When you set a foot outside of your door to drop trash, go to a social event or go for a walk, thoughts like “I hope I don’t see anyone I know” or “please don’t talk to me” may run through your mind. I’ve also said such things to myself. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to talk with someone, especially someone new.

Why do we go out of our ways to avoid people? Do we think meeting new people is a waste of time? Or are we just lazy, thinking that meeting someone new really is a trouble?

Communication is the key to life. We have been told that many times. Take the past generations, like our parents, for example. They seem to take full advantage of that whole “communication” idea because they grew up talking face to face while Generation-Y grew up staring at screens. We spend hours of our days sitting on Facebook. We send messages to our friends and think about all of the things we want to say to certain people that we don’t have the courage to do in reality.

Nowadays, we are so caught up in our little circle of friends—our comfort zone. We love it that they laugh at our jokes, understand our feelings and can read our minds. Most importantly, they know when we want to be alone. They just get us.

Holding a conversation with someone new means agreeing with things that you don’t really believe and being someone you think they want you to be—it is, as I said before, a trouble. It takes up so much energy, and at some point or another, it is too tiring.

But meeting new people is important. Life is too short, so meet all the people you can meet, make the effort to go out and laugh. Remember, every “hello” leads to a smile—and a smile is worth a lot.

“Instagram(a social networking app) will cut out many users’ accounts on December 20. To protect your account, repost this warning #KeepMyAccountSafe.” Every few months, it happens again-a dozen of annoying posts from my kids’ friends suddenly start to appear on my Instagram news feed.

According to a new study by Stanford University, most kids don’t know what news is fake. Researchers asked more than 7,800 middle school and high school students to complete 56 tasks, like distinguishing an advertisement from a real news story on a website and determining which blog in a series was most reliable. They found that students judged the credibility of blogs based not on the source of the material, but on how much detail they contained, or whether a large photo was attached.

“Many people assume that because young people are fluent in social media, they can distinguish fake news, but our work shows the opposite to be true,” wrote lead study author Sam Wineburg, a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education.

Both Google and Facebook are now taking steps to control misleading news from making its way on their platforms, but they won’t be able to eliminate it completely. That is why it’s now more important than ever to teach our kids to think critically when it comes to believing various information sources.

“In the coming months, we look forward to sharing our assessments and working with educators to create materials that will guide young people in the sea of disinformation they encounter online,” said Wineburg.

Most people will tell you that without a cup of coffee in the morning, they cannot function. Coffee is a good drink when consumed in right amount.       16    

Legend says that Kaldi, an Ethiopian, discovered his goats enjoy eating coffee plants. Curious, he tasted the leaves and began to dance around. A passing monk (僧侣) witnessed the scene and took some back to his fellow monks. Later that night, the monks experienced extreme inspiration.     17    Soon Arabia was roasting coffee beans. By 1000 A. D. , Muslims were drinking coffee to stay awake. A merchant from Venice introduced coffee to Europe in 1615. By 1696, the Dutch started growing the coffee bush in Java. By 1723, coffee plants were introduced to the Americas. Today, coffee is the most popular drink in the world.

Caffeine (咖啡因) is the major chemical in coffee. Caffeine poisoning can occur if more than 400 milligrams of caffeine is drunk in a short period, which is about four to five cups of coffee.     18    So it should be avoided before bed.

    19     Studies have shown that it helps cognitive (感知) skills in elderly women. Women who drank three cups of coffee daily scored higher on memory tests than women who drank one cup of coffee.

Large amounts of coffee can cause nervousness, worries and heartburn. However, if mixed with milk, it is fine.     20    The more you drink, the more you depend on it. For some people, just one cup of coffee a day is OK.

In August last year, my parents and I visited our relatives in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. Every day I enjoyed walking a circular way starting from their house. One evening I decided to be _________ and changed from my _________ way-I was looking forward to a longer walk, confident that I would be able to find my way back.

My walk took me _________ the living area and into a beautiful place with an expanse of fields on both sides of the road. With the sun beginning to _________, it was really a wonderful sight. After about thirty minutes, I noticed that I was not _________ back in the direction I had come. I searched for my mobile phone to get help, but it turned out to be left at home.

However, I remained _________. Although there weren’t any people about, there was some _________ and I was sure that someone would stop and point me in the right direction. As each car or truck came, I stopped and _______, but time after time each one passed me by. No one seemed to feel any sympathy for me. About forty minutes, I was beginning to feel _________. There was no one ____________ and my family was completely in the dark as to my position.

When I just gave up all hope, a black SUV ____________ me and stopped. A mother and daughter were willing to help. I told them I was lost and gave them my address. The mother pointed to a turning a little further down the road and ____________ me I was pretty close to home. Expressing my thanks, I started off at a fast ____________.

I had been walking for about five minutes when I heard a car drive up behind me and stop. It was the mother and daughter again. They realized that they had not given me the correct direction.

They offered to give me a(n) __________ home, and I was so grateful for their help. During our brief conversation I sensed that the teenage daughter was going to a school party and would now arrive late. We didn’t ____________ names but I will never forget their act of kindness.