(Q = Question; A = Answer)

    Situation I

    Q: If someone sits right next to me in an empty movie theater, is it rude to move?

    A: Maybe, but nobody will fault you for it. Chances are that close sitter doesn't realize he disturbs you, so he may miss your annoyance. You undoubtedly aren't the first person he's met who needs enough room. Forgive his bad judgment, move quietly and enjoy the show.

    Situation II

    Q: If I use the bathroom at a store, do I need to buy something?

    A: Consider frequency and urgency. Is this a one-time or an emergency? If so, you don't have to buy anything, but it would be kind if you did. However, if you regularly use the bathroom at this place, then you are a customer, and you should act like one.

    Situation III

    Q: If someone is talking loudly on the bus, is there a nice way to ask him to keep it down?

    A: No. Try other means.1) Stare at him until he gets aware of it and quiets down. 2) Lift your finger in a silence motion(动作)and smile. 3) Put on earphones and ignore him.

    Situation IV

    Q: If I remember my friend's birthday a day late, should I apologize or just wish her a happy birthday like nothing happened?

    A: This is the reason why the word belated was invented. "Happy belated birthday!" is short for: "Well, I know I forgot, but then I remembered. Forgive me and happy birthday."

    Situation V

    Q: Can I lie about seeing a text because I was too busy or lazy to respond(回复) to it?

    A: Don't lie. Receiving a text does not mean you need to respond to it. Why waste a perfectly good lie when the truth will serve? "Yes," you can say if ever asked, "I saw it." No explanation is needed as to why you don't respond.

    Galaxy saw a man and a woman who communicated with the sign language at the train station when she was on the way home one evening. She noticed that the woman asked the man for the direction. He told her that he did not know. Galaxy decided to help them. She had learned the sign language when she served as a volunteer in the deaf and mute (聋哑) school. Then she showed the woman the direction and left her email address to them in case they needed her help later.

    She received an email from that man the next day. Kazrim was his name. Galaxy replied to his mail sincerely. They both started chatting online soon after and began seeing each other. Although they only communicated with the sign language, it never bothered her.

    Galaxy was fond of him gradually. Obviously, Kazrim was the same too. He presented Galaxy with a bunch of sunflowers and asked her sincerely, "Are you willing to be my girlfriend?" Galaxy was pleasantly surprised. She requested him to give her some time to persuade her parents.

    As she had expected, her parents were very angry after they had learned of their love story. Galaxy explained, "Kazrim is an excellent and a very optimistic person. He has a very positive attitude towards life and work. He cares for others always. He is 100% better than the normal. Moreover, the mute is still a human. He should have a perfect and wonderful love."

    Her parents asked to see him, then. The very worried Galaxy took Kazrim home a few days later. When they were on the train, Kazrim told her, "I'm going to tell your parents I'll be looking after you well with all my life!" Galaxy was deeply moved.

As soon as they had entered the house, Galaxy introduced him to her parents. She said, "This is Kazrim." Just right after her speech, an unbelievable thing happened. Kazrim threw the gift away and held her in his arms tightly.

    He said, "YOU CAN TALK?" It was the same question that Galaxy wanted to ask, too.

    The four people were shocked all of a sudden. As a matter of fact, Kazrim always believed that Galaxy was a mute and he still fell in love with her deeply.

    A retired United States soldier named Terry McGlade, who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, his dog Major is a hero. He is specially trained to says sense when McGlade is about to have a seizure, get his phone and dial 911 for help.

    When Major had recently sensed an incident about to happen, and McGlade collapsed and hit the floor, Major was able to get to McGlade's phone, and more or less bite on the phone which is specially set up so that when multiple buttons are pressed and held in, it goes into emergency call mode, and dial 911.

    "He was actually able to get my phone out of my pocket," McGlade said.

    The 911 operators who got the call from Major said they never heard him bark or anything. However, they could hear what sounded like a confused man in the background, and did get quite suspicious after quite a few calls from McGlade's cell phone kept coming in. Quite clearly, Major was using his leg and also stepping on the screen to get the phone to díal for help.

    After Major was sure someone would be on their way to help, he then made his way out to the front of the house to wait. When police and ambulance arrived, he led them into the house and right to McGlade, still in distress.

    "I probably would have been in severe trouble if he wouldn't have called," McGlade said.

    McGlade was taken to the hospital, where he was kept overnight for observation, but thanks to his best friend, and now hero of the day, Major. He is feeling much better, and will make a full recovery with little risk of lasting damage from this particular incident.

    On average, Americans spend about 10 hours a day in front of a computer or other electronic devices and less than 30 minutes a day outdoors. That is a claim made by David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah. In his 2017 TED Talk, Strayer explained that all this time spent with technology is making our brains tired.

    Using an electronic device to answer emails, listen to the news and look at Facebook puts a lot of pressure on the front of the brain, which, Strayer explains, is important for critical thinking, problem­solving and decision­making.

    So, it is important to give the brain a rest. And being in nature, Strayer claims, helps get a tired brain away from too much technology. More than 15,000 campers from around the world attended an international camping festival in September. That is when friends and family take time off and escape to nature for several days. They take walks, climb, explore, swim, sleep, eat and play. Camping may be just what a tired brain needs.

    Take Carl for example. He lives in West Virginia and enjoys camping. He says that staying outdoors makes him feel at ease. It also prepares him for the work he must do. Kate Somers is another example who also lives in West Virginia. She says she enjoys camping with her husband and two children. She calls it a "regenerative" experience.

    At the University of Utah, David Strayer has studied both short­term and long­term exposure to nature. He found that spending short amounts of time in nature without technology does calm the brain and helps it to remember better. However ,he found, it is the long­term contact with nature that does the most good. He and his research team found that spending three days in nature without any technology is enough time for the brain to fully relax and reset itself.

With the summer heat becoming increasingly unbearable over the years due to climate change,the cooling load in the summertime has also been on the rise.Insulation(隔热) is currently the main solution for blocking heat from entering a building,but by applying an additional material that can delay heat penetration(渗透),it can prevent the indoor temperature from rising and in turn lower the cooling load of the building.

A research team in Korea has developed a new material for building walls that can help reduce the penetration of heat from the outside.The team directed by Dr.Sarng Woo Karng from KIST revealed that they have successfully done it through building walls by applying a phase change material(PCM).One of the most common types is paraffin oil,which is used to make candles.

A solid PCM absorbs heat as it transforms into a liquid phase,so by using a case to hold it when it is in a liquid phase without causing any leakage(渗漏),it is possible to apply them to a building wall to block heat from entering inside.

The problem,however,is that the PCM turns into liquid starting from the outermost layer,and the parts that are hot move upward,while the parts that are still relatively cool move downward.Thus,while the upper part may have completely melted,the lower part will have not,and as a result,heat will penetrate into the building through the area where the PCM is in a liquid phase.In the end,the PCM becomes ineffective in controlling the indoor temperature and is rendered useless.

Dr.Karng's team addressed the non-uniform phase change with bubble injections.Injecting bubbles into the bottom part of the PCM enabled uniform circulation(流动)of the PCM in a liquid phase.Dr.Karng said,"We expect that the insulating wall using the PCM bubble generator used in this study will contribute to reducing the amount of energy used to heat or cool a building.Insulation techniques using the PCM help reduce heat penetration,in combination with the building insulating material,and it can also be used as the outer walls of zero-energy buildings."

High on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(lie) China's "water tower" Sanjiangyuan. It is home to the headwaters of China's three rivers: the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Lancang (Mekong) River. It is the three rivers {#blank#}2{#/blank#} provide water for about half the population of China. However, human activities are putting this ecosystem {#blank#}3{#/blank#}risk. Hopefully, though, we can change this damage. In 2016, the Chinese government built Sanjiangyuan National Park in Qinghai province. The park, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(schedule) to open in 2020, has increased the area's green coverage and attracted more wildlife. The local government has also made great effort to improve biological diversity. The success of Sanjiangyuan will mark the start of a {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(green) future. With Sanjiangyuan {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(take) the lead, nine other regions in China {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(choose) by a field conservation station to carry out projects over the past three years, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} will form a national park system together. The idea of a national park system is still new in China, but{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(it) realization is urgent. After all, building an ecological civilization bears great{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(important) in the development and progress of human civilization.