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    Two weeks before my 12th birthday, my teacher asked me to conduct an experiment. When I mixed some powder together, they exploded. Molten liquid hit me in the face, but I felt no pain.

    I vividly remember standing there in a state of calm. I thought I was in a dream, but however hard I struggled to swim to the surface of consciousness, I couldn't wake up. I didn't understand how terrifying it was until I heard people saying, ＂Who's that?＂ That's when I knew I was unrecognizable.

    I was taken to hospital, but the doctors didn't know what to do with me. Later I was flown to Houston for surgery. Between the ages of 13 and 16, I had 40 operations. As each operation came and went, my vision would come back, then fade again. Eventually, it faded completely and I had what was left of my eyes removed for cosmetic reasons.

    Since then, I have lived in total darkness. Most blind people, even if they don't have any sight they're aware of, are still able to sense light. That gives them a sense of day and night. But not me. I absolutely lost that sense of time passing.

    For many years, I felt my sight loss darkening my life like the loss of my parents from which I would never recover. But when I was in my 40s, I realized I had to find a way to live. I trained to become a counselor, and that has helped me see my experiences in a different way. I can't fix people's broken lives — just like I can't fix my sight — but I can help them find a way to manage.

    Sometimes it feels as if all the struggles and negative experiences I've lived through were in fact a kind of preparation for helping others to make their own way towards the light.

    For most people, Christmas is a time to relax in the company of family and friends. But for Santa Claus, and the thousands of fake Santas who impersonate（模仿） him every year, the Christmas season is time to get to work.

    Although Santa Claus waits until Christmas Eve to take his famous sleigh (雪橇) ride, Santa impersonators can be found at shopping malls around America throughout the six weeks leading up to December 25. "When you see Santa talking with kids at your local mall, that's when you know Christmas really is on the way," says Mary Lewine of New York City.

    With the excitement of Christmas, people often forget about the real people behind the red robes （长袍) and white beards, but being a mall Santa. is a tough job. "There is more to it than just sitting in a chair. There is more to it than just a red suit," said Timothy Connaghan, who has worked as a Santa for.38 years. "Children can really put the wear and tear on you.”

    A recent survey showed some of the challenges that mall Santas face every year. About 90 percent of Santas claimed that children pulled their beards to see if they were real, and 60 percent said that up to ten kids cough or sneeze on them every day. Even more disturbing, one-third of the Santas admit to having children wet themselves while sitting on their laps.

    So why would anyone take this job? For Ben Brauch, a retired high school teacher who has worked as a Santa for the last six years, the answer is simple-the children. "I see maybe 12,000 kids in a six-week period.

    It's hard work, but it's worth it because you get to play with kids." In fact, Brauch loves his job so much that he keeps his white beard long all year.

    During the past Spring Festival, many children may have received red packets from their families. But Xing Pu, a 40-year-old economist, is asking the government to give red packets to every Chinese citizen.

    Xing suggested the government give out 1,000 yuan to each Chinese since the government income has increased rapidly in recent years. He said his suggestion would allow everyone to directly enjoy the fruits of the country's economic success, help the lower-income groups deal with rising prices and increase consumption (消费) around the country.

    Recent years have seen the government carry out a series of pro-poor (扶贫) and pro-rural (惠农) policies, including increasing spending on public healthcare and calling off the agricultural tax. But the lower-income group still needs more help while being hit hard by an 11-year high in prices and recent snowstorms.

    Xing said while making the draft, he has borrowed many ideas from practices in countries like the United States and Singapore. Earlier this year, the governments of the two nations offered money to their citizens as the result of a surplus in government income. As for in China, "We can even encourage the rich to donate their 1,000 yuan red packet to the poor," said Xing.

    Although Xing's suggestion has gained wide support among ordinary Chinese on the Internet, many other economists criticized it as unpractical. Even Xing himself admitted he made the suggestion without any careful calculation. But they agreed with Xing's point that the growing economic pie should be shared among the people.

    "To better use the increase of money, handing out money is not a solution that holds good for all time. It could be better to improve the public service or cut the price of energy used in daily life," said QiaoXinsheng, an economic professor.

    You may think there are no differences between British and American people. After all, they speak the same language, don't they? If you ask a British or an American person, he will probably tell you that there are differences. And the differences are quite great.

    What do British people think American people are like? The British think American people are very strange. They make a lot of noise and they laugh too loudly. They are rich, and they only think about money. But the British do say that American people are kind friendly people. They're happy to help you if you are in trouble.

    What do Americans think of the British? Well, they think the British are cold and very unfriendly. They are not interested in success or in making lots of money. They think British is the best country in the world. They look down on other countries. But Americans say that the British are quite hard workers. They are brave and honest. And in time of trouble they face difficulties happily.

    You can see that these ideas can cause misunderstanding between the British and Americans. But when American and British people become friends, they usually find things are not as bad as they expected.

    The United States Postal Service(LISPS)is offering a way to people who are interested in seeing tomorrow's mail today. The postal service will send consumers images(图像)of their letters, magazines and other mail before they arrive. The new service is called Informed Delivery. It is an attempt to remain competitive in an ever—changing world.

    Postal service officials say the increased use of email, digital messaging services and social media has made it difficult to stay relevant. David Rupert is a media relations specialist who spoke about the competition the agency now faces. Whether you turn on a television or your computer, or people come to your door with different products and services, all of those are competing for consumers' time and energy, he said.

    Interested users are first required to sign up for Informed Delivery. Once registered, the consumer receives a daily email with virtual(虚拟)images of letters or other things to be delivered. The US Postal Service says it can especially help those who have a mailbox at their local post office, so they know when to get their mail：

    Another postal offering is a service that seeks to make advertising-related mail-often called junk mail—more fun. The service uses virtual and augmented reality(虚拟现实和增强现实)to let consumers interact with their junk mail. Many companies put special coding on their advertising, which can give users an interactive experience. Some companies even put virtual reality eyeglasses in the mail to make their ads come to life. Consumers have mixed reactions to virtual and augmented reality advertising. “You can find some good things within junk mail. It is a good idea. We'll see how it works, ”Postal service user Victor Teah said. But Jocelyn Coatney doesn't think it would change her mind about junk mail. “For some, that might be fun. But for me, it would be useless, ”she said.

    Can I talk about salary at work? In a word: yes. As HR company Insperity put it in a recent blog post: Can your employees discuss their salaries or wages with their co-workers? Yes. Even if you have a company policy against it? Yes.

    The freedom to discuss your salary at work is a protected right under federal labor law. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 protects your right to discuss the conditions of your employment, including issues related to safety and pay, even when you're not protected by a union.

    Talking about salary with colleagues can be uncomfortable, since there's such a taboo about discussing money matters, but it's an important step towards achieving equal pay for equal work. One barrier, however, stems from how we think of our own financial worth. Too many people I talk to wrongly consider their salary a reflection of their worthiness, a statement about their skills, experience, or value. At the end of the day, if we can all separate our self-worth from our salaries a bit more, it'll become easier to talk frankly with our colleagues.

    Asking about money outright can be tough, so one trick I've picked up along the way is to ask for your colleagues to confirm or deny. For instance, you might volunteer your salary first and ask "Does that sound about right to you?" by way of comparison. Or, let's say you're interviewing for a promotion to become a manager. You might ask a fellow manager about the kind of salary you should expect by saying, “I'm seeing salaries for this kind of position ranging from $65, 000 to$70, 000—does that seem accurate to you?" This way, even if your colleague isn't comfortable sharing their salary outright, they can help you identify if your expectations are on point or way off.