Love to sink into your chairs and relax when you get to school? Then you will not be happy to hear that schools all over the world are seriously considering exchanging traditional desks for ones with no seats at all — Yes, that means you will be encouraged to stand through those already too long math and science lessons! Why would anyone even think of putting kids to such cruelty? Experts say it improves their health and helps fight obesity. While that may seem a little far-fetched (牵强的), the officials at the few schools around the world seem to agree.

    Among them are educators from the College Station Independent School District in Texas, who recently completed aweek-long experiment involving 480 students across three elementary schools. The 374 kids that agreed to participate in the study were provided with adevice that helped record step count and calorie consumption over the entireperiod.

    All 25 teachers involved in the study reported that students appeared to be more alert and concentrate better, when allowed to stand. The one thing that did surprise the researchers was that younger kids were more willing to stay standing than kids in higher grades. They believe this may have something to do with the fact that after years ofbeing asked to “sit still”, older kids have a harder time adjusting to this unexpected freedom.

    American schools are not the only ones reporting success with stand-up desks. Four Catholic schools in Perth,Australia, which have been testing them since October 2013, have seen similar results. In May 2014, Grove House Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire,became Europe's first test one, with a seven-week trial that involved the useof desks made by Ergotron in their fifth-grade classrooms. While official results are not out yet, early reactions from both teachers and students, have been extremely encouraging.

    The findings of these studies and othersdone previously, all seem to mean that allowing kids to move around in classrooms is a win-win for students and teachers — it helps kids get healthier and provides educators with a more engaged audience.

    What would it take to persuade you to exercise? A desire to lose weight or improve your figure? To keep you away from diseases? To live to a healthy old age? You'd think any of those reasons would be enough to get Americans exercising. Yet a vast majority of Americans have thus far failed to swallow the "exercise pill".

    Now a research by psychologists strongly suggests it's time to think of current well-being（幸福）and happiness as motivators for exercise instead of future health, weight loss and body image.

    Dr. Segar, one of the researchers, believes that immediate rewards are more motivating than distant ones. "People who say they exercise for the quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits." He said. '

    Other studies have shown that what keeps people moving depends on age, sex and life circumstances. For those of college age, physical attractiveness typically heads the list of reasons to begin exercising, although what keeps them going seems to be the stress relief that a regular exercise program provides. The elderly, on the other hand, may get started because of health concerns. But often what keeps them exercising are the friendships and sense of community that may otherwise be missing from their lives. Improving daily well-being is the most influential factor for the women. Men indicate they are motivated by more distant health benefits, but this may be because men feel less comfortable discussing their mental health needs.

    "Exercise should be encouraged but the emphasis on weight loss, disease prevention and healthy aging should be reduced." Dr. Segar concluded. "Exercise can make people feel more energetic, less stressed and, yes, happier."

    Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously(下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering me on."

    Having experienced a shocking electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, James Franco's world became completely dark and quiet for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.

    One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by lightning. Witnesses (目击者) thought he was dead but he woke up 20 minutes later, lying face down in muddy water. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a tree and a muddy road. When Mrs. Franco came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.

    The news of James regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from lightning. However, none of them could give a compelling answer as to why this should happen. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since James lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock.

    Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything they want to know. The teacher's job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.

    It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize some facts or a formula (公式). It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn't get anything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind.

    The reason for their success is that they knew how to study. They read books that were not taught at school. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.

    Above all, they knew how to use their brains.

Urban Transportation in Canada

    Public transportation & Transit passes

    All cities and most major towns in Canada have a public transportation system with one or more modes of transportation (bus, subway, train, etc.). The bus is the most common form of urban transportation in Canada. To use public transportation, you must purchase a ticket or a transit pass. Transit passes allow you unlimited use of public transportation for a specific period (one month or more). They are usually cheaper than buying many tickets if you plan to use public transportation often.

    Transportation for people with disabilities

    Public transportation often has features to assist people with disabilities. In many cities and towns, there are also transportation services available specifically for people with limited mobility, such as specially equipped buses. You can find out about these services in the same way you would learn more about other public transportation options.

    Etiquette on public transportation

When taking public transportation such as a bus or train, it is important to understand the unspoken rules of conduct in the shared space. Here are a few things to note:

    Be polite and respectful to others around you. For example, maintain an appropriate noise level when talking or making a phone call.

    If you are carrying a backpack or a large shoulder bag in a crowded public transit vehicle, keep it close to you, preferably at your feet to avoid hitting people with it as you walk by.

    Avoid pushing or touching others in order to make more room for yourself. Sometimes public transit can become very crowded, but it is important to keep calm and give others appropriate personal space.

    Have your proof of payment accessible in case you are asked to show it.