For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as＄145 a performance, opera goers also had a certain appearance in people's mind: rich, well-dressed and old.

    But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.

    Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to associate opera with common people. Because young people don't or won't come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such unusual places as parks, libraries and public schools.

    The Houston Grand Opera's choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened version(剧本) of child-friendly operas. This summer's production is Hansel &Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists' Training Program.

    Twelve years ago, I was a 19 -year-old guy living in the French A1ps. In February 2004, while skiing the back - country in Val d'Isere, I fell off the mountain, resulting in a right leg broken in several pieces. I was helicoptered to hospital, operated on immediately—and there started my adult life.

    Before the accident, I was on a path to what I hoped would be a career in rugby. After-wards, and participation in collision sport was gone. I found a replacement in cycling. Unfortunately, by late 2012, I tried to cycle up Mount Ventoux, but it was halfway up when the pain hit me and I gave up.

    A decision needed to be made on a next step. I had to have my lower right leg cut off. Several months later, I had my first proper weight - bearing prosthetic (假肢). I jumped on a train with my bike to Mount Ventoux. Though it certainly wasn't my quickest, I did it.

    Two weeks later, I was lucky enough to be given a running blade; I bounced on it that day and then raced my triathlon (三项全能) on the Monday. So, that was me, up and running - almost 12 years since I had last run.

    Along with my running coach, I complete a “make every kilometre count” programme of four runs per week alongside a busy cycle, swim and gym schedule. So far this year, I have raced a 10k with an unexpected personal best in January of 38:04. I have my first speed triathlon in late March before heading to North Korea to compete in the Pyongyang Marathon on 10 April.

    If my lifetime allows, I will attempt to race in every country in the world. In the meantime, I'll keep on running — and, when it hurts and I'm low on motivation, I'll remember how far I've come and how much further I've got to go.

    “Oh，my god.Are you serious?”

    That's a reaction I often get when people hear the tale of my childhood.

    It's a story I don't often share.Growing up in a bad home, I learned to protect myself by not speaking up.I've seldom said anything about how badly I was treated and hurt as a child. I don't talk about how my name was changed at least three times, what it was like to live in my van(箱式货车), or how I've struggled with anxiety, depression, and wanting to kill myself. But I learned to start speaking up for myself. I went on to earn two graduate degrees and I will complete my Doctor's degree this year. I've also become a widely published author. So，how did I get to where I am today?

    What's helped me is surrounding myself with caring, loving people. I've learned day-to-day skills through research, trial and error, and with the help of skilled professionals. They've taught me how to slow down，to breathe，to be thankful for what I've got.They're the ones who make my goals possible.They have also taught me to turn my past experiences into strength-to make the negatives into positives.

    My hope is that sharing my story might help others to see what is possible even in the darkest of times and help others to speak out.I don't think I'm in any way special or unique. I'm a common man，no more deserving than anyone else.But for far too long，I've been afraid that others think I'm damaged goods.I've worried about how I might be treated differently.

    Pain and fear teach us to be silent.It's time for that to change.

    I don't know what tomorrow might bring.But one thing I've learned is that if we can hold on and find help，if we find ways to get through the day and speak up，we'11 not only survive，but become stronger than before.

    Our very survival can be an inspiration all on its own.And with love of my friends，I look forward to so much more than completing my education—I look forward to the future.

                                                                                                University Room Regulations

    Approved and Prohibited Items

    The following items are approved for use in residential(住宿的)rooms: electric blankets, hair dryers, personal computers, radios, televisions and DVD players. Items that are not allowed in student rooms include: candles, ceiling fans, fireworks, waterbeds, sun lamps and wireless routers. Please note that any prohibited items will be taken away by the Office of Residence Life.

    Access to Residential Rooms

    Students are provided with a combination(组合密码)for their room door locks upon check-in. Do not share your room door lock combination with anyone. The Office of Residence Life may change the door lock combination at any time at the expense of the resident if it is found that the student has shared the combination with others. The fee is $25 to change a room combination.

    Cooking Policy

    Students living in buildings that have kitchens are only permitted to cook in the kitchen. Students must clean up after cooking. This is not the responsibility of housekeeping staff. Kitchens that are not kept clean may be closed for use. With the exception of using a small microwave oven(微波炉) to heat food, students are not permitted to cook in their rooms.

    Pet Policy

    No pets except fish are permitted in student rooms. Students who are found with pets, whether visiting or owned by the student, are subject to an initial fine of $100 and a continuing fine of $50 a day per pet. Students receive written notice when the fine goes into effect. If, one week from the date of written notice, the pet is not removed, the student is referred to the Student Court.

    Quiet Hours

    Residential buildings must maintain an atmosphere that supports the academic mission of the University. Minimum quiet hours in all campus residences are 11:00 pm to 8:00 am Sunday through Thursday. Quiet hours on Friday and Saturday nights are 1:00 am to 8:00 am. Students who violate quiet hours are subject to a fine of $25.

    Pop music is the name for different forms of popular, commercial (商业) music. It had its beginning in the USA and spread throughout the whole world during the 1950s and 1960s. It is widely liked by the young people. The best known early form of pop music was “rock' n' roll”; another was “blues”. A more recent development is “folk-rock”.

    Pop music has taken the place of native music in many parts of the world; it has caused the number of people for jazz to become much smaller than it was in the 1950s and earlier, and it has now begun to rule musical stage productions. It's a big industry. Much pop music is without artistic value, but the work of some pop singers, e.g. the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the groups like Floyd and Crosby, Stills and Nash, is on a higher musical level. And there is still a great interest in it today. Pop music concerts and festivals take place all over the world.

The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until 2021. That delay offers a chance for reflection. The International Olympic Committee wants to make the games more popular with young people. To that end, it is introducing new events, such as skateboarding, surfing and climbing. Why not go further and let national teams compete at video games? Electronic sports such as "Fortnite", are vastly more popular than strange Olympic sports like curling (冰壶). In fact, they are more appealing than most mainstream sports. Only 28% of British boys aged 16-19 watch any traditional live sports; 57% play video games.

Some may complain that e-sports are not proper sports. Many parents, observing their teenagers sitting on the sofa all day shouting "Quick, pass me the shotgun!" at a screen, would agree. Yet video games are highly competitive, with professional teams that play to packed stadiums. There are perhaps only 200 tennis stars in the world who can make a living from playing in major competitions. By contrast, "League of Legends", a fantasy game played by teams of five, supports over 1,000 on good wages. Its World Championship final last year was watched by 44 million people.

Those against e-sports offer moral objections, too. They are addictive. Prince Harry has called for "Fortnite" to be banned for this reason. They are violent. At a time of global disharmony, it is bad idea to make virtual (虚拟的) killing an Olympic sport. The Olympics aim to promote peace.

Neither of these arguments is convincing. The idea that an activity, rather than material, can be addictive is controversial among doctors, as is the existence of a causal (因果的) link between gaming and violence. And the belief that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to agree with history. Wrestling was introduced in 708 BC. It is still there.