Friends Helping Friends
Jason put on his schoolbag and walked out of school. His schoolbag weighed him down with all the things he needed to finish his science project this weekend.
"Hey, Jason!" Ken came over. "I need to clean up the park this weekend. Can you help out?"
"Um..." Jason knew he didn't have 1 to help. "I guess I can." Jason was going to have to stay up late tonight to work on his 2 so he could help Ken in the morning.
"Jason," Tracy ran up to him. "I have to walk Mrs. King's dogs this weekend. Could you help me?"
"Um..." Jason knew Tracy walked the dogs three times a day. How could he find time? "I guess I can."
Jason's schoolbag felt even 3 as he walked into the house.
"Hard day?" his mother asked.
"More like hard weekend. I have to finish my science project, help Ken with the park clean-up, and help Tracy walk Mrs. King's dogs."
"Sounds like you 4 to do too many things," his mother said.
"I know, but they are my good friends. I didn't want to make them 5," Jason said.
"I'm glad you want to help your friends, but you need to have time for your own things, too."
Jason knew she was right. "Maybe I can tell Ken I can only help for two hours in the morning. And I can probably help Tracy walk the dogs early in the morning but not at lunchtime or in the evening," Jason said. "Mom, do you think they will get mad?"
"They're your friends. Tell them you need time to finish your science project. They'll 6"
Jason nodded and got the phone. He told Ken and Tracy the 7. As soon as he hung up, he turned to his mom. "They're fine with it, and they both 8 to help with my project, too."
"Friends always help each other out," Mom said.
Unusual Festivals
Every country has its own festivals to celebrate different things. Some festivals are more interesting than others because they are unusual—and a lot more fun! Here are just a few unusual festivals from around the world.
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Holi, the festival of colours, is in India, Nepal and other parts of the world. Holi celebrates the end of winter and the coming of spring and it lasts for many days. During the festival, people throw coloured powder (粉末) and water at each other. It's one of the most colourful festivals in the world. |
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| The only colour during another famous festival is red. "La Tomatina" is in Bunol Spain, in August. People come from all over the world for a big food fight. All over the city, people run through the streets throwing red tomatoes at each other. The streets get very messy but everyone has a good time. | |
| Another strange and cold festival, Quyllur Rit'i, is in Peru in every May or June. People celebrate with music and dancing on top of a glacier (冰川)! The festival lasts for three days and, at the end, everyone walks out together carrying torches of fire. | |
| Finally, how about a festival with animals? On the last Sunday of November, people in Lopburi, Thailand, invite some unusual guests to dinner at the Monkey Buffet Festival. Hundreds of monkeys come and they eat a lot of fruit, nuts and vegetables. | |
Small Libraries with Big Stories
In 2009 in Wisconsin, US, Todd Bol came up with an idea to remember his mother. Bol's mother had been a teacher who had loved reading. Bol wanted to share his mother's love of reading with others. He decided to build a wood box and fill it with books. Bol placed the box of books on a post in his front yard (院子) with words "Free Books."
Soon Bol's neighbours noticed this small box. They began taking the books and putting their own books back. This was the beginning of the Little Free Library. The small library allowed people to "check out" books day or night. It was always open. People didn't need library cards and they could read or return the books whenever. But this library didn't just provide books. It also helped build friendships. As more and more people visited Bol's little library, they began talking with one another. They shared thoughts, ideas, and stories. They got to know one another. Everyone loved the little library.
Bol's friends and neighbours wanted little libraries of their own. Bol built several and gave them away. One of his friends, Rick Brooks, noticed that the libraries encouraged people to read. He believed that Bol's little libraries could help more than just local friends and neighbours. With these ideas in mind, Bol and Brooks came up with a plan to build more than 2,500 Little Free Libraries around the world.
To carry out the plan, Bol and Brooks created a website. People can get information about the Little Free Libraries and how to start their own little libraries.
Because of Bol and Brooks, the Little Free Libraries are encouraging people to read more and to be friendlier. Today there are more than 75,000 Little Free Libraries in 88 countries worldwide.
Imagine That
People may think daydreaming is bad: If students don't pay attention in class, they may have trouble doing homework. If workers spend meetings thinking about a football match, they may have difficulties finishing the job. However, scientists who study the brain (大脑) have learned many interesting things. In fact, far from being a waste of time, some scientists believe that daydreaming is a healthy and useful activity for all of our brains.
In order to study the brain, scientists use special machines to check which parts of the brain are active at certain times. When a person is daydreaming, the machine will show the activity in the brain called the default mode (默认模式) of thinking. In the default mode, the top or outside part of the brain is very active. Actually, several parts of the brain are working together in this mode. Some scientists say in this mode the brain pays attention to itself but not the environment around the person. Usually, this happens when a person is doing easy work or boring jobs that don't need much attention, like walking to school or cooking simple foods. People are more likely to daydream during such activities.
The importance of daydreaming lies in developing both creative and social skills. When the mind is not working on one's immediate situation or problem, then it is free to wander. A time of wandering allows the mind to create things. The ideas of new inventions or possible solutions (解决办法) to a problem may come to mind. For example, one may think of solutions to problems in relationships (关系) with other people. In fact, most daydreams have something to do with situations with others. Perhaps these are daydreams of memories of the past, or daydreams of what might be in the future. In both situations daydreams help us develop the skills we can use to communicate with others.
As Marcus Raichle, a doctor who studies the brain from Washington University, explains: "When you don't use a muscle (肌肉), that muscle really isn't doing much. But when your brain is doing nothing and daydreaming, it's really doing a lot." During the so-called "resting state" the brain isn't resting at all!
Have you ever been angry with your parents about putting away the iPad or turning off a video game? Most families are having these fights. In 2018, Brigham Young University and Deseret News did their American Family Survey (调查). It showed that the Number One worry for parents about teenagers was too much technology (科技).
If you're in school now, you may not remember a time before there were smartphones and tablets everywhere. The iPhone came out in 2007 and the iPad a few years later, in 2010. But screen (屏幕) time is nothing new. When your parents were growing up, they watched as much television as you do now, or even more. They probably played video games, too.
Mobile devices (设备) are different, though, because they can come with us everywhere we go: to the dinner table, to restaurants, into the car, into the bedroom when we're going to sleep. They are always trying to make us pick them up or keep using them. That's part of what makes smartphones smart! But it also means that they always stop us from having family time. And unlike with TV, which people often watch as a family, everyone—including parents—is now distracted (分心) by his or her own little machine.
Studies show that too much screen time can cause problems. More than two hours a day of screen time raises your risk of being overweight. Too much screen time at night stops you from getting healthy sleep. Children who grow up with the most screen time (several hours a day) can have a hard time doing well in school. And many families fight about screen time, which is no fun for anyone.
The solution is to talk about screen time. Make an agreement with your family about where, when, and how you are going to use computers and other devices. No more than an hour a day is suggested for children during the school week. Parents, too, should put down their phones.
When you do use a device, remember to enjoy it with your family, perhaps by playing games or watching a movie. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it's the best way for children to grow up healthy in our digital world.
If you have nothing but a map and a compass (指南针), could you find your way through an outdoor course (路线)? Orienteers can. Orienteering is a sport in which a person or a team must complete a course, stopping at certain marked (标注的) points along the way. They use a special map and a compass.
Orienteering maps are special because they are topographic maps. A topographic map is a kind of map that shows the shape of the land, from hills to trees to lakes. Special colors are used to mark different parts of the map. Black areas are man-made features, like roads and buildings. Brown shows highs and lows, like hills and valleys. Blue marks water areas such as lakes, ponds, and rivers. White shows open forest that you can run through easily. Green means a forest where you should slow down—the darker the green, the harder it is to run through. Yellow color shows open areas like fields.
By reading these special maps and using a compass, orienteers travel from one control spot to another. Control spots are circled on the map, and they are also marked by orange and white flags on the course. To complete a course successfully, you must find each control marker in a specific (特定的) order.
People of all ages enjoy orienteering because it is a fun way to exercise their body and mind. There are easy courses for beginners and more difficult courses for people who have had more experience. Websites about orienteering also give some extra tips and information. There are even orienteering competitions!
There are many kinds of orienteering. Among these, the oldest and the most popular is foot orienteering—this means orienteering while running or walking on foot. But now people also orienteer on skis, mountain bikes—even in canoes!
