I was watching my kids play on the sidewalk when I looked up and saw a crow sitting on the telephone wire. The crow sat with its head turned to one side, observing us with one friendly black eye.

I'm not a bird expert or a birdwatcher, but crows intrigue me. Since that day, I have become friends with the neighborhood crows, and I've learned a thing or two along the way.

The best way to introduce yourself to a crow is by feeding it. I'm sure there are other ways to go about it, but the easiest and fastest way to a crow's heart is food. Some may argue that a crow is a wild animal and by feeding it, you encourage the unnatural dependence. And to most wildlife, this is an excellent philosophy. But crows and humans have been living side by side for centuries, and researchers like Marzluff and Angell, who wrote In the Company of Crows and Ravens, point to many examples of cultural co﹣evolution (共同进化) between us. It's been a rather symbiotic (共生的) relationship for quite a while.

Certainly, humans' and crows' lives and histories have become closely related. I moved to this neighborhood in this small city 5 years ago. I'm relatively new here, but the crows in my neighborhood may have lived here for many years. They've watched people come and go for years - people who may have watched them right back.

So anyway, we're neighbors, and feeding is the neighborly thing to do.

    Many people spend their New Year's Eve getting dressed up and dancing their way to midnight. My brother and I decided to do things a bit1.

    We each filled a backpack with clothes, shoes and other things and headed out to the 2. The first person we saw was a 15-16-year-old boy picking up 3 plastic bottles on the train platform（站台）. We called him over and started up a(n)4. We had a look at his 5 and noticed he had 6 fingernails（手指甲）. We explained that it was 7 to keep short nails and then we 8 cutting them for him. When we were 9 we offered him some chocolate candies, which made him look at us 10. We talked to him some more and began 11 some of the chocolate ourselves. Finally, he 12 took the chocolate himself and then began telling us his 13.

    His name was Raju. After his mother died, his father remarried. Unable to 14 his stepmother（继母）, Raju ran away from 15 and has been living on the streets for 3 years, collecting and 16 empty plastic bottles.

    When we met Raju, he wasn't wearing any 17. One quick look into our backpacks and we18 what we were looking for-a pair of Nike shoes. When we dressed him in them-Raju's eyes were full of19. “These shoes are so great. Nothing will hurt my 20 .Thank you so much!” Touched by our actions, he joined us as we walked around and looked for those in need.

    I prefer Lynne Truss's phraseology: I am a grammar "sticker". And, like Truss—author of Eats, shoots & Leaves – I have a "zero tolerance" approach to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.

    Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have "zero tolerance". She thinks that people who mix up basic grammar "deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked (砍) up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave", while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job—even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.

    Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a compulsory grammar test. If job hopefuls can't distinguish between "to" and "too", their applications go into the bin.

    Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world's largest online repair manual (指南), and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we've made a strong strike against grammar errors.

    But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn't make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the Internet. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can't tell the difference between "their" "there" and "they're".

    Good grammar makes good business sense—and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn't in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.

    Grammar signifies more than just a person's ability to remember high school English. I've found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing—like stocking shelves or labeling parts. It is the same with programmers. Applicants who don't think writing is important are likely to think lots of other things also aren't important.

    If the law punished addiction, we would all be in prison because we are addicted to our phones.

    We're hopelessly 1 by them, helplessly devoted to them. Our hands and minds are 2: texting, tweeting, liking, emailing, sharing. We find ourselves 3 stimulated (刺激).

    My iphone is the last thing I look at when I go to bed and the first thing I look at when I4, When it's not there I feel its 5 like an amputee (被截肢者) still feeling a(n)6 leg. It is my entry to culture and fun. I love it. You love yours.

    But the comment on this enormous 7 in our behavior has been completely 8. The central claim is that technology makes us 9 what we already know about life, and it 10 us developing fully independent selves. And the quality of human relationships is said to have 11. Parents are distracted by work emails at the dinner table and in the playground; children cry for 12 until they finally get an iPad for Christmas. Gatherings of old friends can't do a couple of hours 13 checking their Gmail every 10 minutes. Technology sucks the life out of us, and takes our souls in 14 for the convenience of not having to learn how to read maps properly.

    I simply do not15the idea that we aren't folly whole due to our phones, just because we can talk to our friends whenever we want, without any 16 for the limitations that space and 17 used to set on us. This helps us to get 18. It doesn't set us apart.

    19, we will film. We will photograph. We will edit. We will 20, like, love and envy. Finally, in our own strange way, we will control our heavily doctored lives.

    If you like texting and are trying to lose weight, a new study found that using texting(发短信) to track diet and exercise habits may help you lose weight.

    Previous research has shown that keeping food and exercise diaries improves the likelihood of success when you are using it to lose weight. Using a computer or a pen and paper to record information, however, can be a burden and cause some people to give up.

    Duke University researchers said using text messages to track eating and exercise habits can save time, and increase the chances that people will stick with their weight-loss rules.

    The study included 26 obese/fat women with an average age of 38. The women used daily texting as part of their weight-loss program. The text messages focused on tracking personalized goals, such as avoiding sugary drinks or walking 10,000 steps a day. Messages also provided brief feedback (反馈) and tips.

    Every morning, the women received a text from an automated system that said, “Please text yesterday's personal information of steps you walked and how many sugary drinks you had.” Based on the women's responses to the text message, the system sent another text with personalized feedback and tips.

    After six months, the women who used daily texting lost an average of nearly 3 pounds, while another group of women who used traditional methods to keep food and exercise diaries gained an average of 2.5 pounds, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

    “Text messaging has become popular and may be an effective method to simplify tracking of diet and exercise behavior,” Dori Steinberg, who was responsible for this research, said.

    Steinberg said, “Text messaging offers several advantages compared to other self-monitoring methods. Unlike web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all cell phone platforms so it is very convenient to receive feedback. Besides, because of the limited number of words used in text messages, it saves time.”

Many people often find themselves waking up in the middle of the night, unusually awake and excited. . That's really frustrating. However, there is no need to worry. Here are some effective ways to help you fall asleep again.

Remain in bed. For you to fall asleep, your heart rate needs to slow down. When you get up, your heart rate goes up. So, avoid going to the bathroom during the night if you can. Do not eat too little or too much for dinner. Do not drink and fill your bladder (膀胱) before bed.  . It may make you fall asleep faster, but it may also disrupt your sleep later in the night.

Stay in the dark. When you cannot sleep, LED lights on printers and cable boxes may be the reason. The same is true for light streaming in through cracks in curtains. . You should cover lights with tape and wear a sleep mask. A popular choice has deep eye cups so your eyes can open and shut while you wear them.

Quiet your mind. Try ways to relax, such as deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness exercises.  . The point is to keep your brain busy with something that is not demanding and is relaxing.

 . If your wake-up time is 6:30 a.m. and your clock reads 3:00 a.m., do not think Oh no! I have only three hours left! Instead, say to yourself Oh great! I have three more hours to sleep!

You have a problem if you wake three times a week for more than three months. It may affect your quality of life. You need to find a sleep expert who can help identify the cause and fix it.

A. Think in a positive way.

B. Maintain a calm attitude.

C. They may keep you awake.

D. Most importantly, avoid alcohol in the evening.

E. You can do simple math problems in your head.

F. Getting up to do some mild exercise is also helpful.

G. Tossing and turning in bed, they are unable to fall asleep.

In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the specialist tested him again. To my 1, it was the same score.

Later that evening, I 2 told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agree that we knew our 3much better than an IQ test. We 4that Michael's score must have been a 5 and we should treat him 6as usual.

We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got 7 grades in the school, especially 8 biology and chemistry, which was a great comfort.

 Michael 9 Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than 10. In 1968, he was accepted by the School of Medicine, Yale University.

On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I 11 the ceremony at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the 12 IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say 13, "My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn't be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!" It is his special way of thanking us for the 14 we had in him.

Interestingly, Michael then 15another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had 16 the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be 17.

Children often do as 18 as what adults, particularly parents and teachers,19 of them. That is, tell a child he is " 20", and he may play the role of a foolish child.