When I was 13, my journey in a great valley changed my attitude towards the recording of a travel. During the trip, I was busy recording every event, name and place I came across. I felt proud to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} my time, keeping a {#blank#}2{#/blank#}description of my travels. On my last night there, after I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the tent, I went out with diary in hand. The sky was clear with the bright moon, and the walls of the valley looked frightening behind their curtains of shadows（阴影）. The beauty of nature at dusk {#blank#}4{#/blank#} my heart entirely. I took out my pen right away... At that moment, I understood that the beautiful scenery I saw {#blank#}5{#/blank#} was more meaningful than the tiring words that I had {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in my diary. Since then I have {#blank#}7{#/blank#} only to keep a special thought or feeling in my diary. The unforgettable moments I {#blank#}8{#/blank#} would be the sweet and lasting memories for my life.

    Like many people acting on the desire to eat healthy and local, Acropolis resident Eduardo Jimenez decided to plant a garden in his backyard. He ploughed the soil, he planted the seeds, and he even set up a fence to keep out the deer. Eduardo did everything right. Or so it seems. However, when {#blank#}1{#/blank#} time has come, he has not one tomato, bean, or leaf of lettuce to show for his hard work. How did this happen? The answer comes in the form of a small, brown, particularly smelly insect: the stink bug.

    Unlike their picky cousins, stink bugs feed on some 300 species of plants, including figs, blueberries, corn, and kiwi fruits as well as soybeans, peas, and weeds. Although they do little damage to the plant itself, they make the fruits and vegetables {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. For this reason, stink bugs pose the most serious threat to the big agriculturalists and macro farm operators. Macro farmers have more {#blank#}3{#/blank#} in their produce, and therefore have more to lose. While hobbyists like Eduardo are left to face the disappointment of an unsuccessful garden, macro farmers are forced to live with the loss of entire tracts of cash crops—a fact that has left many {#blank#}4{#/blank#} able to clothe their children or put food on the table.

    Last season alone, several New Jersey pepper farmers saw 75% of their crops damaged. Pennsylvania lost half of its peach population, and, according to the US Apple Association, apple farmers in the mid-Atlantic states lost $37 million. This year could be worse. As a result of this {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, shoppers have seen {#blank#}6{#/blank#}—sometimes quite dramatic—in prices at the grocery store. Prices of apples in Maryland are up 8%. In the north-Atlantic states, prices for peppers shot up an astonishing 14%. Not only are these items becoming more expensive, but they are also getting harder to find. Last week, Marge Jenkins of Athens, Georgia reported having to check three different stores before encountering a decent batch of peas. And this, she assures us, is a regular {#blank#}7{#/blank#}. Accidentally brought from Asia, the stink bug has no natural {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in America, and thus its population is rising sharply. Reported sightings of stink bugs are becoming increasingly numerous, as the dried, brown, trapezoidal(不规则四边形) shells of the dead bugs are everywhere in some areas. This has farmers and scientists alike {#blank#}9{#/blank#} their heads in search of a remedy. Hope, they believe, may lie with an Asian parasitic wasp(黄蜂), which helpfully lays its eggs inside stink bug eggs.

    The larvae(幼虫) of the wasp consume the stink bug from the inside. But the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of such a solution is still several years away, as scientists must first determine if it is safe for the wasp to be introduced into America. Until then, some farmers are resorting to homemade traps. Others have even contemplated the use of peacocks and praying mantises, which, they imagine, will gulp down the little stinkers.

The Floating School

    Life on the islands can feel a bit isolated due to a lack of electricity and internet connectivity.

    Although some of the islands have primary schools, most young people must travel to the larger islands or to the mainland to attend high school. Schools on the islands follow the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} curriculum (课程). They don't teach subjects such as maritime skills, swimming or local fishing traditions, and so the curriculum isn't always {#blank#}2{#/blank#} with students' everyday life.

    So, we {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the Floating School after winning funding through a US State Department grant competition called Seeds for the Future. Before we started the school, we spoke with young people, community leaders and teachers on the islands to find out the topics young people are most interested in. We also learned about the various {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of students and young people who don't go to school. Thus, we {#blank#}5{#/blank#} our own non-formal educational programme that fits with the context of life on the islands. For example, those working in fishing have responsibility {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the marine life, so we teach environmental protection and discourage destructive fishing practices.

    The Floating School is a wooden boat that can {#blank#}7{#/blank#} up to twenty people and it goes to the students, not the other way around -- we use it to transport educational materials, tools, and teachers to young people living on the islands. Our teachers are local young {#blank#}8{#/blank#}— so far we have had journalists, photographers, computer engineers and musicians — and students who want to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} their skills.

    At first, many of the young people thought the Floating School would be the same as their schools on the islands. They had thought of the teachers to be {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. But our students learn through art, media and literature. They don't have to wear uniforms or shoes, and the teachers treat the students as equals, without judging them. This means our students can be themselves.