At times my mom has been uncomfortable seeing these qualities in me. For example, when I was 12, I went to Puerto Rico all by myself to stay with my grandmother for the summer. My mom was extremely nervous about it. She kept telling me how things were different in Puerto Rico, to always put on sunscreen, not to wander away from my grandmother, and other warnings. She helped me pack and did not leave the airport until she saw my plane take off.

    But despite her worries, she let me go on my own. As I moved into my teens, she continued to give me space to grow and learn even when it might have been difficult for her. When I reached my senior year, I decided to move away for college. Once again I found that I differed from my peers: while many of them wanted to stay close to home, I couldn't wait to be out in the world on my own. While my mom may not have been happy at the thought of me going away, she was supportive and excited for me.

    One big thing I realized during my senior year, as my mom granted me more freedom, was that she actually believes in me and trusts me. That means a lot. Most of my life, and especially when I was little, the main person I tried to impress in my schoolwork or other things was my mother. I knew she expected nothing but the best from me. Sometimes it was hard to live up to her standards; getting a single B on my report card would make me feel bad because I knew she wanted me to have all A's.

    I know that her high standards have helped me stay focused on what's important, like education, and made me who I am. I am thankful for her support and involvement in my life. Most of all I respect her. She is the strongest woman I know and that's why I have turned out so strong and independent.

    Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant(保证；授权) time in front of the television have been invented in the UK.

    The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter(传话器) passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's efforts.

    The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to deal with that with my design.”

    Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

    Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals exactly one minute of TV time.

    Existing pedometers(计步器) normally clip(夹在) onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

    Tomato Festival

    Started in 2005, the Tomato Festival has grown into a local tradition in Malta. In recent years, the festival has added amusement park-style rides and a yearly Creature Feature, which screens old horrible movies. There are also dance competitions, parades and pancake breakfast. Third weekend in August.

Address: 833 Tinkham Rd, Fountain Park, Wilbraham, Massachusetts 01095 Phone：(413)599-0010

    Brat Days

Don't mistake this festival for a day filled with poorly behaved children. Begun in 1953, the gathering is the biggest festival in the city each year and features more than 50 stands (摊位) selling the sausage, as well as a contest to see who can quickly eat the most bratwurst (德国式小香肠) in ten minutes. Early August.

    Address: 17th and New Jersey sts, Kiwanis Park, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081

Phone: (920)457-9491

    Hope Watermelon Festival

    The festival dates back to the 1920s, when many trains went through this small town and local watermelon growers would sell their watermelon to parched travelers. These days, the festival sees a Watermelon Queen crowned(加冠的) and sometimes a world-record watermelon grown. There are also more than 300 stands selling arts and crafts from a six-state area, as well as a car show and the Watermelon Olympics. Early August.

Address: 108 W 3rd St, Hope, Arkansas 71801 Phone: (870) 777-3640

    Oyster Festival (牡蛎节)

Featuring appearances from tall ships and oyster boats, this festival has regularly drawn 60,000 visitors a year since it began in 1978.More than 3,000 volunteers make the festival possible each year. Norwalk is less than a two-hour drive from many of New England's larger cities, making it easy to attend the festival during a trip to New York or Hartford. Weekend after Labor Day.

Address: Sea view Ave, Veteran's Park, East Nor-walk, Connecticut 06855 Phone: (800) 866-7925

    A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.

    A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn't it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond”.

    Soon all the town have heard about the man's answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.

    However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieved.

    When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It's just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”

    Little Women is the story of four sisters growing up during the Civil War. Each March (马奇) sister has a different personality. Meg, the oldest, is dignified (端庄) and proper. Jo, next in age, is energetic and wants to be a writer. Beth is shy and quiet and loves music. Amy, the youngest, is spoiled (被宠坏的), a little conceited (自负), and enjoys art. In the following passage, an excerpt(节选)from Chapter 14 Secrets, Jo has a secret surprise to tell her sisters. Laurie is the boy who lives next door, and Hannah is the March's servant. The Spread Eagle is a newspaper in the town.

    In a few minutes Jo bounced (蹦跳) in, laid herself on the sofa, and pretended to read.

    "Have you anything interesting there?" asked Meg, with condescension (屈尊).

    "Nothing but a story, won't amount to much, I guess," returned Jo, carefully keeping the name of the paper out of sight.

    "You'd better read it aloud. That will amuse us and keep you out of mischief (恶作剧)," said Amy in her most grown-up tone.

    "What's the name?" asked Beth, wondering why Jo kept her face behind the sheet.

    "The Rival Painters."

    "That sounds well. Read it," said Meg.

    With a loud "Hem!" and a long breath, Jo began to read very fast.

    The girls listened with interest, for the tale was romantic, and somewhat pathetic (哀婉动人), as most of the characters died in the end. "I like that about the splendid picture," was Amy's approving remark, as Jo paused.

    "I prefer the lovering part. Viola and Angelo are two of our favorite names, isn't that strange?" said Meg, wiping her eyes, for the lovering part was tragical (凄婉).

    "Who wrote it?" asked Beth, who had caught a glimpse(瞥) of Jo's face.

    The reader suddenly sat up, threw away the paper, displaying a red face, and with a funny mixture of solemnity and excitement replied in a loud voice, "Your sister."

    "You?" cried Meg, dropping her work.

    "It's very good," said Amy.

    "I knew it! I knew it! Oh, my Jo, I am so proud!" and Beth ran to hug her sister, wild with joy over this splendid success.

    Dear me, how excited they all were, to be sure! How Meg wouldn't believe it till she saw the words. "Miss Josephine March," actually printed in the paper. How politely Amy criticized (批评) the artistic parts of the story, and offered advice for a sequel (续集), which unfortunately couldn't be carried out, as the hero and heroine were dead. How Beth got excited, and skipped and sang with joy. How Hannah came in to shout in great astonishment at 'that Jo's doin's'. How proud Mrs March was when she knew it. How Jo laughed, with tears in her eyes, as she declared she might as well be a peacock(孔雀) and done with it, and how the 'Spread Eagle' might be said to fly his wings proudly over the House of March, as the paper passed from hand to hand.

    "Tell us about it." "When did it come?" "How much did you get for it?" "What will Father say?" "Won't Laurie laugh?" cried the family, all in one breath as they gathered around Jo, for these foolish, affectionate (痴情的) people had a celebration of every little joy of family.

This document sets out the display standards for Glasgow Museums. This guide will help exhibition planners provide access to exhibitions in our museums. Glasgow Museums' aim is to improve access to collections by having as many items as possible on display and without physical barriers. We also try out best to protect these objects without limiting access to them.

Object Placement

·Don't place objects in such a way that they could present a danger to visitors.

·All object displays, cased or otherwise, must be viewable by all, including people who are small in figure or in wheelchairs.

Open Display

·All objects on open display must be secure from theft and damage.

·All objects identified for potential open display must be viewed and agreed on an object-to-object basis by the Security Manager of the museum.

*In some cases, 600mm may be acceptable, provided the plinth height is above 350mm.

Cased Objects

·All cased displays should fall within the general optimum（最优的）viewing band of 750-2000mm. Ensure everything is visually accessible from a wheelchair.

·Position small objects or those with fine detail in the front part of a case, with larger items behind.

·Position small items or those with fine detail no higher than 1015mm from floor level. Objects placed above this height are only seen from below by people in wheelchairs or people who are small in figure.