A girl became a volunteer in the activities of Deathbed Care, which meant visiting and taking care of a patient suffering from an incurable disease with days numbered.

    The girl was assigned to look after an old man suffering from cancer whose children lived abroad. Their living conditions were not satisfactory while the old man had a lot of savings. She was expected to comfort him and keep up his spirits.

    Every Saturday the girl came on time to keep him company, telling him stories. When he was having an intravenous drip (静脉滴注), she would help massage his arms. The doctor found the patient much improved mentally. The old man began to involve himself actively in the medical treatment and he seldom shouted at others.

    But something that happened made the doctor uneasy and puzzled. Each time the girl left, the old man would give her some money. The doctor did nothing to interfere (干涉), unwilling to offend the old man. A month later the old man showed evident signs of decline after suffering coma (昏迷) a few times.

    When rescued from the latest coma, the old man told the doctor his last wish, “I have deep sympathy for the girl. Will you be kind enough to help her finish her studies？”

    But the doctor knew that her family was well­off and she had no difficulty pursuing her studies.  Sometimes she even came to the hospital in her father's car.

    When the girl came at the weekend after the death of the old man, the doctor told her the bad news. She was very sad and burst into tears. Then she handed $ 500 to the doctor, saying, “The old man had all along thought I came to do the job because of poverty. He gave me money so that I could continue my schooling.” Now he got the answer to the puzzle. In the last period of his life, the old man found it a real pleasure to be able to help a girl badly in need.

    A new study suggests that people who drank a certain amount of alcohol（酒）had a lower risk of cancer and death than those who drank more or none during a nine-year period. And with each additional drink a week, the risk of cancer and death from any cause increased, the scientists reported.

    However, the study found only an association between alcohol and cancer and death, and did not prove cause and effect, the researches said. What sets the new study apart, said lead study author Andrew Kunzmann, is that previous studies looked at cancer and death separately. “What our study does is combine the two outcomes together and we find that lighter drinking is associated with the lowest risk of cancer or death,” Kunzmann said.

    But Kunzmann noted that the participants（参与者）were all older adults. That means that “we're not really showing what happens in younger people if they drink,” he said. Also, it's difficult to account for other lifestyles that could have affected the results. “These could also influence health. But the results did take into consideration differences in diet, smoking and education among participants,” Kunzmann noted.

    The researchers said that they hope their study sparks conversation about reducing the suggested alcohol intake in countries' guidelines. “We're not telling people what they can or can't do or what they can or can't drink,” Kunzmann said. “We're just trying to give them reliable evidence so that they can make their own informed, healthy decisions.”

    The lower East Side is neither rich nor beautiful, but it can be a good place to shop.

    On Sundays, its streets are crowded with visitors and shoppers like these. They are trying to find a coat or a pair of shoes at a good price.

    Most people prefer to shop in the big department stores like Macy's, Gimbel's, or Bloomingdale's because there they can find clothing, furniture, toys, and food in one store.

    Some people like the smaller stores of Greenwich Village or other areas when they are looking for an unusual present.

    Some streets have only one kind of stores. Bracelets (手镯) and rings shine in the windows of Canal Street, and wedding dresses fill the stores of Grant Street. There are streets for furs(皮大衣), and, in one area, there are 600 shops for antiques (古玩)! Fifth Avenue is the most famous place to shop, and it is usually the most expensive. There you can find the latest styles from Paris, Italy, or New York. You can spend thousands of dollars on Fifth Avenue, or you can just window shop and admire the sights for free.

    Five people are talking about working from home.

Chris: I'm a language graduate and I've been translating from Italian to English for most of my career. We've been in Milan for nearly 20 years and I've been working from home for 12 years, since my first child was born. I've found that my work-life balance has been easier to manage since I started working from home—and it needs to be easy to manage when you've got children.

    Miranda: I'm a writer and I've been working from home for the last 18 months. I must say it's been pretty difficult. For one thing, I've been paying a lot more for heating. And I've missed the office gossip. To be honest, it's quite lonely. I almost wish I could go back to my old job.

    Jordan: Working from home has really changed my life. I love it. I love being my own boss. I've been working from home as a website designer since I left my last job in 2004. I have a bit more time these days. I've bought myself a new guitar and I've been taking guitar lessons for the last six months.

    Ahmed: It's not for everyone, but I like working from home. I do contract(合同) work in design. The best thing is that I don't have to commute(通勤) to work on crowded trains. I've had lots more time and I've been learning a new language since I started working from home in January. I've always wanted to learn Spanish.

    Rageh: I'm German but I've been living abroad for five years. I've been working in marketing for a pharmaceutical(制药的) company near London and I've been working from home part of the time since January. I work from home three days a week and commute to the office twice a week. I was very lucky to get this opportunity. When I work from home I get up late and work late in the evenings. I've never been a morning person.

    Car washes are a common sight throughout Nigeria, but Madinat Aliyu's roadside business is very special: she is the only woman car-washer in the north of the country.

    "This job has caused me a lot of problems," said the 27-year-old, checking cars waiting to be cleaned in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state.

    Aliyu took up her work two years ago, hoping to use the 7, 000 naira (£28) she earned every month to put her younger sisters and brothers through school following the death of their mother, the only one who made money to support the family. But her family begged her to stop doing this job, and she has received "judgment and warnings" from strangers too.

    "My grandmother cried for many days. Some people thought it was a joke to bring more customers (顾客). Others said if she is doing it for money, let's just give her money to stop bringing us shame," she said as she got water from a well by the roadside. "But I hate laziness or depending on somebody else."

    However, Aliyu has admirers. "Some customers only allow her to wash their cars," said her colleague (同事) Shamsudeen Mohammed. "I was trained to wash cars by men, and I can honestly tell you women are better to work under," he added.

    Recently another woman came to Aliyu to ask for advice on starting her own car wash. "Unfortunately her family discouraged her. I told her, if you listen to them, you will find yourself begging or marrying a man who is older than your grandfather," she said.

    Though she is considered a pariah (贱民) by many, Aliyu has no plans to stop her work. "I see men doing something and I think I can do it too."

    When I was young, I read many kinds of books, including fairy tales. Most of the books described heroes who were handsome and heroines who were beautiful. So, I believed I had to be beautiful if I wanted to become a great person.

    As I grew up, I began to realize outer beauty was not so important to make someone good. I remember a friend of mine, Janie, who was so beautiful that every classmate wanted to talk with her, but she was very arrogant(傲慢的).

    She believed that she could do everything she wanted because she was so beautiful, but she lost friends one by one. My poor friend! But she learned a good lesson: inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. After she learned that, she changed her attitude and made friends again.

    Whenever I see TV advertisements, I feel that these things make us believe beauty is very important—especially physical attractiveness. Although we say that inner beauty is more valuable, we often look to plastic surgery to make us more beautiful. There seems to be a boom(流行) in plastic surgery. It is surprising to realize the number of people who try it is increasing day by day.

    We know good-looking guys usually get higher scores on job interviews. So, what is real beauty? I want to say that inner beauty is the real one because if someone has beauty in his soul, he looks like a really beautiful person.

    The beauty looked at with eyes doesn't last forever. Instead of concentrating on outer beauty, we should concentrate on inner beauty. The point is that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. So, if we make the effort to make our minds beautiful, we'll be happier.