There were two childhood friends who went through school and college and even joined the army together. War broke out and they were fighting in the same unit. One night, they were ambushed (伏击).

There was firing throughout the night. Bullets (子弹) were flying all over and out of the darkness came a voice, “Harry, please come and help me.”

Harry immediately recognized the voice of his friend, Bill. He asked the captain if he could go. The captain said, “No. I am already short-handed and I cannot afford to lose one more person.”

Again and again, the voice came. Harry could not contain himself any longer and told the captain, “Captain, this is my childhood friend and I have to go and help.” Harry crawled (爬行) through the darkness and found that Bill was dead.

Now the captain got angry and shouted at Harry, “Didn’t I tell you he was not going to survive? You could have been killed!”

Harry replied, “Captain, I did the right thing. When I reached Bill, he was still alive and his last words were, ‘Harry, I knew you would come.’”

Harry did not regret risking his life to see his friend for the last time.

A

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 but for 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 under her covers, sobbing.
    Obviously, that was not 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 notice 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.

We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

 What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

 Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

German conceptual(概念的) artist HA Schult has built the world’s first hotel made out of rubbish in Rome only a few steps from the Vatican and Castel Sant’ Angelo.

        Schult used a total of 12 tonnes of rubbish collected on beaches along European coasts to form the outer walls of the three-room structure. The rubbish was cleaned in Germany before being transported to Rome for use in the project.

      Cans, tyres, newspaper, socks and even deserted cameras, footballs and love letters are used to decorate the hotel. Schult hopes his art project will draw attention to the amount of rubbish produced in the world and confront people with the situation.

      “We are in rubbish time. We produce rubbish and we will be rubbish,” said Schult who built the hotel to mark World Environment Day. Only running water and electricity were lacking inside the hotel.

      The inside of the hotel was complete with colorful sheets and hard wood floors. Among its first guests were Danish top fashion model Helena Christensen and a 53-year-old London  man and his daughter, They spent the night before World Environment Day in the hotel.

      The rubbish used to make the hotel comes from all over the world, according to Schult. This is symbolic because rubbish is a worldwide problem , he said.

      “ We are living on a planet of garbage,” said Schult, who has used garbage to create art in various projects since the 1960s to point out the increasing amount of rubbish.

      Among his best known projects is Rubbish People, which consisted of an army of human-like figures that he set up at numerous prominent locations, including Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the Pyramids at Giza and Red Square in Moscow.

We convey (传达) information through the position and movement of the body. We often use gestures or body movements to stress what we are saying. For example, when I lecture , I often use my hands to emphasize (强调) points or point to something on the blackboard. Some people use them more than others. The victory sign, the OK sign, the goodbye wave and the blowing of a kiss are all popular gestures in America. It is important to recognize, however, that most gestures are not universally recognized. For example, although the OK gesture means acceptance in America, it has other meanings in other cultures. In France it means worthlessness. And in Greece, it is considered obscene .

   There are some sex differences in nonverbal behavior. In American culture, men tend to sit or stand with legs apart and hands outward, while women tend to keep legs together and hands at their sides. Women are also better than men at understanding nonverbal gestures.

   A nonverbal behaviour is to have the tongue just slightly protruding (突出) from the mouth. A study showed that people were less willing to approach others who had their tongues showing. Perhaps this is why people often tend to avoid individuals with bad nonverbal behaviours. When we make decisions about other people, we learn to recognize nonverbal cues (提示) and interpret (理解) them along with verbal information. 

   Students these days often have a lot of worries. Sometimes they have problems with their schoolwork, and sometimes with their friends. ________ .

   Some people think the worst thing is to do nothing. Laura Mills, a teenager from Washington, agrees. "Problems and worries are normal in life, " says Laura. "But I think talking to someone helps a lot. If we don't talk to someone, we'll certainly feel worse. "

   Laura once lost her purse, and was worried for days. She was afraid to tell her parents about it. She even walked three miles to school each day because she didn't have any money. She just kept thinking. "If I tell my parents, they'll be angry! " But in the end, she talked to her parents and they were really understanding. Her dad said he sometimes made careless mistakes himself. They got her a new purse and asked her to be more careful. "I will always remember to share my problems in the future! " Laura says.

   Robert Hunt advises students about common problems. He feels the same way as Laura. "It is best not to avoid our problems. We should always try to solve them. " He thinks that you can first find someone to talk to. This person doesn't need to be an expert like himself. Students often forget that their parents have more experience than them, and are always there to help them.

   In English, we say that sharing a problem is like curing it in half. So you're halfway to solving a problem if you talk to someone about it!

Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days , a brush was made from camel’s hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.

The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged（蓬乱）. His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.

The cat’s lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin’s cousins, Mr. Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin’s drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings（版画）by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen. In 1747，when Benjamin was nine years old，Mr. Pennington returned for another visit .He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin’s parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.

 In the city, Mr. Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape (风景) painting. Wiliams,a well-known painter, came to see him work .Wiliams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home .The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little，having been a poor student. But he later said,“Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night.”While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings.The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.

   In 1816, there were no schools for the deaf in America. Several people started a few schools, but in the end all of the schools closed. There were too many problems. The first people to succeed were Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. They opened their school in 1817, and the school did not close. At that time it was the only school for deaf children in America!

   Clerc and Gallaudet did not know what would happen after they opened their school. They worked very hard. The school grew, and many more students went to this school. These new students were from all over the country. People thought the school would be big enough for all of the deaf children in America. The school is still open today, but the name was changed. Today it is called the American School for the Deaf. It is in West Hartford, Connecticut.

   After Clerc and Gallaudet established their school, many other schools for the deaf were opened as well. Before Gallaudet's death in 1851, 15 other schools for deaf children were built! Many of the teachers at those 15 schools used Gallaudet's teaching methods. Many had even studied with Gallaudet and were deaf themselves!

One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school?

 Listen — Listen when they are talking. Don’t say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it’s not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.

Help them— If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don’t do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra (额外的) pencil or pen with you to classes in case (以防) they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.

 Be there for them — Try to make something for your friend to help make them feel better in hard times. Making cards and encouraging them are among the nicest things you can do for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, “I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control. But if you can’t stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve (值得) to be with me at my best.” Always remember this! If you don’t want to stay with your friends when they’re in hard times, then you don’t deserve to be with them when they’re having a good time!

 Make plans — Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you’ll remember these things when you’re all old!