While the U.S. is still debating about getting rid of the penny, Sweden is rapidly moving towards abolishing (to end) currency altogether. Though this may sound radical (过激的), it is a natural evolution in this digital society.

    Sweden, which was the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, has just been working harder to convince its residents that digital payments are a safer alternative to carrying cash.

    Over the years, the idea has gained popularity with residents, especially the younger generation that is much more comfortable with technology. Today many banks don't even have ATMs and some have stopped handling cash altogether!

    Tickets to ride public buses in most Swedish cities can only be bought via cell phones. Numerous businesses are also moving towards accepting only digital payments. Even the homeless that sell street paper to make ends meet have to start accepting this mode of payment!

    But despite its growing popularity, some people don't like this radical idea. They include the homeless, elderly people as well as those living in rural areas who are still uncomfortable with mobile phones and computers. But the officials are confident that in the very near future, they will be able to convince everyone to move this safe and more cost-effective payment system.

    Sweden is not the only country trying to abolish paper currency and coins. The movement is rapidly gaining ground in Denmark and Finland as well. In 2014，Israel announced a three-step plan to go cashless and just last week the vendors (小贩) of a popular street in Sydney declared they would stop accepting currency from customers. Whether this phenomenon spreads remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure-With increasingly advanced payment systems being introduced every day, pulling out cash is rapidly becoming “uncool”.

    Brian was a funny student. He loved watching comedies（喜剧） best and hoped to become a comedy actor one day.

    When he heard about the talent show to be held at this school, Brian decided to take part in. He had never acted on stage before, and he was very excited. But some students laughed at him. “You are not funny but silly，” Ken, one of his classmates, said to his face. “No one will like what you do，” another boy also said to him, loudly.

    Brian couldn't understand why they were so unkind to him. For a moment, he thought about giving up the show. But he remembered how much his friends liked his jokes, and also his teachers said he was very funny. So he decided to prepare for the show.

    Brian did a great job at the talent show. Everyone loved his performance, and he won the first prize! His teachers and friends were proud of him. Even so, Ken told Brian that he was not funny, and that he would never be successful. Brian didn't understand why Ken said so, but he realized that it had nothing to do with him. He confidently continued to work towards his goal.

    As the years went on, Brian met more people like Ken. “You'll do a terrible job，” they said to him. Luckily, most people encouraged him and some helped him to become even funnier. He got a lot of opportunities to perform in movies. He was even invited to appear on television. His fans thanked him because his comedies made them feel good when they were unhappy.

    Now Brian is a big comedy star! He is doing what he loves best. He never feels stressed like those unkind people, and he laughs all day long!

    In 1971 a young man who grew up very poor was traveling across the country, trying to make a new start for himself. Along the way he had completely run out of（用光了...） money and was forced to spend the night in his car. This continued until one morning, after a week of sleeping in his car, he walked nervously into a restaurant and ordered a big breakfast.

    After eating his first good meal in weeks, he found himself lying to the waiter, telling him he had lost his wallet. The waiter, who was also the owner, walked behind the chair where the young man had been sitting. He bent down, and came up with a $20 bill that looked as if it had fallen on the floor and said, “Son, you must have dropped this,”the owner said. The young man couldn't believe his luck! He quickly paid for the breakfast, left a tip, bought gas with the change, and headed West.

    On the way out of town, he began to understand what the owner did. Maybe nobody dropped the money at all.“Maybe that fellow just knew I was in trouble and he helped me in a way that didn't embarrass(使尴尬)me. So I just made a promise to help other people if I can.”

    Later, he worked very hard and became a rich man. Now he lives near Kansas City. Each year he gives away thousands of dollars. He is known as the “Secret Santa” because at Christmas time each year, he personally hands money out to those on the street and at restaurants. Last year, he gave more than $50,000 away in Kansas City.

    Afternoon tea is quite a new tradition in England. Drinking tea dates as far back as 3,000 BC in China, yet it made its first appearance in England in the mid 17th century.

    Afternoon tea was introduced in the country by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o'clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her family was usually served late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray（盘）of tea, bread and butter and cakes should be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.

    Traditional afternoon tea is made up of a choice of nice sandwiches, scones served with cream and jam. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured（倾倒）from silver teapots into bone china cups.

    Nowadays, however, in the average suburban home, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a cup of tea, usually produced using a teabag.

    For those hoping to try an afternoon tea, there are many tea rooms up and down the country. The UK has a variety of holiday destinations, and whether you choose a stay in the villages of Yorkshire or the coastal resorts of the south, afternoon tea is never far away.

    Everyday Food—--by Martha Stewart

    No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day you want meals that are easy to prepare. And you want lots of choices and variations. You'll find all of that in this book: 250 simple recipes for delicious meals that bring freshness and nutrition.

Paperback, published by Random House, $ 16.79

    Zeroes —--by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti

    New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld teams up with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti in the book about six teenagers with amazing abilities. These teenagers have powers that set them apart. They can do things ordinary people can't.

    Paperback, published by Simon & Schuster, $12.99

    Mighty Jack —--by Ben Hatke

Jack dislikes summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his sister, Maddy. It's lots of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. But one day, at the market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made.

    Hardcover, published by First Second, $ 14.15

    Only Daughter —--by Anna Snoekstra

    She's caught stealing. She's homeless and on the run. But she happens to look the same as a girl who went missing a decade ago, Rebecca Winter. She assumes (冒充) Rebacca's identity, using it as a way out.  She doesn't know anything about her new life as Rebecca is itself a prison and it looks like a killer might be after her.

Kindle edition, published by Harlequin Enterprises, $8.88

    Jim suffered heart problems. In conversation he expressed little joy and it seemed that his life was drawing to a close.

    When his heart problems led to operation, Jim went through it successfully, and a full recovery was expected. Within days, however, his heart was not beating properly. Jim was rushed back to operation, but nothing was found to explain the cause of his illness. He died on the operating table on the day before his 48th birthday.

    Dr. Bruce Smoller, a psychologist(心理学家), had had many conversations with him, and the more he learned, the stranger he realized Jim's case was. When Jim was a child, his father, a teacher, suffered a heart attack and stayed home to recover. One morning Jim asked his father to look over his homework, promising to come home from school at noon to pick it up. His father agreed, but when Jim returned his father had died. Jim's father was 48.

    "I think all his life Jim believed he killed his father," Dr. Smoller says. "He felt that if he had not asked him to look at his homework, his father would have lived. Jim had been troubled by the idea. The operation was the trial(判决) he had expected for forty years." Smoller believes that Jim willed himself not to live to the age of 48.

    Jim's case shows the powerful role that attitude(态度) plays in physical health, and that childhood experiences produce far-reaching effect on the health of grown-ups. Although most cases are less direct than Jim's, studies show that childhood events, besides genes, may well cause such midlife diseases as cancer, heart disease and mental illness.