Kathy Fletcher and David Simpson have a son named Santi. He had a friend who sometimes went to school hungry. So Santi invited him to occasionally eat and sleep at his house.

    That friend had a friend and that friend had a friend, and now when you go to dinner at Kathy and David's house on Thursday night there might be 15 to 20 teenagers gathering around the table, and later there will be groups of them crashing in the basement or in the few small bedrooms upstairs. The kids who show up at Kathy and David's have suffered the pains of modern poverty: homelessness, hunger, abuse.

    And yet by some miracle, hostile soil has produced beautiful flowers. Kids come from around the city. Spicy chicken and black rice are served. Cellphones are banned. The kids who call Kathy and David “Momma” and “Dad,” are polite and clear the dishes. Birthdays and graduations are celebrated. Songs are performed. Each meal we go around the table and everybody has to say something nobody else knows about them. Each meal the kids show their promise to care for one another.

    The adults in this community give the kids the chance to present their gifts. “At my first dinner, Edd read a poem that I first thought was from Langston Hughes, but it turned out to be his own. Kesari has a voice that somehow appeared from New Orleans jazz from the 1920s. Madeline and Thalya practice friendship as if it were the highest art form.”

    “They give us a gift — complete intolerance of social distance. When I first met Edd, I held out my hand to shake his. He looked at it and said, “We hug here,” and we've been hugging since.”

    Bill Milliken, a veteran youth activist, is often asked which programs turn around kids' lives. “I still haven't seen one program change one kid's life,” he says. “What changes people is relationships. Somebody is willing to walk through the shadow of the valley of adolescence with them.” Souls are not saved in bundles. Love is the necessary force.

    Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease．But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately: the air you breathe.

    Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露）to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problem, but two analyses(分析) now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风）within as little as a few hours after exposure．In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物）were up to 5% more likely（可能的） to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure．A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U．S．Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers to be of “moderate” (良好）quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.

    The authors of both studies stress（强调）that these risks are relatively（相对的）small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure．However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices．So stricter regulation（规章制度）by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.

    We're reading a book or opening an envelope when, all of a sudden, there's a sharp pain on our finger. You see a little bit of blood and realize you've just gotten a paper cut.

    Dr. Hayley Goldbach, a resident dermatologist at UCLA Health, spoke about why paper cuts are so jagged, how the element of surprise leaves us in more pain and how to make sure they heal quickly.

    Dr. Goldbach explained that one reason paper cuts hurt so much is where they occur: primarily on the finger. We have nerve endings all over the body," she said. "In places where there is refined movement and sensation--like the lips or tips of the fingers-they have a high density of nerve endings." These nerve endings are known as nociceptors and they send signals to the brain about things that could cause a break in the skin, such as extreme hot or cold temperatures and chemicals.

    Another reason why paper cuts hurt so much is that you're using your hands throughout the day meaning that the wound is constantly getting opened. "You often get paper cuts on the pad or the tip of the finger, different from where you'd get a knife cut," said Dr. Goldbach. "It's hard not to use your hands, so there's constant pressure on the wound without u chanee for it to heal."

    "The paper itself is another reason why these superficial cuts leave us in so much pain. Paper might look and seem smooth but, if you study it under a microscope, the edge is actually jagged." Paper is quite sharp jagged-it's a bit of serrated edge," said Dr. Goldbach."It cuts you pretty quickly before you have the chance to realize it."

    Additionally, paper cuts are quite shallow, which makes them even more annoying to deal with.

    Dr. Goldbach added that there are mental and emotional elements that cause paper cuts to hurt more than other cuts. "There's the psychological element of surprise, and it happens so quickly that you don't have time to withdraw your hand "she said" With some other injuries, you feel pressure so you have time to react."

    She also added that because we don't expect to hurt ourselves while working with paper, the surprise of cuts leaves us in further pain. "We tend to be careful with a knife-you're being careful on purpose: because you know there: s a danger, "said Dr Goldbach. While we are careful with knives, we are not so careful with paper.

    If you're looking to fully experience Africa's breathtaking scenery, and have an eye for adventure, then there's only one place to be. Here, inside Africa picks four of the best hikes from across the continent.

    ⒈Kilimanjaro

    Make it to the top of Tanzania's 5,895-meter Kilimanjaro, and you'll be standing at Africa's highest point. The mountain is Africa's most-visited hiking destination, attracting tens of thousands of tourists and adventures every year.

    You don't have to a technical climber to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; you just need not be pretty physically fit. There are six routes to choose from difficulty, scenery and success. No special equipment

    ⒉Atlas mountains

    The High Atlas is an impressive mountainous range in central Morocco that hosts North Africa's highest peak. Mount Toubkal, at 4,165 meters. There's a variety of routes to follow during your climb but inexperienced climbers should note that the hike through the mountain's challenging zones is quite demanding.

    ⒊Mount Kenya

    A long-extinct volcano. Mount Kenya is Africa's second-highest peak, at 5,199 meters.

    Lying just south of the equator, the mountain's deep valleys and diverse wildlife will guarantee you wonderful scenery and a fantastic hiking experience.

    The climb, however, to the mountain's steep ice-capped peaks is quite challenging, making it the most technical, probably, in that East African area.

    ⒋Mount Meru

    Mount Meru may forever exist in the shadow of its neighbor, Kilimanjaro, but Tanzania's second-highest mountain (4,565 meters) has its own devotees.

    It's less known, but Mount Meru is for the true enthusiast who wants to experience what very few people actually do.

    Mount Meru is often used by mountaineers to accustom themselves before trying to conquer Kilimanjaro, or by those wanting a hike with the local Massai.

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After years of travel it was bound to happen. Waiting by the moving belt, I watched the suitcases make mocking(嘲弄的) rounds. My companions, exhausted after16hours in the plane, were sympathetic and relieved. They were all thinking: at least it wasn't me. Any moment now, I told myself, swearing at the happy vacationers busy collecting their things. What about my necessities (必需品)?

For millions of travelers a year, it happens. Their missing bags stolen, sold in blind auctions(拍卖), or gone forever without any explanation. Today it was my turn, in a crowded Indian airport, as far from home as I'd ever been.

So, while the airline hunted for my belongings with no any order or plan and asked whether I would rather have $200– I found myself wandering the hot streets of Delhi in an orange dress and a pair of blister-producing ballet flats. Equipped with my carry-on (contents: eyeglasses, a paperback, an ancient tube of Chapstick), I was forced to "manage".

Day two, good news. The bag had been found! Bad news: it is still sitting in Toronto. Did it miss me as much as I missed it?

But then, a twist. I survived. By day three, I was secretly enjoying myself. What to wear? Hello, orange. Make-up today? Not an option. With almost nothing, I found better things: a new understanding of necessity, a short break from my obsession(痴迷) with stuff, stuff and more stuff, and a new appreciation for what does matter (the Taj Mahal) , when my bag finally made its way back to me.

That's right, my jam-packed blue suitcase resurfaced – on day four – and I suddenly had a rainbow of ten dresses to choose from. I decided to wear my orange dress once more, for good luck. It worked: nothing went missing on my journey home.