Last summer, as part of my high school graduation project, I volunteered at Saunders House nursing home .I choose this experience because it was something that I had never done before and I wanted to lend a helping hand．At first it was challenging because I was extremely shy. My goal in volunteering was to bring a smile to the residents（住客） by doing different activities from word games to playing chess. I feel as if I had accomplished that goal.

    At the nursing home, I did a lot of different activities with the residents ranging from Jeopardy to Wheel of Fortune. One of my favorites was a word game where I would write a ten -letter word on the board and the residents would try to come up with as many smaller words as possible. I could tell that it was one of their favorite games because they always seemed to be so enthusiastic when they played．I also transported residents to and from their rooms when they needed help; and whenever it was a nice day out, I would take them outside to get some fresh air and relax. On Saturday mornings, I would deliver the newspaper to the residents and on Sundays, I assisted with morning church services.

    The most unforgettable part of this experience was when I had one-on-one conversations with the residents. It was incredible how many great stories they had to tell. Their stories were so interesting and the experience was unforgettable for me .

    Sherlock: The Abominable Bride.

    Release date: January 1, 2016

    Price: $8

    Plot: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel back to the Victorian era to solve the case of “The Abominable Bride”

    The Revenant

    Release date: January 8, 2016

    Price: $6

    Plot: In the 1820s,a frontiersman，Hugh Glass，sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

    The Fifth Wave:

    Release date: January 15,2016

    Price: $6.5

    Plot：Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope-if she can only trust him.

    Kung Fu Panda 3

    Release date: January 29, 2016

    Price:Adult$7.5   Child（aged six &up）$3.5

    Plot：Po reunites with his biological father and travels with him to a secret sanctuary of pandas where, to his surprise, he does not fit in. There he meets Mei Mei, an overly eager panda, who had been promised to Po through an arranged marriage when they were children. To make matters worse, an evil ancient spirit called Kai begins terrorizing China and stealing the powers of defeated kung fu masters. Now, in the face of incredible odds, Po must learn to train a village of clumsy, fun-loving pandas to become a band of Kung Fu Pandas.

    Reuel Tolkien (1892 ~ 1973), the British linguist, writer. He created a fantasy novel “The Lord of the Rings”, the well-known trilogy (三部曲).

    Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. When he was 4 years old, his father died and his family moved back to England. Tolkien graduated from Oxford University when he was 23 years old, and participated in the First World War. During the war, Tolkien suffered from “trench fever” and stayed in the hospital until the end of World War I. It was the days in the hospital that he began his writing career first.

    After the war, Tolkien became a linguist. He was an edition of the “New English Dictionary” of 1918 ~ 1920. However, he was more researching to Anglo-Saxon language which makes his extensive contacts in Britain and the Nordic spread all over the folklore and mythology.

    In 1937, Tolkien completed his first work “The Hobbit”. Although this was a fairy tale, it was also suitable for adults to read. Because of good sales, publishers (Allen & Unwin) convinced Tolkien to write its sequel. This encouraged Tolkien to complete his most famous works the epic (史诗) trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”. The works of writing went on for almost a year with the support from his good friend Lewis.

    At the beginning “The Lord of the Rings” was similar works for children, but after that writing style quickly became serious and dark. “The Lord of the Rings” was one of the most popular literary works in the 20th century in terms of sales and readers' evaluation. Tolkien's influence is important, for the success of “TheLord of the Rings” makes the fantasy novels of this literature genre (体裁) developed rapidly.

    It's interesting when you think about how Japan is a nation that appreciates the virtues of silence and good manners, and yet when it comes to eating noodles, Japanese people can be the loudest in the world.

    According to lifestyle website grapee.jp, slurping when eating noodles is encouraged in Japanese culture. It's believed that taking air into your mouth can enhance the flavor of the noodles, and that it helps cool down the noodles. It's also considered to be a way to show appreciation for the dish. Sometimes, just making the noise alone seems to make the noodles more enjoyable.

    It wasn't until a new expression - “noodle harassment”,or “hu-hara” in Japanese - came out last year on social media that Japanese people started to realize that the slurping noise is making some foreign visitors uncomfortable.

    As a response, Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin introduced a so-called noise-canceling fork earlier this year. The fork, which looks like an electric toothbrush, is connected wirelessly to a smartphone. When the person using the fork starts to slurp, the fork sends a signal to the person's phone, making it play a sound to mask the slurping noise.

    “The fork is a solution to the 'noodle harassment' issue, particularly as the number of tourists visiting Japan increases,” said the company, according to Euro News.

    But is it really necessary?

    Dining traditions do vary. What's considered to be proper table manners in one country is likely to be seen as rude in another. In India, for example, people eat with their hands because they think in this way they build a connection with the food. However, people who are used to eating with utensils（餐具）might find it uncomfortable to get their hands covered with oil and bits of food. But this eating method is part of India's culture, just like Japan's slurping is part of its own.

    “So, if you are eating noodles, whether that's ramen（拉面）, udon（乌冬面）, or soba（荞麦面）, please slurp,” wrote the reporter Brian Ashcraft on blog Kotaku. “If anyone gets annoyed while you are doing that, pay them no mind because they're missing the point entirely.”

    Broad Band: by Claire L. Evans. Portfolio, 2018（$27）

    Though often outnumbered by men, women stayed in the booming field of computing. In this inspiring tale, writer Evans records the contributions of some B. ROAD of the many women who aided the rise of the modern Internet. Memorable characters include Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, an information scientist who helped researchers navigate the Arpane and Stacy Horn, who started one of the first social networks, Echo.

    The Wizard and the Prophet: by Charles C. Mann. Knopf, 2018（$28. 95）

    The human population is moving toward 10 billion—some experts think we'll nearly hit that mark by 2050. How will the earth feed, house and otherwise support such a crowd？Environmental thinkers usually fall into one of two camps: those who prefer conservation and controlling consumption, like William ems, Norman Borlaug, for example, Writer Mann carefully record the lives and thought of the founder of these two philosophies.

    A Lab of One's Own: by Patricia Fara. Oxford University Press, 2018($24. 95)

    In World War I many women in the U. K. replaced their aprons with chemical suits and stepped into previously male-only fields of science, where they led war research efforts. Science historian Fara illustrates the lives of many of these forgotten women. Although the era marked a major step forward for women scientists, many worked for small wages in an environment of discrimination. In the nearly 100 years since, women have come a long way, Fara writes, but the glass ceilings remain solid and the pipelines leaky.

    Atom Land: by Jon Buterworth. The Experiment, 2018（319. 95）

    Butterworth takes readers on an amusing journey through the unknown OMS world of particle（粒子）physics. The first stop is "Atom Land," where Butterworth explains how electrons, protons and neutrons come together to build up everything we know. As the journey unfolds, we learn about lesser-known particles. Thankfully, our ship is equipped with tools such as mathematical equations（方程式）and a "laser light" that lights up the darkest of concepts.

    In my senior year of high school, I got a part-time job working at the local coffee shop. One miserable rainy day, Hank, one of my regular customers came in looking depressed and defeated. My co-worker and I asked what the problem was and if we could help, but he said he wouldn't want to tell any details. He just felt like going into bed, pulling the sheet up over his head, and staying there for a few years, and I knew exactly how he felt.

    Before he left, I handed him a bag along with his iced coffee. He looked at me questioningly because he hadn't ordered anything but the coffee. He opened the bag and saw that I had given him his favorite type of doughnut (油炸圈饼).

    "It's on me,"I told him."Have a nice day."

    He smiled and thanked me before turning around and heading back out into the rain.

    The next evening, when I was in the middle of making coffee, Hank drove up to the window. But instead of ordering anything, he handed me a single pink rose and a little note. I waited until I saw his Jeep leave the parking lot, then I ran to the back of the shop and read the note. It read:

    Christine,

    Thanks for cheering me up yesterday. It is so nice to meet someone that's genuinely sweet, warm and thoughtful and unselfish. Please don't change your ways because I truly believe that you will succeed. Have a great day!

    Hank

    As time went on, I did come across more complaining customers. But anytime I felt depressed, I thought of Hank and his kindness. Then I would smile, hold my head up high, clear my throat and ask politely," How can I help you?"