Shlanderis a man from space. He thinks the people and things on the earth are very strange. He is now writing a letter to his friend at home. Here is part of his letter. Read it and answer the questions.
Now I am in a strange world. It is very nice. There are many new things here. There are many earth monsters here, too. The earth monsters look very funny. They have just one head, two arms and two legs. They have thin black strings on their heads Someearth monsters have brown or yellow strings. The earth monsters have a hole in their face. Every day, they put nice things and balls from the trees into the hole. They put water into the hole, too. The earth monsters do not walk very fast. They move from place to place in tin bores.
At night, the earth monsters like to look at a square window box. This box has very small earth monsters in it.
Only one in three adolescents are practising appropriate hand hygiene(卫生), a new global study involving University of Queensland researchers has found.
Dr Yaqoot Fatima from UQ's Institute for Social Science Research said there was a renewed emphasis on adequate hand hygiene with COVID-19. "We used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey from 92 countries across the six WHO regions to examine the prevalence (普遍)of hand hygiene practices in adolescents worldwide," Dr Fatima said, "Our results highlight that globally, adolescents practice inadequate hand hygiene. Adolescents who reported unhealthy behaviours such as being more seated, smoking, and experiencing bullying at school were more likely to practise inappropriate hand hygiene than their peers. In comparison, parental support and bonding emerged as a key factor associated with adequate hand hygiene practices in adolescents."
The researchers examined 354,422 adolescents aged 13–17 years to demonstrate the considerable cross-country variations in hand hygiene practices. Dr Fatima said that although access to soap and water was an issue, around 60 percent of adolescents were not practising appropriate hand hygiene even when they had access to water and soap. While access to handwashing facilities and knowledge of proper hygiene is important for practising adequate hand hygiene, the study showed that the knowledge-behaviour gap is a major reason for insufficient hand hygiene practices.
Bullying prevention at school, systematic combination of health and hygiene education in the school curriculum and peer-led behaviour could be strategies to reduce inappropriate hand hygiene practices in adolescents. The positive role of parental support and bonding suggests that interventions (干预) aiming to improve adolescent hand hygiene should focus on parents and seek their active involvement in designing and delivering those interventions. "With these strategies adopted properly, we are sure to raise public awareness of hand hygiene practices." Dr Fatima said.
Empathy (同理心)is one of those strange qualities—something almost everyone wants, but few know how to truly give or receive it. In a world where self-satisfaction is emphasized, it is in short supply but high demand. This is all the more reason to teach the next generation what it means to have empathy for those around them.
What Is Empathy?— Many people confuse sympathy and empathy, but they are two distinct values. Empathy is not just the ability to understand someone's feelings; criminals often take advantage of people by appearing to understand their feelings and subsequently gaining their trust. Empathy is more than that. Not only is it the ability to recognize how someone feels, but it also values and respects the feelings of another person. It means treating others with kindness, dignity, and understanding.
Kids Need To See Adults Show Empathy—While some children are gifted with naturally kind hearts, in most cases kids need to see empathy modeled by the adults around them. It begins with the way parents relate to their children. Parents who show an interest in the things that matter to their kids and respond to emotions in a positive and caring way are teaching the skill of empathy.
Meet Emotional Needs—When children have their emotional needs met, two things happen. They learn how to meet the emotional needs of others and they are anchored in what they are receiving, meaning that they are secure enough to give to others when the need arises but first they need to receive. An empty jug cannot fill a cup.
It's a good idea to talk to kids about emotions and how other people experience them. Give their emotions names (for example, jealousy, anger, and love) and teach them that these are normal. Talk to them about how to handle emotions in a positive way and point out situations where other people are experiencing emotions. Teach them about respecting the emotions of others and show them how to act in a situation where a response is required.
Canada's Wonderland
From family-friendly rides to thrilling roller coasters, Canada's Wonderland has plenty of attractions for all levels of adventure. Meanwhile, various delicious food choices, including the crowd-pleasing funnel cakes, are available. Visit the entertainment areas and find out who is performing at the Canterbury Theatre or take in a show featuring Snoopy and the Gang at the Playhouse Theatre. Cool down at the 50-acre water park, where you can choose from 17 different water rides to experience.
Fantasy Fair
Etobicoke's Woodbine Mall is the home of Ontario's largest indoor amusement park. There's an antique carousel, electronic games popular during the 1980s, and many other activities and rides designed for small children. Ambitious kids can try the rock-climbing wall, and the XD simulators offer a great 3D movie experience. The large displays of dinosaurs will attract the younger kids.
Adventure Village
Adventure Village is a great open space with waterfalls, fish ponds and many fun activities. It's the ideal place where you can show off your secret moves during a friendly, yet competitive game of outdoor laser tag or play golf on the 18-hole mini golf course. Kids will also enjoy learning new skills at the batting cage and the excitement of riding and spinning around on the bumper cars. No need to worry about getting hungry. Big Al's Cook House offers you various choices on the menu.
Rail Yard Wake & Aqua Park
It's Ontario's largest inflatable (可充气的) water park and cable wakeboarding (尾浪划水) facility. There is a water park with many obstacle courses you'll want to climb, jump and explore. Enjoy the thrill of watersports of wakeboarding, wakeskating and kneeboarding in a safe area.
As you read, remember: gifts from the heart are the best ones you'll ever receive.
According to legend (传说), a young man while moving about the desert came across a spring of delicious clear water. The water was so sweet that he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to an elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he gave the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was very smelly. It had become no longer fresh because of the old leather container. The student asked his teacher, "Master, the water was smelly. Why did you pretend to like it?"
The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."
I think we understand this lesson best when we receive gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a piece of paper or a ruler, the natural and proper response (反应) is appreciation and we express thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.
Gratitude (感激) doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling in it. We should tell ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.
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.
My daughter is a middle school student who still plays with her American Girl dolls. Dolls have been a huge part of her life ever since she was a baby. When she got her first doll at the age of 5, she spent hours brushing its hair and changing its clothes. Some people think my daughter should stop doing that as a teenager. But I think quite differently.
Considering the less attractive activities that are out there and what else she could be doing, I find playing with dolls seems like a nice choice. It's better than playing computer games or something alike. I've also noticed it doesn't make any difference to her social life. She has her friends and spends time with them.
Playing with dolls is helpful for my daughter. "When I play with them, "my daughter told me, "it makes me feel that I can express problems going on in my life and that I'm not the only one who has those problems. They're in their lives, too, and they have to live with them." I'm glad she finds a safe place to stay when she faces school test, changeable social groups, and a changing body in middle school.
Moreover, the girl dolls can be encouraging. Most come with an amazing back story. For instance, Luciana is interested in science and technology and wants to become an astronaut. How cool it is to set an example for kids!
So next time, when someone tries to judge my young teen for playing with her dolls, I'll remember all the ways she benefits from them. And when she grows too large for them, I hope she saves her dolls and brings them out one day in the future so that her own kids can get the benefits of playing with them, even into their teen years.
Everywhere you look, people are looking at screens, and then half an hour has gone by before they realize it.
Researchers at the University of Washington conducted in-depth interviews to learn why we can't stop checking our phones. They found a series of reasons, common across age groups, thatstart and end habitual smartphone use. Hiniker and her team interviewed three groups of smartphone users: high school students, college students and adults who have graduated from college. The 39 interviewees were smartphone users in the Seattle area between the ages of 14 and 64.
In general, interviewees had four common reasons for using their phones:
■During unoccupied moments, like waiting for a friend to show up.
■Before or during boring and repetitive tasks.
■When in socially awkward situations.
■When they are expecting a message.
The group also had common reasons that ended their phone use:
■Meeting competing needs from the real world, like meeting up with a friend or needing to drive somewhere.
■Realizing that they had been on their phones for half an hour.
■Coming across content they'd already seen.
The team was surprised to find that the reasons were the same across age groups. "This doesn't mean that teens use their phones the same way adults do. But I think this desire to turn back to your phone plays out the same way across all these groups. The high school students would say ‘Anytime I have a dead moment, if I have one minute between classes I pull out my phone. ' Andthe adults would say 'Anytime I have one dead moment, if I have one minute between seeing patients at work. I pull out my phone.'"
Chase Poustis a 7-year-old boy. He and his dad Steven, and his 4-year-old sister, Abigail were out for a family boating trip on Florida's St. Johns River near Mandarin Point. Chase and Abigail were swimming at the back end of the anchored boat while Steven was on deck (甲板) fishing.
It was an idyllic (悠闲) outing — until a strong wave came. It was too strong for Abigail to hold onto the boat. Instantly realizing his sister would be swept away, Chase let go of the boat as well to try and reach her.
Steven jumped into the water but after realizing he couldn't keep up with both kids, he was faced with a hard decision. "I told them I loved them because I wasn't sure what's going to happen," Steven told News-4 JAX. "I tried to stick with both of them. I wore myself out. She drifted away from me."
Directing Chase to swim to shore for help, Steven stayed behind, keeping as close as he could to Abigail as the life-vest that was keeping her above the waves floated further and further from his reach.
It was a tough go for the 7-year-old, but rather than attempting to swim all out, Chase wisely paced himself. Stopping to float or dog paddle when he was tired, he'd rest and then set off again. It took Chase an hour to reach the shore. Once on solid ground, he ran to the nearest house and called for help.
Rescuers arrived soon to search for Steven and Abigail. Miraculously, the two were found and rescued about an hour later-more than a mile away from the family's abandoned boat.
A hospital has been forced to ban Pokemon Go players from the site after a monster hub (妖怪枢纽站) was found in the A&E department. Royal Stoke University Hospital discovered that its casualty unit(急诊室) is on the same spot as a Pokemon Go ‘gym' —— where players can train their newly caught Nintendo creatures.
The University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust agreed last week that patients can play Pokemon Go on wards because walking around is healthy. But the Trust has been forced to post a warning on its website about public access to A&E. It said if Pokemon Go becomes a major annoyance it would ask Nintendo—— which decides on the locations of the virtual gyms according using GPS——to have it removed from the premises(道馆).
Kevin Parker, associate chief nurse, said, "Members of the public who do not need to be at Royal Stoke should not attempt to enter A&E or any other part of the hospital building to play the game. The A&E department is incredibly busy this summer. We want the public to understand that anybody who visits the hospital solely to play the game will provide an unwanted distraction to the important work of the hospital. I'm also aware of various reports in the media of unsafe areas that the game has been played in."
"Royal Stoke University Hospital is a safe area where gamers can enjoy Pokemon Go." Michelle Harris, the Trust's manager, said the game could still be played by those already in hospital. "We recognize that the Pokemon Go game encourages walking and exercise, which is something that the Trust is equally keen to promote," she said.
There are a number of "walking routes" established throughout the Trust that can be used to combine walking and playing the game. "Walking just 30 minutes, five times a week, can help reduce the risk of preventable illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease."
There have been several warnings about the game since its UK release. Last week a group of teenagers in Wiltshire were left stranded almost 100ft underground after they got carried away searching for Pokemon Go characters. The four boys, aged 16 and 17, ended up getting lost and had to wait to get a phone signal before they could call for help. Eventually, they contacted Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue team, who took them to safety. Damien Bence, of the fire and rescue team, said: "Pokemon Go is obviously leading people into dangerous situations."
