Neighbors play an important role in our lives. Their lifestyle, friends, and social habits can have a strong influence on our lives.   So it's a good idea to get along well with neighbors and build a better relationship that will last for many years to come.   But how should you get along with your neighbors?

When you hear of a special need you can meet, do it, such as sitting with a sick child while your neighbor goes to work or taking an elderly parent to a doctor's appointment when their car won't start.

If you hear that someone close by is ill, has an accident, or is out of work, give him or her a hot meal or a fresh dessert. Your kindness will add a special feeling during a difficult time.   If your neighbor is cutting down a tree or building a doghouse, offer helping hands to him or her.   There is no better way to build relationships.   Besides, you never know when the favor might be returned.

Exchange holiday cards, gifts or traditions.   Invite your neighbors over for a cup of coffee or lunch.   A backyard barbecue can be a great way to share food and fun.   If they've watched your kids grow up or been concerned about your family events, they may want to share these special events.

Plan a party.   Invite all your neighbors to your party.   Planning and carrying out the activity helps everyone to know and understand each other. Your neighbors are like your family in many ways since you have to live with them, or near them for a long time.   Appreciate their strong points and ignore weak points, and everyone will get along well.

When people are asked what’s important in their lives, they often mention humor, yet philosophers would disagree.

The first is how little they have said. The most that major philosophers like Plato, Hobbes, and Kant wrote about laughter or humor was a few paragraphs within a discussion of another topic. Martian anthropologists (人类学家) comparing the amount of philosophical writing on humor with what has been written on, say, justice, might well conclude that humor could be left out of human life without much loss.

The second is how negative most philosophers have been in their assessments of humor. From ancient Greece until the 20th century, the vast majority of philosophical comments on laughter and humor focused on scornful (蔑视的) or mocking laughter, or on laughter that overpowers people, rather than on comedy, wit, or joking. Plato, the most influential critic of laughter, treated laughter as an emotion that overrides (凌驾于) rational self-control. He says the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, “for when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition causes a violent reaction.” Another of Plato’s objections to laughter is that it is evil. Plato analyzes the enjoyment of comedy as a form of scorn. The people we laugh at imagine themselves to be wealthier, better looking, or more virtuous than they really are. In laughing at them, we take delight in something evil: their self- ignorance.

Because of these objections to laughter and humor, Plato says that in the ideal state, comedy should be tightly controlled. “We shall order that such representations be left to slaves or hired aliens, and receive no serious consideration whatsoever. No free person, whether woman or man, shall be found taking lessons in them.”

Greek thinkers after Plato had similarly negative comments. Though Aristotle considered wit a valuable part of conversation, he agreed with Plato that laughter expresses scorn. The Stoics, with their emphasis on self-control, agreed with Plato that laughter weakens self-control. Epictetus’s Enchiridion advises “Let not your laughter be loud, frequent, or unrestrained.” His followers said that he never laughed at all.

You’ve seen news reports about people who need assistance after a natural disaster, or TV programs about how lonely and isolated older people can get. Maybe you’ve walked past people who are living on the streets.【小题1】The answer: you can volunteer. Volunteering gives you an opportunity to change people’s lives, including your own. Helping others in need is such an important part of life. So how do you go about it?

Find what’s right for you.

Volunteering isn’t school.【小题2】You can choose what really interests you and who or what is most deserving of your time.

【小题3】

After you’ve discovered what interests you, decide how much time you want to spend and what fits into your schedule.

Expand your mind.

Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills — from working as part of a team to setting and reaching goals.【小题4】And it can help you develop a new understanding of people who are different from you — people with disabilities, people in financial problems, sick kids, or the elderly.

Feel good.

Volunteering helps people feel they make a difference — that they do have the power to change things for the better. When people depend on you, it can change the way you look at yourself.【小题5】Volunteering is also a great way to get a view on your own life.