New York—Michelle Obama made a daring decision to return to the same designer who created her Inaugural (就职）Ball dress four years ago —and the risk paid off.

    The First Lady looked extremely attractive in a thin, sweeping, and ruby-colored dress by designer Jason Wu. She teamed the dramatic dress with heels by Jimmy Choo and a diamond ring by Kimberly McDonald.

    She surprised the fashion establishment by returning to a Wu design which had been the custom made for her.

    Four years ago at her first Inauguration Ball, Michelle shimmered（熠熠生辉）in an off-white, one-shouldered floor-length dress by the designer.

    Wu, who was 26 at the time and had only been working in fashion for three years, saw his career take off after the First Lady's surprise decision to wear one of his dresses.

    He said at the time that he was unaware she had chosen the dress and had been watching at home on his couch and eating pizza when she appeared.

    After her 2013 decision, Wu told Women's Wear Daily: “Mrs Obama likes to keep her secrets. She fooled me again.”

    Wu released a women's clothing and accessories（装饰品）collection at Target last year and continues to be popular with the First Lady for official engagements.

    The sleeveless, cross-halter neck dress with low-cut back flattered（突出）49-year-old Michelle's arms and neat waist.

    It had been created especially for her by Wu and was a departure from the dark and plain colour tone she stuck to at earlier inauguration events.

    Mrs Obama's new hairstyle —she had bangs（美发沙龙）cut on her birthday last week  had been loosely tousled（蓬松的）for the special night.

    Vice-President Joe Biden's wife Jill also looked attractive in a blue silk dress by Vera Wang at the Inauguration Ball.

    A Samoan airline says that it is the world's first carrier to charge passengers by their weight. Samoa Air, which opened in 2012, asks passengers to give their personal weight during booking, which is then charged according to the length of a flight. The customers will also be weighed just before they board the plane.

    "It is believed that all people throughout the world are the same size," Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton said. "Airplanes always run on weight, not seats."

    "There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future. This is the fairest way of your travelling with your family or yourself."

    Though the airline introduced the plan last November, it caught people's attention last week when the carrier began international flights to neighboring American Samoa.

    Almost at the same time, a Norwegian economist, Bharat Bhatta, published a report suggesting that airlines should charge obese passengers more.

    The Pacific Islands contain some of the world's most common countries for obesity, many ranking in the top 10, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Samoa is ranked number four, with 59.6 percent of the population considered obese, said the most recent WHO report.

    According to Samoa Air's latest schedule, the airline charges up to $0.57 per kg for flights in Samoa and $1.03 per kg for its only international flight to American Samoa, around 250 miles.

    Children under 12 are charged 75 percent of the adult rate, with fares also based on weight. Any overweight baggage is calculated at the same rate as the passenger's personal weight.

    The plan could actually prove cheaper in some cases, such as for families travelling with small children, and Langton said customer reaction has mainly been "amazingly positive".

    The idea of charging passengers by weight has been hotly discussed before, and in the US some airlines require those who do not fit into a seat comfortably to buy a second seat.

    Around this time a few years ago, it was common to see videos of friends on social media having a bucket of icy water thrown on them. Known as the “ice bucket challenge”, it was created as a way to raise money for the medical condition ALS. But now, there's a new challenge and this time, no water is involved.

    What is it? Well, think of a fruit that you'd never normally sink your teeth into. Perhaps you've got it: a lemon. While we enjoy using lemons to add flavor to dishes, very few of us would actually eat one as we'd eat an apple or an orange.

    But the horrible taste is the precise reason why the “lemon face challenge” is taking off. Participants bite into a lemon, taking a selfie as they do it before posting the photo online. The fun is all about expression people make as all that citric acid (柠檬酸) hits their taste buds (味蕾). Every expression seems to say, “This is worse than freezing water.”

    The serious side to this trend is the good cause it's all in aid of. The challenge aims to raise awareness of a rare brain cancer that affects young children. It was started by Aubregh Nicholas, an 11-year-old US kid. She was diagnosed with this rare brain cancer herself in September 2017, but has since raised almost $50000 to cover her medical expenses thanks to the challenge.

    If a challenge is going to raise publicity and contributions from people, it has to be something interesting and original. That way the ice bucket challenge took off in 2014 and it explains why so many people are now sharing their lemon faces. There are a lot of stories about the downside of social media these days. The charity challenges, however, show how online culture can unite the world and bring help to the people who most need it.

    A monk lived with his brother, a one-eyed idiot(a very stupid person).One day ,when the monk was scheduled to have an interview with a famous theologian(a scientist who studies religions) who had come from far away to meet him, he needed to take care of some matters and would therefore be absent when the theologian arrived. He told his brother: "Receive this scholar and treat him well！Don't say a word to him，and everything will be OK."

    The monk left the temple. Upon returning, he went to meet his guest.

    "Did my brother receive you properly?" asked the monk.

    "You brother is outstanding. He's a great theologian!" exclaimed the theologian with great enthusiasm.

"What do you mean? My brother—a theologian?" stuttered(结巴地说)the surprised monk.

    "We had a passionate conversation," replied the scholar." We communicated professionally by means of gestures. I showed him one finger and he replied by showing me two. Logically, I answered with three fingers and then he astonished me by raising a closed fist, ending the debate. With one finger, I implied the unity of Buddha. With two fingers, he expanded my point of view by reminding me that Buddha was inseparable from his theory. Delighted by the reply, with three fingers I expressed: Buddha and his theory in the world. Then he suggested a wonderful response, showing me his fist: Buddha, his theory and the world, all together as one whole. "

    A little later, the monk went to look for his one-eyed brother.

    "So how did it go earlier with the theologian?" he asked.

    "Very simple," said the brother. "He made fun of me; he show me one finger emphasizing that I have but one eye. Not wanting to fall into the conflict, I showed that he was fortunate enough to have two eyes. Critically, he continued, 'Be that as it may, between us, we have three eyes.' That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Showing him a closed fist, I threatened to lay him out right then and there if he didn't stop his insulting challenges."

    Why do you go to the library? For books, yes--but you like books because they tell stories. You hope to get lost in a story or be transported into someone else's life. At one type of library, you can do just that--even though there's not a single book.

    At a Human Library, instead of books, you can "borrow" people. Individuals volunteer as human "books" and participants in the event can "read" the book--meaning they would have a one-on-one conversation with the volunteer and share in a dialogue about that individual's experience. "Books" are volunteers from all walks of life who have experienced discrimination (歧视) based on race, religion, class, gender identity, age, lifestyle choices, disability and other aspects of their life

For a certain amount of time, you can ask them questions and listen to their stories, which are as fascinating and as attractive as any you can find in a book. Many of the stories have to do with some kind of stereotype. You can speak with a refugee (难民), a soldier suffering from PTSD, a homeless person or a woman living with HIV. The Human Library encourages people to challenge their own long-held beliefs-to truly get to know, and learn from someone they might otherwise make a quick judgment about.

    According to its website, the Human Library is "a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered." It provides the opportunity for the community to share and understand the experiences of others in their community.

    The Human Library Organization came to be in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2000. Ronni Abergel, his brother Dany, and some colleagues hosted a four-day during a major Northern European festival, hoping to raise awareness about violence among youth. After the success of this event, Abergel founded the Human Library Organization, which has been growing ever since.

    Though there are a few permanent human libraries, most aren't places at all, but events. Though many do take place at physical libraries, you don't need a library card—anyone can come and be part of the experience. There have been human library events all over the globe, in universities and in pubs, from Chicago to Tunis to Edinburgh to San Antonio.

The stories these "books" tell range from fascinating to heartbreaking and everything in between. And that's the very point of the organization--to prove that no person can be summed up in just one word. It seeks to show people that you truly can't judge a book by its cover—or by its title or label.

    Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

    Different cultures stress the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries, like the UK or France, people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafe rather than at the office.

    Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion, instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

    Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values, however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

    People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.