It is a familiar scene these days: employees taking newly laid-off co-workers out for a drink for comfort. But which side deserves more sympathy，the jobless or the still employed？On March 6，researchers at a conference at the University of Cambridge suggested it was the latter.

Brendan Burchell，a Cambridge sociologist，presented his analysis based on various surveys conducted across Europe. The data suggest that employed people who feel insecure in their jobs show similar levels of anxiety and depression as those who are unemployed. Although a newly jobless person's mental health may“bottom out”after about six months，and then may even begin to improve，the mental state of people who are continuously worried about losing their own job“just continues to get worse and worse”, Burchell says.

Psychologists support this theory by arguing that human beings feel more stressed during times of insecurity because they sense an immediate but invisible threat. Patients have been known to experience higher levels of anxiety, for example, while waiting for examination results than knowing what they are suffering from—even if the results are cancer. It's better to get the bad news and start doing something about it rather than wait with anxiety.  When the uncertainty continues, people stay in a nonstop“fight or flight”response, which leads to damaging stress.

But not every employee in insecure industries has such a discouraging view, Burchell says. In general, women get on better. While reporting higher levels of anxiety than men when directly questioned, women score lower in stress on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, even when they have a job they feel insecure about losing.  As Burchell explains,“For women, most studies show that any job—it doesn't matter whether it is secure or insecure—gives psychological improvement over unemployment.”He supposes that the difference in men is that they tend to feel pressure not only to be employed, but also to be the primary breadwinners, and that more of a man's self-worth depends on his job.

   One of the biggest challenges faced by brick- and-mortar retailers（实体零售店） in recent years has been the" showrooming". Driven by the desire to get the best prices, many shoppers are now visiting stores to check on products that interest them, only to leave and then buy the items online. The new trend is forcing retailers to find out new ways to keep consumers from leaving their stores for cheaper prices online.

Smart phones have pushed showrooming into the front. Shoppers no longer have to wait until they get home to see if they can find a cheaper price for the products they're considering buying. With smart phones, consumers can now compare online prices with those of brick-and-mortar stores while still inside a retail store. If they can find what they're seeking with less money online, the majority will seek the first exit. A recent study showed that 45 percent of consumers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores walk out and make their purchase online for a discount of as little as 2. 5 percent.

This puts pressure on retailers to provide both an in-store experience worth staying and an online presence that can attract shoppers who are showrooming in other businesses.

To cut down on showrooming, many retailers are adopting new methods to keep shoppers in their stores. Among the steps they're taking are price-matching guarantees that allow shoppers to pay a discounted price if they find it cheaper online. This ensures that even a showrooming shopper can make the purchase in the store regardless of whether he finds the cheaper price online.

Another popular method of fighting against showrooming is to give shoppers the ability to buy something online and pick it up at the store. This reduces shipping costs and gets customers in the store, where they may be encouraged to make an additional purchase.

It is also important for businesses to take into consideration what makes shoppers purchase something in a store rather than online, and meet those needs. Research has found that more than 8 in 10 Americans consider the most important aspects--being able to take the goods home immediately and the ability to touch and feel them when they are deciding to purchase in a store rather than online.

   Robyn Lee， a 15-year-old teenage girl who studies at York Community High School， US says she has four friends. But she also has 15 to 20 other friends she considers part of her regular social circle.

“It's like a bad thing to have only one， friend ，”explained Robyn. “If you have one friend， it means only one person likes you. That’s not cool，” she said.

For many years， experts studying teen friendships have known that teenagers prefer to travel in groups. In studies conducted in 1963 and in 1995， researchers found teen friendship groups averaged six people. In 2005， when teens were asked about how many friends they kept in touch with regularly， the average answer was 20.

The change to bigger -group friendships has advantages， such as increasing more connections and improving teens' self-pride by giving them a place to belong.

However， the change also has some disadvantages，say psychologists. “The meaning of friendship is becoming much more complicated，” said Bernardo Carducci， a professor of psychology at Indiana University Southeast.

MaryRose Moss， a 17-year-old in Chicago， knows how she could get more friends. She created a Facebook page when she was 14 and within months ， she had her group of 500 friends.

Text messaging has opened the door to many new connections， she says. “I'm friends with some people that I wouldn't be as close to if it weren't for technology，” said Moss. “It's so easy to send a text to somebody even if you don't know him very well. ”

Some psychologists wonder whether social-networking technology is affecting some skills children once got from making friends in the old-fashioned way.

“In the past， you argued， discussed and reached an agreement， but if somebody disagrees with you now， you can ‘defriend’ him with the click of keys，” said Carducci.

Marianne Boe， a social studies teacher in Chicago ， sees signs of changing friendships in the hallways. Ten years ago， she could easily know groups of girls who stayed friends through all four years of high school. “Today， it's harder，” Boe said.

Nowadays，more and more people of 【小题1】（variety）ages and backgrounds are continuing to study to improve themselves. Here is three people's life-long learning experience.

Sun Wen，who failed to get into university through the college exam，is about 【小题2】（get）a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering by distance learning. He studies in the evenings and on weekends while 【小题3】（keep）a secure full-time job. In his opinion，the last four years have been hard work，【小题4】 it's been worth it！

Ms Tang, who was laid off three months ago, has decided to do a business course 【小题5】 is very helpful. She has learned many new skills and is going to set up her own export company.

Grandpa Chen, 75 years old, decided to become an Internet 【小题6】 (use) a few months ago because the postage 【小题7】 (go) up already. He got his grandson to instruct him on how to email and use the Internet. He 【小题8】 (real) enjoys the speed at which his messages get 【小题9】 (send) and answered. And aside from emailing, he finds 【小题10】 is fun to see and talk to his grandchildren in the US on the i-Cam. And now he is practicing the alphabet and doing an English course on the Internet.

Bad Things About Cell Phones in School

Giving your schoolchild a cell phone has a very positive effect. 【小题1】 However, at school especially in the classroom, cell phones cause a lot of problems.

The Internet capabilities (联网功能) of phones will make students absent from their tasks. 【小题2】 In addition to sending text messages, smartphones have email and Internet capabilities. All of these features will distract (使分心) children from their tasks at hand.

【小题3】 The most common means by which the whole class distraction happens is when a cell phone rings during the middle of a class, attracting students’ attention towards the noise. A student with a cell phone may also encourage others to play the game on his cell phone or share information that comes up on the Internet.

The use of phones may contribute to the students’cheating in the exams. Students can take advantage of cell phones’ Internet capabilities to look for answers to questions for tests for which they haven’t studied. Having a palm-sized computer may give students the chance to cheat in exams. 【小题4】

Using a phone may reduce children’s social behavior. If a student has a cell phone, particularly one with an Internet connection, it must reduce his necessity to socially communicate with others. 【小题5】