Jiajia, a third grader who was born with anemia, a medical condition in which there are too few red cells in blood, wrote an affecting article that moved many netizens.

    In the article, she shared her biggest wish: to survive so she could take care of her grandparents. Jiajia, 9, currently lives in the city of Suining in Sichuan province. In the article, she writes, "My heart gets heavier each time I see my grandma cry for me. If I ever get to grow up, I will take good care of her."

    Jiajia contracted pneumonia when she was 4 months old. Since then, she has required a blood transfusion every two weeks.

    After her parents' divorce, her grandparents took her in and faced many challenges in the process of raising her. The girl's article was only 235 words long, and it was handed in as a school assignment.

    Nevertheless, Jiajia's words "deeply impressed" her elementary school teacher, who then posted the article online, where it struck a chord with many people.

    Up till now, a fund started by teachers at Jiajia's school has reached more than 30,000 RMB, which will be put toward Jiajia's future blood transfusions.

Sharon，Aged 22

    The most important thing to keep in mind when going into high school is to be yourself．Besides, I don't know what your middle school was like, but high school teachers will not care about things such as how much homework you already have in one night．It's best to just learn to deal with things and manage your time wisely so you can achieve everything you need to.

Frank, Aged 21

    I think almost every kid feels both nervous and excited before their first day．You will probably love it．I know I did．You should join some sports or activities that will make your high school experience more enjoyable．Good luck!

Eddie，Aged 20

    When I started high school I was really nervous too，especially since I had been homeschooled all through middle school and didn't really know anyone．I suppose the best advice would be to just relax．The first couple of days can be a little bit hard，but things will become easier before you know it.

David，Aged 19

    I'm not going to lie．The first day is kind of frightening(令人恐惧的)．But you'll get used to it．Don't be afraid of anyone；upperclassmen will pick on(刁难) you more if you let them know you're afraid．Just take it easy．Making some friends and staying with them will greatly help you get used to high school quickly．After the first week it's really not bad at all．Don't worry.

    Lisa Pina never thought she would need the fire safety training she received during her apprenticeship(学徒期)as a union painter and dry waller(筑墙工). On Friday morning, she was thanking God she had it.

    On Thursday night, while Pina was babysitting her granddaughter, nephew and two nieces in her sister's apartment, she smelled smoke and realized the apartment building was on fire. When her 4-year-old granddaughter Ilean Garcia began saying, “We're going to die, ”she knew she had to act.Pina,39, first sealed the door, and then told all four children to get on the floor. After calling 911, she told the children to start singing and promised them all treats as soon as they reached safety. “I said, ‘OK, we're going to lie down and we're all going to play a game,'” Pina said. “We all started singing our ABCs and 123s.I was just trying to make it fun.” Pina patiently waited, and a few minutes later, Riverside County sheriff's deputies (治安官的助手) arrived. Pina, Ilean,8yearold Gabriel Parga,5-year-old Aubreyana Parga and 4-year-old Meriyah Parga were all trapped on the second floor as flames filled the first story.  Pina did the only thing she could. She opened the window and dropped the children, one-by-one, into the arms of the sheriff's deputies about 15 to 20 feet below. “I just needed to keep the kids calm so they wouldn't be afraid，”Pina said.“I was deathly afraid inside，but I couldn't let them know that.”[Not long after dropping the children out of the window, firefighters arrived with a ladder and rescued her. Ten people were treated at the scene for suffering smoke, but nobody was seriously injured.

    Freedom and Responsibility

    Freedom's challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it.

    Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were both  tyrannies, one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses.

    In Greece, in Athens (雅典), a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses. And Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert.The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted. A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state.

    But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance, a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It had been the Athenian' s pride and joy to give to their city. That they could get material benefits from her never entered their minds. There had to be a complete change of attitude before they could look at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were neglected to the point of disappearing. Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share.

    Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.

    But, “the excellent becomes the permanent”, Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. A great American, James Madison, referred to: “The capacity (能力) of mankind for self-government.” No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man's thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action only sure that it will do so sometime.

    People generally tend to pick out the best-looking fruits and vegetables when shopping for produce, but Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws is attracting customers with badly-shaped and faulty produce at the price of 30% lower than normal-looking ones.

    A trial run of the ugly food line, named “Naturally Imperfect”, began with only apples and tomatoes to choose from. Consumer demand has been so huge that Loblaws is going to introduce more unsightly vegetables and fruit options like onions and mushrooms. The line is available at other stores, including Real Canadian Superstore and Your Independent Grocer.

    All the produce that will be sold through Naturally Imperfect would otherwise have been used in juices, sauces, or soups, or have not been harvested at all. The director Dan Branson explained that this program benefited both food producers who would otherwise have to let abnormal harvest go to waste, and consumers who could buy fresh produce at low prices. And he was right, given how popular the line has become.

    “It really went well beyond our expectation,” Branson said. “I think it really spoke to the fact that Canadians are out there really looking for some options.”

    Of course, Canadians know that beauty is more than skin deep, but they also recognize that they can get the same flavor and nutritional benefits in spite of appearances. The positive response to the initial offering of apples and potatoes showed the opportunity to expand the line and offer more options at a greater price to Canadian families.

    “If you grow produce in your backyard, there will be a lot of produce that won't look as pretty as what you will see in a grocery store, said Branson. “And nature doesn't grow everything perfectly. I'd like to think if somebody were to take a No Name Naturally Imperfect apple, put right beside a No.l apple, close their eyes and eat them, there would be no difference.”

    Taking a shower is relaxing. You can hum a song, daydream or think about nothing, leaving the real world behind you. But did you know that showering can also benefit your mind?

    A research by Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist from Yale University in the US interviewed over 3,000 people around the world. It turned out that nearly two-thirds of the interviewees said they had experienced new ideas in the shower and were more likely to have them in the shower than at work.

    So why does a simple shower have such magic power? Science can explain it.

    Showering can help to raise our level of dopamine, a hormone (荷尔蒙) closely related to our creativity. “People vary in terms of their level of creativity according to the activity of dopamine”, explained Alice Flaherty, a famous American neuroscientist. “Taking a warm shower can make us feel relaxed and therefore make the dopamine level rise and bring ‘Aha!' moment to us.”

    Besides the chemical changes, showering may give you a break from what you feel you have been stuck with. Especially when you have thought hard all day about a problem, jumping into the shower can keep you from the outside world so that you can focus on your inner feelings and memories. In this way, according to American psychologist Shelley H. Carson, author ofYour Creative Brain, “a showering hour may turn into an ‘incubation (孵化) period' for your ideas.”

    Compared with sitting in front of a computer, taking a shower is something we do less frequently in our daily life. When showering, we get a fresh experience with the change of location, temperature and humidity. “New and unexpected experiences can lead to positive changes in thinking,” explained Kaufman. “Getting off the couch and jumping in the shower may create a distance and force you to think from a new point of view.”

    Showering allows us to enjoy the creative juices of our minds, but it needn't just be the bathroom where you get your inspiration. For instance, Gertrude Stein, a female American writer and poet, got new ideas by driving around a farm and stopping at different cows until she found the one that most inspired her. So try to create your own way to free your mind, whether it's a walk near the ocean, a country drive or reading a book at home.