Anyone who has felt like the odd duck of the group can take heart from new research from Harvard Business School that says sticking out in distinct ways can lend you an air of presence or influence. Standing out in certain circumstances, like wearing…

Why is the first day on the job often the worst? New employees tend to be greeted with stacks of benefits paperwork, technology hassles and dull presentations about company culture. hassle:激战,争辩,麻烦事 But some companies -- hoping to create a first impr…

Like many 10-year-olds, Nick Wald takes private lessons. His once-a-week tutor isn't helping him with piano scales or Spanish conjugations, but teaching him how to code. Nick, a fifth-grader in New York, went in with no experience and has since learn…

Many students cruise along just fine in math until fourth grade or so. Then, they hit a wall -- fractions. cruise:巡航,巡游,漫游 fraction:分数,片段The wall is about to get taller. With mastery of the topic seen as a crucial stepping stone to progressing in mat…

"I used to think I was this made man," says entrepreneur Glenn Kelman. "That's what they tell you after you take a company public." In 1996 Mr. Kelman co-founded Plumtree, a business-software firm that went public in 2002. After that,…

AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS earlier this month, Kerry Washington, the star of the ABC-TV series 'Scandal,' wore a lilac Jason Wu gown, tailor-made to accommodate what she playfully called her little 'accessory'-a growing baby bump. These days, that's just…

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama took ping-pong diplomacy to a new level on Friday on her weeklong tour of China as the two countries try a new tactic to build trust in a often tense relationship. diplomacy:外交           tactic:策略,战略 More than 40 years…

Sam Su for years ran one of the highest-flying foreign business operations in China. These days, he's trying to pull it out of a tailspin. tailspin:混乱 As China head for Yum Brands Inc. for the past 16 years, Mr. Su built its KFC arm into the biggest…

'What's celebrity sex, Dad?' It was my 7-year-old son, who had been looking over my shoulder at my computer screen. He mispronounced 'celebrity' but spoke the word 'sex' as if he had been using it all his life. 'Celebrity six,' I said, abruptly closi…

The American political class has long held that higher education is vital to individual and national success. The Obama administration has dubbed college 'the ticket to the middle class,' and political leaders from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to…