Man has been to the moon. It has been the first step towards future exploration in space. When compared with the distances between Earth and the other planets, the distance between the Moon and Earth is very short indeed. Mars, the nearest planet to Earth is millions of miles away! Traveling to the planets will be man's next step. Such travels will be more challenging than the trip to the moon and certainly more exciting and dangerous. Recently, two American spaceships, Viking 1 and 2, landed on Mars trying to discover whether that planet has any life on it. So far the signs of life on Mars has neither been confirmed nor ruled out (排除). Russians have discovered that the surface of Venus is so hot that it is almost certain that there is no life there. Also the atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense and the pressure is nearly a hundred times greater than that of the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists believe man may find planets which have the same conditions as those we have on Earth, but man should realize Earth will be his only home for a long time and begin to love and care for it.

    It was the men's figure skating final of the Winter Olympics when I was 16.I lay on our living room floor excitedly watching the battle between the Brains: American Brain Boitano facing Brian Orser in Canada. Both of them had been world champions. Both of them deserved to win. As a Northern Californian, I was for my fellow countryman. He also grew up in Northern California. We'd skated on the same ice. Brain performed successfully. The champion! I jumped in the air when his score went up.

    But what happened next is what I'll never forget. Brain sat in front of the camera, surrounded by a group of journalists. Brain was talking about his career and his medal, talking to the whole world. A terrible sinking feeling went through me. I could never be in the Olympics,

    I thought, I loved skating because I could express myself with my jumps and dances better than words.

    What if journalists asked me questions like they asked Brain? I'd freeze up like the ice beneath my skates! And yet, there was so much I would love to say, about my family and all the support they'd given me and about following my dream of being a skating champion.

    I worked very hard the next few years — on the ice and especially off. After journalists talked to me and although my heart pounded every time I spoke to them, I got to know them. And they got to know me. Slowly I learned that the best approach was simply to be myself, to be honest and gracious and do my best, just like on the ice, to answer their questions.

    So when my big moment came four years after Brain's, I was ready. Remember: when you do the thing you fear most, you put an end to fear.

    Traveling without a map in different countries, I find out about different ways of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”

    Foreign tourists are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don't have name signs. In Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”

    People in Los Angeles, the US, have no idea of distance on the map: they measure distance by time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it's about five minutes from here.” You don't understand completely, “Yes, but how many miles away is it, please?” To this question you won't get an answer, because most probably they don't know it themselves.

    People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because tourists seldom understand the Greek language. Instead, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he'll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.

    Sometimes a person doesn't know the answer to your question. What happens in the situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don't know.” People there believe that “I don't” is impolite. They usually give an answer, but often a wrong one. So a tourist can get lost very easily in Yucatan! However, one thing will help you everywhere in the world. It's body language.

    Could the device, smartphone or PC, which you are using affect the moral decisions you make when using it? To test it, researchers presented multiple dilemmas to a sample set of 1,010 people. The participants were assigned a device at random.

    One case of the questions participants were asked is the classic “trolley(有轨电车) problem”: A runaway trolley is headed towards five people tied up on a-set of train tracks. You can do nothing, resulting in the deaths of five people, or push a man off a bridge, which will stop the trolley. The practical response is to kill one man to save five lives, which 33. 5 percent of smartphone users chose, compared to 22.3 percent of PC users.

    “What we round in our study is that when people used a smartphone to view classic moral problems, they were more likely to make more unemotional, reasonable decisions when presented with a highly emotional dilemma, “Dr Albert Barque-Duran, the lead author of the study, told City, University of London. “This could be due to the increased time pressure often present with smartphones and also the increased psychological distance which can occur when we use such devices compared to PCs.”

    As for why the researchers started this study, Dr Barque-Duran noted, “Due to the fact that our social lives, work and even shopping take place online, it is important to think about how the contexts where we typically face moral decisions and are asked to engage in moral behavior have changed, and the impact this could have on the hundreds of millions of people who use such devices daily. “It's clear that we need more research on how our devices affect our moral decision making because we're using screens at an ever increasing rate.

    Mark was a great kid from a tough neighborhood. Crime, drugs, fighting and poverty: You name the problem and his neighborhood had it. A scholarship fund provided his tuition to Catholic High, where he was a great baseball player.

    Mark struggled in the classroom, though. He was bright, just behind, due to a more than difficult home environment. But there were problems finding the time for all he needed to do. After-school tutoring seemed impossible because of baseball practice. Some suggested Mark abandon sports and concentrate on “schooling”. But, in reality, if he was going to attend college he would need his sports; so to miss practice and then perform any less than at his best on the field was not wise.

    A fellow teacher, Mrs. Jones, offered to tutor Mark in math at her home. I asked Mark to come to my house for other areas of work. No one paid us. Mrs. Jones summed it up this way: “Pay day doesn't always come on Mondays”.

    When we were not working with Mark to improve his skills for the ACT, the coach and Mark's dad took him to various colleges to talk with both baseball and football program coaches. He settled on the college that offered him scholarships to play both sports. But he needed a good ACT score.

    It takes months to receive the results of college entrance exams. One afternoon after school, while I was grading papers in my room, there was a noise outside the door.

    Mark came in, lifted me out of the seat behind my desk, spun(旋转) me around in the air, and yelled over and over: “I'm going to college! I'm going to college!”

    “I guess you got your scores!” I asked.

    “Well, yeah!” he laughed. “And guess what? I got one point more than I need to be admitted. One point extra. Thank you! Now, where's Mrs. Jones? I've got to tell her too!”

    Until that moment, I had never quite understood what the expression “Pay day doesn't always come on Mondays” meant. But it was clear to me the instant Mark ran into the room to announce his news. No amount of money could ever replace my spin in the air at the hands of a boy who finally had a chance at a better life.

    The holidays are the best time to ask the elders in your family for advice. For most people, the approaching holiday season includes more time with the extended family, including the elder generation.

    Unfortunately, older adults are often unseen in the popular media. Yet there's a big body of evidence that shows the benefits of older adults' wisdom and the value of developing communication across generations.

    First, over the course of human history, older people have played very important roles as advice-givers. Anthropological (人类学) research shows that survival in pre-literate societies was dependent on the knowledge of the oldest members.

    In recent times, most of the researches about intergenerational communication occur within formal programs, such as ones including older adults in public schools or having youth visit assisted living facilities. Also, you can apply many of the lessons of the researches to your own family gatherings.

    There is clear evidence that it is good for young people to spend time with older adults. The youth who participated in intergenerational programs showed more respect toward older adults, less anxiety, and higher self-esteem. Research also shows that interacting with younger people is good for older adults. A systematic review found that older adults who participated in intergenerational programs were likely to experience more satisfaction with their lives, higher self-esteem and fewer symptoms of depression. Interactions during intergenerational programs can be positive even when an older adult is experiencing memory or cognitive problems.

    Having children teach computer or video games to the older generations can be a fun way to spend time together. A study found that intergenerational games can help family members to bond. Another idea is to encourage the youth to ask older family members for their advice about life.

    The youth can ask older adults specific questions about the lessons they learned from their life experiences.

    The take-home message is that time with older relatives is one of the true gifts of the holiday season. Make the most of it by spending time with the older generation!