You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Maybe your friends from middle school are going to a different high school. Even if you know other freshmen(新生), you still feel nervous that you don't know any upper-classmen. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

    Most high schools hold a freshman orientation(训练) before school actually starts. These are helpful not only because you learn your way around the building and get to meet some of your teachers, but you also get to meet fellow freshmen. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognize a few familiar faces.

    When you talk to people at orientation, you'll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you are. They're all new to the school and don't know what to expect. Talking about a common concern with your classmates can help you develop friendships.

    The work in high school is something freshmen are probably worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learned in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it's a bit more challenging. If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

    High school also has more after-school activities than middle school did, such as clubs, music and theater groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

    Middle school taught you the basics of academics, time management, and social skills while providing you with a little extra support and guidance. High school gives you the chance to learn how to be more independent and responsible.

    I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled(贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

    War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

    The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute without a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled(爬) under her covers, weeping. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart,

    Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't noticed Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”

    Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

    Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

    In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a way to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let illnesses in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus it began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

    Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

    Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children of touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

    Binge-watching is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in quick succession（一连串,连续）". With developments in the speed and connectivity of the internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows streamed directly to their television at their convenience.

    This behavior is nothing new. In fact, " binge-watching" has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes many platforms will display pop-ups with "you might like suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode".

    However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back, almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and one quarter have neglected their household chores. Next we'll be missing work!

    Bingeing has other connections-binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said： "The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move." If people find binge-watching hard to resist, coupled with the fact that it has shown to lead to negligence in many, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction？

    The countless of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning then it becomes a problem. So, what's the answer？ Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, "A little of what you fancy does you good."

    Professor Martin's report says that children who attend a number of schools, because their parents have to move around the country, probably make slow progress in their studies. There are also signs, says Professor Martin, that an unusually large number of such children are mentally affected.

    The professor says, "It's true, my personal feeling is that children should stay in one school. Our feelings are based on research and not on any personal feeling that I or many assistants may have on the subject."

    Captain Thomas James, an army lecturer for the past 20 years and himself a father of two, said, "I've never heard such rubbish. Taking me for example, no harm is done to the education of my children who change school regularly—if they keep to the same system, as in our Army school. In my experience—and I've known quite a few of them—Army children are as well-adjusted (适应) as any others, if not better. What the professor doesn't appear to appreciate is the fact that in such situations children will adapt (适应) much better than grown-ups."

    When this was put to Professor Martin, he said that at no time has his team suggested that all such children were backward or mentally affected in some way, but simply that in their experience there was a clear tendency (倾向).

    "Our findings show that while the very bright child can deal with regular changes without harming his or her general progress in studies, the majority (大多数) of children suffer from constantly (不断地) having to enter a new learning situation."

With advanced communication technologics making the iconic British red telephone boxes expendable (可抛弃的）, a US firm is all set to bring them back to use. Call boxes would be changed into mini-offices for workers on-the-go and will offer free coffee to subscribers (认购者).

Bar Works Inc's chief executive Jonathan Black, a Briton living in New York, said that his company will renew telephone boxes with fully functional printers, scanners, 25-inch screens and Wi-Fi. Bar Works specializes in offering bar-themed work stations in prime locations, charging customers with a monthly subscription in return for free access to the business and office supplies. The company plans to operate in a similar manner, offering British customers with monthly memberships to "Pod Works" for £19.99 ($29).

The company will refit telephone boxes in five major British cities and has already rented and changed 15 old call boxes in London and Edinburgh. As expected, they are coming into use by the public in the coming months. "Given the prime location, above all else, of the telephone boxes, the launch is expected to gain at least 10, 000 members by the end of 2021. It's an alternative to, say, Starbucks but obviously it provides you with total privacy. " said Black.

Thanks to mobile phones, the red telephone boxes have been effectively made expendable. According to a report by the Daily Mail, retired telephone boxes, especially those damaged deliberately, are sent to a "telephone box graveyard" of sorts, where they take great pains to restore to their former glory before being sold to collectors across the globe. Such is the demand for properly restored telephone boxes, that it is not uncommon for them to be sold for amounts as high as £10, 000.

Despite its setback, in a recent survey, the British red telephone box, which was originally designed in 1920, was voted the greatest British design of all time.