Are you embarrassed to recite in class because you might give the wrong answer? Are you ashamed to share your ideas in a group？If you find yourself being shy about a lot of things, you need to understand that being shy is a very big obstacle(障碍) to one's success.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    First of all, you need to discover and understand the causes of your shyness.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} One of the biggest reasons why people are shy is that they were branded as a shy person. Because you heard it over and over, you believed it and thought it is true. If this is the cause, you need to stop this in your mind.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    One way to stop your shyness in your mind is to focus less on your weakness.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}We all have our own unique strength. So if speaking in front of many people isn't your strength, that's okay. Maybe the strength you're given is in writing. And if you think there still a lot for you to improve on your strengths and talents, that's okay too.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. All you need to do is spending time training yourself to be a master in your strengths.

B. You need to dig deep and get to the roots of your shyness.

C. Then try to replace it with positive things in your life.

D. When you doubt yourself, others will doubt you.

E. The good thing is that you can overcome it.

F. Stay fearless in everything you will have to do.

G. Instead, focus more on your strength.

The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple's products sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC's iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet —used the title in 2015. A lovely bear — popular in the US and UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London's Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.

    In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms like e-mail first came into use.

    Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of independent's “i”, it's no surprise that they've selected this fashionable name.

    But it's hard to see what's so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King's College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn't have one clear definition,” he says.

    “However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.

    ※Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

    Along with “Google” and “Microblog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last ten years.

    But as history shows, people grow tired of fashions. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared.

    You can use your smartphone to get pretty much anything delivered directly to your door almost immediately. The hardest part is the process of trying to work out if you should tip and if so, doing the quick math before you get to the door. And, you know well that you should tip about 15-20% at restaurants, but do the same rules apply to delivery drivers?

    The co-founder of Grubhub, Matt Maloney, pretty much set the standard for tipping delivery people in a Facebook post. He's a strong supporter of tipping, and Grubhub's website suggests a $5 or a 20% tip. Maloney also said this number should go up if you order during, say, a snowstorm.

    However, most other delivery services say on their websites that tipping is not required. Some services, like Door Dash, do suggest no tip on their checkout window. Many, like Amazon Prime Now, allow customers to change their tip amount after their delivery has been received to reflect the quality of service. These companies help customers save money but delivery drivers are upset. They deal with bad weather, heavy traffic, extreme tiredness, and more, all for a $1 tip. Many feel that if you'd tip your pizza boy or girl, you should tip your delivery driver.

    The Emily Post Institute (EPI)'s official suggestion falls in line with Maloney's: “10-15% of the bill, or $2-5 for pizza delivery depending on the size of the order and difficulty of delivery.”

    Just like servers in a restaurant, delivery drivers almost always rely on your tips for their income. Tipping is a long-standing cultural tradition in America. So, until drones (无人机) can deliver hot dogs straight to your door, it's best to tip the people riding through the city at all hours to bring you hot fresh food.

    How Did the Ancient Chinese Keep Food Warm in Winter?

    Facilities like electric rice cookers, microwaves, and electric kettles, make it easy for people to keep food warm and enjoy a comfortable winter. So how did Chinese people in ancient times keep food warm in winter without these? In fact, ancient Chinese people used their own methods of heat preservation as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.

    ☆ “Wen Ding”, ancient rice cooker

    One of the major functions of an electric rice cooker is to keep food warm. The “Wen Ding”, an ancient cooking container, served the same purpose, but instead of using electric energy, the ancient cooking container preserved heat by burning fuels like charcoal.

    The “Wen Ding” unearthed in Nanjing in 1989 is thought to be the oldest of its kind discovered in China, dating back to the Stone Age. The craftsmanship of making the “Wen Ding” was developed in the Bronze Age. The bronze Ding from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties took on different shapes and structures.

    ☆ “Ran Lu”, ancient small hot pot

    The “Ran Lu” is a small size cooking vessel (器皿) made of bronze, which can be divided into three parts. A charcoal stove forms the main structure, with a bottom tray to hold charcoal ashes, and a movable cup at the top. Some experts have concluded that the vessel's structure suggests it may have been used as a small hot pot and that these vessels became popular in the Warring States Period (475—221 B.C.).

    ☆ Bronze You, ancient kettle

    The Bronze You was one of the most common wine containers during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The Bronze You can also be used to warm wine. For example, the Bronze You with beast mask design, unearthed in Jiangxi Province, has an opening where charcoal could be placed. Just as people today can't do without an electric kettle, the Bronze You allowed people to enjoy a hot drink.

    ☆ Bronze Yan, ancient steamer

    Although the “Wen Ding” was effective at keeping food warm, the ancient Chinese people later found that its burning process produced pollution. As a result, the Bronze Yan made with a two-tier structure and used to steam rice and other grains. After the Eastern Han Dynasty (25A.D.-220A.D.), further improvements to the Bronze Yan led to the modern-day steamer.

    MOOC, a massive(大规模的) open online course, aims at providing interactive discussion and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user forums (论坛) that help build a community for the students, professors, and teaching assistants.

    MOOCs first made waves in the fall of 2011, when Professor Sebastian Thrun from Stanford University opened his graduate-level artificial intelligence course up to any student anywhere, and 160,000 students in more than 190 countries signed up. This new kind of online classes is shaking up the higher education world in many ways. Since the courses can be taken by hundreds of thousands of students at the same time, the number of universities might decrease greatly. Professor Thrun has even imagined a future in which there will only need to be 10 universities in the world. Perhaps the most impressive thing about MOOCs, many of which are being taught by professors at prestigious (声誉高的) universities, is that they're free. This is certainly good news for cash-strapped students.

    There is a lot of excitement and fear about MOOCs. While some say free online courses are a great way to increase the enrollment (注册) of students who are lack of resources, some critics (批评者) have said that MOOCs encourage an unrealistic one-size-fits-all model of higher education and that there is no replacement for true dialogues between professors and their students. After all, a brain is not a computer. We are not blank hard drives waiting to be filled with data. People learn from people they love and remember the things that arouse emotion. Some critics worry that online students will miss out on the social aspects of college.

    Forget Cyclists, Pedestrians are Real Danger

    We are having a debate about this topic. Here are some letters from our readers.

    ■ Yes, many cyclists behave dangerously. Many drivers are disrespectful of cyclists. But pedestrians are probably the worse offenders.

    People of all ages happily walk along the pavement with eyes and hands glued to the mobile phone, quite unaware of what is going on around them. They may even do the same thing while crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or elsewhere. The rest of us have to evade (避让) them or just stand still to wait for the unavoidable collision.

    The real problem is that some pedestrians seem to be, at least for the moment, in worlds of their own that are, to them, much more important than the welfare of others.

—Michael Horan

    ■ I loved the letter from Bob Brooks about cyclists (Viewpoints, May 29). I am afraid they seem to think they own the roads.

    I was walking across Altrincharn Road one morning when a cyclist went round me and on being asked what he was doing he shouted at me.

    The government built a cycle lane on the road but it is hardly used.

    The police do nothing. What a laugh they are!

    The cyclists should all have to be made to use the cycle lanes and wear helmets, fluorescent (发荧光的)jacket and tights at night and in the morning. They should pay some sort of tax and be fined for not wearing them.

—Carol Harvey

    ■ Cyclists jump on and off pavements (which are meant for pedestrians), ride at speed along the pavements, and think they have a special right to go through traffic lights when they are on red.

    I was almost knocked down recently by a cyclist riding on the pavement when there was a cycle lane right next to him.

    Other road users, including horse riders, manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists?

    It's about time they had to be registered and insured, so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle, or cause an accident, at least they can be traced and there might be an opportunity to claim.

—JML

    Write to Viewpoints of the newspaper.