The plan had been made to create a beautiful nature park with a large man-made lake on the outer parts of the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. However, thanks to a terrible trick played by nature, what the officials have ended up with, is a natural sandy mess!

The government wanted to create a beautiful place where people of this busy industrial city could come to relax. But things did not quite turn out that way—shortly after digging up thousands of tons of sand, the underground water dried up. As a result, the dry sand has changed into a Sahara-like desert. While official reports show that the sand is piled up to 10 meters high, some people say that it is ten times more or about a 100-feet high in certain areas.

    If that is not bad enough, the sand hills that now spread across an area the size of four football fields, have influenced the environment. What's worse is that on windy days, the dry sand moves into the city center, making it almost impossible to drive and forcing people to wear face masks and protective eyewear to prevent the sand from getting into their eyes, nose, and mouth.

    In an act of trying to keep the sand and provide the illusion(幻想) of green fields, the officials have even tried covering it with a green plastic netting. However, that has not done much to improve the terrible situation!

    As you can imagine, many of Zhengzhou's residents are upset by the disaster. They think that desert wasteland that looks nothing like the green landscape they were promised, has resulted in polluting their pleasant city environment. Some think it is even stopping businessmen from coming to the city.

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    It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

    Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

    “Jack, did you hear me?”

    “Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago.” Jack said.

    “Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce (回忆) about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it.” Mom told him.

    “I loved that old house he lived in.” Jack said.

    “You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life.” she said.

    “He's the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important… Mom, I'll be there for the funeral.” Jack said.

    Busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

    The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time, which was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture… Jack stopped suddenly.

    “What's wrong, Jack?” his Mom asked.

    “The box is gone.” he said.

    “What box?” Mom asked.

    “There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most'.” Jack said.

    It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

    “Now, I'll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said sadly.

    Returning to his office the next day, he found a package on his desk. The return address caught his attention.

    “Mr. Harold Belser” it read.

    Jack tore open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

    “Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, and tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the fine cover, he opened it.

    Inside he found these words carved: “Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser.”

    “Oh, My God! This is the thing he valued most…” Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his assistant and cleared his appointments for the next two days.

    “Why?” his assistant asked.

    “I need some time to spend with my son.” he said.

    They had a dozen children, six boys and six girls, in seventeen years. One reason Dad had so many children was that he was confident anything he and Mother teamed upon was sure to be a success.

    Our house at Montclair, New Jersey, was a sort of school for scientific management and the removal of wasted motions — or “motion study,” as Dad and Mother named it.

    Dad took moving pictures of us children washing dishes, so that he could determine how we could reduce our motions and thus hurry through the task. Each child who wanted extra pocket money put forward an offer saying what he would do the job for. The lowest bidder got the contract(合约).

    Dad put process and work charts in the bathrooms. Every child old enough to write — and Dad expected his children to start writing at a young age — was required to sign their names on the charts in the morning after he had brushed his teeth, taken a bath, combed his hair, and made his bed. At night, each child had to weigh himself, mark the figure on a graph, and sign the process charts again after he had done his homework, washed his hands and face, and brushed his teeth. Mother wanted to have a place on the charts for saying prayers, but Dad said as far as he was concerned prayers were voluntary.

    It was strict management, all right. Yes, at home or on the job, Dad was always the efficiency expert. He buttoned his vest from the bottom up, instead of from the top down, because the bottom-to-top process took him only three seconds, while the top-to-bottom took seven. He even used two shaving brushes to make his face smooth enough, because he found that by so doing he could cut seventeen seconds off his shaving time. For a while he tried shaving with two razors, but he finally gave that up.

    “I can save forty-four seconds,” he complained, “but I wasted two minutes this morning putting this bandage on my throat.” It wasn't the injured throat that really bothered him. It was the two minutes.

    Nearly 20 U.S. states have started carrying out former president Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which places limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in an effort to reduce the impacts of climate change. The plan has been in legal limbo (边缘) for the past year. Yet scientists have now calculated another outcome of the policy: harm to crop yields (产量) if the plan is cancelled. Along with carbon pollution, coal-fired power plants spew (喷出) pollutants that form what we know as smog. The contribution of smog to increased rates of asthma (哮喘) and premature deaths was already known. The new research estimates the extent to which smog, under air-pollution policies-4n place before the Clean Power Plan, would limit production in 2020 of four major crops: corn, cotton, potatoes and soybeans.

    Led by environmental engineer Shannon L. Capps, now at Drexel University, the team also sketched the extent to which those crop production losses would reduce under three nationwide scenarios (方案). One improved the efficiency of individual power plants. Another modeled a policy similar to the Obama plan, setting state CO₂ emissions goals for the electricity department. A third established a tax on carbon emissions, under which emissions fell the most. But the greatest drop in smog-forming pollutants—and greatest gains in crop yields—came from policies such as the Clean Power Plan.

    Researchers calculated how well each scenario would reduce the potential productivity loss (PPL) of each crop. PPL is a projected value for 2020 and indicates how much crop growth would suffer because of smog. Scenario 2 most closely agrees with results expected from the Clean Power Plan.

Based on his own research at Washington University in St. Louis and other scientific studies, psychology lecturer Bon o offers the following tips for getting and staying happier in your life.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Looking forward to an enjoyable experience can make it all that much sweeter. Wait a couple of days before seeing a new movie that just came out, plan your big vacation for later in the summer, and try to take time to enjoy each bit e of dessert. On the opposite, get negative tasks out of the way as quickly as possible —any delay will only make them seem worse.

People who focus more on process than outcome tend to remain motivated in the face of setbacks. They're better at sticking with major challenges and prefer them over the easy route. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Because it celebrates rewards that come from the work itself. Focusing only on the outcome can lead to premature burnout if things don't go well.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Find an activity that allows you to get together with friends on a regular, ongoing basis. A weekly happy hour, poker night, or TV show ensures consistency and motivation in your social interactions. People with high-quality relationships are not only happier, but also healthier. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

The next time you are attracted to use your phone to look through social media, look through your list of contacts instead. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The happiness you get from a real connection with another person will be far greater than any comments or likes you get on social media.

A. Anticipation itself is pleasurable.

B. Decrease unnecessary socializing.

C. Find someone to call or Face Time.

D. This "growth mindset" helps people stay energized.

E. Facebook and Instagram often overstate how much better off others are.

F. Nothing is more important for our psychological health than high-quality friendships.

G. They recover from illnesses more quickly, live longer, and enjoy more enriched lives.