First Lady Michelle Obama is on a five-day trip to Asia. She is visiting Japan and Cambodia to help publicize a program called "Let Girls Learn". Administration officials set up the campaign to support the education of millions of girls worldwide.

    Before her trip, Mrs. Obama and her husband noted the inability of an estimated 62-million girls to attend school. They said educating the girls should be a foreign policy goal.

    This week, Mrs. Obama criticized the fact that tens of millions of girls are not receiving a satisfactory education. In her opinion piece, she wrote this failure to educate girls it was more than "a tragic waste of potential." It is both a serious public health issue and a problem for the economic health of nations and the world. She also said it was "a threat to the security of countries around the world".

    The First Lady noted by 2012, every part of the developing world was educating both girls and boys in primary schools. But this is not the case in secondary education. She wrote in some areas girls face "the cultural values and practices that limit the prospects of women in their societies ".

    The Obama administration launched the "Let Girls Learn" campaign earlier this month. At the time, Mrs. Obama noted plans to involve the U.S. Peace Corps, and the Volunteer Development Agency.

    "This effort will draw on the talent and energy of the nearly 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers serving in more than 60 countries. Through this effort, Peace Corps will be supporting hundreds of new community projects to help girls go to school and stay in school. And, I want to emphasize that these programs will be community-generated and community-led. They will be based on solutions devised by local leaders, families and yes, even the girls themselves."

    President Obama also spoke at the same White House event, saying that campaign is important to his administration.

    In 1880, fourteen-year-old Matthew Henson loved to hear sailors tell tales of their exciting lives at sea. The travel, the adventure, the danger, and the steady pay were all attracting young Henson. One day, he found a job as a cabin boy on a beautiful ship called the Katie Hinds. For the next five years, Henson sailed around the world. With the help of the ship's captain and other members of the crew, Henson learned mathematics, navigation, history, geography, and many other subjects. By the time he left the Katie Hinds in 1885, Henson was well educated and had become an excellent seaman.

    Unable to find work anywhere else, Henson took a job in a hat shop in Washington, D.C. One day in 1887, a man came in to buy a hat. The man, Robert Peary, asked the owner if he knew anyone with experience at sea. Peary would soon travel to South America for the U.S. government. He needed experienced men to accompany him. The shop owner knew about his young employee's skills and experience on ocean journeys, so he introduced Peary to Henson.

    Using his map-reading and sailing skills, Henson proved himself to be a worthy and smart seaman. Peary soon made Henson his assistant（助理）, and they became close friends. One day Peary told Henson about his real dream: to be the first man to stand on “the top of the world” at the North Pole. He asked Henson to help him make his dream come true. Over the next five years, the two explorers made two trips together to the Arctic. However, they were not able to reach the pole either time. The cold, wind, and ice were worse than either of them had ever imagined.

    In 1908, Peary and Henson were ready to make their final attempt at reaching the North Pole. Both men were over forty years old. The years of hardship in the arctic cold had made them suffer a lot. This would be their last chance. With four Inuit（因纽特）guides, they made a mad rush straight across the ice toward the pole. Peary's feet were injured and he had to be pulled on a dogsled. In April 1909, Henson's instruments showed they were standing at the North Pole. Together Henson and Peary planted the American flag in the snow.

    In later years, Robert Peary and Henson were greatly honored for their achievements. Today, the two friends and fellow explorers lie in heroes' graves not far apart in the Arlington National Cemetery.

    America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

    Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

    Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

    For the Americans, it is often considered friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

    Before you were my teacher, I thought that teaching was the last thing I wanted to do. Why would someone want to come in every day and attempt to instruct students, many of whom couldn't care less, or to get paid very little compared with the work he or she put in?

    You may have thought that the only thing I was learning from you was the course, but that's not all l learned. From reference books to funny jokes, you made each class exciting. You always tried to make class charming so that we could be excited about learning. However, those days have gone by.

    Whenever I was confused and needed extra help, you were the exact one to turn to. I would walk into your room for help and there would be several kids. You ran from one student to the next helping each one through their confusion. You could have gone back home after the bell rang. Instead, you chose to Stay and care about what your students did.

    You didn't only care about my learning, but you also cared about other things I was involved in. At the beginning of the year, we wrote down our hobbies and interests. You remembered what we wrote, too. I had missed class for track meets (田径运动会)and when I came back the next day, you would ask me how it went. Many of the teachers never bothered to ask what I liked to do.

    These things showed me the value of teaching. They showed me how much of an influence a teacher can have on a student. I want to be the one that influences students and pushes them toward success. I want students to leave my classroom thinking that their time was worthwhile (值得的). I want to be the inspiration for them that you were for me. Whenever it gets hard for me to continue on this path, I'll remember you and what you did for me.

    who doesn't love sitting beside a cosy（舒适的）fire on a cold winter's night ? Who doesn't love to watch flames (火苗) curling up a chimney ? Fire is one of man's greatest friends, but also one of his greatest enemies. Many big fires are caused by carelessness. A lighted cigarette thrown out of a car or train window or a broken bottle lying on dry grass can start a fire. Sometimes, though, a fire can start on its own. Wet hay (草) can begin burning by itself. This is how it happens: the hay starts to rot (腐烂) and begins to give off heat which is trapped inside it. Finally, it bursts into flames. That's why farmers cut and store (贮存) their hay when it's dry .

    Fires have destroyed whole cities. In the 17th century, a small fire which began in a baker's shop burnt down nearly every building in London. Moscow was set on fire during the war against Napoleon. This fire continued burning for seven days . And, of course, in 64 A. D. a fire burnt Rome. Even today, in spite of modern fire - fighting methods, fire causes millions of pounds' worthy of damage each year both in our cities and in the countryside. It has been wisely said that fire is a good servant but a bad master.

We were on the way from Hutchinson to Chicago for a short spring break. For many years I had wanted to take my family on the train. We all went to Chicago four years ago, and the kids loved it. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, too, so the thought struck me again last fall to ride the train to Chicago. Of course, flying would have been faster. But I don't think flying is easier, especially these days, with all the security and waiting in lines at airports.

Though we were tired in the middle of the night, the kids got on the train with the exhilaration of this adventure. "We're moving," my son William shouted happily with big eyes as the train began to pull away from the Hutchinson station.

I removed my shoes and lay down to try to finish my night's sleep. The sleeper car would have better enabled that, but the ordinary train seats were not too bad. An airline flight is a more miserable experience for me：not enough room, two hours of pain with my knees almost touching my chin, the hard seatback in front cracking my kneecaps (膝盖) with every move of the body planted in front of me. On the train I could almost outstretch all of my 6­foot­2­plus body in the generous legroom.

The journey didn't feel at all as long as it was. We all found the train ride a joy. The car ride would have felt every minute of 13 hours. But on the train you are free to walk around, sit in the observation carriage for a while and enjoy the scenery out the windows, have a nice meal in the dining car, read a book, or play a board game.

In short, the train is all about enjoying the trip, which isn't something I do so much when travelling by airline or by car, when the trip seems more of a mission (任务) to get there than an experience to enjoy along the way.

Chicago offers much to do for a family. This time, getting there was half the fun.