood two English words “Yes” and “No”. We learned many grammar rules but we could not make the language connections to the real English world. Language frustration worries almost all first generation immigrants. For example, I got a letter from a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for a long time and has a good IT job saying “My 11-year-old girl writes quite well, but as her parents, we could not even read her article.”In addition, my Chinese-American professor friend has difficulty reading a novel. Improving our English skills has become a long journey for all of us. Honestly, if I have a chance, I really want to reach out to everyone in the world who has had a similar experience: learning a second language in adulthood. I wish I could encourage them to speak out about the culture shock, frustration they felt about the differences between West and East.

     I have mainly focused on my English writing since 2008 after I found “Literacy Volunteers”, an organization that specially focuses on helping immigrants improve their English. I decided to challenge myself, writing a story like an American. I saw many wonderful Americans there. As soon as I met my teacher Alice, I asked her to be my private language tutor and have taken Tims English class. Every week Alice and I have worked on my English essays sentence by sentence.

     To observe the culture differences between West and East, occasionally, I posted a few of my English essays online. I mentioned previously about American culture; when people read the same article or even face the same situation, American and Chinese act very differently. In my viewpoint, these differences make America the strongest country in the world. I know you have the right to express your own opinions, but accusing others without proof is not acceptable.

    A billionaire has recently made one of the biggest charitable（慈善的）donations to a university in China's history. Chen Tianqiao donated $115 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to help advanced brain research. The donation will be spent deepening the understanding of how the brain works. Chen has been interested in brain research, believing it can shape the industries such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. However, this huge donation has caused heated discussions among Chinese scholars and internet users alike.

    Many criticized him for choosing to give money to a foreign university rather than home institutes for brain research, which are developing fast and are on track to catch up with the US in just a few years. Rao Yi, a biologist at Peking University, even said the donation was a typical mistake.

    Others, however, support his choice. They believe Caltech is a more reasonable choice compared with Chinese research institutions. Caltech has a long history and has taken a leading position in biology, and therefore it produces more efficient results. In addition, the results of the research benefit not only the American people, but also the rest of the world.

    A similar controversial case started two years ago when Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China, donated $15 million to Harvard University to help disadvantaged Chinese students.

    Many believe that China is still behind in the management and use of donated money, and that as a result, Chinese charity donators are looking abroad. In comparison, Western countries like the US, which have a long history of donating money, have well-developed systems that use money efficiently. They can also provide full access for donors who want to track the use of the money. To get more donations, Chinese universities should be braver and more honest. They need self-reflection, rather than envy.

    Paul and Jason were brothers who lived and worked on neighboring farms. For 35 years they farmed side by side, sharing machinery and goods as needed, without a single problem.

    However, one autumn, things changed. It began with a tiny disagreement about a horse, which grew into a major difference. The difference led to angry words, followed by weeks of silence between the two brothers.

One morning there was a knock on Paul's door. He opened it and saw a builder holding his toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days' work." the builder said. "Are there any jobs here I could help with?"

"Yes," answered Paul, extremely pleased to see the builder. "I do have a job for you. Look at that farm across the creek(小溪).That's my brother's farm. That creek used to be a grass field, but last week my brother dug a path from the river and made the creek. But I'll go him one better. See that pile of wood? I want you to build me a fence, two meters tall, so 1 won't need to see him anymore."

The builder said thoughtfully. "I think I understand the situation and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

    Paul had business in town that day and left the builder to his work. When he returned, the builder had just finished his job. Paul was shocked. Instead of a fence there was a bridge, stretching from one side of the creek to the other.

As Paul stood on the bridge, staring in amazement, his younger brother Jason, came across, and took Paul's hand. "You are a good man to have built this bridge after all I've done," said Jason.

Then, Paul, with tears in his eyes, said to the builder who was packing his bag to go, "Thank you so much. Please stay. I have much more for you to do."

"I'd love to." the builder said quietly, "but, I have many more bridges to build."

    A girl had to usually face adversity(逆境). One day, she couldn't help complaining to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She didn't know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

    Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them into the water and boil, without saying a word.

    The daughter waited impatiently, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He made the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in another bowl. Then he poured the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her, he asked, "What do you see?" "Carrots, eggs and coffee," she replied.

    He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma(香味). She humbly asked, "What does it mean, Father?"

    He explained that each of them had faced the same hardship, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot had been strong and hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been easily broken. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after going through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water. "Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

    How about you, my friend? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity you move back and become soft and lose your strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a flexible heart? Were you a liquid spirit, but after a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff heart? Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you.

    Ask yourself how you handle adversity. Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

    A smile will tell people around you that you are a kind and friendly person. However, many people don't smile because they think they have ugly teeth. For example, one of my classmates, Mike, doesn't have very nice teeth, so that is why he seldom opens his mouth. He even says that he has lost confidence because of his teeth. So it is very important for us to look after our teeth. In fact, a lot of people have this problem. Some people inherit tooth problems from their parents, while others' teeth are damaged because of bad habits, like heavy smoking, eating too much sugar or not brushing teeth often. If your teeth are in bad shape, you should see a dentist and ask for help. They can help improve your teeth and tell you how to take care of them.

    Smiling can help you feel more confident and make people think of you as a more friendly person. If you want to keep healthy, you should not only smile but also laugh. An Indian doctor called Kataria said that young children should laugh about 30 times a day, while adults should laugh between 7 and 15 times a day. So please take this chance to smile and laugh now.