My daughter went to see The Wild One recently and she commented that Marlon Brando was wearing jeans so long ago. Of course he helped set the trend, so that got me thinking about the link between films and trends in fashion. Fashion and films have gone hand in hand for long. The Wild One is a good example: it appeared in 1954, starring Brando. Dressed in a black leather motorcycle jacket, leather cap and jeans, he created a look which is still considered “cool” today. Everyone from Madonna to middle-aged men is seen wearing the classic leather motorcycle jacket.

Another strong influence on fashion trends was Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn. She made famous the simple black dress that looks perfect at either a cocktail party or just standing around an expensive department store like Tiffany’s with a pastry and coffee in your hand, as Audrey Hepburn does in the film. She looks so elegant, wearing simple but beautiful dresses, big dark glasses and a string of pearls around her neck. Audrey Hepburn still influences women’s fashion with her “Tiffany’s look”.

In more modern times, the film star Uma Thurman created a major fashion trend when she appeared in the film Pulp Fiction, made in 1994. Her style was very simple. Her black trousers, crisp white shirt and hair stylewas copied by women in the world.

Influencing fashion trends can often be about timing. The movie Memoirs of a Geisha came just in time to start a trend in Japanese fashion. It started the Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, who wore beautiful silk kimonos(和服), and it won an Oscar for Costume Design. Many travel companies picked up on the trend and ran “geisha trips” to Japan. The film has also led to a regained interest in kimonos. It is now quite common to see young Japanese women wearing kimonos not just on traditional occasions, but at various social events. The fashion is also beginning to spread to western countries. 

 Most of all, try to think about why your parents do this or do that. They are still practising being parents and need help you can give them. Some day, when you become a parent, they may be able to help you how to get on with your children.

Men and women are regarded to have different roles in the society.

In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and indecision makes for equality and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the “battle of the sexes”.

If the process goes too far and man’s role is regarded as less important – and that has happened in some cases – we are as badly off as before, only in reverse.

It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired of“Momism” – but we don't want to exchange it for a“neo-Popism”. What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals. There are signs that psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit – nor the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman’s place is in the home. We are beginning, however, to analyse man’s place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.

The family is a co-operative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.

Excessive authoritarianism（命令主义）has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is pertinent（相关的，切题的） not only to a healthy democracy, but also to a healthy family.

 We live in a digital world now, and a student's technology needs have changed. For the early years, say when you are in primary school, you can get by with no technology at all. Even if you have a computer, it's a good idea to get children familiar with libraries. At this age, trips to the library are like family outings.

    As you get closer to middle school, a computer with Internet access becomes more of a necessity. Teachers will often give assignments that require a student to use the Internet for research. After a computer, technology choices for students become more difficult to make - especially when it comes to cell-phones. Kids will beg their parents for a cell-phone, especially in middle school. For many parents, it's a safety issue: They want to know that their kids can reach them quickly if necessary. For teachers, cell phones can be used to record lessons when students are absent. But many teachers dislike cell-phones. Some kids send messages or have talks in the class. Sending messages also raises the problem of cheating on exams. More and more schools are now forbidding the use of cell-phones.

    Many kids see iPods as necessary things to have. IPods are great for music, but do they do anything good for your children's education? Maybe they do. That's the opinion of Doug Johnson, an educator for 30 years. Johnson says that educators should accept all new forms of technology in the classroom, including IPods. "Some do more with their cell-phones than we can do with our laptops," he jokes. "I don't think we should be afraid. The truth is that it's easier to change the way we teach than to change the technology habits of an entire generation."

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Envy seems to be bad－but it doesnˈt have to be. Researchers are finding that, if approached the right way, there can actually be an advantage.

Psychologists classify envy in two ways: negative and positive. With positive envy, you are motivated by another personˈs success and struggle to follow it. With negative envy, you want to cut the advantaged person down so you look better by comparison. Letˈs say you feel sufferings of envy after your rival(对手) at another firm gets promoted. Negative envy might drive you to destroy his success, but positive envy would inspire you to work harder and get promoted, too.

Studies show positive envy can be a great motivator(动力). In a 2011 study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers in the Netherlands conducted a series of experiments with more than 200 university students. Researchers found that when they caused feelings of positive envy----as opposed to admiration or negative envy----in the students, it drove them to want to study more and perform better on a test measuring creativity and intelligence. While admiration may feel better, the researchers found, it doesnˈt motivate performance like the pain and frustration of envy.

“Those painful sufferings of envy are there for an evolutionary(进化的) reason,” says Texas Christian University researcher Sarah E. Hill, “warning us that someone has something of importance to us.” Building on this theory, Dr. Hill and others conducted a series of experiments, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, to test whether envy improves attention and memory----the tools needed to copy a rivalˈs steps to success. In one experiment, half of the participants were asked to recall past feelings of envy; the other half werenˈt. The two groups were then shown mock(模拟的) interviews of imaginary peers. The group filled with envy paid closer attention and better recalled details about the interview subjects. In other words, envy made them more astute（机敏的）. Not only can envy motivate us to reach for higher goals, it may even give us the cognitive push to get there.

  Qi Haoran, a Junior 1 student, was quite busy over the past winter vacation – and not just with homework. Qi, together with 10 other classmates made a volunteer group to call on people to join the Clean Your Plate Campaign (“光盘行动”).

   The 11 students went to many restaurants and told people the importance of saving food. “Excuse me, do you know that 950 million people around the world still haven’t got enough to eat? Please don’t waste food.” They would say this kind of thing hundreds of times every day.

  The Clean Your Plate Campaign began on the Internet in January. It calls on people to reduce food waste.

   China in these years had serious problems with wasted food. CCTV reported in January that the food Chinese people waste every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year.

   Chinese people are well known for being hospitable (好客的) and generous（大方的）. Many even feel that they lose face if their guests have eaten all the food.

   Luckily, the campaign has got the support of many. In a restaurant in Xinjiang, the owner give the guests who have eaten all that they ordered a sticker (贴花). People can enjoy a free meal when they have 10 stickers. More than 750 restaurants in Beijing have begun to offer smaller dishes and encourage their guests to take leftovers (剩饭剩菜) home.

   To reduce food waste is a big task, and it needs time. It’s important that everyone does their bit, just like Qi. Did you finish your meals today?

The interview is for many the hardest part of getting a new job; for employers, your performance in the interview is the most important determining factor in whether or not you’re hired for the position. The following tips can help you to do well in your next job interview.

You’ll want to be dressed properly for your interview; as surprising as it is, many people show up for their job interviews poorly dressed. No matter what the position may be, it’s highly advisable to be dressed professionally for the interview. How you should dress up depends on the particular position; a good rule of thumb is to dress slightly more professionally than the position calls for. This helps you avoid showing up for your job interview, either too dressed up or underdressed.

You should bring a few copies of your resume (简历) along to a job interview. Even though you’ve already sent the employer your resume, keep in mind that they’ve most likely received quite a few resumes. Having extra copies of your resume on hand shows that you’re well prepared and responsible.

There are a number of questions which are commonly asked in interviews. One of the questions which turn up in almost every interview is what you see as your greatest strengths and weaknesses. A lot of applicants make the mistake of saying they have no weaknesses, which comes off as dishonest — everyone, after all, has some weaknesses. Admit that there are areas in which you have room for improvement.

After the interview, always shake hands with the interviewer and thank him for taking the time to meet with you. It’s also necessary to send a thank-you note by e-mail as soon after the interview as possible.

Zheng Pengyu: Interest is the best teacher. Classrooms that weren’t fixed could give students the chance to explore their interests. At the same time, they would be able to learn on their own because they would have to make their own decisions. All in all, the new system would be a good chance to inspire students’ love for studying.
    Sun Yao: Despite its benefits, I’m worried about whether the new system would work. Going to different classrooms would take up a big part of our break time and we would have less time to relax after class. Also, not all schools could offer so many different classes.

Shi Zhenghan: I support students learning in different classes. It would solve the problem of some students thinking the classes are too easy while some think they are too difficult. Teachers could also teach more effectively. What’s more, friendships built while in different classes might be a pleasant surprise.

Zhou Qingqing: In my opinion, studying in different classrooms might affect students’ psychological development. They might find it difficult to develop deep and strong friendships with other students if they had to change classrooms constantly. They would also lose their sense of belonging to a certain class.

Hu Qile: I applaud the idea. It would help teachers set up special teaching plans for different classes. For students, making choices by themselves could encourage them to be responsible. Changing classrooms could also help remove the boredom of doing the same dull routine every day.

Wang Xiaoqian: The new system might help with students’ individual development, but I still prefer the current system. Studying in one fixed classroom, students with different academic levels can help each other. Spending your senior middle school years with the same classmates is an unforget table experience.

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks around the world. There are many different types of coffee and experts think that there are more flavors of coffee than there are of wine. Coffee contains caffeine, something that raises our awareness, keeps us from failing asleep or simply gives us a kick in the morning or after lunch.

Food experts, however, are still undecided on how healthy coffee is. For a long time doctors have told people not to drink too much coffee, b ecause it may lead to heart problems, high blood pressure, and headaches.

Scientists have now found out that it is the quality of coffee and the way it is made that hold the key to our health. Elderly people on the Greek island of Ikaria live longer than normal. Among other things, this is linked to the consumption of a strong coffee. Experts also point out that different roasts and types of coffee beans have different effects on our health. Milk and sugar change the different levels of caffeine in a cup of coffee.A new study by a Harvard research group says that there is no link between coffee and health problems. Drinking several cups of strong coffee a day is not connected with early death or other heart diseases.

Coffee has many advantages, as the new study suggests. While alcohol makes people sleepy and slow moving, coffee gives them energy. Getting together for a cup of coffee is also a form of socializing and has a positive effect on relationships.

Although a lot still needs to be uncovered about coffee, it seems to reduce the risk of cancer and diabetes (糖尿病). Reports show that people who drink coffee may develop Parkinson’s disease later in life, or maybe not at all. Doctors think that coffee may have a positive effect on our brain.