When we see someone for the first time, we interpret many tiny things from their faces. But since the pandemic began, we have often been interacting with people whose faces we can only half see. And this goes both ways, weakening our ability to offer a friendly smile. So what does it mean to go more than a year without seeing smiles as steadily as we did before?

A 2020 research paper in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that dividing the face into a visible half and invisible half might enhance the perception of negative emotions and decrease the perception of positive emotions. “Emotions such as surprise that use the mouth may be mistaken for strongly negative emotions such as anger or sadness, and a smile may seem diminished or less genuine when the teeth and lips are covered,” the authors wrote.

Peter Revenaugh has been studying how people interpret faces for years. He knows this firsthand. As a surgeon who often wears masks around patients, he is careful to use other cues to be clear when, for example, he is making a joke. “Some of my jokes fall flat,” he said, "because they’re not really sure. They can’t see me smiling.”

Ways to adjust to restricted facial communication include making more of an effort to analyse positivity. People can employ a cadence (抑扬顿挫) to their speech to guide others, for example. Crinkling the corners of the eyes, a lighter tone of the voice, all can help. Revenaugh has tried to use his eyes more to express meaning. “Our eyes crinkle at the corner when we’re doing a true smile, and most people around the world recognize that as a happy feeling,” he said. And when Revenaugh is with a patient, both masked, and he is joking? “I’ll simply say, ‘I’m joking.” he said.

Small talk is a good way to make friends. If you travel to other countries or have friends from abroad, do you know how to use small talk to make conversation?

In Britain, the best topic is the weather. British weather is changing all the time. 【小题1】

Besides weather, it’s good to talk about gardens with British. You could say, “Those roses look really beautiful, don’t they?”【小题2】 So it’s nice to start with “What a lovely dog! What is his name?”

In America, people like to talk about sports news, such as American football and basketball. 【小题3】 So you might say, “It’s a nice shirt! Where did you get it?”

【小题4】Don’t ask people “How old are you?” Never ask : “How much money do you make?” It makes people uncomfortable. Don’t ask strangers whether they are married. 【小题5】There are others in our daily life.

People like to post their selfies (自拍照) on social media. To know more about it, scientists at Syracuse University in New York recently did a research and came up with some surprising findings.

People who post selfies and use editing software to make themselves look better show behavior connected to narcissism (自恋), the researchers said. Makana Chock, a professor from Syracuse University, said because social media is mostly used by people to share unimportant information about their lives, it is a good place for people to “work towards satisfying their own vanity.” Those “likes” under their Facebook selfies make them feel good.

Besides, people who post group selfies show a need for popularity and a need to belong to a group, the research found. Some people feel “peer (同伴) pressure” to post selfies and some follow the popular belief that if there is no picture of an event or experience, it did not really happen. “Anyway, it shouldn’t be seen as negative. People get sense of satisfaction especially when they get likes. And it does no harm,” Chock said.

Other findings from the study include: There are no major differences on how often men and women post selfies and how often they use editing software. But men who post selfies show more of a need to be seen as popular than women who post selfies.

Chock said posting selfies on social media is not all that different from what people have done for many years. On trips and special events, our parents and grandparents used cameras instead of hones to take photos. They would bring back photos to show friends and family. You had no choice but to look at them. You probably commented about how nice everyone in the photos looked, especially children and the person showing the photos. They were happy to hear your comments. That was the old way of “clicking like”. On social media, however, people can decide not to look at photos-even if they click “like”.