Throughout the past few years, I have tried to give myself to others. I have bounced around to find where I truly fit in. I found my place while I stayed in Guatemala, an orphanage(孤儿院), with the children living there. Through hearing many stories of their lives, I was moved to tears and started question my living ways and gave up everything that wasn't essential: makeup and any other sort of luxury(奢侈品). I lived like they did. It was the most relaxing feeling in the world.

    When at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, we were given the task of creating a pig pen. At first, I thought it should be easy. After arriving at the area where the pig pen should be, we saw a hill. We were told to uproot the weeds as well as level the entire area. Looking at it, we felt 'it would be impossible. On my own faith journey, I have felt this type of doubt before. The “hole”, as we referred to, is a symbol of my faith journey. It appeared to be an obstacle I could not overcome, but in the end I completed it with efforts. I feel this pig pen wasn't easy to create but was so rewarding to give.

    I've always struggled to be on a journey of faith, but I've never completely stepped foot onto the path until Guatemala. I've always tried to open my heart to everyone around me and give them my love. I feel as though I cut open my heart and share every bit of love 'I had with these orphans. There is one orphan named Ceto who will always remain very close to my heart. In Guatemala, I sponsor with thirty dollars a month, but it doesn't seem enough. I'll return there next summer and give more of my love for a whole month.

    When it was time to leave, I looked out of the window and saw not just ordinary children. Overall, the most significant accomplishment I made in Guatemala was stepping towards my own faith journey and not looking back.

    When she moved the covering cloth to look upon his tiny face, she was shocked. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

    Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be full of heart- breaks for his imperfect appearance.

    He grew up, handsome for his misfortune and popular with his fellow students. He might have been class monitor, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music.

    Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret." The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person turned up. His talents blossomed into genius, and his school and college became a series of success. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service.

    One day ,he urged his father, "Who gave so much for me？I must know! I could never do enough for him." "I do not believe you could, " said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know... not yet."

The years kept their secret, but the day did come— one of the darkest days that a son must endure. He stood with his father over his mother's casket (棺材). Slowly, tenderly, the father reached out a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to show that the mother had no outer ears.

    "Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut, " he whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they？"

    Real beauty lies not in the physical appearance, but in the heart. Real treasure lies not in what can be seen, but in what cannot be seen. Real love lies not in what is done and known, but in what is done and not known.

    Drug companies have spent billions of dollars searching for therapies to reverse or significantly slow Alzheimer's disease, but in vain. Some researchers argue that the best way to make progress is to create better animal models for research, and several teams are now developing mice that more closely imitate how the disease destroys people's brains.

    The US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the UK Dementia Research Institute and Jackson Laboratory (JAX) - one of the world's biggest suppliers of lab mice - are among the groups trying to genetically design more suitable mice. Scientists are also exploring the complex web of mutations(突变) that influences neurological (神经学的) decline in mice and people.

    "We appreciate that the models we had were insufficient. I think it's sort of at a critical moment right now." says Bruce Lamb, a neuro-scientist at Indiana University ~ho directs the NIH-funded programme.

    Alzheimer's is marked by cognitive impairment(认知损伤) and the build-up of amyloid-protein plaques (淀粉样蛋白块) in the brains of people, but the disease does not occur naturally in mice. Scientists get around this by studying mice that have been genetically modified to produce high levels of human amyloid protein. These mice develop plaques in their brains, but they still do not display the memory problems seen in people.

    Many experimental drugs that have successfully removed plaques from mouse brains have not lessened the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in people. One focused stumble came last month, when three companies reported that their Alzheimer's drugs had failed in large, late-stage clinical trials. Although the drugs successfully blocked the accumulation of amyloid protein in mice, they seemed to worsen cognitive decline and brain shrinkage in people.

    The drive for better mouse models comes as genomics studies are linking the most common form of Alzheimer's to dozens of different genes. This diversity suggests that each case of the disease is caused by a different combination of genetic and environmental factors. "There is no single Alzheimer's disease," says Gareth Howell, a neuro-scientist at Jackson Laboratory (JAX) in Bar Harbor, Maine.

    Howell argues that scientists' reliance on lab mice with only a few genetically engineered mutations might have limited research. His own work suggests that in mice, just as in people, genetic diversity plays a part in determining how Alzheimer's develops.

    Learning Chinese could be one of the most important decisions you ever make. Chinese is becoming the language to learn in the 21^st century. With the world's largest population and a rapidly growing middle class, China stands to become the engine of the world's economy in the coming years. This will make learning Chinese very important for people in many industries, or for those of us who wish to visit China or learn from its culture and history.

    There is an ongoing effort to modernize the writing system and standardize the language. An increasing number of people learning Chinese are learning the Mandarin, so unless you absolutely need to learn another dialect (such as Cantonese), be sure you are studying Mandarin.

For native English speakers Chinese is one of the most difficult and most different languages to learn. The vocabulary is wholly unfamiliar and unlike anything we know. In addition, in the Chinese tone system, words are spoken in rising or falling tones, which help to distinguish between them. Furthermore, there is the Chinese writing system— a collection of thousands of individual ideograms (表意文字), or symbols, which represent a word or an idea. These ideograms have no phonetic value—that is to say, we can't tell how the word is pronounced by how it is written. There is a method to present written Chinese in a phonetic script called pinyin. If you are learning Chinese, you'll be working with this pinyin system, but the beauty of the traditional writing system shouldn't be passed up. All these factors make learning Chinese difficult for us. Yet, for a determined learner, there's always a way to overcome it.

    The Frick Collection (5th Avenue and E. 70th Street)

    Many art lovers would rather visit this small art gallery than any other in New York. Henry Clay Frick, a rich New Yorker, died in 1919, leaving his house, furniture and art collections to American people. Frick had a preference for pre­twentieth century Western paintings, and these are well­represented in this excellent collection. You can also explore Frick's beautiful house and garden which are well worth a visit

    Guggenheim Museum (5th Avenue and 88th Street)

    This museum owns 5,000 excellent modern paintings, sculptures and drawings. These art works are not all displayed at the same time. The exhibition is always changing. It will appeal to those who love Impressionist and Post­Impressionist paintings. The Guggenheim Museum building is also world­famous. The best way to see the paintings is to start from the top floor and walk down to the bottom. There are no stairs, just a circular(环形的) path.

    Metropolitan Museum of Art (5th Avenue and 82nd Street)

    The reputation of this museum lies in the variety of its art collection. This covers more than 5,000 years of civilization from many parts of the world. The museum displays more than just the visual delights of art. It introduces you in ancient ways of living. You can visit an Egyptian temple, a fragrant Ming garden, a typical room in an 18th century French house and many other special exhibitions.

    Whitney Museum of American Art (945 Madsion Avenue, near 75th Street)

    The Whitney holds an excellent collection or contemporary American paintings and sculptures. There are no permanent displays in this museum and exhibitions change all the time. Every two years, the Whitney holds a special exhibition of new art by living artists. The museum also shows videos and films by contemporary video artists.

    Sit down, close your eyes and relax. Think about your childhood and the memories you created. What was your favorite childhood memory and what was your favorite as a child? Or what your favorite Christmas present or your favorite candy bar when growing up? Answers may come easily for some people but for others, it may take more time to think about.

    Mary Jo McCarthy of Pequot Lakes wants to help others document their childhood memories which could be treasured by current families and for generations to come. McCarthy, 64, a short story author and retired columnist (专栏作家) for the Lake Country Echo weekly newspaper, began hosting a writing seminar (研讨班) titled "A Time to Remember". The closes are limited to 12 people and are conducted in the nursery at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa and the registration fee is $25.

    McCarthy said what led her to start the writing seminars was writing others' biographies(传记). A retired businessman asked her to write his biography as a ghost writer. She said others from her church in Pequot Lakes had also asked her to write their biographies because they didn't know how to write them. She thought hosting a class to help people write their own biographies would be more beneficial to them.

    McCarthy said people had busy lifestyles those days and didn't have a chance to sit down and write down their memories that they might forget and never remember. She said writing down the memories would document the person's life, so other family members, especially future generations would be able to read about them.