Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.

    Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people's interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.

    Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.

    By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always run his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

    Shyness May Be Partly Inherited(遗传)

    About 92 million Americans are shy, and according to recent research about half of them inherited the trait.

    The studies were discussed at the American Psychological Convention.

    One study, by Harvard University, was of babies 21- 48 months old. It concluded that these babies had a high heart rate when shown unfamiliar people or different toys.

    Although shyness is not new, it has only recently become of interest to researchers. The first study on the genetic connection was in 1979.

    According to Warren Jones of the University of Tulsa, social relations these days are more complex. "With less ritual(仪式) and more complex situations," he said, "shyness is a national concern."

    Not all shy people are anxious and fearful, according to another study. Evidence shows that only half of shy people are tense, worried, and fearful in social situations.

    Many men use shyness as an excuse for failing in social situations, according to C.R. Snyder of the University of Kansas. "This is not true of females. Perhaps,

    American men are pressured to be assertive(自信的) and successful. So they would rather say they're shy than admit they're incompetent."

    Shy people may do very well socially after the first meeting with someone. In fact, shy people tend to be more stable.

    The psychologists said shyness seems to be cultural. Japan has the highest rating. China and Israel have the lowest rating. The United States rated in the middle.

    We know that hugs make us feel easy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the immune (免疫) system,  according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.

    It's a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict.

    "We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety," the study's lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. "We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection."

    In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day.

    Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.

    "This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress," Cohen said. "The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection."

    If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness.

    Bill Gates and the president of General Motors have met for lunch, and Gates is going on and on about computer technology. "If automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades, you would now be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, and it would have a top speed of 10, 000 miles per hour," says Gates. "Or, you could have an economy car that weighs 30 pounds and gets a thousand miles to a gallon of gas. In either case, the sticker price of a new car would be less than $50.Why haven't you guys kept up?"

    The president of GM smiles and says, "Because the federal government won't let us build cars that crash four times a day."

    Why is that funny (or not funny, as the case may be)? Human beings love to laugh, and the average adult laughs 17 times a day. Humans love to laugh so much that there are actually industries built around laughter. Jokes, sitcoms and comedians are all designed to get us laughing, because laughing feels good. For us it seems so natural, but the funny thing is that humans are one of the only species that laughs. Laughter is actually a complex response that involves many of the same skills used in solving problems.

    Laughter is a great thing—that's why we've all heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." There is strong evidence that laughter can actually improve health and help fight disease. In this article, we'll look at laughter—what it is, what happens in our brains when we laugh, what makes us laugh and how it can make us healthier and happier. You'll also learn that there's a tremendous amount that no one understands yet.

    Do you have a talented young artist, photographer, or designer in your life? It's never too early to start helping them get their work out there! We've rounded up the top art competitions for kids and teens that can help these young creators share their first masterpiece with the world. Most of them are totally free to enter!

Global Canvas Children's Art Competition

    Ages: 16 and under Mediums: drawing, painting

    Organized by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, this art competition wants to inspire the next generation to be more mindful of how we take care of the earth. The judges are looking for artists to discover the wonderful places that wildlife calls home.

    Toyota Dream Car Art Contest

    Ages: 15 and under Mediums: drawing, painting

    Time to design a dream car! Toyota wants to get junior artists thinking about what the future of transportation might look like. Prizes include a chance to tour one of the Toyota car plants and experience various aspects of Japanese culture.

    Advena World Children's Art Competition

    Ages: 15 and under Mediums: drawing, painting, photos and other original artworks

    The competition aims to promote creativity and self-expression. Instead of a theme, it asks the participating artists to simply express their feelings—anything from sadness or joy to anger or excitement—through their chosen medium.

    Progressive Young Artists Awards

    Open to: high school and college students Mediums: drawing, painting, photograph, mixed media, sculpture

    PYAA is all about expressing and celebrating progressive values. So, if there is a creative teen in your life who wants to do good in the world, sign him or her up for this art competition. The prize is a scholarship that winners can put forwards their post-secondary schooling.

Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last Thursday, defeating 12-year-old Vikram Raju in a tie-breaker. It's the first time the con test has ever been decided by a tie-breaking round of spelling.

A spelling bee is a contest where players take turns spelling words. Players who spell a word wrong are out of the contest. As the con test goes on, the words get more difficult. Normally, the contest ends when there's only one player left who hasn't made a mistake. Though the bee is mainly about spelling, since 2021 it has changed slightly to also focus on the meaning of the words. During parts of the contest, students were asked to choose the correct meaning of a word.

That caused trouble for Harini. She was asked about the meaning of the word "pullulation". She said the word described the nesting of birds. The con test organizers had expected the answer the "swarming of bees". Harini was removed from the contest. But soon she was back in—the judges double checked and learned that Harini's definition was also correct. One by one, the other students spelled a word wrong and got out. Finally, only Harini and Vikram were left.

The Scripps bee has been running for over 90 years. Many times it ended in a tie. As a result, the contest organizers changed the rules. They added a "spell-off" to the contest to make future ties much less likely. In the spell-off, Vikram and Harini each took turns trying to spell the words they were asked, but both made mistakes. At one point, Harini could have won by spelling the word "drimys"（a kind of plant）correctly. But she missed It.

That put the two into a super tie-breaking event, where they were each given 10 second s to correctly spell as many words as they could. In 90 seconds, Vikram had spelled 13 words correctly. Harini had 21 correct spellings, making her the new winner.