“...This season is all I have left togive. My heart can take the pounding(重击). My mind can han-dle the grind(苦差事) but my body knows it's time to say goodbye"

  “Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game. Whether competing in the Fi-nals orhoisting jump shots after midnight in an empty gym,  Kobe has an unconditional love for the game.

    I join Kobe's millions of fans aroundthe world in congratulating him on an outstanding NBA career and thank him forso many thrilling memories.”

——Adam Silver, NBA commissioner(总裁)

“We're all sad. This era of Lakers basketball has been one of the most fun, exciting prosperous eras we could imagine. We're in full support of him. But it's still very sad.”

——Jeanie Buss, Lakers president

“I know his purpose is to finish outthis season and play. It's always sad when greatness decides to hang it up" "I thought he had at least another year in him.”

——Byron Scott, Lakers coach, andBryant's teammate during the 1996-97 season

¨He pushed me to be better more than any player I've faced. Kobe is the greatest competitor I have ever faced. I am glad he has found peace. I don't know if we'll see another one like him.”

——Shane Battier, of the Miami Heat

“Hard to believe @ kobe bryant isfinally going to hang it up. One of the NBA's great champions. En-joy the restof this season, my friend.”

——Scottie Pippen, retired NBA All-Star

    Most people who move to a foreign country may experience a period of time when they have a lot of stress in the new culture. This feeling is often called “culture shock” and it is important to learn how to deal with culture shock. First of all, you should know that everyone in a new situation will go through some form of culture shock. There are four general stages of cultural adjustment(适应).

    The first stage is usually referred to as the honeymoon stage. Upon arriving in a new environment, you'll be interested in the new culture. Everything will seem exciting, and everyone will seem friendly and helpful.

    The second stage is called the withdrawal stage. The excitement that you felt before changes to frustration(沮丧) as you find it difficult to deal with new problems. The language is hard to learn; friends are hard to make; simple things like shopping and going to the bank are challenges. It is at this stage that you are likely to feel anxious and homesick.

If you are one of those who manage to stick it out (坚持下来), you will enter the third stage—- the recovery stage. At this point, you'll feel more confident in the new culture. You'll start to understand and accept the way things are done and the way people behave in your new environment.

The last stage is the stability stage—- this is the point when people start to feel at home in the new culture. At this stage, you will behave well in the new culture, and prefer some aspects(方面) of the new culture to your own culture.

    There is, in a sense, a fifth stage to this process. If you decide to return home after a long period in a new culture, you may experience what is called “reverse culture shock”. This means that you may find aspects of your own culture “foreign”, because you're so used to the new culture. Reverse culture shock is usually pretty mild(温和的) and doesn't last for very long.

    Sunstroke (中暑) is a condition that can quickly go from dangerous to deadly, especially if proper care isn't given immediately.

    Sunstroke, sometimes called heatstroke, is a result of the body temperature rising above safe limits. This causes the body's necessary functions to stop working.

    It's usually pretty easy to avoid sunstroke, as long as proper action is taken. In that case, you need to act as quickly as possible to return that person's body to a safe temperature. Here are a few tips to help treat sunstroke.

Call for help

    Call to get an ambulance as quickly as possible. This should be the first thing you do, especially if the sunstroke person has fainted(昏倒). Also, call for help from anyone nearby if you're in a public place. If there's no one around, call someone nearby if they can get there sooner than an ambulance. Ask everyone to bring you as much water as possible, if there isn't much nearby.

Get the person to a cooler area

    If there's a building nearby, aim for that. Anywhere with plenty of air conditionings and water is perfect. If a building isn't available, bring the person to a well shaded area.

Get the water flowing

    If the person is still conscious, get him or her to drink water. If there's a bathtub available，fill it with cool water and put the person in it.

If your water supply is limited, you have to save it. Dampen a towel or shirt and put it on the person's body. Focus on the face, neck，and chest.

Fan the person

    Getting moving air over the person cools him or her down. Use anything, a towel or sheet, a shirt your hands，or a piece of board. This is where having many people around really helps, as they can combine to fan the entire body.

    Suppose you're in a rush, feeling tired, not paying attention to your screen, and you send an email that could get you in trouble.

    Realisation will probably set in seconds after you've clicked "send". You freeze in horror and burn with shame.

    What to do? Here are four common email accidents, and how to handle.

    Clicking "send" too soon

    Don't waste your time trying to find out if the receivers has read it yet. Write another email as swiftly as you can and send it with a brief explaining that this is the correct version and the previous version should be ignored.

    Writing the wrong time

    The sooner you notice, the better. Respond quickly and briefly, apologizing for your mistake. Keep the tone measured: don't handle it too lightly, as people can be offered, especially if your error suggests a misunderstanding of their culture(I.e. incorrect ordering of Chinese names).

Clicking "reply all" unintentionally

    You accidentally reveal(透露)to entire company what menu choices you would prefer at the staff Christmas dinner, or what holiday you'd like to take. In this instance, the best solution is to send a quick, light-hearted apology to explain your awkwardness. But it can quickly rise to something worse, when everyone starts hitting "reply all" to join in a long and unpleasant conversation. In this instance, step away from your keyboard to allow everyone to calm down.

Sending an offensive message to it's subject

    The most awkward email mistake is usually committed in anger. You write an unkind message about someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally send it to the person you're discussing. In that case, ask to speak in person as soon as possible and say sorry. Explain your frustrations calmly and sensibly—see it as an opportunity tic hear up any difficulties you may have with this person.

    Children who qualify for free school meals are twice as likely to be out of work in later life as their better off peers, and even when they get good qualifications at school, the employment gap remains, as a research has found.

    A report by Impetus, a charity that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, found that 26% of those on free school meals (FSM) were not in education, employment, or training (Neet) after leaving school. In contrast, only 13% of non-FSM children ended up Neet.

    The study found that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to get good qualifications, but even when they had the same qualifications as their better-off peers, they were still 50% more likely to be out of education and employment as other young adults.

    The research is based on analysis of longitudinal education outcomes data from the Department for Education, which reveals the impact of having a disadvantaged background on life chances and connects pupils' school records with their employment.

    "Qualifications play a central role," the report said, "and it is well known that disadvantaged young people have worse qualification outcomes than their better-off peers." It added qualifications alone were not enough to explain the difference in Neet rates. "Disadvantaged young people are around 50% more likely to be Neet than their similarly qualified but better-off peers. This is true at all levels of qualifications and regardless of age. This means that half the gap in Neet rates can be explained by qualifications, but half cannot."

    The study also showed how where you grow up affects your life chances—it found that a disadvantaged young person in north-east England is 50% more likely to end up Neet than a disadvantaged young person in London.

    Andy Ratcliffe, the CEO of Impetus, said: "We are breaking a fundamental promise to young people in this country. We tell them that study hard, get your qualifications and good jobs will follow. For many young people this is true. But for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds it isn't. They are less likely to get those qualifications, and even when they do, less likely to benefit from them."

    One spring day, once the flowers have begun to open, a bee will hover (盘旋) and zip through your yard and dive-bomb your picnic table. While you're thinking about avoiding an attack, that bee is focused on something else entirely: me.

    A honeybee has about six weeks to live. Today, like most days, her task is to fly as many as three miles from home, stick her long, straw-like tongue into a hundred or so flowers. When the bee has had her fill, she'll fly home. There the bee will deposit what she has got into the mouth of one of her co-workers, who will relay it to another, and so on for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is ready to be placed into the comb. Then she and her 50,000 or so mates will hover in the dark all night every night, flapping their wings to create hot, breezy conditions to remove the water from the mixture. Several sunrises later, they will seal me off in a golden cell of beeswax. In her lifetime, our bee may visit 4,000 flowers, and yet will produce only one-twelfth of a tea spoon of me.

    The average American consumes nearly a pound and a half of me every year, in tea, on toast, and beyond. If I do say so myself, I am a timeless treasure. Literally--I never go bad.

    Unfortunately, my good health is not guaranteed. The problem lies in the growth of industrial agriculture and the use of pest control chemicals, as well as changes in weather patterns, all of which reduce the number of flowers bees have to visit. I'd appreciate your letting your own garden grow just a little wild. My future depends on all of us fostering spring and summers wild flowers, thus helping the bees, who give so much--to you, to me--without ever asking for anything in return.