Reflecting(回忆) on the past about those decisions or actions that can't be reversed(推翻) and being occupied with thoughts of “What if?” is no way to live. But there are a few things in life I'd probably do differently if I had the chance.

    I once majored in architecture — something I had been crazy about for as long as I could remember — and then I suddenly had a change of heart. I made an appointment with my adviser, and told him I was no longer certain I wanted to pursue a career in architecture.

    “Don't give up on your childhood dream!” “He's right,” I thought. “I should just stick it out and I shouldn't disappoint the little girl who once loved architecture.”

    It was awful. I was agonized, holding on to a childhood dream that had long since faded. When I talked with a friend about it a year later, he asked: “Right now, what do you want to do with your life?” That's when I came to the realization that dreams change over time and that you should give up the childhood dream if it's not what you want as an adult. Luckily, it wasn't too late. After some serious thought, I changed my major to journalism. It wasn't something I had always imagined myself pursuing — but at that moment,  it was what I wanted.

    We grow up, and sometimes our dreams change — and that's perfectly OK. You just need to ask yourself every once in a while, “Is this still what I want?” If the answer is no, move on and start chasing a new one.

What Teenagers Can Do to Earn More Respect?

    As teenagers continue to grow and develop into young adults, the transition (过渡) into adulthood has begun. With so many physical and emotional changes going on, certain manners are often forgotten and other adult traits are not yet accepted as a way of life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} By doing the following things, you will earn more respect.

Contribute to the household

    At the very least, clean up after yourself. As a teenager, you are old enough to clean up after yourself. When you make a mess, clean it up. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} All chore (杂活) that you do help to reduce the load of the person who did them before. Now that you're old enough and capable, why shouldn't you contribute to the household? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Be responsible

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Whether they are basic things, like brushing your teeth or doing your homework, or more involved chores that contribute to the household, simply fulfill your responsibilities on time. When adults know that they can rely on you, their trust and respect for you will increase.

Solve more of your own problem without asking for help

    Instead of taking the easy approach and asking for help, make an effort to solve your problems on your own first. The “easy way” is only easy for you, but it is an extra task for the person from whom you are seeking help. Seek help only after you have made an honest effort to solve your own problems. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you become a good problem solver, you increase your value to the community.

A. Everyone has certain responsibilities.

B. By being aware of these manners and traits, you can manage them sooner.

C. When speaking to a group, speak loud enough.

D. The people doing the chores before will greatly appreciate the help.

E. Depending on the problem, 15 minutes of effort is usually a good guideline.

F. It will make your life more pleasant.

G. This includes, but is not limited to, your dishes and your room.

    The Rugby (英式橄榄球) World Cup is currently being held in New Zealand. The tournament, due to finish on October 23, is living up to the famous English saying, “Rugby is a thug's (暴徒) game played gentlemen. ”

    The games are physically aggressive; the tackles (冲撞) on the pitch are brutal; but the end of each match is a civilized affair. Players shake hands and applaud each other. Of course, the other side to this saying is: "Football is a gentleman's game played by thugs. " Indeed, unlike soccer players, rugby players don't often question the referee's (裁判员) decisions or pretend to be injured when they are not.

    “Football could learn a lot from rugby," said Brian Moore, a former England rugby player "The wonderful spirit of rugby is: there is a gentlemanly code to it. You play hard on the pitch, but you always respect your opponent..

    Rugby is mainly played in Europe. Australia, New Zealand and parts of Africa. "It is more enjoyable to play than soccer because you are always involved in the game," said Peter, a Welsh rugby coach. "Rugby is also a far superior test of strength, stamina (耐力) and determination. "

    Most professional rugby players are large, strong and weigh over 90 kilograms. People who play the sport need to be tough and be prepared to get hurt. Black eyes, broken bones, lost teeth and being knocked unconscious—all these are common injuries. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is blind in one eye thanks to a rugby accident at school.

    In England, children begin playing the game at school at the age of 8. When they enter high school, many begin to play full contact rugby. Children are taught to play for around one hour a week during their PE lessons. Most schools have a rugby team. Children who play for the school team are usually the sportiest kids, and are seen as brave and athletic.

“Birds” and “airports” are two words that, paired together, don't normally paint the most harmonious picture. So it really raises some eyebrows when China announces plans to build an airport that's for birds.

Described as the world's first-ever bird airport, the proposed Lingang Bird Sanctuary(保护区) in the northern coastal city of Tianjin is，of course，not an actual airport. Rather, it's a wetland preserve specifically designed to accommodate hundreds — even thousands — of daily takeoffs and landings by birds traveling along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Over 50 species of migratory (迁徙的）water birds, some endangered, will stop and feed at the protected sanctuary before continuing their long journey along the flyway.

Located on a former landfill site, the 61-hectare (150-acre) airport is also open to human travelers. (Half a million visitors are expected annually.) However, instead of duty-free shopping, the main attraction for non-egg-laying creatures at Tianjin's newest airport will be a green-roofed education and research center, a series of raised “observation platforms” and a network of scenic walking and cycling paths and trails totaling over 4 miles.

The proposed Bird Airport will be a globally significant sanctuary for endangered migratory bird species, while providing new green lungs for the city of Tianjin,” Adrian McGregor of Australian landscape architecture firm McGregor Coxall explained of .the design. Frequently blanketed in smog so thick that it has shut down real airports, Tianjin is a city — China's fourth most populous — that would certainly benefit from a new pair of healthy green lungs.

    When I was younger, I was ridiculously shy to the point where I could not even make eye contact with people I didn't know. If someone greeted me in the hallway, I would lower my head and hurried past. I had always been somewhat anti-social, but, in sixth to eighth grade. I hit rock bottom. After transferring to a new school, halfway through my sixth grade year, I found myself in a room of people I had never met before, with no one to lean on.

    Funnily enough, this would not have been such a big deal if I had connected with their values and interests. However, everyone in my school was much wealthier than me, and focused on partying and fashion which were contrary to my academic interests. Although I had a few acquaintances(熟人), no one seemed to understand me beyond the superficial(表面的)level, unable to share my sometimes dark humor and interest in science fiction.

    Halfway through ninth grade, I was once again thrown into a school of strangers. Making Friends was incredibly difficult, and I sat alone at lunch for the rest of the year. In tenth grade, however, I enrolled in my school's theatre program, where I met some of my closest friends. The theatre forced me to overcome my shyness and taught me to speak up for myself. Furthermore, pretending to be someone else gave me a sense of previously unknown confidence

    Although I have a lot going for me right now, I will never forget the struggles I had to overcome when I was younger. This is why, whenever I see someone struggling or standing by themselves, I always invite them to sit with my friends and me. I may not be able to give hem my full attention all of the time, but the, main point is to let them know someone recognizes their existence and is willing to connect with them.

    What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? Go vegetarian (素食)？ Replant the Amazon? Cycle to work? None of the above. The answer is: make air-conditioners better. On one calculation, replacing refrigerants (制冷剂) damaging the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases equaling 90bn tonnes of CO₂ by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that. By contrast, if half the world's population gave up meat, it would save 66bn tonnes. Replanting two-thirds of tropical forests would save 61 bn tonnes. A one-third increase in global bicycle journeys, just 2.3bn tonnes.

    Air-conditioning is one of the world's great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and Work. Unlike cars, though， air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, emissions or energy efficiency. Most hot countries do not have rules to govern their energy use. There is not even a common English word for “coolth” (the opposite of warmth).

    Yet air-conditioning has done more than most things to benefit humankind. Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, called it “perhaps one of the signal inventions of history”. It has transformed productivity in the tropics(热带地区)and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the World. In Europe, its spread has pushed down heat-related deaths to 10% since 2003, Men 70,000 people than usual, most of them elderly, died in a heatwave. For children, air-conditioned classrooms are associated with better grades at school.

    Environmentalists who call air-conditioning “a luxury we cannot afford” have half a point, however. In the next ten years, as many air-conditioners will be installed(安装)around the world as were put in between 1902(invention time)and 2005.Unless energy can be produced without carbon emissions, these extra machines will warm the world. At the moment, therefore, air-conditioners create a vicious cycle. The more the Earth warms, the more people need them. But the more there are, the warmer the world will be.

    Cutting the impact of cooling requires three things. First, air-conditioners must become much more efficient. The most energy-efficient models on the market today consume only about one-third as much electricity as average ones, Minimum energy-performance standards need to be raised raised, orintroduced in countries that lack them altogether, to push the average unit's performance closer to the standard of the best.

    Next, manufacturers should stop using damaging refrigerants. One type called hydrofluoro-carbons, is over 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. An international agreement to knock out these pollutants will come into force in 2019.

    Last, more could be done to design offices, malls and even cities so they do not need as many air-conditioners in the first place. More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs or balconies for shade, or with natural ventilation (自然通风).Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down. Providing indoor air-conditioned comfort need not come at the expense of an overheating world.