When I think about what my hero means to me, I realize that most of my special memories and feelings toward my hero come from the little things he does every day. My hero is not a celebrity or such a recognizable face. My hero is not a national hero or a multi-millionaire. He has never saved me from a burning castle or an avalanche (雪崩), but he does 1 me and tell me to have a good day. He is just an 2quiet man, whom I honor.
My dad is my hero because he is brave, skilled, and 3 I know many people say their dads are their heroes, but my dad teaches me about becoming a man, which is extremely important for a young boy.
Respect goes a long way with my dad, as does patience. As a(n)4my dad must deal with people every day, some of whom are nice and some are not. Either way, he5his well-mannered attitude.
Dad is not afraid of many things, or if he is, he doesn't tell me6he wants to seem tough. He may not be a big guy but since he works with his 7all day, he is very strong. Dad works outdoors in all kinds of8 but the worst thing he has to do is 9 up and work in an attic (顶楼) in the middle of the summer. Trust me, this is the 10 place you will experience as an electrician and when you come back 11what is in your lungs will make you12 for hours.
My dad and I have a very good 13. We talk about almost everything. We go hunting, fishing, and everything a dad and son would do. My dad and I enjoy 14 most because it gives us time outdoors together and there is nothing like that. He has 15 and taught me everything I need to know about 16
I am 17to be the son of Mike C., and would not have it any other way. People come up to me all the time to18 me I have a good dad. It makes me feel 19 that a lot of people think so 20 of him. He is a good teacher of my life and would do anything for me. This is why my father is my hero.
Can animals be artistic? Painting and music are part of efforts to keep animals happy at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.
A sloth bear (长毛熊) called Francois is one of the National Zoo's artists. He began his artistic career two years ago. Francois has a very unusual way to paint. He uses his breathing to paint. His zookeeper, Stacey Tabellario, says that although the technique may look strange, it is actually a very natural behavior for sloth bears. The zookeepers fill one of those tubes full of paint and ask them to breathe through it. And they blow all of the paints onto the canvases (画布), making these really cool paintings.
Animal artists come in all shapes and sizes at the Zoo. They use many kinds of techniques to create their works of art. Apes use paintbrushes. Many use their paws or claws—much like a human painter who would use his or her hands.
Stacey Tabellario says Francois seems to enjoy expressing himself through his art. “When I set up the materials for painting activity, he comes and sits next to them and waits until they are ready for painting. He does that every time. I also see where his eyes go. He does see the paints come out of the tube and land on the canvas.”
But not every animal wants to paint. Music is another part of the arts enrichment program. Physically and mentally stimulating activities are an important part of the daily care of the animals. Trainers have a lot of tools, from tablet computer to small toys.
Kenton Kerns says the program helps the animals and the zookeepers in many ways. Every interaction between keepers and their animals creates some sort of connections. The one-of-a-kind works of art created by the animals are popular with zoo visitors. Many are sold at the zoo's fund-raising events.
Did you know that badminton is also a fast-paced competitive sport? Badminton has been a Summer Olympic sport since 1992. Para-badminton will be included in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Here's what you need to know if your child is interested in badminton.
Badminton is played on a 44-foot-long rectangular (矩形的) court that is 17 feet wide for singles and 20 feet wide for doubles. It is divided in the middle by a net placed 5 feet off the ground, like volleyball, not at ground level like tennis.
In competition, each match is a set of three games played to 21 points. There is a one-minute break when a player or team reaches 11 points, and a two-minute break in between the first and second games and the second and third games.
Age kids can start: About 6 years old.
Best for kids who: Have good skills, are patient and hardworking, and can handle the pressure of one-on-one or two-on-two competition.
Team or individual: Matches can be singles (one-on-one) or doubles (two-on-two).
Fun fact: Badminton is the only sport that has mixed doubles event in the Olympic Games.
Costs: Beginners are expected to pay $30 to $40 for an entry-level racquet (球拍). Badminton shoes are similar in price to other athletic shoes. Join a club or team for lessons. A one-hour group lesson for beginners should cost $20 to $25, with costs increasing as your child moves up the ranks. You will also pay entry fees for competitions.
Time commitment required: Beginners will play for just an hour or two per week.
Potential for injury: Players have a very low risk of injury. Players who wear glasses should use eye protection.
Average humans can consume 15 or more drinks in plastic bottles a month. If you were born after 1978, and live until 80 years old, you will leave behind a minimum of 14,400 plastic bottles on this planet. These bottles take hundreds of years to break down into tiny pieces of plastic, never to completely disappear. Most of the waste is consumed by fish and birds, which has shortened their lifetime greatly.
The Plastic Bottle Village is just a great idea that might finally save us from being buried in plastic. It's a community in Panama that is going to be made of used bottles. The design process begins with building steel frames, which are then filled with these bottles. Once this step is complete, and electrical and plumbing (管道装置) lines are put inside, the plastic walls are covered by concrete—both inside and outside. So no one will actually be able to tell that the walls are made of plastic. Besides, the material will keep the house 17℃ cooler than the outside, which is the biggest benefit to people living inside.
The village is the brainchild (主意) of Robert Bezeau with the intention of setting up several environmental projects. Having started a recycling program four years ago, during which a number of plastic bottles were collected, he started to think of how they could be put to use. Soon enough, he decided to use them to build houses, and came up with a basic idea for the construction process.
The project hopes to make people conscious of the waste that these bottles create so that they can do more to protect the environment. The village will also create an education center that will teach individuals from the world how to reuse plastic bottles as construction materials for shelter. Recycled bottles could neutralize the negative effect of your passage on this planet, and move closer to leaving only your “footprints”.
Some of the best research on daily experience is rooted in rates of positive and negative interactions, which has proved that being blindly positive or negative can cause others to be frustrated or annoyed or to simply tune out.
Over the last two decades, scientists have made remarkable predictions simply by watching people interact with one another and then scoring the conversations based on the rate of positive and negative interactions. Researchers have used the findings to predict everything from the likelihood that a couple will divorce to the chances of a work team with high customer satisfaction and productivity levels.
More recent research helps explain why these brief exchanges matter so much. When you experience negative emotions as a result of criticism or rejection, for example, your body produces higher levels of the stress hormone, which shuts down much of your thinking and activates (激活) conflict and defense mechanisms (机制). You assume that situations are worse than they actually are.
When you experience a positive interaction, it activates a very different response. Positive exchanges increase your body's production of oxytocin, a feel-good that increases your ability to communicate with, cooperate with and trust others. But the effects of a positive occurrence are less dramatic and lasting than they are for a negative one.
We need at least three to five positive interactions to outweigh every one negative exchange. Bad moments simply outweigh good ones. Whether you're having a conversation, keep this simple short cut in mind: At least 80 percent of your conversations should be focused on what's going right.
Workplaces, for example, often see this. During performance reviews, managers routinely spend 80 percent of their time on weaknesses and “areas for improvement”. They spend roughly 20 percent of the time on strengths and positive aspects. Any time you have discussions with a person or group, spend the vast majority of the time talking about what is working, and use the remaining time to address weaknesses.
A peer is a person who is about the same age as you. Peers affect your life, whether you know it or not, just by spending time with you.
Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book and now everyone's reading it. However, sometimes peers affect one another in another way Maybe a kid in the neighborhood wanted you to steal with him.
Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in, or because they worry that other kids may make fun of them if they don't go along with the group. The idea that “everyone's doing it” may influence some kids to leave their better judgments or their common senses behind.
Peer pressure can be extremely strong and hard to get rid of. Experiments have shown how peer pressure can influence someone to change her/his mind from what she/he knows for sure is a correct answer to the incorrect answer-just because everyone else gives the incorrect answer!
Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do. Inner strength and self-confidence can help you stand firm, walk away and resist doing something when you know better.
A. Peers can have a good effect on one another.
B. Peer pressure is the direct influence on people by peers.
C. Good peers may give you a hand when you are in trouble.
D. That holds true for people of any age in peer pressure situations.
E. Maybe one kid in school tried to get another to cut class with him.
F. It can be hard to walk away from peer pressure, but it can be done.
G. Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing.
