Neighbors

I was born and raised in armymen's families community, and most of my neighbors are my father's colleagues. I do know my neighbors well and get along well with them. I talk to my neighbors almost everyday and most of the time we have a small talk.

As a saying goes 'a relative far off is less help than a neighbor close by', so I do believe that sharing a good relationship with our neighbors is pretty important. However, it is a little difficult for people to be friends with neighbors recently, because people become busier than they used to. Firstly, some people work nine to five and barely have enough time to develop a relationship with neighbors, as they spend an enormous time on working and hanging out with old friends. In addition, people are living in apartments rather than houses. Living in apartments, which like cubes, means people live separately with their neighbors. In contrast, people would cooperate with their neighbors and say hey when their neighbors passed by their houses in the past. So that's why I think it is hard for people to be friends with neighbors in modern society.

Words and expressions

1. Patron 赞助人；老顾客

2. Go out of your way to do sth 格外努力

E.g. She is going out of her way to please him.

3. Pleasantry 客套话

Synonym: small talk, civility

4. Gung-ho 偏激的，狂热的

5. Technophobia 科技恐惧症

Phobia 恐惧：acrophobia 恐高, aquaphobia 恐水症

6. Downside 缺点

Upside 优点

7. Sidetrack 使转移话题

E.g. She was supposed to finish her essay on time, but I'm afraid she got sidetracked.

Synonym: distract