It was an oral English class and in front of us was standing our teacher Lila Betray, who was a university student from the US. Somehow we came to the point whether any of us could sing an English pop song in front of the class. You know, maybe three or more out of ten Chinese students are shy in class. As a result, there was silence in class for quite a while, which made everybody feel rather embarrassed(尴尬的), including the teacher.

    I was a shy boy. However, just at that moment, a great idea struck me suddenly."Seize the enjoyment! Seize the opportunity. Yes, there couldn't be a better opportunity." I said to myself. "Why not seize it? Why should I have always to be the guy regretting missing the opportunity just because of shyness? Yes, maybe I should have a try!"

    So, I raised my hand. And I remember that it took me quite a while to think what the song's name was. Though I sang no more than five sentences because of forgetting the lyrics(歌词), their clapping hands told me that I did the job well. Later, I got a gift and I was really happy.

    I think that is one of the most unforgettable moments in my life. Through this experience, I've also got to know that we should believe that we can do the job well, no matter how difficult it seems for us. Just have a little more courage.

    Judge Frank Caprio is a famous person in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. And, he is starting to get noticed around the world, too. He is an 80-year-old judge in the capital city of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the U. S.. One of his jobs is to take charge of traffic court. That involves talking to people who have gotten traffic tickets for going though red lights or parking illegally. They go to traffic court to question the tickets. Caprio hears what they have to say. Then, he decides whether or not the ticket is legal.

Caprio recently heard the case of a young man who was driving his mother's car. He went through a light after it turned red. After he spoke with the high school student, Caprio decided to let him off with a warning—if he promised to go to college and graduate.

    Another video from the Providence traffic court came out earlier this week. It showed a woman speaking with Judge Caprio about a parking ticket. She went to traffic court after getting a ticket for parking in an area that only permitted parking after 10 a. m. . The ticket was written at 9:59 a. m. . The woman said the clock in her car showed 10 a. m., so she thought it would be OK. After some conversation, the judge decided to dismiss the ticket.

    But Caprio did tell her, “You violated the city laws.” He held up a large book of rules. He smiled and the woman laughed. He said: “Our parking enforcement officers are second to none in the country!” After talking with the court officer, he said “I think 9:59 is close enough. Matter is dismissed.”

    The video was viewed over 1 million times in just two days. One person wrote of the video: “This is so cute. What a great judge. LOVE THIS.” Others wondered if the video was real, because it seemed so funny. But, there actually are judges out there like Frank Caprio. He is as real as they come.

    Mary Lyon was a leader in women's education in the nineteenth century. It was a time when women's education was not considered important in the United States. States did require each town to provide a school for children, but there were not enough teachers. Most young women were not able to continue their education. If they did, they often were not taught much except the French language, how to sew clothing, and music.

    Mary Lyon felt that women's education was extremely important. She believed women were teachers both in the home and in the classroom. Mary opened a school for young women in the village of Buckland. She suggested new ways of teaching, including holding discussion groups for students.

    Then, Mary began to raise money for her dream school for the higher education of women. This school would own its own property (财产), guided by an independent group of direction. Its finances would be the responsibility of the directors. It would not depend on any one person to continue. And, the students would share in cleaning and cooking to keep costs down. In 1837, Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Seminary for Women. In 1893, 34 years after her death, under a state law, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary became the first college to offer women the same kind of education as men.

    Mary's efforts led to the spread of higher education for women in the United States. Her influence lasted as the many students from her schools went out to teach others.

    Last year my children gifted me a stainless steel (不锈钢的) coffee plunger (法式按压咖啡壶). I love to start the day with a strong black coffee and couldn't wait to use it. I looked forward to the following morning's coffee making, knowing that I probably wouldn't smash (打碎) this plunger as easily as I had done so often in the past.

    But as I poured my first cup of coffee, the plunger spilled (洒出) all over the table. Thankfully no one was around to see my disappointed face! I kept trying, but each morning would see me wiping up the coffee. Then I realized that if I poured very slowly there would be no spilling.

    This was at first a very painful experience. My normal practice was to rush through breakfast so that I could get on with my day.

    But in time I learned not only to pour slowly but to enjoy the experience: the smell, the taste, and the stillness of a new day.

    It prompted (促使) me to reflect upon whether there were other areas of my life I was rushing through. Most of life, it seemed.

    I started to leave extra time to do even the most ordinary tasks. When shop owners would apologize for keeping me waiting, I'd say, "Not a problem, I'm not in a hurry." Even hanging out washing became pleasurable when a couple of extra minutes of standing still and listening to the birds singing in the trees around me became part of my routine.

    Besides, one of my favorite experiences living in the inner city for many years was sitting on the front doorstep of our home spending time with strangers. We sat on the steps, each of us with a cup of coffee in our hands, listening to each other's stories. It was one of the warmest things about living in a busy city. It was as if the world around us slowed to a pace (步伐) we could both handle.

    Stillness and quietness not only slow the pace of life, but also feed the soul, helping us to enjoy the world's small pleasures.

    As the temperature rises, sweaty humans are making a response that is further worsening the problem of climate change. At present, the world just has 1.6 billion air conditioning units, but these units use a surprising total of ten percent of all global electricity supply. While less than a third of families globally are so equipped, the most AC-addicted countries are Japan (in 91 percent of families), the US (90 percent) and South Korea(86 percent).

    New research by the International Energy Agency (IEA) guesses that the total number of AC units is likely to increase to over 5.6 billion by 2050－equal to ten new units being sold every second for more than 30 years－with sales driven particularly by India, China and Indonesia. This will make the use of air conditioning one of the world's largest demands for energy.

    "Growing electricity demand for air conditioning is one of the most critical blind spots in today's energy debate," argues Faith Birol, executive director of the IEA. "With rising incomes, air conditioner ownership will skyrocket, especially in the developing world. While this will improve daily lives, it is quite necessary that efficiency performance be prioritized."

    Birol and the IEA stress the need for new efficiency standards to ensure that consumers are at least buying units that require significantly less power to function, therefore decreasing the total energy demand. Variations on the traditional "vapor compression" technology, which has formed the basis for AC units for more than a century, may appear really important. A water-based system was recently developed by researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS), which uses 40 percent less electricity and produces only one by-product: drinkable water.

    "Our cooling system can be tailored for all types of weather conditions, from wet climate in the tropics to dry climate in the deserts," says associate professor Ernest Chua at NUS. "While it can be used for indoor living and commercial spaces, it can also be easily used to provide air conditioning for blocks of buildings in an energy-efficient manner."

China's Tianwen 1 Mars probe (探测器) conducted its fourth orbital correction on Friday evening, as the spacecraft makes ready for its arrival in orbit around Feb. 10, according to the China National Space Administration.

The name comes from the long poem Tianwen, meaning Heavenly Questions or Questions to Heaven, written by Qu Yuan, one of the greatest poets of ancient China. In Tianwen, this name conveys the Chinese nation's steady effort in pursuing truth and culture of exploring nature and the universe. CNSA also unveiled (发布) the logo of China's planetary exploration missions, featuring the letter C, signifying China, international cooperation and capacity of entering space.

Tianwen I has flown for 197 days and more than 465 million kilometers on its journey to the planet. It is now around 184 million km from Earth and I. I million km from Mars. Depending on the two planets' orbits, Mars is between 55 and 400 million km from Earth. Mars probe Tianwen I is seen in its first selfies in space on Oct. 1, 2020. The administration also published a black-and-white picture of Mars taken by Tianwen I, the first snapshot (抓拍的照片) from the Chinese craft.

Tianwen I, the country's first independent Mars mission, was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on July 23 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, kicking off the nation's planetary exploration program.

A successful landing would make China only the second nation to place a spacecraft on the Martian planet. China would also be the first to successfully orbit, land and deploy (部署) a vehicle in the same mission. According to experts, searching for signs of life on Mars will be the first and foremost scientific goal. China is open and inclusive in the development of its space technology not least because it believes that the exploration of outer space should help build a community with a shared future for mankind.