I was on my school campus the other day, and there was an ice cream truck parked right in front of the main common areas of the school. I had never thought an ice cream truck would circle our campus and come for us, overgrown kids. I was intrigued and wanted to investigate（调查）further.

    I was quite surprised when the man in the truck called out,“ Free ice cream!”

    I questioned him just to make sure of his words, saying," I' m sorry, what did you say?"

    “Free ice cream. You have your choice of these four frozen treats: the rocket pop, the chocolate Eclair, the strawberry shortcake, or the drumstick.”

    After I was certain that the man was just giving away free ice cream, I talked with him for a while. He told me that his dream had always been to travel around giving away ice cream, and that's exactly what he did. And his passion was expressed through using up all his credit cards, sleeping in his truck, and living with his mother in a small flat, so he could continue to follow his dream during hard times .Now, he has sponsorships（赞助）from large companies such as Levi's to do what he loves, and he's gifted 125,000 of his truckload of ice cream treats!

    The man said he wanted to encourage people to do exactly what their hearts tell them to do with their lives. I kept asking him with respect," So your dream was just to drive around and give away ice cream? It seems like a very unusual goal."

    "Yes ,just meeting people and making them smile," he replied.

    I wasn't surprised when I read that actress Helen Hunt recently stated that she would never allow her young daughter to become a child star. Ms. Hunt is the daughter of a Hollywood technical director, and grew up in Hollywood. Now in her late 40s, she started acting and modeling when she was eight and has probably seen a lot over those years in show business.

    She has had a successful career. She earned four Golden Globes and four Emmys. She also attained the top honor of her profession when she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in the 1992 movie, As Good As It Gets. Given those accolades, Ms. Hunt is successful. There is no doubt that her early experiences as a child star prepared her for what has been an outstanding adult career. Given those achievements, why would this star declare she'll never allow her daughter, now at the age of six, to follow in her footsteps?

    Everyone familiar with the entertainment scene is aware of the reasons for her attitude. Recent tabloid (小报) news headlines featuring the troubles of former child stars, among them Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the late Gary Coleman, may answer the question. Although Ms. Hunt managed to become a successful grown-up star, she apparently believes she's an exception.

    What Ms. Hunt may be suggesting is that many very young stars go through unnatural childhoods on movie and TV sets. While they're earning big incomes, they're so pampered (纵容) by directors and praised by fans; they may get false impressions that their lives will always be that way. Then, within a few years, when faced with reality, they're hurt and confused. After all the overwhelming affection, they find they can't deal with the problems. That's often when drugs and alcohol take over their lives.

    Helen Hunt has some other reasons why she doesn't want her daughter to be in the entertainment business. Many child stars can never make a successful transition to meaningful adulthood. However, as with many Hollywood movies, I believe there are both good and bad scenes about how it can be played out in real life.

Dear Derrick ,

    Although under great pressure, we all get on well with each other in this large office. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don't know anyone in the office who is better liked than you .

    You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees' personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two weeding gifts, one funeral remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts .

    It's not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable(and poor), but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don't know them outside the office, who wouldn't even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives.

    This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for), but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today's office setting .

    Thank you for understanding .

Outdoor Science Field Trips!

    Looking out the window of his truck, Bob Fitzgerald sees large, undesirable plants growing in the fields. Visitors to his neighborhood around the Chesapeake Bay mainly see dying forests and empty farmland. Fitzgerald says the land has been in his family since the 17th century, and it has been sinking for hundreds of years. As sea levels rise salt water is entering rivers and other waterways. As a result, the ground is becoming too salty for crops to grow.

    Around the world, scientists warn that coastal (沿海 ) farms are under threat from rising seas and salt water. A World Bank report predicts that rice production in coastal areas may fall by 15 percent by the year 2050. Another study found that hundreds of millions of people will be forced to move inland because of rising waters.

    Kate Tully, an agroecologist(农业生态学家) wants to keep coastal farmers in business as the seas rise. The United States Department of Agriculture gave Tully and other researchers $ 1.1 million to study the problem. She and her team hope to give farmers ways to stay on their land. She told media that they are testing different crops on pieces of land around the coastal areas.

    "Sorghum is my new favorite crop because it can grow without rain and it can grow with lots of rain. So this is actually a pretty good option." The grain crop may be a good choice to feed the nearly 600 million chickens raised in the area each year. As farmers know, chickens can deal with salt, dry weather conditions and heavy rains. Tally's group is also testing other kinds of grain and a few crops that they believe can grow in the salt.

    Yet just being able to grow a crop is not enough. The crop has to be profitable. So an economist on the team will be looking at the numbers. But continuing to farm the land may not be the best plan of action. Some people believe the land should he given back to nature. They say the fields should be turned into wetlands, which are popular with duck hunters. "There's money in duck hunting," fully said. Hunting organizations will pay farmers for a permit to hunt on their land. Farmers could earn a lot of money from duck hunters, she said.

    Tully and her team are just getting started. It will be a few years before they really understand how to save the farms.

    I began cycling in 2004 when I was a poor student. It was dangerous, sure, but cycling is the fastest, cheapest point-to-point form of transport in Melbourne. I own a car now, but that's just for transporting the baby or groceries.

    I hate driving. So it's been quite encouraging watching the growth in cyclist numbers over the past decade. It is said that over 10,000 cyclists enter the CBD (Central Business District) each day, taking pressure off public transport. But as more people take to cycling as a way of transport, the number of cyclists seriously injured or killed keeps increasing. And that is a sign that our infrastructure (基础设施) is still not good enough.

    Melbourne was once a dream for cyclists—flat, long, wide roads, with plenty of paths along rivers. Now, cycling can be deadly, with roads taken up by cars. I have a friend who broke her back and was lucky to escape death and others with broken bones. In my time riding, I've been forced off the road by a truck, cut off by four-wheel drives, and told to get off the road. Drivers are a particularly rude to cyclists. And that's a sign of exactly one thing: inadequate infrastructure.

    We shouldn't need to be taught how to coexist in the same narrow space. Drivers and cyclists should be kept apart. Designing bike paths so riders are channelled between moving cars and parked cars is deadly. All it takes is one daydreaming driver to fling open the door and you are gone. That's what happened to the young university student James.

    This year, there are to be new cycling lanes (车道) built on Glen Road, where James died in 2010. But these lanes are not safe. Cyclists must still pass between two rows of cars.