1 . Chen Shaoqin, a woman from Beijing, has shown the world how life should be lived by working as a tour guide in her seventies.

Chen has only a middle school education. She began studying English at the age of 40, changing herself from a factory worker to a white collar (白领) worker in an international trade company.

Chen continued to learn after retirement (退休), studying art and finally becoming an art guide at the age of 67. Over the past five years, from a person who knew nothing about art to a great volunteer guide, Chen's hard work and love for learning have encouraged many. As a guide, she is able to take special training courses and has the chance to learn from artists, giving her courage to continue.

Chen is proud of many exhibitions (展览) guided by her over the years, including those of famous artists like Zeng Fanzhi, Xu Bing, Qiu Zhijie and Pablo Picasso. She believes that every tour is a beautiful journey and a new chance to learn and be moved. Chen's love for learning has made her an excellent guide. After turning 73 this year, she said. “Well, I may be old, but I believe that the width of one's life can be expanded (延伸) through self-exploration and learning.”

3 . A small study out of Skidmore College examined the advantages of morning vs, evening exercise for both women and men. Paul, professor for health at Skidmore, led the study.

“We had the groups divided into evening and morning groups,” he says. “We found women and men answered differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of the day, which surprised us.”

The study showed that for women who want to lower blood pressure (血压), the risk of heart disease or reduce fat, morning exercise works best. Those women hoping for upper body muscle (肌肉) gains or mood (心情) improvement should consider evening exercise. For the men, the findings were somewhat different: Evening exercise lowers blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and feelings of tiredness. But similar to women, they burn more fat with morning exercise.

“For many people, the best time to exercise will depend on their chronotype,” says Heisz, author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind.

“Chronotype is your body’s natural habit to sleep at a certain time—it’s what decides whether you’re a night owl or an early bird. For the 25% of the population that considers themselves a night owl, getting both enough sleep and enough exercise can be difficult,” adds Heisz.

He continues, “Sleep—which provides your body the necessary time to recover (恢复) and make gains from exercise—should always be the first choice. When it comes to exercise, regardless of research on the advantages of certain exercises at particular times of the day, your results will not be good if it doesn’t allow enough time for sleep.”

4 . In a world where acts of kindness often go unnoticed, a good story that has been discovered reminds us of the power of care and the effect it can have on someone’s life.

It all started with a “Kindness Week Challenge” given to Brennan by his 8th-grade teacher, Ms. Watkins. Little did he know that this challenge would lead to a wonderful friendship with 84-year-old Ms. Ann.

Brennan’s promise to send his little attractive things every day for a week developed a habit of checking up on Ms. Ann and sending gifts regularly(定期地), long after the challenge was over.

Their friendship has now lasted for over five years, and Brennan still visits Ms. Ann every month with flowers, cakes, chocolates, cards and more.

They talk about everything from his high school life to his college goals. The pair has found that they share a common love of chocolates. Ms. Ann always hopes to hear about what he’s doing and loves to share her own stories from a different time. They have become the best friends, with Brennan treating her as his great-grandmother.

Brennan’s mom, Traci, takes pride in her son. She said, “The best thing a teenager can do is to take care of the elderly. I’m so glad my son has added more sunshine to Ms. Ann’s life. I hope he always remembers the joy he’s brought her, and his fun talks with her, keeps his kind heart, and thinks of others.”

Ms. Ann’s daughter Emma, with her husband Gould, has a 2-year-old son. They are thankful for Brennan’s friendship as they cannot always be with Ms. Ann. Brennan’s kind heart has brought more sunshine into Ms. Ann’s life, and her encouraging words have helped to inspire(启发)him in return.

Backlight 226 is a rare bookstore in Shanghai, as it offers books by visually impaired （损伤） people to those with visual impairments.     1     (locate) in the city’s leafy Nanchang Street, the store has been a fixture in the area since 2022, providing much-needed reading materials to the blind community.

“People may only know about the famous Helen Keller, but there are famous blind Chinese     2     (writer) as well,” said Han Ying, the manager of Backlight 226, referring to the American author and activist     3     lost her sight and hearing at an early age.

Han partially lost her vision after an accident aged 21 and     4     (become) completely blind five years later. She said she had to give up     5     (teach) calligraphy, and the way she read was also affected.

Now, aged 43, she relies     6     special apps designed for the visually impaired and spends most of her time at the bookstore. There, she promotes reading among visually impaired people and the bookstore     7     (equip) with facilities that allow the visually impaired     8     (read) more comfortably.

“Backlight 226 is a start,” Han said. “There will     9     (definite) be more like it across the country so that we can make the public know more about the special groups     10     their world.”

8 . About 72% of Americans use social media, where it’s common to make new friends, build relationships, or share photos of your daily life.

Social media allows people to connect in ways that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, and can often expand (扩展) people’s social circles, says Kathryn Moore, Ph. D., a psychologist at Providence Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica. On social media, you can connect with those people in similar situations and share worries, fears, and celebrations, Moore says. According to her research, up to 64% of teens report they have made a new friend online, for example, and 83% of teens report that social media makes them feel more connected with their friends.

Social media can negatively impact relationships when you start comparing yourself to other people, including your friends, just based on their social media, Moore says. For example, some may fear their lives aren’t as good as their friends’ and take friendships away because they feel they’re not good enough. Problems with self-esteem (自尊) can also appear when posting about some relationships on social media, but not all of them. “People might feel left out that they’re not as important if they’re not being shared on social media,” Moore says. Cyberbullying (网络霸凌) can also negatively impact relationships, whether you are receiving mean comments or sending them to someone else.

In order to grow a relationship that started online you should show the real you. To deepen a relationship that started on social media, Moore suggests talking on the phone or meeting in person. This allows for more fluid (流畅的) conversations, where you can communicate in real time. Remember that the people who you meet online can become an important part of your life.

“If a relationship created through online resources is treated with respect and consideration, it can be a great way to meet someone you might never have had the chance to meet,” says Don Grant, Ph. D., chairman of the American Psychological Association’s Device Management & Intelligence Committee.

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