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.

    Now Glen doesn't like to think what might have happened had he and his best friends, Ray Wightman and Chris Johnson, picked their usual path along a rocky outcrop－the faster route to Johnson s home on Triangle Mountain. They were heading there after school that day－April 14, 1999－to play street hockey in Johnson's driveway. There were other lucky twists, too: not stopping at the shops to get a cola« as they usually did; hearing the strange cry.

    It was 3:30 pm. The three teens were laughing and talking when suddenly they heard a strange cry coming from the ditch(沟渠) across the road. Crossing to take a look, they found an Adidas gym bag sitting deep in the icy water. They climbed down the steep bank and pulled the bag from the water, expecting to find abandoned cats or dogs inside. Instead, the boys found a trembling newborn girl. Wrapped in an old blanket, wearing a thin nightshirt, she was almost blue, her lips shaking from the cold and her crying.

    The boys couldn't have been more astonished. They knew this one needed to get warm and dry, although they didn't know much about babies. Ray dug through his gym bag and wrapped her in a T-shirt. “We didn't know what to do,” said Glen. “I didn't think any of us had really held a baby before.” So the three stood beside the ditch, dumbfounded, taking turns to hold the baby to their chests to keep her warm.

    “We knew it was no use walking up to Ray's house, because his mum was working and no one would be home. We figured we'd have a better chance just staying by the road and flagging down someone.” So they stood there and waited.

    A car drove by and the boys caught the driver's attention, telling her that they had found a baby. The woman then drove off to get help. When the police and ambulance came 20 minutes later, the teens were told the baby was probably two or three hours old and had perhaps been in the ditch for an hour or more. They were also told that they had saved her life and that given 10-20 minutes more in the cold water, she probably would be drowned.

    Chicago festival season is here, but are you ready? Music festivals, film series, street fests, beer bashes – it's a summer long party. So pull out your calendar, read our guide and start enjoying weekends.

    Friday Art Markets at Daley Plaza

    Select Fridays August 19 through September

    Daley Plaza

    Cost: Free

    Directions: Nearly 75 artists will be showing their work in Daley Plaza, including jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, paintings, glass, wearables, wood and mixed media.

    Website: http://www.FridayArtMarketsaDaleyPlaza php?sid=146320

    Renegade Chicago Pop-Up

    Sept. 9-10

    Pilsen

    Cost: Free

    Directions: Get your hands on the goods at this outdoor celebration of all things handmade. Festivities include food trucks, DJ sets, craft brews, DIY workshops, photo ops and shopping.

    Website: http://www.RenegadeChicagoPop-Up php?sid=146346

    Millennium Park Summer Music Series

    Select Mondays and Thursday June 12 through Aug. 21

    Millennium Park

    Cost: Free

    Directions: Grab a blanket and some picnic snacks for a free outdoor concert in the park. The music series features a wide variety of music from top local, national and international artists.

    Website: http://www.MillenniumParkSummerMusicSeries php?sid=146432

    Northsider Craft Beer Fest

    Sept 23

    Uptown

    Cost: $15 - $69

    Directions: Spend a day on the green sampling beers and hard ciders （苹果汁）from breweries across the country, including Colorado, Michigan, California and Wisconsin – and let's not forget those in our own home state, too.

    Website: http://www.NorthsiderCraftBeerFest php?sid=146467

    On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to the supermarket to buy Christmas gifts. In the supermarket, I noticed a little boy, holding a doll and looking so sad. He turned to the old woman next to him, “Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?” The old lady replied, “You know we don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.” Then she left for something else and the boy still stood there.

    Finally, I went to the boy and asked him who he wanted to give this doll to. “It is the doll that my sister wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Father Christmas would bring it to her.”

    I told him that maybe Father Christmas will bring it to her. But he replied to me sadly, “No, Father Christmas cannot bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there. My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister.”

    Hearing this, I quickly reached into my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy, “What if we checked again, just in case if you have enough money?”

    “OK,” he said, “I hope that I have enough.”

    I added some of my money to his without his seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll.

    The little boy said, “Thank God for giving me enough money.”

    Then he looked at me and added, “I prayed to God yesterday before I slept to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll. He heard me.”

    This could be the perfect gift for the partner, who embarrasses you on the dance floor. Smart socks, which can teach to dance, may be the answer for anyone with two left feet.

    The socks have been developed as a running tool to help runners improve their skills. Thanks to the socks, users can accurately record not only how far and fast they run but also how well. It means the user maximizes their performance, and reduces damage to body and prevents hurt. The hi-tech socks are made of special fibers that watch the movements of your feet. They look, feel and can be washed like normal clothes.

    Sensors（传感器）record each movement and send it by an ankle transmitter（脚踝发射器）to a smart phone.  Then a "virtual coach" application shows the information and can tell the user what they are doing wrong, and help to improve skill in any task with feet.

    The socks should be useful to athletes and weekend joggers. "People think running is so easy and of course everybody can do it but not necessarily safely and well, "Dr Davide Vigano said. A recent study showed that between 60 and 80 percent of runners got hurt per year. This is pretty much more than any other human activity. Researchers say the technology can also be developed to teach people how to dance, play sports such as golf, or even to help to teach women to walk better in high heels.

    Mr. Vigano said, "People could all benefit from the idea. We have had interest from all sorts of sports, like skiing, football, cycling and golf. Anything where you have to use your feet can use it. It could even be put in high heels to help women walk in them safely. "

    Socks are just the start, and the technology could be used in gloves, hats and boots. The socks, anklet and software package, are expected to be sold for around￡120, which will go on sale in March.

My Favourite Books

    Jo Usmar is a writer for Cosmopolitan and co­author of the This Book Will series(系列)of lifestyle books. Here she picks her top reads.

Matilda

Roald Dahl

    I once wrote a paper on the influence of fairy tales on Roald Dahl's writing and it gave me a new appreciation for his strange and delightful words. Matilda's battles with her cruel me parents and the bossy headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, are equally fumy and frightening, but they're also aspirational.

After Dark

Haruki Murakami

    It's about two sisters­Eri, a model who either won't or can't stop sleeping, and Mari, a young student. In trying to connect to her sister. Mari starts changing her life and discovers a world of diverse "night people" who are hiding secrets.

Gone Girl

Gillian Fynn

    There was a bit of me that didn't want to love this when everyone else on the planet did but the horror story is brilliant. There's tension and anxiety from the beginning as Nick and Amy battle for your trust. It's a real whodunit and the frustration when you realize what's going on is horribly enjoyable

The Stand

Stephen King

    This is an excellent fantasy novel from one of the best storytellers around. After a serious flu outbreak wipes out 99.4% of the world's population, a battle unfolds between good and evil among those let. Randall Flagg is one of the scariest characters ever.