“How far is the next village？” the American asks a man standing by the edge of the road. In some countries, because the man realizes that the traveler is tired and eager to reach his destination (目的地), he will politely say “Just down the road.” He thinks this is more encouraging, gentler, and therefore the wanted answer. So the American drives through the night, getting more and more angry, feeling “being tricked”. He thinks the man on purpose lied to him, for obviously he must have known the distance quite well.

    Had conditions been reversed (颠倒过来), the American would have felt he was “cheating” the driver if he had said the next town was not too far, and if he would be sorry to the weary driver, he would say “You have a good way to go yet, it is at least fifteen miles.” The driver might be disappointed, but he would know what to expect.

    Whether to be accurate or polite leads to many misunderstandings between people of different cultures. If you know the situation in advance, it is sometimes easier to recognize the problem.

    Say you're sitting around with some friends playing video games and someone mentions a game that happens to be one of your favorites. “Oh, that game's easy. So not worth the time,” one of your friends says. The others agree. Although you enjoy the game quite a lot, not wanting to argue with them, you go along with the crowd.

    You have just experienced what is commonly referred to as peer pressure（同伴压力）, also called peer influence. You will adopt a certain type of behavior, dress, or attitude in order to be accepted as part of a group of your “peers”. As a teen, you are likely to have experienced the effect of peer pressure in a number of different areas.

    We are all influenced by our peers at any age. For teens, as school and other activities take you away from home, you may spend more time with your friends than with your family. As you become more independent, your peers naturally play a greater role in your life.

    According to Dr. Casey from Cornell University, teens are very quick and accurate in making decisions on their own and in situations where they have time to think. However, when they make decisions in the heat of the moment or in social situations, their decisions are often influenced by factors like peers. In a recent study, teen volunteers played a video driving game, either alone or with friends watching. The researchers discovered that the number of risks teens took more than doubled when their friends were watching, compared with when they played alone. This shows that teens may find it more difficult to controlrisky behavior when their friends are around, or in situations where they are extremely angry.

    Just as people can influence us to make unwise choices, they can also influence us to make good ones. A teen might join in a volunteer project because his or her friends are doing it, or get good grades because his or her friends think getting good grades is important. In fact, friends often encourage each other to study, or try out for sports.

    While we are always influenced by those around us, the decision to act or not is up to us. So when it comes to decision making, the choice is up to you.

    Audrey Hepburn won an Academy Award as Best Actress for her first major American movie，Roman Holiday，which was released in 1953．But she is remembered as much for her aid work as for her acting．

    Born in Belgium in 1929，Audrey's father was British and her mother was Dutch．Audrey was sent to live at a British school for part of her childhood．During World War II，she lived and studied in the Netherlands. Her mother thought it would be safe from German attacks．Audrey studied dance as a teenager and during college when she returned to London after the war．But she realized she wasn't going to be a ballerina （芭蕾舞女演员）．So she began taking acting parts in stage shows．Later she began to get small parts in movies．

    But it was Audrey Hepburn's move to America that brought her true fame．In 1951 she played the character"Gigi"in the Broadway play of the same name to great critical praise．Two years later，Roman Holiday made her a star at the age of 24．

    Audrey made more than 25movies．Among her most popular roles was Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tifany's in 1961．Three years later she played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady．

    She was married two times and had one son by each husband．In 1989，the UN Children's Fund named Audrey a goodwill ambassador．She travelled all over the world in support of UNICEF （联合国儿童基金会） projects．The UN agency said she was a tireless worker．She often gave 15interviews a day to gain money and support for UNICEF projects．

    Audrey Hepburn often said her loyalty to UNICEF was the result of her experiences as a child during World War II．She said she knew what it was like to be starving and to be saved by international aid．She was a goodwill ambassador until her death in 1993from colon cancer．

    It was another frustrating day. I came home from school, changed my clothes and got ready for work. I worked at a local restaurant in town.

    I went to work feeling down. It's the same thing over and over again, dealing with customers who complain about their food—how the piece of pie that they are served is too big or too small. Three elderly ladies walked in and sat by the windows. I was working since 5:00 pm. and we were quite busy. But these elderly women were watching me as I was working really hard to make sure every table was clean and ready for the next customers.

    When they were finished with their meals, I took their plates back to the kitchen. They talked to me for a while about school, how I was doing, which grade I was in and what I planned to do in the future.

    As they were leaving, they walked past me and one of them said to me in a confident and gentle voice, "You are going places." They left the restaurant and I was pretty much in awe. I had tears in my eyes, because they gave me a reason to believe in myself. They picked my spirits up from being down and out and gave me a reason to keep on working hard and to give it my all.

    WHERE TO STAY

    With its modern art museums, hidden basement bars and fast-developing food scene, Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, is one of the most attractive cities in Latin America. Contact us, and we offer you some special hotels.

    Querido

    This is a cheerful seven-room townhouse in Villa Crespo. Its rooms are big, and each is specially designed. A hearty breakfast is served in the dining room. Querido's convenient location means Palermo Soho is a short walk away.

Doubles from ￡73, querido.com

    Home Hotel

    Design and comfort are key at this 20-room hotel in Palermo Hollywood. From Florence Knoll furniture to William Morris wallpaper, every detail has been hand-picked by the British-argentinian owners. There's an outdoor swimming pool and a garden with green trees. Weekend brunch（早午餐）is a welcome choice for tourists.

    Doubles from ￡90, homehotel.com

    Tango Hotel

    A big makeover（翻新）changed this former sewing machine factory in Monserrat into a 59-room hotel. Despite the busy location, the environment is good.

    Doubles from ＄75, tangohotel.com

    La Querencia

    Close to Constitucion, this comfortable four-room hotel in San Telmo is run by a Frenchman, Yann. Decoration is simple but the place is spotless. Guests can make use of the kitchen where Yann prepares breakfast and enjoy their meals in the dining room or in the yard.

    Doubles from ＄55, laquerencia.com

Research has found that using wood for construction instead of concrete and steel can reduce emissions. But Tim Searchinger at Princeton University says many of these studies are based on the false foundation that harvesting wood is carbon neutral (碳中和). "Only a small percentage of the wood gets into a timber (木料) product, and a part of that gets into a timber product that can replace concrete and steel in a building," he says. Efficiencies vary in different countries, but large amounts of a harvested tree are left to be divided into parts, used in short-lived products like paper or burned for energy, all of which generate emissions.

In a report for the World Resources Institute, Searchinger and his colleagues have modelled how using more wood for construction would affect emissions between 2010 and 2050, accounting for the emissions from harvesting the wood. They considered various types of forests and parts of wood going towards construction. They also factored in the emissions savings from replacing concrete and steel.

Under some circumstances, the researchers found significant emissions reductions. But each case required what they considered an unrealistically high portion of the wood going towards construction, as well as rapid growth only seen in warmer places, like Brazil. In general, they found a large increase in global demand for wood would probably lead to rising emissions for decades. Accounting for emissions in this way, the researchers reported in a related paper that increasing forest harvests between 2010 and 2050 would add emissions equal to roughly 10 percent of total annual emissions.

Ali Amiri at Aalto University in Finland says the report's conclusions about emissions from rising demand are probably correct, but the story is different for wood we already harvest. "Boosting the efficiency of current harvests and using more wood for longer-lived purposes than paper would cut emissions," he says. "We cannot just say we should stop using wood."