A friend is better than money. A friend is worse than poison in some cases. The two sentences above have opposite meanings and seem to be unreasonable, but they can be explained as follows: the first refers to all good friends who drive us towards good while the second all bad ones who lead us into bad ways.

My ideal(理想的) friend is of course a good friend whose goodness is shown below—he has no bad habits, such as smoking and drinking. He lives in frugality(节俭). He studies hard so as not to waste his golden time. At home he honors his parents and loves his brothers; at school he respects his teachers and shares the feelings of his classmates. He treats those truly who are true to him. In a word, he has all the good characteristics(特征) that I don't have. I can follow him as a model. With his help I can be free from all difficulties.

Indeed, if I have such a person as my friend, I shall never fear difficulty and I shall never know the existence of the word "failure".

Students from Oceanside High School in Rockland will be able to sleep in a little longer from this autumn.

Regional School Unit 13 Superintendent(负责人) Lew Collins said during the school's Thursday night meeting that the schedule(时间表) for the schools will be changed. Oceanside East and West will start a half hour later, at 8 a. m. for their new school year.

Research has shown that teenagers' brains are often not fully awake at 6: 30 a. m. Collins said the schedule, which is used to get students to school for classes that begin at 7: 30 a. m. , calls for some to get on buses before 6: 00 a. m. to get to school on time. Teachers are having meetings at 6: 40 a. m. , which is too early, he thinks.

Collins visited the high schools in Rockland and asked students when they would like classes to begin. Most of them said 8: 00 a. m. "I was surprised. I thought they would say 9: 00 or 10: 00, "he said.

The National Sleep Foundation says on its website that teenagers' biological clocks(生物钟) are designed to stay up later and get up later. The Foundation called for schools to change their schedules, which means a later start as well for elementary students(小学生).

"We do not have enough buses to run, since all the high school and elementary school buses run almost at the same time, "Collins said. He suggested, "We should buy six more buses and get six more drivers to keep the new schedule working."

Elementary school classes in Rockland now start at 8: 30 a. m. , but will be moved to 8: 45 a. m. , starting in the autumn. "I know this is a problem for working parents, but we will see what we can come up with, "said Jane Brown, a teacher at Bardonia Elementary School. "Anyway, I believe if students get more sleep they'll be more ready to learn when classes start, "she added.

It was 8: 00 a. m. Kathy, a 25­year­old nurse, had just finished a 12­hour night shifts at a hospital. She was tired, but glad to be sailing along highway to where she lived. Although the local government had posted a snow alert(预警), the calm grey sky convinced Kathy the drive would be safe. "I figured I'd be in bed in an hour," she says.

Snow began when she was halfway home. Listening to the radio, Kathy learned the highway was closed because a tractor had slid off the road. She texted some friends and her mom, and tried not to sleep as she waited.

After a couple of hours, however, conditions worsened. Strong winds began rocking Kathy's car. She couldn't see anything outside, and snow was drifting up her doors. It was, she says, "a total whiteout and rows of cars and trucks."

Late in the afternoon a police officer came and asked if she was in any difficulty. She said she was fine. She asked the police officer if there was any way to get past the trucks. "No, ma'am," he answered. "You're not going anywhere."

Once as it got dark, Kathy began to worry. She texted his brother Cris, telling him to drive snowmobiling buddy(雪地汽车) to get to the highway and find her.

As Cris rode slowly alongside the rows of cars and trucks, people would roll down their windows and ask for help. "I was the first person they'd seen in six hours." He explained he was picking up his sister. He told them, "Nobody's coming and I can't take you."

Near 10 p. m. Cris reached Kathy. He directed Kathy to pull her car onto the shoulder and asked her to get into his snowmobiling buddy.

As they headed for home, the fun started. About five kilometres into the journey, Cris made a mistake. What he thought was a shallow ditch(浅沟) turned out to be a deep trough(水槽). Instead of coming out the other side, they just kept going down. They were trapped. And feathery snow was over their heads.

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At that moment, they had to take action and get out.

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When Kathy arrived at her home, her mother was waiting for her.