It started as a special day for Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker in New York City. It was about 12:45 P.M., and he was waiting on a subway platform (月台) to take his daughters home before he went to work. He suddenly noticed a man nearby have convulsions (抽搐) and fall down suddenly. Mr. Autrey and two women went to help the stranger. The man, Cameron Hollopeter, managed to get to his feet, but then stumbled (绊倒) at the edge of the platform and fell onto the subway tracks. Mr. Autrey looked up and saw the lights of the subway train coming near through the tunnel.

    Mr. Autrey jumped onto the track immediately. He realized that he didn't have time to get Mr. Hollopeter and himself back up on the platform before the train arrived, so he lay on top of the man and pressed down as hard as he could. Although the driver tried to stop the train before it reached them, he couldn't. Five cars passed over them before the train finally stopped. The cars had passed only inches from his head.

    New York loves a hero. Mr. Autrey became an overnight hero and was named the “Subway Superman”. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave him the Bronze Medallion, the city's highest honor. He was asked to appear on several TV talk shows. He was also rewarded with money and gifts, such as $10,000 from Donald Trump, a $5,000 gift card from the Gap clothing store, a new Jeep, and Beyonce concert tickets.

    How did Autrey react (反应) to all this? He said, “I don't feel like I did anything great; I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right”.

    Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.

    “To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density (密度)”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope (放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”

    Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanreal systems (MNEMS) Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe.

    “People hear the word 'nuclear' and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”

    His new idea is not only in the battery's size, but also in its semiconductor(半导体). Kwon's battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.

    “The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”

    Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery, In the future, they hope to increase the battery's power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair.

    These days I am on my very best behavior whenever I leave the house. If I am wearing pantyhose(连裤袜), I double-check to ensure there is no hole on it. I drive thoughtfully as if I'm being tested for a license. I won't even allow myself to frown when another driver is blocking my path.

    My kids have noticed my fear in public. "Why are you looking all around, Mum?" they asked.

    "You can't be too careful," I said. "Every single person around us is hiding one of cell phone cameras. They are glad to catch somebody doing something stupid or embarrassing. Then they'll put it on YouTube and a million people will see. I'm not taking any chances."

    "But I don't think anyone is interested in filming you putting on your lipstick for a YouTube video." answered one kid.

    "Oh, really? Don't count me out so quickly." I said.

    Actually, in some cases, I am all for public shaming. For example, I admire the cleverness of the man who put up a website where he posts photos of cars and license numbers of people who occupy two parking spots. And I take secret pleasure in photos of politicians with their fingers in their noses. Throwing light on bad behavior can awake the sleepy conscience(良知).

    But what about the poor guy who has already had a bad day at work and then loses his temper at a rude store clerk? What about the woman whose only crime is a terrible judgment error at the hairdresser? Do they deserve to have their images uploaded onto the Internet for all the world to see?

    None of this is new, of course. Allen Funt pioneered the art of catching people during unguarded moments back in the 1940s with "Candid Camera". But there's a difference. On "Candid Camera", people are set up in staged situations, such as riding in an elevator that goes sideways. And they must give permission before they enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame. Now we are a nation of Allen Funts. This can't be a good thing.

    It is natural that young people are often uncomfortable when they are with their parents. They say that their parents don't understand them. They often think that their parents are out of touch with modern ways, that they are too serious and too strict with their children, and that they seldom give their children a free hand.

    It is true that parents often find it difficult to win their children's trust and they tend(倾向) to forget how they themselves felt when young.

    For example, young people like to act on the spot without much thinking. It is one of their ways to show that they have grown up and they can face any difficult situation. Old people worry more easily. Most of them plan things in advance, at least in the back of their minds, and do not like their plans to be upset by something unexpected.

    When you want your parents to let you do something, you will have better success if you ask before you really start doing it.

    Young people often make their parents angry with their choices in clothes, in entertainment and in music. But they do not mean to cause any trouble; it is just that they feel cut off from the older people's world, into which they have not yet been accepted. That's why young people want to make a new culture of their own, and if their parents don't like their music or entertainment or clothes or their way of speech, this will make the young people extremely happy.

    Sometimes you are so proud of yourself that you do not want your parents to say “yes” to what you do. All you want is to be left alone and do what you like. It is natural enough, after being a child for so many years, when you were completely under your parents' control.

    If you prefer to control your life, you'd better win your parents over and try to get them to understand you. If your parents see that you have a high sense of responsibility, they will certainly give you the right to do what you want to do.

    On November 14, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Mississippi while trying to settle a line(边界) problem between Mississippi and Louisiana. Being an expert outdoorsman, he liked to hunt large animals.

    However, his hunt was going poorly that days, and he couldn't seem to find anything worthy of firing his gun. His followers, trying to help him, caught a Louisiana black baby bear for the President to shoot, but he refused. The thought of shooting a bear that was tied to a tree did not seem sporting, so he spared the life of the baby bear and set it free.

    A famous political cartoonist for the Washington Star, Mr. Clifford Berryman, drew a cartoon titled. Drawing the Line in Mississippi, which used the story of the President refusing to shoot the bear.

    The cartoon in the Washington Star showed Teddy Roosevelt, gun in hand, with his back turned on a pretty baby bear. Morris Michtom, owner of a Brooklyn toy store, got the idea from the cartoon and make a toy bear. Planning to use it only as a display, he placed the bear in his toy store window, and next to it placed a copy of the cartoon from the newspaper. To Michtom's surprise, he was surrounded by customers eager to buy it. He asked for and received President Roosevelt's permission to use his name for the bears that he and his wife made, and the Teddy Bear was born! Michtom soon made Teddy bears by the thousands. The money from selling Teddy bears made him, in 1903, form the Ideal Toy Company.

    Alan Naiman was known for being very careful about how he spent his money. But even those closest to him had no knowledge of the fortune he quietly gathered and the last act he had planned.

    Naiman died of cancer at age 63 last January. The man from the American state of Washington gave most of his money to groups that help the poor, sick, disabled and abandoned children.

    He gave them $11 million. The large amount of his fortune shocked the groups that received his gifts and even his best friends. That is because Naiman had been known to repair his own shoes with duct tape. He had sought deals to buy food from grocery stores at closing time and taken friends out to lunch at low cost restaurants.

    Naiman died unmarried and childless. He loved children but also was intensely private. He saved, invested and worked extra jobs to gather money. He rarely spent the money on himself after seeing how unfair life could be for children who suffer most.

    Naiman was a former banker who worked for the past 20 years at the state Department of Social and Health Services. He earned $67,234 a year and also took on side jobs. Sometimes, he worked as many as three at a time. He saved and invested enough to make several millions of dollars. He also received millions more from his parents after they died.

    He left $2.5 million to the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Washington. The center is a private organization that cares for babies born to mothers who abused drugs and children with drug dependency. The center used the money to pay off its mortgage (按揭) and buy a new vehicle to transport the children.

    Naiman gave $900, 000 to the Treehouse, where children without parents can choose toys and necessities for free. Treehouse is using Naiman's money to expand its college and career support services Statewide.