It may sound strange, but cutting down a real tree for Christmas is actually greener than going with the artificial kind, one scientist says.

    “It is a little confusing to people,” said Clint Springer, a biologist at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Because of concerns over deforestation（砍伐森林）around the world, many people naturally worry that buying a real tree might contribute to that problem. But most Christmas trees for sale these days are grown not in the forest but on tree farms for the purpose of being cut.

    Moreover, from the viewpoint of greenhouse gases, real trees are “the obvious choice”. Live trees actively release oxygen as they grow, and meanwhile remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. After they have been cut and Christmas is over, they're usually cut into smaller pieces for mulch（覆盖物）. As mulch, the bits of trees very slowly release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So in the end, a real Christmas tree is carbon neutral, putting the same amount of carbon dioxide back into the air as it took out (although much more slowly).

    The tree farms that grow the trees also replant after the trees are cut.  Artificial trees, on the other hand, don't come out even in the carbon balance. Petroleum（石油）is used to make the plastics in artificial trees and lots of carbon dioxide-creating energy is required to make and transport them. Because these trees just end up in the places where waste is buried under the ground after use, “those greenhouse gases are lost forever,” Springer said.

C

    Modern fathers spend an average of six and a half hours a week playing with their children. A study said this equals 338 hours a year, or just over 14 days, three whole days more fun time than their own fathers spent with them.

    The report said modern parents are ''adventurous”, as many encourage their children to play outside. A third of parents also prefer family trips which encourage children to learn new skills, and most say that having fun together improves family ties. The study said the lack of time that today's parents shared with their own dads encouraged them to be more active with their children.

    Dr. Amanda Gummer, psychologist and founder of Fundamentally Children, a company which provides advice on child development, said being adventurous helps children. She said, “Being adventurous from an early age helps children develop important skills that will last throughout childhood and set them up for a healthy and successful adulthood.”

    Outdoor activities are a popular choice for dads and their children, with 40 percent choosing nature trails and 26 percent looking for wildlife, while 13 percent say their top outdoor activity is climbing trees. The simple things are the most popular, with 46 percent going to the park and 41 percent choosing to kick a ball around their children.

    Dr Gummer said, “Children are able to challenge themselves by being more adventurous, and they can be safe in the knowledge that their dad will be there to help if things start getting out of control. Parents can help encourage their children's adventurous, outdoor spirit with wildlife treasure hunts and adventure playgrounds. They can even do more exciting things, like going on camping trips.

    I grew up poor. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream. My dream was athletics.

    By the time I was sixteen, I was good at baseball and football. My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis. He not only believed in me, but taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction(信念).

    One summer a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother.

Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn't be playing. I was dreading(害怕) this, but my mother said, "If you make your bed, you have to lie in it."

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. "Your playing days are limited. You can't afford to waste them," he said.

    I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why I dreamed of buying my mom a house.

"How much are you going to make at this job, son?" he demanded.

"Three twenty-five an hour," I replied.

"Well," he asked, "is $3.25 an hour the price of a dream?"

    That question laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dream.

Young Adult Groups

    Around the World in 80 Books — 9,186 members.

    If you love exploring the world through books, you have come to the right place! It all started as a challenge on TNBBC in 2009, and now we have our own group! Challenge participation is not a requirement of joining. Anyone who loves reading books is welcome.

    Website: http://www.worldinbooks.com

    Rules: Respect each other's opinions and have fun!

    Readers That Love Giveaways – 734 members

    This group is for readers that enjoy entering giveaways and finding freebies!

    Follow us for the newest bargain, discounted, and free e-books, as well as new releases and book recommendations.

    Website: http://www .fireandicebooktours.com

    Rules: Please share your items in the appropriate folders!

    Book Loving Kiwis – 706 members

    A group for New Zealand book lovers (and authors) and lovers of New Zealand books (and books in general). A place to share what we're reading, introduce books we have written, and discuss and recommend books. Please recommend us to your friends.

    Website: http://www.kiwisbook.com

    Rules: Enjoy reading! Respect all group members and their opinions.

    A Book and a Cappuccino – 77 members

    This group is for anyone who likes to read at their own pace. It does not matter how much or how little you read. It's just a friendly place to discuss what you're reading and to get ideas for your next read. You can participate as much or as little as you like.

Website: http://www.bookandcappuccino.com

    Rules: Be respectful to all. Everyone has a right to share opinions.

    Happy, angry, amazed—these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we're sending a message on our smart phones! That's why many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone's mobile screen but we're also using them as a quick way of telling someone how we're feeling. Yes, emojis (表情符号) have become a popular tool for communication.

    The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word "emoji" comes from the Japanese words for "picture" and "character". The number of different images has greatly increased since then and now we have a picture for nearly every mood or situation.

    Why are emojis widely used today? Professor Vyv Evans says, "Increasingly, what we're finding is that digital communication is replacing face-to-face talk in some ways. One of the reasons why emojis are so interesting is that they really do enable us to express our emotional selves much more effectively."

    Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language—they don't use words but tell a message with pictures so they can be easily understood whatever your native language is.

    But as linguist (语言学家) Neil Cohn says, "To many, emojis are an exciting evolution (进化) of the way we communicate; but to others, they are linguistic Armageddon." It does show by using emojis, there is a lot more to our communication than words alone, but does this also mean that the traditional writing will die out one day?

We are all stuck in the thought of having satisfying relationships, which bring some meaning to our lives and make us happy. We are so busy in finding true happiness that we often forget true happiness lies within us.

You have to love yourself first in order to love someone else. We have heard in countless inspiring speeches that self-love is the basis of a happy life. Have you ever wondered that with so many people advertising self-love, why haven't we been able to love ourselves?

One of the reasons for our failure to love ourselves is that we have been taught to be selfless from the start of time. The minute we start thinking about ourselves, everyone around us makes it their personal mission to remind us of how selfish we are. However, there is nothing wrong with putting your needs and yourself first. Self-love is not selfish. It only helps us better understand which sacrifices (牺牲) are worth making!

Actually, self-love and healthy relationships cannot be separated. Self-love is the very core of any healthy relationship. Now you might wonder how my love for myself is going to make me able to have a healthy relationship. Isn't a healthy relationship all about giving? Honestly, No.

When you know your worth, you know what you are willing to accept in a relationship and what not. You will know where to draw boundaries because you value your own opinions. You will have a clear understanding of what you need, what are your values and your limits. From now on, you should realize that true happiness lies within you and you shouldn't waste time and effort searching for peace and joy in the world outside.