Being away from home and high school friends, lonely college freshmen need to make new friends as soon as possible. However, many find it difficult. They don't realize that minor things, such as a curtain around the bed, wearing earphones or having a stubbly beard can affect interpersonal relationships.
离开了家人和中学时代的朋友，孤单的大学新生需要尽快结交新朋友。不过，许多人都觉得这并不容易。他们没有意识到很多小事也会影响到人际关系，例如床帘，塞着耳机或是留着胡茬。
In the MyCOS and Tencent survey of more than 12,000 college freshmen from December 2010 to March 2011, almost four in every 10 were worried by relationships. The two top concerns relate to members of the opposite sex and to roommates.
根据麦可思和腾讯在2010年12月到2011年3月间对超过12000名大学生进行的调查，几乎每10人中就有4人担忧人际关系。其中两个首要担忧涉及与异性和室友的交往。
Xiao Yibo, 19, a freshman in bioengineering at Northeast Agricultural University, is upset that trivial things spoiled his relations with roommates and classmates.
19岁的肖逸波(音译)是东北农业大学生物工程系的大一新生，琐碎的事情破坏了他和室友以及同学间的关系，这让他很沮丧。
Xiao has been estranged from his roommate and former buddy because he was short-tempered with him for dawdling before leaving for classes. Instead of talking about the problem, Xiao bit his tongue, but looked impatient.
肖已经和他以前的好朋友兼室友疏远了，因为室友去上课之前磨磨蹭蹭让他受不了。肖忍着什么也没说而不是去找室友好好谈谈，但是却表现出来非常不耐烦。
Xiao felt hard done by when some classmates gave him the cold shoulder after he decided to study harder. He sat in the front row in class and regularly visited the library.
在肖决定要更加努力地学习后，一些同学对他态度冷淡，这让他觉得很不公平。他上课坐在第一排，并经常去图书馆。
"They thought I wanted to appear different and to show off. But I don't think it's necessary to explain it to them," said Xiao. "I'll go my own way, whether they understand me or not." He chose to be a loner, going to classes and to the library on his own.
肖说："他们认为我是想要表现得与众不同，是在炫耀。但是我觉得没必要向他们解释。不管他们能不能理解我，我都会继续走我自己的路。"他选择了独来独往，一个人去上课，一个人去图书馆。
Xiao is just one of the growing numbers of young loners nowadays. They seem to care little about others, shut down communication and indulge in their own worlds.
肖只是如今日益增多的年轻独行者之一。他们似乎不太在意其他人，封闭了与他人的交流并沉溺在自己的世界里。
"But they actually feel sad at 'being excluded'," said Bai Jingxiang, a psychology tutor at China Women's University. "In fact, it's they themselves who build 'walls'."
中华女子学院心理学导师白静祥表示："但他们实际上因被孤立而感到很难过，其实，是他们自己建起了这堵墙。"学生们或许没有意识到一些小事和微妙的姿态都可能成为人际关系障碍。
Take the curtains which female students love to surround their beds with to create private zones as an example.
举个例子，一些女学生喜欢在床的四周围上帘子以创造出私人空间。
Luo Guoxin, 18, a freshman in business administration at Northeast Normal University, used to have a curtain to protect her privacy. So did all the other roommates in her dorm.
18岁的罗郭新(音译)是东北师范大学企业管理系的大一新生，她曾经用帘子来保护自己的隐私。她宿舍的室友也都挂上了帘子。
But Luo gradually felt restricted by the cloth. "I didn't know whether a roommate was sleeping or awake behind her curtain, so I dared not chat with others in the dorm," Luo recalled.
但是罗渐渐觉得被这块布阻隔了。罗回忆说："我不知道帘子内的室友是睡着了还是醒着，所以我不敢和宿舍里的其他人聊天。"
Neither did she dare to talk about any roommate. "What if the girl suddenly lifted up the curtain and appeared?" said Luo.
她也不敢谈论其他室友。罗说："如果那个女孩突然掀起帘子出现了怎么办?"
Luo and a roommate couldn't stand the suffocating silence and removed their curtains. The two feel closer to each other than to other roommates for they enjoyed more communication.
罗和另一位室友受不了宿舍里令人窒息的寂静，便取下了她们的帘子。由于她俩有了更多的交流，她们觉得彼此间比和其他室友更亲近了。
"The curtain is a sign saying 'stay away from me' even if it's transparent," said Bai. It is the same with the textbook you hold in front of your chest when chatting. And the earphones you put on when your roommates make too much noise. These are all hints of unfriendliness.
白表示："就算帘子是透明的，它也表示'离我远点'。"和别人聊天时把课本抱在胸前也有同样的含义。还有当室友太吵时，你戴上的耳机。这些都是不友好的暗示。
Some students may argue that they mean well when they choose to put on earphones to give roommates a hint instead of complaining about the noise.
一些学生可能会争辩说，比起抱怨室友太吵，他们选择戴上耳机来暗示室友是善意的。
But Bai warned that silent hints might make others more uncomfortable than honest words.
但是白提醒道，无声的暗示可能会比直接说出来让人觉得更不舒服。
"When there is a smell from dirty clothes in the dorm, the worst thing you could do is to suddenly stand up and use a room spray," said Bai. "You will appear as a fussy person."
白称："当宿舍里的脏衣服发出难闻的气味时，最糟糕的莫过于你突然站起来喷空气清新剂。这会显得你是个挑剔的人。"
A better solution may be to mention the importance of cleanliness, without naming names, when people chill out.
更好的解决方式或许是当大家冷静下来，不指名道姓地提一提清洁卫生的重要性。