It's strange how one tiny zipper tooth can create such big problems—and such amazing resolutions.
It was Jo Du's wedding day in Ontario, Canada when the dress's zipperbroke. While everyone was struggling for some kind of tools, some of the guests walked next door to the house of Jo's neighbor David Hobson.
When they returned, they came bearing interesting news：David had taken in a family of Syrian refugees, the father of which was a master tailor who said he would be happy to help. With toolbox in hand, Ibrahim Dudu walked over and mended Jo's dress in front of an amazed wedding party.
The photographer, Lindsay Coulter, was there to witness the whole thing. "Every weekend I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives, and today one man who has seen some of the worst things our world has to offer came to the help, " Lindsay wrote on Facebook. "I am so proud to live in Canada, a country who has opened our doors to refugees countless times. I respect the families who have welcomed these strangers in to their homes and lives, and I'm inspired by the adapt ability of the Syrian people. We are truly blessed. "
The meeting was important since Jo and her husband Earl are both immigrants themselves.
Ibrahim and his family had only been in Canada for four days before the incident. Since none of them spoke a word of English, they had been communicating merely through Google Translate.
You can help support the Dudu family by donating to their crowdfunding page here.
The key to a happy life has nothing to do with getting ahead at work, making money, or traveling the world. Instead, living your best life and creating meaning is all about one thing: relationships.
A study of adult development has been running at Harvard since 1938, and is now on its second generation of participants—the children of the original study's subjects. Over decades, the research team collected data about their lives, including their physical and mental health, marital (婚姻的) status and quality, career happiness, etc.
They found the most important aspect in how happy and healthy these men were over time was their relationships. In other words: Finding happiness in life is all about the people you love.
The research doesn't only include romantic relationships and marriage. Quality, close relationships are important whether they are in the situation of romantic relationships or closeness between friends or family members. The kind of relationship you have is less important than how close you feel with them.
However, the study only included men, and important gender differences exist in how people experience relationships. Some research suggests that men may benefit more from marriage. But they tend to have a harder time keeping friendships; as men get older, they will more likely say they have nobody to discuss important subjects with. So it's possible that having close relationships throughout their lives might affect men differently than women.
The findings line up with the effects of loneliness. People who are socially isolated have a greater likelihood of strokes (中风), heart attacks, and higher blood pressure, not to mention mental health issues.
Unfortunately for the youngest generations, recent surveys found that young Americans are lonelier than older generations. That will likely have a big impact on how healthy and happy people feel throughout their lives.
In 2002, Huang Hui, a researcher of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, went diving near Xisha. In addition to getting an irremovable suntan(晒黑), she was left with memories of a beautiful experience with clear water and abundant colorful corals(珊瑚). However, much of the breathtaking scenery of this reef has disappeared due to climate change and human activities. All of these factors led to the decline of the coral reef in the near shore waters. "We started to cultivate corals near the Xisha Islands in 2010, and restored more than 200, 000 square meters of coral reefs, " Huang said.
In 2004, when Huang was attending the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, she found herself the only representative from the Chinese mainland. She said she felt sad but she made up her mind to strengthen communication with other countries to improve China's level and status in coral research. She visited top coral research institutes in the US and Australia, establishing long-term cooperation with some of the world's top coral researchers. By far, Huang has worked on coral research and protection for 22 years. Now, China is in a leading position in terms of technology and coral planting scale.
Huang believes that people's consciousness of coral protection matters most to the sustainable development of the coral reefs. "I want to call on more people to love nature and look at the ocean in awe, " Huang said.
Partly due to her efforts, Hainan Province released a law in 2017 banning reef exploitation(开发), trading and damaging.
Huang works as a consultant for customs and frontier police on coral protection and promotes coral protection in her local schools. Huang also provides online free training for divers to teach them proper behavior in the sea to protect coral reefs.
"A group of 'folk scientists' have also been trained with the hope that more people can gain awareness of the significance of coral reef protection and know how to protect them, " said Huang.
"I am 50, and when I become 60, I hope that not only a coral island will be built but a sustainable development pattern will also be created, " said Huang. "The ideal state is that the coral island should be able to support fishermen and preserve the ecosystem, " she added.
You may have recently seen a video from the Beijing Wildlife Zoo becoming a hit. What exactly was so interesting about this video?It shows a dog playing with big cats four to five times its size!Many people might wonder if this dog has a death wish, but it seems that the dog and the big cats are good friends.
The dog was actually raised alongside the lion and tiger cubs, making up an odd but loving family, according to zoo officials. As opposed to the common belief, cross-species friendship has been around for centuries. People have domesticated many animals, most notably cats and dogs, and formed bonds with them as pets. Perhaps you even have a pet yourself.
There are many other instances of cross-species friendships.
At an animal sanctuary in Santiago, Chile, a jaguar named Marina and a deer named Laura formed a friendship after they both came to the park. As neither animal had a mother, sanctuary staff said they instantly bonded when they met. Laura had been rescued from a slaughterhouse while Marina had been rescued from the street.
One possible explanation for these friendships is the environment of the zoo. Animals don't hunt for their food and don't need to worry about marking their territory or looking for mates in the way an animal in the wild would. "All those activities take time and energy, and if these needs are removed, the animals get bored, " Gordon Burghardt, a psychologist at the University of Tenessee, US, told The Atlantic magazine. "In this particular situation, the animal's motivation to engage socially and playfully may be higher in its need hierarchy（等级）than eating. "
Marc Bekoff, former biology professor at the University of Colorado, US, told Slate magazine, "I think the choices animals make in cross-species relationships are the same as they'd make in same-species relationships. Some dogs don't like every other dog. Animals are very selective about the other individuals who they let into their lives. "
Most Valuable Possessions on Earth Marie was a single mother of two children in a rural Missouri community．She also dedicated much spare time to numerous charities and community projects．
Then one day Marie received some shocking news from her doctor． She had cancer, and it was spreading rapidly．
Soon , Marie witnessed what she had always known： although she was not financially wealthy, she already had the most valuable possessions on earth． Hundreds in her community and surrounding areas teamed up to help her and her family．
Many people she had touched in caring ways demonstrated appreciation for Marie's life． However, she lived long enough to feel the love of those she had cheerfully served．
The spirits of love and gratitude multiply（增加） when they are shared． Giving selflessly was a value that Marie displayed all her life, and her spirit of giving lived after her in those who knew and loved her．
All her life, Marie had demonstrated（演示） the truth of this simple principle ： Rather, it is an attitude that comes from appreciating what we already have． We can find the happiness we seek if we will first share it with others． Then -- and only then--we will have the most valuable possessions on earth： love, happiness, and increasing gratitude．
A．Happiness is the result of sharing love and gratitude．
B．She worked full-time during the day and sold handcrafted leather gifts on weekends．
C．She lived a rather poor and hard life with the two children．
D．Marie didn't live to see the day when her bills were fully paid．
E．Love is second to none．
F．She had barely enough resources to put a cent in the medical treatments she would need．
G．Happiness will not come from worldly possessions of fortune．
On a hot day, George and his brother, Mark, were planting new grass in George's garden. The lawn(草坪）in the garden had become brown and patchy（参差不齐的）, which could make a1in the heat. The authorities had 2to charge a heavy fine if the situation was not 3. George and Mark had been planting the new patches of grass since morning but the progress was4. George, who was , was not feeling right. He went indoors to take a 5and suddenly fell down on the couch. His wife, Melissa, called the ambulance 6.
While he was having a heart attack, George had one thing on his 7— his lawn. If the new patches of grass were not planted on the lawn that day, the grass would die. "Although he was in great pain, he kept asking me to have the patches of grass planted because he didn't want them to go to waste, " Melissa 8.
Soon the paramedics(护理人员）arrived and9George and Melissa to the hospital, leaving Mark behind to take care of the garden. After an hour, Mark had only 10to uproot the old grass. He was about to plant the new grass when two emergency vehicles 11. Four paramedics, the same ones who had 12his brother earlier on, got out. George had shared with them how badly he had wanted to plant the new grass patches in his lawn, so they returned to 13. The task was 14in less than two hours!
Meanwhile, George had undergone a heart surgery. After he had recovered, he had been 15his beautiful lawn. He was amazed at the new look covered with16patches of grass.
George and Melissa were 17that those paramedics had gone above and beyond their 18to offer help with the lawn. Melissa told the newspaper reporter one day, "These men not only19George's life, but also his grass. That's just so 20. "
Going to Mount Huangshan reminds me of the popular Beatles' song "The Long and Winding Road". is so breathtaking about the experience is the out-of-this-world scenes. The rolling sea of clouds you see once you are at the top will remind you how tiny we (human) are.
The hot spring at the foot of the mountain is something you must try after the climb. It will (undoubted) help you get refreshed! The amazing thing about the spring is that the colder the temperature gets, the (hot) the spring! Strange, isn't it? But that's how nature is—always leaving us (astonish).
What comes next is the endless series of steps. You can't help wondering how hard it (be) for the people then to put all those rocks into place. Though it is the only unnatural thing on your way up the mountain, still it highlights the whole adventure offers a place where you can sit down to rest your (ache) legs.
As the song goes, this long and winding road "will never disappear", and it will always stick in the visitor's memory. It sure does in (I). While you're in China, Mount Huangshan is must to visit!
One of my unforgettable memory of my school in Xinjiang is that of lunches we brought from our homes. I hold my lunch-box in my hand when I was going to school. The smell from it was very good. Since the lunch bell finally rang, my friends or I met under a tall tree and had our lunches. My best friend Aigulie was used to share her Nang with me. Nang is a specially kind of cake in Xinjiang. I like them very much. Now Aigulie and I study at different colleges or we can only see each other during the summer vacation. I think over her a lot and I miss the food and the good time we had together.
