It seems that no one can live a happy life without friendship. While a great number of people expect others to be their friends, they don't give friendship back. That is why some friendships don't last long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules: be honest; be generous; be understanding.

    Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest, you may lose your friend's trust. Good friends always depend on one another to speak and act honestly.

    Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them, you help your friend know better.

    Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with each other. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so that you can understand the problem better.

    No two friendships are exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practice honesty, generosity and understanding.

    A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women's shoes.

    Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.

    A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy's, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Roth Martin is the company's co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for women's feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press them through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers are then combined together. This is done by a 3D machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes. The knitted stuff and the inner part of the shoe are then attached to the shoe's outer part, called the sole (鞋底). This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.

    Rothy's shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $ 125 or $ 145 per pair, depending on the design. After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew. Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. “We're not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have a limitless supply of material, and I think that is a good sign for our future.” When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled materials to make other products.

    For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.

    PhoneSoap: Charge and Clean Your Phone

    You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phones touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won't surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them—specifically, the bacteria called E. coli.

    The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of PhoneSoap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation (辐射) used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges.

    “There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones,” says Wes Barnes, the PhoneSoap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. “He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones,” said Barnes. “In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines.”

    PhoneSoap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you'd plug it into the PhoneSoap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes says, “The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully.”

    The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PhoneSoap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling PhoneSoap nonstop. “We're shipping almost more than we can handle each day,” Barnes says. “It's been a great adventure.”

    Ms. O'grady, the head of Britains Trades Union Congress, issued a challenge on September 10th. "We can win a four-day working week, "she told members. The demand is far from new. Shorter working weeks have been tried in New Zealand and Sweden, wherein happier, healthier and more motivated employees. Those who work shorter weeks are also reported to be more productive. Should weekends, therefore, be lengthened?

    France's experience suggests workers may not leap at the chance of working for fewer hours. The government reduced the full-time workers week to 35 hours in 2000. Last year the French worked 38.9 hours a week on average, seeming happy to labor above the required level and pocket the extra pay or holiday allowance.

    And businesses may not seize the opportunity either. Working less may be linked to higher productivity (on a per-hour basis), but overall output could still fall because of the smaller number of hours worked. That will not get governments or employers excited.

    Advocates of a four-day week could claim that improving people's quality of life is more important than boosting the economy. In an essay published during The Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes wrote of an "age of leisure and abundance" in which technological advances would allow people to work 15-hour week.

    Unfortunately for any readers working hard on a Friday afternoon, Keynes jumped at his conclusion too soon. Even Ms. O'grady, now demanding a longer weekend, is pessimistic in her timescale. A four-day week is apparently achievable “in this century”.

    They say the average person makes 35, 000 decisions a day. Yet in her new book, How Woman Decide, Therese Huston explores a widespread phenomenon that many women fail to notice. "There's a huge double standard when it comes to how men and women are viewed as decision﹣makers," explains Therese, a psychologist from Seattle University. Therese decided to write the book after looking at her bookshelf: At one end, there were bestselling books about how to be a clever decision﹣maker ﹣ all written by men and featuring interviews with men like athletes. At the other end were books aimed at women on gaining leadership skills and confidence.

    "Once those women are at the table, will their decisions be taken as seriously as men's？" Therese wondered. "Men are respected as decision﹣makers more than women, especially in the workplace, largely because there's this cultural belief that women are unable to make smart choices at work. "

    So, Therese set out to pick apart the stereotypes（固有印象）to see what scientific research had found. "Scientific research shows that men and women struggle with decision-making equally. The only disadvantage I found was that during the teenage years-teenage girls are more indecisive than teenage boys. Otherwise, there's little difference between the genders（性别）.

    However, there are some differences. "Women are more collaborative（协作的）, "says Therese. "A female boss is more likely to ask the opinions of those around her when making a choice. Women ask for input, which helps make better decisions. However, this is often seen as a weakness rather than a strength.

    Therese also found that during times of stress, men and women make different choices, and the outcomes are often better when women are involved.

    Study after study backs this view up. Neuroscientists Mara Mather and Nicole Lighthall from the University of Southern California studied the way men and women make decisions and found that in times of stress, they react very differently.

    During their study, which involved playing a virtual gambling（赌博）game, they found that when the females became stressed, they made smart decisions ﹣ quitting while they were ahead or taking safe bets. But when the men became stressed, they did the opposite, risking everything for a slim chance of a big win.

    One day, I was in class, feeling fine, when all of a sudden my heart started racing. I broke out in a sweat, feeling hot and cold all over. My chest hurt, I was dizzy, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Everything went blurry around the edges. Sure I was about to faint, I jerked up from my desk and ran from the room, terrified. I didn't care what the teacher thought, or that the eyes of the entire class were on me. I just had to get out of there.

    I ran to the nearest water fountain and drank some water. For several minutes, I just stood there holding on to the fountain. What was happening? Was I having a heart attack? Slowly, the lightheadedness went away. My heart stopped racing, and every other symptom faded too. I still had no idea what had happened but I was so glad it was over.

    Still I was really worried. I'd never felt that bad in my life. What was wrong with me? What if it came back?

    And then, an hour later, it did the pounding heart, the dizziness, the feeling that I was dying. Once again, I couldn't breathe. And this time, there was also pain throughout my entire upper body. I burst into tears and ran for the hallway again, actually afraid for my life. My teacher ran after me asking what was wrong. Panicking, I managed to choke out, "I need an ambulance: Please." I was sure I was dying.

    To my surprise, though, my teacher didn't grab her phone for help. Instead, she put her hand on my arm and told me to slow down. "Breathe, "she said." you're going to be okay. You just need to calm down. "

    I felt like I was going crazy. Here I was totally losing it, and she was acting like nothing was wrong! She kept on trying to calm me down, but I wasn't ready to listen. I was sure she didn't understand how I felt. How could she? How could anyone? Finally, my teacher explained that she was pretty sure I was having a panic attack. (They are also called anxiety attacks.) She knew, she said, because the same thing had happened to her when she was my age. She told me how she'd felt, and it was almost exactly how I was feeling now. She also explained that panic attacks are caused by anxiety (basically, excessive worry and fear that is part of your everyday life).

    I was shocked. I had no idea that there was even a name for what I was feeling let alone that it happened to other people, too! When I realized that she really did understand, I felt so relieved.

    My teacher talked to my parents, and they found me a counselor to help me deal with my anxiety. I'd been going through a tough time that year. My best friend had moved to a new school, and I wasn't sure how to fit in with the girls in my class. I'd never told anyone, though--I just kept it to myself. My counselor helped me understand that not dealing with my feelings can lead to panic attacks, and that I need to talk to someone when my life is stressful.

    Now when I start feeling overwhelmed or sad, I talk to my parents or friends and my counselor about whatever is bothering me, and they all help me sort things out. This way, I' m dealing with my anxiety and stress before it gets out of control.

    My counselor has also taught me some relaxation techniques and strategies that help me calm my body down at the first sign of a panic attack. I've learned to take deep breaths and relax my muscles. Or I'll focus on something else, or just tell myself I'm going to be okay. If one thing doesn't work, I'll try another one.

    It turns out that about one in every ten people has some kind of an anxiety disorder! Knowing that it's common and that life is stressful for a lot of girls of my age has helped me realize that I don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed about it.

    By sharing my story, I want other girls of my age to know that you're not as alone as you feel, and that talking about it really does help.