It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter.

    Road politeness is not only good manners, but a good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarreling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behavior of politeness is by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.

    However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. A typical example is the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.

An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in a traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship (公路驾车技能). Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take (互谅互让) from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.

    The audiences of the UK will have an opportunity to enjoy a feast of Chinese culture when the China National Peking Opera Company returns to the country for the fourth time for a series of workshops and performances. Events will be held at the British Library, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum and the world-famous dance theater of Sadler's Wells, featuring artists including Lisa Lu, Yu Kuizhi and Li Shengsu.

    On Thursday at the British Library, Lisa Lu, who also played a role in recent cinema hit Crazy Rich Asians, will lead a group of artists from China, the US and the UK to discuss their experiences of working across a variety of artistic fields in different cultures over many decades.

    The series of activities also include interactive workshops, which explain the intricacies（错综复杂）of the attractive art of Peking Opera. The secrets behind a great opera, from music to instruments, from make-up to martial arts, will be revealed at the British Library workshops on Saturday and Sunday.

    Events end on Oct 19 and 20 at Sadler's Wells in North London, with two performances of The Emperor and the Concubine, one of the most celebrated operas, as well as The Crossroads Inn and The Monkey King and The Leopard.

    Li Shengsu, who led the cast of The Emperor and the Concubine, explained that the show is the beautiful love story championed by Peking Opera Master Mei Lanfang, and it is one of the very few works from the Master Mei's that had been handed down since 1920s.

    The productions are being presented in partnership with London-based Sinolink Productions, a company that promotes Chinese art, culture and performance to British audiences.

    Zhang Kewei, producer and director of Sinolink, said, “It is delightful to see that the China National Peking Opera Company returns to London for the fourth time with another two masterpieces this year. The performances so far have received very positive comments from audiences and the United Kingdom's media and we are looking forward to further expanding our program.”

    On May 29, 1973, Thomas Bradley, a black man, was elected mayor of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the third largest city in the United States, with a population of three million. About sixteen percent of the city's population are black.

    News of this election appeared on the front pages of newspapers everywhere in the United States. Here is how one major newspaper reported the event.

    LOS ANGELES ELECTS BRADLEY MAYOR UNSEATING YORTY

    BLACK WINS 56% OF VOTES

    Bradley called his victory over Yorty "the fulfillment of a dream". During his childhood and youth, people had kept telling him, "You can't do this, you can't go there, because you are a Negro." Nevertheless he had won a decisive victory over a man who had been won 43.7 percent.

    Los Angeles voters have had many opportunities to judge. Thomas Bradley had to form an opinion of him. The son of a poor farmer Texas, he joined the Los Angeles police force in 1940. During his twenty-one years on the police force he earned a law degree by attending school at night. He was elected to the city council years ago.

    At the time of the Los Angeles election, three other American cities already had black mayors, but none of these cities had as large a population as Los Angeles. Besides, the percentage of blacks in those other cities was much larger. Cleveland, Ohio, had thirty-six percent black when Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. In the same year Richard Hatcher was elected mayor of Cary. In Newark, New Jersey, sixty percent of the population were black when Kenneth Gibson was elected in 1970. Thus election of a black mayor in those cities was not very surprising.

    In Los Angeles, thousands of white citizens voted for Thomas Bradley because they believed he would be a better mayor than the white candidate. Bradley had spent forty-eight of his fifty-five years in Los Angeles. Four years ago, Bradley lost mayoral election to Yorty. This time Bradley won.

    If a family member blames you for something you have done, it is important to be careful about how you defend yourself. It is not a good idea to use ways that cause hurt, even if they would help you make a valid point. If you can think of an instance where the other person has done exactly what they accuse you of, for example, it would not be good manners to throw it in their face. You should only bring it up if you don't have a choice. Then, you should make sure that you do it respectfully.

    Even if a family member intentionally goes against reasonable wishes you may have, you should understand that people see even the most fundamental things in very different ways. Remember that people are different. If you consider any noise after midnight to be intolerable, for example, others may see it is completely acceptable. It can take them a great deal of time to change their behavior for a demand that they do not understand.

    Think about the family conflicts that you are worried about now. Check to see if your parents had similar problems. People who grow up with parents who fight unfairly often repeat the same behavior. Consider changing the unfair habits that you grew up with.

    Understand that memories tend to change. In long-standing family disputes, all parties involved tend to have completely different recollections of the original problem.

    Families are a curious concept—while family members often feel nothing but annoyed for one another, they will also often be there for them if they should ever be in serious trouble. When you feel resentment for someone, think about how far you would go for them if they happened to be in trouble. It could help soften you. Think about how you care for the other person.

    In the mid-1990s, Tom Bissell taught English as a volunteer in Uzbekistan. He left after seven months, physically broken and having lost his mind. A few years later, still attracted to the country, he returned to Uzbekistan to write an article about the disappearance of the Aral Sea.

    His visit, however, ended up involving a lot more than that. Hence this book, Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia, which talks about a road trip from Tashkent to Karakalpakstan, where millions of lives have been destroyed by the slow drying up of the sea. It is the story of an American travelling to a strange land, and of the people he meets on his way: Rustam, his translator, a lovely 24-year-old who picked up his colorful English in California, Oleg and Natasha, his hosts in Tashkent, and a string of foreign aid workers.

    This is a quick look at life in Uzbekistan, made of friendliness and warmth, but also its darker side of society. In Samarkand, Mr Bissell admires the architectural wonders, while on his way to Bukhara he gets a taste of police methods when suspected of drug dealing. In Ferghana, he attends a mountain funeral(葬礼)followed by a strange drinking party. And in Karakalpakstan, he is saddened by the dust storms, diseases and fishing boats stuck miles from the sea.

    Mr Bissell skillfully organizes historical insights and cultural references, making his tale a well-rounded picture of Uzbekistan, seen from Western eyes. His judgment and references are decidedly American, as well as his delicate stomach. As the author explains, this is neither a travel nor a history book, or even a piece of reportage. Whatever it is, the result is a fine and vivid description of the purest of Central Asian traditions.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. My husband was taking care of our baby girl so that my six-year-old son and I could do some yard work, just the two of us. It was sure to be 1 . But soon, the clouds of mosquitos seemed 2 to our bug spray (喷雾). I was sweating, itchy, and arguing with my son about how to pull weeds. I had told him the "right" way — getting those weeds out from the bottom, by the roots, 3 them entirely. 

However, my son went about things in his own way. He pulled the 4 of the weeds off, moving quickly down the line as he left the remaining part still in the soil. Somehow, I found this to be incredibly 5 . Why couldn't he do it in my way and save me the time of having to 6 his portion (部分)? Why did he do it at all if he wasn't going to do it properly? 

"If you do as told, we'd be done earlier and 7 a longer period before we would have to return and pull weeds next time," I said, trying to keep my tone 8 . 

He went back to his work, shaking dirt from his handful of growing things and throwing 9 stems into our shared basket. "People do things 10 , Mom," he said innocently. 

My fire soon faded, replaced by the 11 realization that I'd just received a valuable12 from the person that I was supposed to be teaching. While trying to 13 my baby girl, my kindergartener, and the yard work, 14 was a lifeline for me. But my way was, perhaps, not the best way after all. His time shouldn't be 15 . His job was to be a kid and take his time, for as long as he was able.