They were a happy family：four daughters were all in the same school in different grades.The youngest，Janice，who was in my class，seemed to be glued(粘) to her mother’s skirts.The three older girls took the bus to school every morning，but Janice was always driven to school by her mother.

One Friday，Janice’s mother asked for a talk with me.She said in a soft voice，“My husband is going to Europe on business for two weeks，and he insists that I go with him.I have tried to explain over and over that Janice needs me here.But he thinks that she will be fine without me so I have no choice；I have to go.I have told the babysitter to drive her every morning.Will you please give Janice special attention and help her? I want to be sure everything goes well for her.”

I told her that we would make every effort to support Janice.I even volunteered to meet Janice at her car so she would see a familiar face.As a mother myself，I’d like to help.Janice’s mother thanked me for my understanding.

On Monday morning，expecting a tearful，anxious child，I planned a special program of fun and games.I waited outside to greet Janice，but just then the bus arrived and not three，but four girls got off.Janice skipped along joyfully，saying “goodbye” to her sisters as she ran with two friends into the classroom.I walked slowly into the classroom and called Janice over to ask how the bus ride went.Impatiently she said，“Oh，I always want to take the bus with the other kids，but Mother needs to be with me.You see there won’t be any more babies，so I have to be a baby a little longer.While she is away，I’ll just ride the bus every day.I am five，you know.”

Attitudes toward new technologies often fall along generational lines.That is，generally，younger people tend to outnumber older people in face of a technological shift.

It is not always the case，though.When you look at attitudes toward driverless cars，there doesn’t seem to be a clear generational divide.The public overall disagree on whether they’d like to use a driverless car.In a study last year，of all people surveyed,48 percent said they wanted to ride in one，while 50 percent did not.

The fact that attitudes toward self­driving cars appear to be so steady across generations suggests how transformative the shift to driverless cars could be.Not everyone wants a driverless car now—and no one can get one yet—but among those who are open to them，every age group is similarly engaged.

When it comes to driverless cars，differences in attitude are obvious based on factors not related to age.College graduates，for example，are particularly interested in driverless cars compared with those who have less education：59 percent of college graduates said they would like to use a driverless car compared with 38 percent of those with a high­school diploma or less.

Where a person lives matters，too.More people who lived in cities and suburbs said they wanted to try driverless cars than those who lived in rural areas.

While there’s reason to believe that interest in self­driving cars is going up，a person’s age will have little to do with how self­driving cars can become mainstream.Once driverless cars are actually available for sale，the early adopters will be the people who can afford to buy them.

Developed by researchers and designers specializing in typography(印刷术)and behavioral science，Sans Forgetica is a new font(字体)designed to help readers better remember the information they read by forcing them to spend a bit more time on each word，

The design of Sans Forgetica is based on a font called Albion，but with substantial   modifications(修改)to reduce familiarity and attain its goal of engaging the brain more and   helping the reader retain(保留) more information.It was developed by scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne，Australia，who believe it could help students studying for exams.

“We believe this is the first time that specific principles of design theory have been combined with specific principles of psychology theory in order to create a font，”Behavioral economist Jo Peryman told DW.

If fonts are too familiar，readers often glance over them without their brain creating may   memories of what was read.At the same time，if a font is too outlandish，the brain has to struggle too much to decipher(破译)it while neglecting the retention of information.According to its developers，“Sans Forgetica lies at a sweet spot where just enough obstacle has been added to create that memory retention.”Its modifications force readers to spend more time，but not too much time，reading each word，allowing the brain to engage in deeper cognitive processing.

So does Sans Forgetica actually work? Does it help readers better remember the information they read? So far，studies have shown that it can make a difference，although not a significant one.

One experiment had 96 participants recall word pairs presented in three different fonts.They remembered 69 percent of the word pairs written in Sans Forgetica，compared to 61 percent for the other fonts.In a different experiment，303 students took a mock(模拟)multiple-choice exam，and whenever the text was presented in Sans Forgetica，they remembered 57 percent of   the text，compared to only 50 percent of the surrounding text written in Arial font.

So Sans Forgetica won’t give you the memory of an elephant，but if you’re the kind of person who believes every little bit helps，it might be worth a try.

Friendships can bring joy or sorrow.    11     , we talked to researchers, authors, and therapists to learn how to manage the common relationship difficulties we all face.

Friends are vital for our physical and mental well-being but these relationships aren’t always smooth sailing.     12    . And a major way this happens is through broken promises. Perhaps he canceled plans at the last minute or she declined to take part in an important party.     13    , the first thing to do is remember that no one is perfect, says Jan Yager, PhD, friendship coach.

“Sometimes jealousy reveals our deepest desires,” says Dr. Yager. “Healthy envy can motivate you to become better and be inspired by your friend’s success,” she says. She points out that it could be the other way around as well: Your friends might be jealous of you.

There’s no worse feeling than when you check Facebook Monday morning to find out that your friends went on a weekend getaway without you. Scott Christnelly, a therapist, says, “I encourage clients to express their feelings about it but also not to jump to conclusions.” Then find someone else to talk to — maybe a family member, or a close friend (not one who went on the trip)—to explain how you feel.     15    .