Nobody is sure where and when the expression “apple-pie order” began. Some say that Scottish and English writers used the expression a long time ago. Others say it was first used in the northeastern American states known as New England. The housewives of New England cut their apples in even slices. Then they filled pie pans with them in an organized way, row upon row. As one writer said, the women of New England loved to have everything in its place. This perhaps explains why it generally is believed that the expression “apple-pie order” began in New England.

    Another old expression, “apple of discord”, comes from ancient mythology(神话), however. The myth says that all the gods and goddesses were sitting around the table to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. One of the goddesses-Discord was a troublemaker. She threw away a golden apple on the table to be given as a prize to the most beautiful goddess.

    At one time, the tomato was called a love apple. That was a mistake. This is how the mistake happened: In the sixteenth century, Spain brought the tomato from South America after Spanish explorers had landed there. Spain then sold the tomato to Morocco. Italian traders carried it on to Italy. The Italian name for the tomato was “pomo di Moro” meant “d'amour” -the French word for love. And so “pomo di Moro” became the apple of love.

    People believe many things about the apple. One belief is that it has great powers of keeping people healthy. A very common expression is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

    Another belief is based on fact. The expression is "one rotten apple spoils the barrel." When an apple begins to go bad, it ruins all the other apples around it in the container. The expression has come to mean that one bad person in a group can cause everyone to act bad.

    Every person has their own way of saying things, their own special expressions. Many everyday American expression are based on colors.

    Red is a hot colour. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their colour and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixicland jazz.

    Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they're in the pink when they're in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the 20th century. It probably came from many babies who were born with a nice pink colour showing good health.

Blue is a cool colour. The traditional blues music in t he United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song—Mood Indigo—about the deep blue colour, indigo. In the words of the song: “You aren't blue till you've had that Mood Indigo.” Someone who is blue is very sad.

    The colour green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural colour for humans. A person who has a sick feeling in his stomach may say he feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.

    Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as his friend's, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars of greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the colour of the back side of the paper money.

    The colour black is often used in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. a blacklist is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.

Dear Derrick ,

    Although under great pressure, we all get on well with each other in this large office. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don't know anyone in the office who is better liked than you .

    You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees' personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two weeding gifts, one funeral remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts .

    It's not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable(and poor), but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don't know them outside the office, who wouldn't even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives.

    This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for), but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today's office setting .

    Thank you for understanding .

    The next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) may be sitting right beneath you, at least if furniture maker Ikea has any say in the matter. The Swedish furniture company's “future-living” research lab in Copenhagen is conducting a survey to understand what people want when it comes to smart furniture.

    AI is now walking into more aspects of people's daily lives. Self-driving cars are just around the corner, and AI robots can play and beat the best players of strategy games. As smart home technologies have become more ubiquitous, products ranging from smart electrical outlets（插座）to smart smoke alarms are flooding the market. Therefore, it's not surprising that Ikea would be moving in the same direction.

    Exactly why people would want their sofa or bed frame to speak to then, track their daily movements or offer help is not yet clear. Though Ikea's the new survey doesn't directly answer that question, it does provide a hint of what people would feel comfortable with. Most participants wanted a more human0like form of virtual（虚拟的）assistants, as opposed to one that is more robotic. In terms of the ideal gender（性别）of the assistants, the most popular choice was neither male nor female. Few wanted a religious form of AI.

    Just as with human friends, most wanted AI friends that were like them, affirming their own worldview. They wanted an AI assistant that was reasonably intelligent-that could collect data to predict what a person wanted before he or she asked, and that could prevent someone from making mistakes.

    This is not the first time that Ikea has set foot in the field or futuristic technologies. In addition to wireless charging tables and chainless bikes that never rust（生锈）, the furniture giant has also pictured smart kitchens that can cook the best meal. To decide on how intelligent you want your next sofa or bookshelf to be, you can take Ikea's survey online.

    Amazon.com has received a patent (专利) right to send its products to customers by drone planes. The company is the largest US-based online seller of products. It delivers those products to customers by mail and other services. Now, the company has received a patent for its planned drone delivery system.

    In March, federal officials allowed Amazon to test its drone delivery plan. But even with a patent and the ability of drones to make deliveries, it does not appear that the company will put its new delivery system in place any time soon.

    The US Patent Office published the document. It describes Amazon's plans to use GPS to deliver products to homes and to wherever people are. The drone will use a customer's mobile device—usually a smartphone—to avoid hitting people or buildings and to find a secure area to land. The company wants to deliver products within 30 minutes after people ordering them on its website.

    However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is worried about the safety. Although it allowed Amazon to test the system, the agency said the operators must be able to see the planes. That greatly limits (限制) the delivery area.

    Loretta Alkalay is a professor at the Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in New York. Although Amazon is not yet offering drone delivery, Professor Alkalay says it will not be long before it does. She says there are worries that the drones will hit buildings or people, or that the products and drones will be stolen or damaged by people on purpose. But she says that is because many people believe the drones would only deliver the products to the front door of a house. "However, it is possible that homes will one day have special areas on their roofs designed to receive product deliveries," she adds.

    Children who qualify for free school meals are twice as likely to be out of work in later life as their better off peers, and even when they get good qualifications at school, the employment gap remains, as a research has found.

    A report by Impetus, a charity that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, found that 26% of those on free school meals (FSM) were not in education, employment, or training (Neet) after leaving school. In contrast, only 13% of non-FSM children ended up Neet.

    The study found that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to get good qualifications, but even when they had the same qualifications as their better-off peers, they were still 50% more likely to be out of education and employment as other young adults.

    The research is based on analysis of longitudinal education outcomes data from the Department for Education, which reveals the impact of having a disadvantaged background on life chances and connects pupils' school records with their employment.

    "Qualifications play a central role," the report said, "and it is well known that disadvantaged young people have worse qualification outcomes than their better-off peers." It added qualifications alone were not enough to explain the difference in Neet rates. "Disadvantaged young people are around 50% more likely to be Neet than their similarly qualified but better-off peers. This is true at all levels of qualifications and regardless of age. This means that half the gap in Neet rates can be explained by qualifications, but half cannot."

    The study also showed how where you grow up affects your life chances—it found that a disadvantaged young person in north-east England is 50% more likely to end up Neet than a disadvantaged young person in London.

    Andy Ratcliffe, the CEO of Impetus, said: "We are breaking a fundamental promise to young people in this country. We tell them that study hard, get your qualifications and good jobs will follow. For many young people this is true. But for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds it isn't. They are less likely to get those qualifications, and even when they do, less likely to benefit from them."