YOUR mom might cook a bowl of noodles for you on your birthday. But in the US, a mom makes a cupcake for her children on their birthday.

    Cupcakes are small, round cakes topped with frosting (糖霜). It has been an American tradition that moms bring cupcakes to the classroom to celebrate their child's birthday. But recently some doctors have called for this to be banned. They believe cupcakes contribute to child obesity. Despite their good intentions, however, some people believe that experts are interfering (妨碍) with American culture. The cupcake is seen as American as apple pie — only prettier.

    According to Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, the cupcake is the most democratic (民主的) of desserts. As they are small enough for one person, you don't have to share your cupcake with anyone — it's all yours. They are also all of the same size, so there can't be any cries of  “she got the bigger piece!”

    Each bite can taste different depending on how much icing you have. It is a lesson in self-determination. Some people eat only a little of the frosting every time, others have it all in just one bite.

    In recent years, eating a cupcake has become as trendy as having a cup of Starbucks coffee.

    Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton jokingly promised on a talk show that if she was elected president, she would give everyone a cupcake on her birthday. Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, explains that the rise of the cupcake is very much about going back to American national identity in food, which is all about comfort. “People want to think about when they and their country were innocent,” she said.

    It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

    The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries（食品杂货）, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

    I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

    People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity（人性）as a whole. And it has influenced（影响）us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

    To help you travel well in Argentina, we've put together some exciting activities, courses and tours that you can add to your schedule. These are not only designed to be fun, but also to enable you to learn and expand your personal and professional development.

    Walking Tour of La Boca

    The 5-hour tour, moderate（适度的）walking, departs at 11 am in Monserrat and finishes at 4:30 pm, Tuesdays and Fridays.

    Price: £15 per person

    Tour the beautiful cobble stone（鹅卵石）streets of Le Boca, the heart of Buenos Aires and the birth place of Tango. This fascinating walking tour is a must if you want to explore the rich history of Buenos Aires.

    Photography Courses

    6 hours of lessons per week

    Price: £295 for two weeks

    Study photography with an experienced private tutor who will tailor your lessons to your individual needs. Classes include practical teaching, analysis of your work, theory and history and regular opportunities to explore the city by yourself to photograph landscapes of the city.

    Graffiti Tour of Buenos Aires

    The 3-hour tour departs at 3 pm in Colegiales and finishes at 6 pm in Palermo, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays.

    Price: £35 per person

    Experience the world of urban art through this wonderful tour of Buenos Aires. You can travel both on foot and by air-conditioned minibus. The tour finishes in Post Bar in Palermo, home to the unique street art gallery Hollywood and Cambodia.

    Spanish Courses

    1-Week Intensive Course with private lessons, before starting your Main Project

    Price: £590 per week

    Weekly Lessons: 10 hours of lessons per week running concurrent with your Main Project

    Price: £195 per week

    Use your time in Argentina to learn Spanish. You can either do a 1 -week intensive course or take lessons at the same time as doing your main project.

    Latrice Brown was excited about starting her junior year. She had volunteered to take part in the Lincoln High School Friendship Program. As an upperclassman, she would be assigned a “freshman(新生) friend”. Her duties would include helping her friend get used to high school life by offering friendship. Latrice thought it was important to have someone with whom to talk and share concerns. She knew that the friendship program was likely to make the freshman year of high school a positive experience. On August 2nd Latrice received a notice in the mail about the schedule of events for the freshman orientation (适应指导).

Freshman Orientation

    Please call your freshman friend and introduce yourself over the telephone.

    Confirm that he or she will be attending the orientation.

    One day, Jack's parents told him that his grandpa would retire after working for forty years. Jack said in surprise, "I'm only seven, so it means grandpa has been…er... a really long time!"

    His parents said, "Yes. That's why we are going to have a surprise party for him. "

    Jack loved his grandpa and wanted to do something special for him. He remembered the business card his grandpa had given him two years before. He knew that his grandpa would no longer have the position on that card, so he decided to build a new one for his grandpa.

    When the big day came, Jack was ready. But he didn't want to put his gift together with others'. He carried it around with him the whole evening.

    When all the other people left, he took his grandpa's hand and brought him over to a chair and gave him the gift. His grandpa smiled, "Well, it must be a beautiful gift. May I open it now?" "Sure! "Jack said excitedly.

    As his grandpa opened the gift, tears came into his eyes. Jack gave him the greatest gift he had ever got! They were business cards with his new position FULL-TIME GRANDPA! Jack said, "Now your full-time job is my grandpa!"

    "Well, how much do I get paid?" his grandpa asked, smiling. "As many hugs as you want!" With these words, Jack gave his grandpa a hug. "Well, I guess that means I'm the richest man in the world!" said his grandpa.

It should be one of the main goals in today's society to reduce plastic consumption.Though many believe recycling will solve the problem,and continue using plastic,it's actually the opposite.In 2013,254 million tonnes of trash was produced in the US alone,and only around 30% was recycled.This means the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1,000 years.

Now Asian countries,including Vietnam and Thailand,are looking for new ideas to avoid plastic.One of those ideas was a new,eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging.One of Perfect Homes Chiangmai's team members noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using.Little did he know that people all around the world would absolutely love this idea."I just entered to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts with our lawyer,who was delayed.When I noticed the vegetables wrapped in banana leaves,I simply liked the idea.So I took a few pictures and posted them online," he said.

With more than 3.5 million views and over 17 thousand shares,the idea became something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement(实施).

Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free to which the supermarket responded that they are taking one step at a time,but it's not that easy.Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their produce in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option.

It's now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer.If everyone opts for the banana leaf packaging,they will probably stop stocking the items in plastic.