When my sister Gina was born, she had a problem with her heart. Her heart was pretty bad in the beginning and she stayed in the hospital for a month. The first few years were very difficult because she was very sick. She had five operations before she was three years old. She had trouble walking, playing with other children, and going to school.

    Although Gina couldn't laugh and talk, we all knew that she just needed love and care. Our parents wanted to take Gina to a special place in Florida where she could swim with dolphins. Gina was afraid of swimming with them because she had never been around dolphins before. We had also never traveled that far as a family.

    When we got to Florida, we saw where the dolphins lived. It was a place where kids with special needs like Gina could come and spend time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it wasn't. Gina had to work hard every day for a week.

    The trip was amazing .Gina laughed and clapped(拍手) when she saw the dolphin, and the dolphin splashed (溅起水花) when it saw Gina. They swam together all day. Gina was able to move her body more than she normally did at home. Mom and dad were proud of Gina. I was, too.

    For years, people have wondered whether there's life on other planets. Scientists may now be closer than ever to answering that question.

    Using powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers in South America discovered a new planet, called Proxima b. It circles a star named Proxima Centauri, in the same way Earth circles the sun. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system.

    Scientists believe the new planet has a rocky surface and is similar in size to Earth. More important, they've determined that the distance between Proxima b and its “sun” gives the planet a similar temperature to Earth's.This means it could have liquid water. The presence of water on a planet makes it possible for life to exist there. Scientists refer to planets like Proxima b as “Goldilocks planets” because they are not too hot or too cold, but just right to possibly support life.

    Astronomers have found other Goldilocks planets in the past, but none are as close to Earth as Proxima b. Still, the new planet is 4.2 light years from Earth—that is about 25 trillion miles away.

    Despite the long distance, astronomers hope to get a much better look at our new-found neighbor one day. But they'll need to wait until more advanced telescopes are developed. They may also send a robotic spacecraft to investigate the planet.

The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his bunches of bananas and bags of peanuts. Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known the bitterness of life. "Bananas 300 naira. Peanuts 200 naira." He said in a low voice. I bargained him down to 200 for the fruit and nuts. When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira bill. He didn't have change. So I told him not to worry. He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

    When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it's not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

I pulled over and rolled down my window. He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready. I waved them away. "What's up?" asked him. "I…I don't have money to buy books for school." I reached into my pocket and handed him two fresh 500 naira bills. "Will this help?" I asked. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year. "Thank you, sir." he said. "Thank you very much!"

    When driving home, I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for schoolbooks. What if he's a cheat? And then I wondered why I did it. Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? I didn't know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.

    Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria. Sometime after I returned, I went out for a drive. When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face.

"Oh, gosh! Long time."

"Are you in school now?" I asked.

    He nodded.

"That's good," I said. A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted. "Here," I held out a 500 naira bill. "Take this." He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt. "What's wrong?" I asked. "It's a gift."

He shook his head again and brought his hand from behind his back. His face shone with sweat. He dropped a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said, "I've been waiting to give these to you."

    Cultural rules determine every aspect of food consumption. Who eats together defines social units. For example, in some societies, the nuclear family is the unit that regularly eats together. The anthropologist Mary Douglas has pointed out that, for the English, the kind of meal and the kind of food that is served relate to the kinds of social links between people who are eating together. She distinguishes between regular meals, Sunday meals when relatives may come, and cocktail parties for relatives and friends. The food served symbolizes the occasion and reflects who is present. For example, only snacks are served at a cocktail party. It would be inappropriate to serve a steak or hamburgers. The distinctions among cocktails, regular meals, and special dinners mark the social boundaries between those guests who are invited for drinks, those who are invited to dinner, and those who come to a family meal. In this example, the type of food symbolizes the category of guest and with whom it is eaten.

    In some New Guinea societies, the nuclear family is not the unit that eats together. The men take their meals in a men's house, separately from their wives and children. Women prepare and eat their food in their own houses and take the husband's portion to the men's house. The women eat with their children in their own houses. This pattern is also widespread among Near Eastern societies.

    Eating is a metaphor that is sometimes used to signify marriage. In many New Guinea societies, like that of the Lesu on the island of New Ireland in the Pacific and that of the Trobriand Islanders, marriage is symbolized by the couple's eating together for the first time. Eating symbolizes their new status as a married couple. In U.S. society, it is just the reverse. A couple may go out to dinner on a first date.

    Other cultural rules have to do with taboos against eating certain things. In some societies, members of a family group, are not allowed to eat the animal or bird that is their totemic ancestor. Since they believe themselves to be descended from that ancestor, it would be like eating that ancestor or eating themselves.

    There is also an association between food prohibitions and rank, which is found in its most extreme form in the caste system of India. A caste system consists of ranked groups, each with a different economic specialization. In India, there is an association between caste and the idea of pollution. Members of highly ranked groups can be polluted by coming into contact with the bodily secretions, particularly saliva(唾液),of individuals of lower-ranked castes. Because of the fear of pollution, Brahmans and other high-ranked individuals will not share food with, not eat from the same plate as, not even accept food from an individual or from a low-ranking class.

    For the past two years I have been travelling and living abroad. Home has become more of a feeling than a place. I feel at home when I am with my family in London, but I also feel at home in Italy with friends I love. Home is no longer a picture of a house with a front door and some windows. It is more complicated than that.

    This is one of the reasons that celebrating the new year has become very important for me. I do not care about "New Year's resolutions (愿望)"—living abroad has made me constantly reconsider what kind of person I want to be and how I will live my life, so I don't feel the need to plan for change: I live for change.

    New Year's Eve has become my time to reconnect with the friends that makes me feel at home. Every year we try to reunite wherever we are and remember the time when we knew each other so well that we felt like a family. It is a moment to reconnect and get to know each other again. Last year, we travelled to a cottage in Ireland where we had no internet and no neighbours. In the middle of the countryside, away from our big and constantly changing lives, we were able to become like a little family again.

    This year, we went to Barcelona. It was a very big change. We were surrounded by culture and life and joy. There were bars and parties. It was different, but one thing stayed very much the same-I felt at home again and we felt like a family again.

    A lot of people feel that New Year's Eve cannot live up to expectations. Ideas such as the "New Year's kiss" and "resolutions" create a lot of pressure for people to have a night to remember, a night that will change their lives and perhaps make the next year one worth living. I think those people are missing the point. If Christmas is about family, why can't New Year be about friends?

    City: Hangzhou

    Launched: 2008

    Size: 2,965 stations/ 69,750 bikes

    Price: $32.61 deposit（押金）+ time charge

    While taking a look at this city, you may see the best bike sharing in the world. As the second on the planet by size, the Hangzhou Public Bicycle System is one of the most common and useful shares, largely because it's combined with public transportation: a single card can be used in subway, bus, taxi and bike sharing. Residents and tourists can put down a deposit of 200 Chinese Yuan （about $33）and ride for an hour for free in this scenic city. Each additional hour costs only $0.15. It was also the first new﹣generation bike﹣sharing system in China. By 2020 it's projected to have 175,000 bikes.

    City: Barcelona

    Launched: 2007

    Size: 420 stations/ 6,000 bikes

    Price: $61.93 per year

    Barcelona's Bicycling Program developed Spain's bike﹣sharing business in a big way. This program took off like wildfire on wheels, and because four times bigger in one year. It inspired different copycat programs all over the country. Today, Spain has 132 bike﹣sharing systems. The program is one of the world's most respected and popular shares. But it is only open to residents and tourists are not allowed to use it.

    City: Paris

    Launched: 2007

    Size: 1,751 stations/ 23,900 bikes

    Price: $38.52 per year/ $2.26 per day

    Paris's bike﹣sharing is the star of the world. Launched in 2007, it is the world's largest outside of China. Cheap by American standards, you can ride around Paris on a €1.7 day pass— the first half hour of each trip is free. Because this system covers the city with an average of 50 stations per square mile, it's a favourite with both locals and tourists.