Fort Scott High School English teacher Emily Rountree has been working this semester to raise money for Charity Water, a nonprofit organization that uses 100 percent public donations to help fund water projects in places without access to clean drinking water. Her goal was to motivate her students to use their writing in class to make a real-world difference. Twelve students got top grades for the project, and their articles will be published both in The Tribune and online. Here is one example:

    Did you know that there are many countries around the world that dont have access to safe drinking water? Just think: that could be you, or someone in your family. My name is Tanner Johnson, and I attend Fort Scott High School. In my English classes, we are trying to raise money for Charity Water. Charity Water is an organization that helps people get water in countries where there is no safe drinking water.

    In developing countries, 780 million people dont have access to clean drinking water. In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to get water. Women and children are the ones that mainly do the walking. They could be attacked or get hurt while they travel to get water. When they do get home, the water that they have brought is unsafe water from swamps, ponds, or rivers. If they had safe drinking water, they wouldnt have to worry about these problems, and they wouldnt be wasting hours of their day. Unsafe drinking water causes many different kinds of diseases that could lead to death.

    You could help save someones life, by donating $20 so we can help get them some safe drinking water. You can easily donate online at mycharitywater.org/fshsenglish, or you can send a check to Emily Rountree, payable to Fort Scott High School. If we dont help these people, then who will?

    When he was driving home one evening on a country road, he saw an old lady, stranded(抛锚的) on the side of the road. He stopped in front of her car and got out. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. He looked poor and hungry. He knew how she felt. He said' “I am here to help you, madam. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Joe.”

    She had a flat tire(轮胎). Joe crawled under the car, changed the tire. But he got dirty and his hands hurt. She could not thank him enough and asked him how much she owed him. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the help they needed, and Joe added, “And think of me.”

    She drove off. A few miles down the road the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in. The waitress had a sweet smile, and was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕) The old lady wondered how someone like her who seemed poor could be so kind to a stranger. Then she remembered Joe. After the lady finished her meal, the waitress went to get her change from a hundred-dollar bill. But she stepped right out the door.

    When the waitress came back, she noticed something written on a napkin(餐巾), “I am helping you because someone once helped me. If you really want to pay me back, here ‘s what you do--Do not let the chain of love end with you.”

    That night when she got home, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. She and her husband needed money with the baby due (预产期)next month. She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she whispered, “Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call "amusic." People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes (音调). Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are very far apart on the musical scale.

As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their inability to enjoy music set them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in withdrawal and social isolation. "I used to hate parties," says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.

Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The difference is complex, and it doesn't involve defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can't see certain colors.

Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed (诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. "When people invite me to a concert, I just say, ‘No thanks, I'm amusic,'" says Margaret. "I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy." (335 words)

    The best festivals in Europe

    Whether they're in the countryside or a post-industrial landscape, Europe's yearly festival calendar means new events, old favourites, crazy people and great charm.

    OFF Festival, Poland

    A small festival in Katowice in south-west Poland, OFF has, over the past 10 years, built an international audience thanks to a challenging and interesting mix of acts. This year's selection focuses on female artists: singer-songwriters Feist and PJ Harvey headline, while Swedish pop singer Anna von Hausswolff and classical composer turned electronic producer Anna Meredith are also on the bill. Meanwhile, the experimental poetry and performance project by Moor Mother will undoubtedly be an unmissable show.

    ·4~6 August, ￡55, off-festival.pl

    Melt, Germany

    What would Melt be without its “sleepless stage”--a non-stop music marathon that runs from Saturday morning to midday on Monday? The German festival for those who love an all-hours party takes place in Ferropolis, Gra fenhainichen. This year, the festival celebrates its 20th anniversary, bringing 20,000 people together. A party train from Cologne also serves as your weekend accommodation! A worthy summer alternative to a party weekend in Berlin.

    ·￡140,14~16 July, melt festival.de

    Primavera Sound, Portugal and Spain

    A festival that has rapidly grown to attract visitors from across Europe with its electronic music, guitar-led acts and plenty of sunshine, Primavera Sound takes place in Barcelona and, since 2012, also in Porto, under the name NOS Primavera Sound. The Barcelona edition takes place across six days with an abundance of DJs on call to keep people dancing, while the smaller, three-day Porto festival has Bicep, Nicholas Jaar and Richie Hawtin, who will be doing a closing on the Friday night.

    ·Barcelona 31 May~4 June, ￡195; Porto 8~10 June, ￡110, primaverasound.com

    I sit on the stoop (门廊) in front of my friend's house at the top of a steep hill. And now my friend is late, and I'm stuck here waiting.

    I see a man approaching.

    "Por favor. Call 911," the man says. "Finger. Cut." With his left hand, he is pressing the handkerchief around his right little finger.

    "No. Have. Phone," I say, as if English is also my second language.

    "Have phone," he says, and dips his chin toward his front pants pocket. There, I find a phone, and call 911.

    The operator answers, and I say "I'm with this guy, and he cut his finger."

    "Did he cut it off?"

    "Did you cut it off?"

    "Sí." He sighs.

    "Yes. He cut it off."

    "Where is it?" the operator asks.

    "Where is it?"

    "Upstairs," he says, pointing with his elbow to the house next door.

    "Go get it," she instructs me.

    I follow the man toward the house. Inside, I see a table saw(锯), and the blood spreading across the ceiling, but I don't see the finger. I lift up each foot and look underneath to be sure I've not stepped on it. I'm getting that jumpy, tight-shouldered feeling like when you've lost sight of a spider that was on your ceiling a moment ago.

    "Do you see it?" I ask him.

    He points at his own finger beside the table saw. I grab a paper towel, pinching it carefully, the way you might pick up a harmless but frightening insect.

    "We have secured the finger," I tell the operator.

    "Hang tight. The ambulance is on its way."

    We sit on the stoop waiting for the ambulance.

    "You're going to be OK," I say, putting my free hand on his sawdust-covered back.

    "Gracias," he says.

    "De nada. Esta no problemo," I reply in broken Spanish.

    It feels good to be able to comfort someone, anyone. For months now, the second my hands would go idle(闲散的), a familiar depression would climb on my back. I have been trying to put on a good face for my kid, but I feel as if I've been failing. Could I save myself? I wouldn't know how. But I am determined to save this man.

    Finally the ambulance arrives, picks him up, and they're off.

    Throughout the evening, I can't stop worrying about the man. I decide to call the hospital.

    "Hi! I helped a guy who cut off his finger, and I don't even know his name, but I'm wondering whether he came to your hospital."

    The nurse says, "His name is Jose Ramos, and he's waiting for surgery. Would you like to leave a message?"

    "No. I don't want to bother him. I just wanted to be sure he was OK."

    The next morning, I call the hospital again. This time, I'm put through to Jose's room. "How was the surgery?"

    "No surgery," he says. "No enough blood."

    "Oh, I'm sorry," I say.

    Later that day, I remember that old proverb about how if you save someone's life, you are responsible for them for the rest of their life, which never made sense to me before. Shouldn't the person who got saved owe a debt, and not the other way around? But today, I get it. It's a great honor to help someone in need.

    I start keeping a lookout for other people in need of assistance. I help push a stalled car out of the road. I aid a disoriented cyclist when her bike gets clipped by a car. I adopt a dog. Then one day, a month or two after the finger incident, I realize I have completely forgotten to be depressed. I've been so busy playing the role of local hero that I have ignored to drag my feet and stare into space and imagine the world without me.

    Now, more than a decade has passed since Jose's accident. Occasionally I search for "Jose" plus "Ramos" plus "finger." I wish I could see him again, to see how he's getting on. But more important, to thank him, because when he lost his finger, he saved my life.

A huge lake of salty water appears to be buried deep in Mars, scientists reported this week. The presence of water raises the chances of finding life on the red planet. The discovery is based on observations by a European spacecraft. It has excited experts. Water is necessary for life, and scientists have long hoped to prove that it is present on Mars.

Cassie Stuurman is a geophysicist at the University of Texas. In 2016, she found evidence of a huge ice deposit(沉积)on Mars. “If these researchers are right, this is the first time we've found evidence of a large water body on Mars. ”Stuurman said. Researchers are not yet sure how deep the area of water is. So, they cannot say whether it is an underground pool, or just an area of soft and wet soil.

In order to find the water, Italian researchers examined radar signals. The signals were collected over three years by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft. The results suggest that a 20-kilometer-wide water body lies below ice that is 1.5 kilometers thick. They believe the area is close to the planet's southern pole.

    Mars is very cold, but salt in the water may have kept it from freezing. It is the same as when you put salt on a road to prevent ice from forming. The water would be extremely cold, right at the point where it's about to freeze. And it would be salty. Such conditions are not ideal for life to form. But, she said there are bacteria on the earth that have been able to survive in similar conditions.

Mars has been a popular planet for exploration, with some groups placing instruments on its surface and others examining it from space. In May, NASA launched another spacecraft, the InSight Mars lander which will dig deep into the data under the surface after it reaches a flat area of the planet in November.