About 70 scientists were working on a very busy project. All of them felt really desperate due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did not think of quitting their job.

    One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him, “Sir, I've promised to take my children to the exhibition going on in our township so I want to leave at 5:30 p. m.” His boss replied, “OK. You're permitted to leave the office early today.”

    The scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual, he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch only when he felt he was close to completion. The time was 8:30 p. m. suddenly he remembered his promise to the children. He looked for his boss but he was not there. Having told him in the morning himself, he closed everything and left for home. Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his children. He reached home. The children were not there. His wife alone was sitting in the hall and reading magazines. The situation was explosive; any talk would boomerang on him. His wife asked him, “Would you like to have coffee or shall I straight away serve dinner if you are hungry?” The man replied, “If you would like to have coffee, I too will have but what about the children?” His wife replied, “You don't know? Your boss came here at 5:15 p. m. and has taken them to the exhibition.”

    What had really happened was the boss who gave him permission was observing him working seriously at 5:00 p. m. He thought to himself: this person will not leave the work, but he's promised to take his children to the exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them there. The boss does not have to do it every time. But once it's done, loyalty is established.

    That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under their boss even though the stress was extraordinarily huge. By the way, can you boldly guess who the boss was? He was none other than the mastermind behind India's successful nuclear weapons program, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India.

When thinking about quitting(停止) smoking…

    List all the reasons why you want to quit. Every night before going to bed, repeat one of the reasons 10 times.

Decide positively that you want to quit. Try to avoid negative thoughts about how difficult it might be. Develop strong personal reasons as well as your health and responsibility to others. For example, think of all the time you waste taking cigarette breaks, rushing out to buy a pack, hunting a light, etc. Set a date for quitting — perhaps a special day like your birthday, a holiday. If you smoke heavily at work, quit during your vacation. Make the date holy seriously, and don't let anything change it. Begin to condition yourself physically; start a modest (适当的) exercise; drink more water; get plenty of rest.

    Immediately after quitting...

    The first few days after you quit, spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking is prohibited, e.g. libraries, museums, theatres, department stores, etc.

    Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice. Try to avoid wine, coffee, and other drinks which remind you of cigarette smoking.

    Strike up a conversation with someone instead of a match for a cigarette.

    If you miss the feeling of having a cigarette in your hand, play with something else - a pencil, a pen, a ruler. If you miss having something in your mouth, try a fake (仿制的) cigarette.

    Most damagingly, anger weakens a person's ability to think clearly and keep control over his behaviour. The angry person loses objectivity in evaluating the emotional significance of the person or situation that arouses his anger.

    Not everyone experiences anger in the same way; what angers one person may amuse another. The specific expression of anger also differs from person to person based on biological and cultural forces. In contemporary culture, physical expressions of anger are generally considered too socially harmful to be tolerated. We no longer regard duels (决斗) as an appropriate expression of anger resulting from one person's awareness of insulting behaviour on the part of another.

    Anger can be identified in the brain, where the electrical activity changes. Under most conditions EEG (脑电图) measures of electrical activity show balanced activity between the right and left prefrontal (额叶前部) areas. Behaviourally this corresponds to the general even-handed disposition (意向) that most of us possess most of the time. But when we are angry the EEG of the right and left prefrontal areas aren't balanced and, as a result of this, we're likely to react. And our behavioural response to anger is different from our response to other emotions, whether positive or negative.

    Most positive emotions are associated with approach behaviour: we move closer to people we like. Most negative emotions, in contrast, are associated with avoidance behaviour: we move away from people and things that we dislike or that make us anxious. But anger is an exception to this pattern. The angrier we are, the more likely we are to move towards the object of our anger. This corresponds to what psychologists refer to as of ensive anger: the angry person moves closer in order to influence and control the person or situation causing his anger. This approach-and-confront behaviour is accompanied by a leftward prefrontal asymmetry (不对称) of EEG activity. Interestingly, this asymmetry lessens if the angry person can experience empathy (同感) towards the individual who is bringing forth the angry response. In defensive anger, in contrast, the EEG asymmetry is directed to the right and the angry person feels helpless in the face of the anger-inspiring situation.

    When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at hospital.

    On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was to reach for his toast, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him spread butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!

    When I got up from the table that evening, I remember bearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: “Honey. I love burnt toast.”

    Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his toast burnt. He took me in his arms and said. “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's really tired. And besides, a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!”

    You know, life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. This good quality is the base of any relationship — husband-wife or parent-child or friendship! As far as I'm concerned, I'm not the best engineer as expected. However, I have made my efforts. That's enough.

    So learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life. Burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket but into your own. You will appreciate the value of every soul including yourself.

    People always think men are more skilled than women in driving. Nowadays women appear to have a positive image of themselves as safer drivers than men.

    In a survey done by insurer MetLife, 51% of women said they drive more safely. The evidence is on their side: Men are 3.4 times more likely than women to get a ticket for careless driving and 3.1 times as likely to be punished for drunk driving. "Women are on average less aggressive and more law abiding (手法的) drivers, which leads to fewer accidents," the report says. However, not all male drivers share the same opinion. Of the men surveyed by MetLife, 39% claimed male drivers were safer. The findings did back them up on one point: automotive knowledge. The report showed that more men are familiar with current safety equipment such as electronic stability control, which helps prevent rollover accidents.

    Auto safety unavoidably matters to money. Insurance companies focus on what classes of drivers have the lowest dollar amounts of claims, and for now, that mainly includes women. In general, women pay about 9% less for auto insurance than men. A study by the website Insweb also showed that auto insurance rates are lower for women in most states. Among individual states, women get the greatest advantage in Wyoming (where they pay 20% less), South Dakota and Washington, D.C., where their insurance costs are 16% lower.

    "More than 11, 9000 male drivers died in U.S. traffic accident in 2009, compared with just under 4,900 women drivers," according to the study. "Based on miles traveled, men died at a rate of 2.5 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, vs. 1.7 deaths for women."

I arrived in this beautiful Spanish island at the start of September, full of enthusiasm and eager to start work as an English teacher. I sorted all the necessary paperwork out and moved into a flat of my own within the first couple of days. Great! Or so I thought. At 4 am and at several intervals after that, I was rudely awoken by the cock that lives opposite me. Fantastic! I now have five extra alarms every morning.

In the following weeks, I also started to notice a trend. Things in my flat started to break at the rate of one object per day, like the hot water, bowls, cups, shower, doors or glass shelves. Yes, I was clumsy but things just fell apart. If it wasn't broken, it would either be dirty or missing. Using my washing basket for the first time was pretty disgusting. When I took out my clothes, they were swiftly followed by a hundred or so insects that were living in the bottom.

As for the general lack of equipment in the house, there was no oven, tin opener, sharp knives or potato peeler. It turned out making a burger wasn't the best idea. I had a small microwave and a grill. I thought the general understanding was never to put metal in a microwave but I went with it. Smoke soon started to appear. I was not quite sure if it was the burger or the grill but as soon as I opened the door, the electricity cut out. I spent the following 10 minutes in a dark, smoky room hunting for the power switch using the light from my mobile phone, which broke the week after and left me without a connection to the outer world.

Luckily, I'm now borrowing a phone and my luck has returned. No more things have broken (probably because there is nothing left to break). I've also realized that even if a flat looks pretty, it doesn't mean its contents work. I am also learning how to adapt to life with limited, broken utensils.