It was a rough week. The price of oil skyrocketed as the temperature dropped sharply in Maine. We were looking at a high of eight degrees that week, and I had missed three days of work so my paycheck was going to be lower than normal. I was stressed, to say the least. I shopped strategically looking for every possible way to cut pennies so I could buy groceries and keep the house warm.

My eight-year-old son didn’t understand when I told him we were struggling that week. He wanted a special kind of yoghurt, but I didn’t have the extra three dollars to buy it for him. It was the kind of yoghurt with a cartoon kid riding a skateboard on the front of the box, and a mere two spoonfuls in each cup. It was the kind of product that wastes a parent’s money and makes me hate advertising.

I felt guilty as a parent when those big eyes looked at me with confusion, as if to say, “It’s just yoghurt. What’s the big deal?” So I found a way. I put something back as single mothers often do. He got his yoghurt.

On the way driving back from the grocery store, I noticed a homeless man holding a sign by the side of the road. My heart hurt, and I tried not to look at him. I watched people stay away from him on the street and walk by without even meeting his eyes. My son didn’t seem to care much, either. I looked at the man closely then - bare hands grasping a piece of cardboard, snot (鼻涕) frozen to his face, a wornout jacket. And there I was struggling because I had to buy oil and groceries. But I decided to help. I pulled over to the man and handed him a five-dollar bill.

Seeing this, my son became confused and surprised. _______________________________________________________________________________ I explained that if we were blind to the poor man’s situation he would be freezing. He didn’t have a home or food to eat after all. We could spare five dollars even if we were financially stressed. ______________________________________________________________________________

On that day, my son performed an act that most adults wouldn’t have done._____________________________________________________________________________ Even if it was just a matter of a few spoonfuls of yoghurt it was all he had, and he gave it to someone who needed it more than he wanted it. He showed me that I am doing well as a mother! _______________________________________________________________________________

Body language is the quiet, secret and most powerful language of all! It speaks louder than words. According to specialists, our bodies send out more messages than we realize. In fact, non-verbal communication takes up about 50% of what we really mean. And body language is particularly important when we attempt to communicate across cultures. Indeed, what is called body language is so much a part of us that it's actually often unnoticed. And misunderstandings occur as a result of it. For example, different societies treat the distance between people differently. Northern Europeans usually do not like having bodily contact even with friends, certainly not with strangers. People from Latin American countries, on the other hand, touch each other quite a lot. Therefore, it’s possible that in conversations, it may look like a Latino is following a Norwegian all over the room. The Latino, trying to express friendship, will keep moving closer. The Norwegian, very probably seeing this as pushiness, will keep back away — which the Latino will in return regard as coldness.

Clearly, a great deal is going on when people talk. And only a part of it is in the words themselves. And when parties are from different cultures, there’s a strong possibility of misunderstandings. But whatever the situation, the best advice is to obey the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.

8 . A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at fine wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.

The system, called Driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20%-40% that are caused by tiredness. Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue.

Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband. The device, worn by drivers or pilots, gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey. After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel (方向盘). A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound, and the driver’s response.

Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time. Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy.

In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest. If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible.

The device has been delivered to the department’s 1aboatories for testing. If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year.