Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site baidu. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”.

    But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.

    Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy. “Cool” relates to ideas of grace under pressure.

    “In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life.”

    The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War II. “Post-war ‘cool' was in part an expression of war-weariness (厌战情绪), ... it went against the strict social rules of the time,” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude.

    But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities. He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies. In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.

    Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.

    But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.

    “Call it the Harry Potterization of America—a time when being smart is the new cool,” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.

    You may not  have heard of Ashoka,  but for the past 27 years,this association, founded by Bill Drayton, has fought  poverty (贫穷)and sickness, promoted education and  encouraged small businesses. To support these worthy causes, Ashoka provides money for the world's most  promising "changemakers" seeking to solve (解决) urgent problems and would like to create a  world in which every citizen is a changemaker.

    Drayton believes that anyone can become an agent for change. The important thing is to simply give yourself permission. If you see a problem that you care about, you can help solve it. The young in particular are willing to accept this concept because at heart every child wants to grow into a happy, healthy,  contributing adult. In fact It is many young people's ambition to set up programmes or businesses that improve social conditions. An excellent example is an Ashoka project started in 1995 in Dhaka, which handled the rubbish problem facing the city ,helped local farmers and provided an income for poor people there .

When Masqsood and Iftekhar began to study the problem of all the uncollected rubbish that lay in Dhaka's streets, Attracting tats and disease , they discovered that 80% of it was natural waste . So they educated the poor people in the city to compost (把……制成堆粪)this waste . They knew that they would have a market for the end product because local farmers were struggling with chemical ferntilisers (化肥) which were expensive and had reduced the natural minerals in the soil over the years . At first , they were refused ,but once they were able to persuade them that there was money to be made , the project took off. In 2009 sales were $14,000.

    Drayton is optimistic that in ten years Ashoka will be making really serious ,practical progress in bringing about social change by changing the way we look at economic development.

    Summer Science Class registration begins on March 8 ! If you are interested in science，the environment，or conservation and you are in grades 7 －12 ，sign up soon for Black Rock Forest Consortium's Summer Science Class program. You can download the Summer Science Classes 2013 brochure here. It is easy to register；just call 845-534-4517 or click here.

    Twelve-week-long courses in the natural sciences and the arts are offered at Black Rock Forest in Cornwall from July 15 through August 9.Two more classes are offered with site partners，including “The Art of Scientific Observation，” hosted jointly by Black Rock Forest Consortium and Storm King Art Center ，one of the world's leading sculpture parks ，and “A Nautical   Expedition” hosted jointly by the Consortium and the Constitution Marsh Audubon Center.

    We are delighted to announce two special “away” classes that are part of the Summer Science Class program this year: an“Adirondack Eco-Adventure” beginning August 11，and “Conservation Biology in Florida，” beginning June 23 and featuring field work on the Gulf Coast in cooperation with the University of Florida's Seahorse Key Marine Biological Laboratory. For more information on the Summer Science Class program，please read our press release. Black Rock Forest Consortium is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to advance scientific understanding of the natural world through research，education and conservation programs.

    Emma and Ryan, a married couple, were driving to a friend's house when Emma turned to Ryan and asked, “Would you like to stop for lunch?”

    Ryan replied. “No, I'm not hungry yet,” and continued driving. Meanwhile, Emma sat quietly fuming (十分恼火)in the passenger seat. Ryan could not understand why Emma was unhappy. He had thought she was asking if he was hungry, but in reality, Emma was telling him that she was hungry and wanted to stop for lunch.

    Misunderstandings like this often occur between men and women, even among people from the same culture. Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in the United States, has studied conversational rules.

    In Emma and Ryan's situation, Emma was making a request in the form of a question. Her style of talking is common for women. She needed Ryan to agree they were both hungry. So, Emma asked Ryan what he wanted. She was really telling Ryan what she wanted; however, Ryan did not understand this. If he had been hungry, he would have said something more direct, such as, “I'm hungry. Let's have lunch.”

    Tannen believes that most women grow up in a world where talk is used to express feelings. However, most men are raised differently and they tend to keep their feelings to themselves.

    Tannen says, for men, talk is often used as a situation used outside the home to gain respect, to entertain and get attention , or to exchange information. This is why men communicate by making each other laugh, or talking about sport and work. These men do not always feel it is necessary to talk to feel close or to express their feelings. Women, on the other hand, are encouraged to speak about their feelings since this is a way to build relationships.

    After spending a long day driving the day before, Steinkamp left his hotel around 5:30 a.m. to a funeral in Green Bay, Wisconsin. About half an hour into his journey, he noticed a small strange sound coming from his front tire. By 7 a.m., he still had 70 miles ahead of him, but the noise was so loud that he knew he had no choice but to stop.

    Steinkamp figured there was little possibility that anyone in Wild Rose, Wisconsin-a tiny town with a population of 725-could help so early in the morning. Still, he look his chance at an auto repair shop. Luckily, Steinkamp spotted Glenn Geib stocking the shelves, and he asked for help.Giving Steinkamp a quick look, Geib asked why he was so dressed up, and Steinkamp explained his dilemma.

    The mechanic checked the car and told Steinkamp what he'd feared: the wheel bearing（轴承）was failing. Fixing it would take a few hours, but there was no chance the car would make it that distance without repairs.

    "I must have looked pretty stressed out at this time because Glenn then reached into his pocket, pulled out the keys to HIS vehicle and said 'Take my truck and get going,'" Steinkamp wrote in a Facebook post.

    The men had met just 10 minutes before and didn't know each other's names, but Geib insisted. Steinkamp made it to the funeral. When he came back to the garage seven hours later with a thankful heart, he stuck around to chat with Geib.

    "The 74-year-old mechanic turned a terrible day into a good one with a great lesson." Steimkamp wrote, "Just be kind and help if you can."

The Amazing Penguin Rescue

    The summer of 2016, the ship MV Treasure sunk, creating an oil spill. Thirteen hundred tons of fuel oil were flowing right in the middle of the African Penguins' habitat. Soon the oil covered about 20, 000 penguins. Without swift help, the seabirds would have no chance for survival. Volunteers were showing up by the thousands and I also took part in what was the largest animal rescue operation ever.

    A warehouse was turned into a rescue center near the habitat and hundreds of pools were built to hold about 100 oiled birds each. When walking into the center, I couldn't believe my ears. I had expected to walk into a chorus of honking and squawking (叫声). Instead, the center sounded like a library. The penguins were dead silent. My heart ached for the painful birds. Cleaning them all seemed like an impossible task. But we had to carry on like doctors in an emergency room. There was no time for doubt. Cleaning oil off a penguin wasn't easy. Even with more than 12, 500 volunteers, it took a month to bathe all 20, 000 birds at the center.

    While volunteers were busy bathing the oiled penguins, another crisis (危机) was developing. Oil from the spill had started moving north. Tens of thousands of penguins were in the oil's path. But we already had our hands full with 20, 000 recovering birds. If any more birds were oiled, we wouldn't have enough resources to save them.

    One researcher came up with an idea: What if the penguins were temporarily moved out of harm's way? Experts decided to have a try. Volunteers rounded up the penguins and released them 500 miles away. The hope was that by the time the seabirds swam home, the oil would be gone. The plan worked! Another 20, 000 penguins were saved.

    The entire penguin rescue took about three months. More than 90% of the oiled penguins were successfully returned to the wild. Looking back on the rescue, I am still amazed by the work of the volunteers. What I could hardly believe was that we accomplished an impossible task.