To eat only a vegan（素食的） diet might sound difficult, especially with many popular dishes containing meat or other animal products. Yet in 2017, veganism was described as “the fastest - growing lifestyle movement” in the UK, according to BBC news.

    A study by a UK market research organization, suggests that over 542,000 Brits went vegan during the previous decade, an increase of 360%. And the main force behind this increase was those aged 15-34 years old — 42% of recent vegans fall under that age range.

    So why exactly has veganism become so popular among young Brits?

    One reason could be that many young people want to protect the environment, as less meat consumption is known to be beneficial to the environment. Global meat manufacturing is believed to cause 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions（排放）, even more than that of all the world's cars, trains and planes combined. Another reason is that many of today's young people believe that it's wrong to kill animals to be used as food.

    Jess Murray, 22, a student at University College London, said that he chose to become vegan after realizing that eating animals is a choice that people make, rather than something that we need to do to survive. “Becoming vegan was an ethical (道德的) decision,” he told the Guardian.

    Social media is also believed to have given rise to the increase in veganism. Platforms such as Facebook allow young vegans to connect with each other much easier, while others such as Instagram have led to the creation of “vegan celebrities (名人)”, who share lips on vegan lifestyles.

    Despite the rising of veganism, Laura Wyness, an expert in diet and nutrition, said that meat is very important for people's health. “A strict vegan diet makes it difficult to get some minerals and vitamins that your body needs,” Wyness told BBC news.

    However, the popularity of veganism doesn't seem to be fading. “It feels more like this is something that is sticking.” said an expert of the Vegan Society, a UK charity that promotes veganism.

    When Johnny, a homeless man, spent his last $20, he wasn't looking at it as an investment — but it's about to pay him huge profits. After he helped a woman who ran out of gas, she returned the favor by raising a lot more on the Internet.

    Kate McClure, 27, was driving to visit a friend when she ran out of gas halfway. “He saw me pull over and knew something was wrong,” she wrote. “He told me to get back in the car and lock the doors. A few minutes later, he came back with a red gas can, using his last 20 dollars to make sure I could get home safe.”

    She couldn't repay him at that time because she had no cash with her. “I have been stopping by his spot for the past few weeks. I repaid him for the gas and gave him some clothes.”

    Kate decided to do more for him, so she started a crowdfunding(众筹) campaign on GoFundMe.com, and it quickly gained far beyond its initial $10,000 goal. When it reached $100,000, the fundraising page was shut down for a time at Johnny's request. Because he didn't want to seem like he was taking advantage of the situation. Finally, Kate said that she restarted it because the public interest had not decreased. She also added that Johnny planned to donate the rest to a good cause.

    According to the New York Post  Johnny wants to get a job at an Amazon warehouse and a department manager from the tech company has already reached out, saying he wants to help Jonny.

    Living in the wild can be hard. Finding food and staying safe aren't easy. Each day, animals try to survive in their habitats. Not all animals get by on their own. Some animals form a close partnership with other kinds of animals. These pairings are called symbiotic(共生的)relationships.

    In a symbiotic relationship, the animals depend on each other. One animal helps the other meet its needs. Sounds good, right? Not always. Some animals are not very kind to their partners. In some cases, one animal meets its needs but hurts its partner. Take ticks(扁虱), for example. These insects suck blood to live. To get blood, they attach themselves to other kinds of animals. Ticks can pass germs(细菌)that cause disease instead of helping their hosts.

    In other relationships, animals don't treat their partners so poorly. Both animals benefit from living with the other animal.

    Small animals called cleaner shrimps(清洁虾)have found a way of helping fish. As their name suggests, the shrimps clean the fish. They hang out at what scientists call a cleaning station. A fish stops by. Then a shrimp climbs onto the fish and even steps into the fish's mouth. The shrimp uses its tiny claws to pick stuff off the fish's body. That can include dead skin and tiny pieces of food that can hurt the fish. The fish gets a nice cleaning. The shrimp enjoys a tasty meal of fish trash.

    Small birds called plovers(灰斑)are also in the cleaning business. They have big customers-crocodiles. Crocodiles have long noses filled with sharp teeth. Cleaning them is funny. When a crocodile opens its mouth, the plover hops right in. It lets the plover eat small, harmful animals attached to the crocodile's teeth. The plover gets an easy meal while the crocodile gets clean teeth.

    I must have looked deep in thought, or as deep in thought as an 11-year-old man can, when my grandmother glanced up from her weeding to ask, “You have something on your mind, don't you?”

    “Yes, I was thinking that someday I want to be an Olympic speed skating champion like my hero, Eric Haiden, I want to be a doctor like my parents and I want to help children in Africa.”

    I immediately knew I had confided in the right person when a knowing smile broke across her face. “Johann, of course! You can do anything you want to do!” she said simply. And with my grandmother's support, I set out to pursue my passions.

    14 years later, I was well ready to take hold of my first dream: becoming an Olympic champion. The Olympics in 1994 were in my home country, Norway. As I entered the Olympic stadium, I wasn't the best athlete, and many had doubts about my ability to perform well. But I had something special working for me. I had a woman in the first row who believed in me following my passions just as much as I did. For the first time ever, my grandmother was going to see me skate.

    It happened. Breaking a world record, I won the gold.

    As I stood on the podium(领奖台) that I had dreamed about my entire life, a curious question popped into my head. Why me? Why did I win, given all the other incredible competitors out there? The reason had to be more than a grandmother who shared a belief in her grandson's dream. The question led me to only one answer: because I wanted to make a difference in the world, and with all the media attention on my success, I could.

    I immediately knew what that difference had to be: hope in the lives of the children in Africa. Six months earlier, I'd been invited to Eritrea as an ambassador for Olympic Aid.

    I'd just got in a taxi at the railway station when suddenly I found one of my suitcases missing. Just then, I saw a young fellow about 30 walking away with it, opening it and drawing out the valuables. "Stop thief! Stop thief!" I shouted and threw open the car door and rushed out to him, followed by the driver and half a dozen passers-by. Very soon the thief was cornered at the turn of the road. My driver caught the thief by the neck and put his hand into his trouser pocket, drawing out money, credit card, telephone book and so on and put them back into my suitcase.

    Half an hour later, the car was running at full speed on the express highway. I sat back and breathed a long sigh of relief (松口气). But as I pulled out those stolen things from the suitcase and started to check them, I became dumbfounded (惊呆了). Before my eyes were 200 yuan instead of 100. And a blood test report of a 58-year-old woman appeared. I suddenly realized that the taxi driver must have mistaken the thief's belongs and put his into my suitcase. The pitiful and begging look of the poor young man flashed across my mind again. My heart began to sink.

    Two years has passed since then. But this event keeps coming back to me. Was the young man a habitual robber or a dutiful son who had been driven to desperation (铤而走险) to find money to save his mother's life? My heart aches for him. How I wish I had gone back that summer afternoon to return the 200 yuan and say sorry to him. For the first time in my life, I realized that hate and love are very close.

Growing up in a suburban neighborhood in the Northeastern United States, the advent of springtime didn't hold much significance for me. While it did bring a week-long respite from school, the focus was more on the vacation aspect than the season itself.

For the children in my community, spring was largely an overlooked period. The year was divided into two primary seasons: winter, which offered the thrill of ice skating, sledding, and constructing snow forts; and summer, which allowed us to fully enjoy the beach located a short distance from my home. Spring and autumn were merely transitional periods, marking the countdown to the more exciting seasons.

It's true that as I matured, spring began to hold a certain charm for me, as suggested by the poetic line, "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," penned by Alfred Lord Tennyson. However, my fascination was more with the romantic notions associated with the season rather than the season itself.

In essence, spring was not a season I paid much heed to... until my journey to China. After spending roughly three months in Beijing, my first Spring Festival made its presence known in an undeniable way. The sporadic fireworks throughout the day and night were a clear indication, but what truly struck me was the apparent absence of the usual hustle and bustle in the city.

The usual throngs of people, streams of vehicles, and the general city noise seemed to have vanished. This mystery was resolved upon my return to work. My colleagues enlightened me that it is customary for Chinese people to travel, if necessary, to reunite with their families during the Spring Festival. Many residents of Beijing are not originally from the capital.

Furthermore, I was introduced to a fascinating aspect of the Spring Festival that continues to astonish me. Regardless of when the holiday commences, there is an almost instantaneous and perceptible improvement in the weather. Spring truly makes its entrance.

The ancient Chinese ability to devise a system that could consistently and accurately herald the change of seasons, year after year, is beyond my comprehension. Yet, they managed to achieve this remarkable feat.