Forests are always losers at the Olympics, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

    For the winter games in PyeongChang, South Korea, virgin forest was destroyed on Mount Gariwang to accommodate ski runs. For the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a ski run is set to wipe out part of the Songshan National Nature Reserve. And let's not forget the 240 acres of Atlantic Forest that were leveled for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro to make way for a golf course.

    For the upcoming Tokyo games, environmental and human rights advocates have been raising alarms about the use of tropical (热带的) wood to build the New National stadium. Activists have fought against such environmental destruction. The damage is often permanent, threatens endangered plants and animals and in some cases, causes conflicts with native people. But frequently the country's organizing committee, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have found ways to make it reasonable — despite a paragraph in the Olympic Charter (宪章) that states that the IOC's role is to "encourage and support a responsible concern for environmental issues".

    "As it stands now, the IOC has little authority over a city's local organizing committee, which finally plans the event, " Chappelet, professor of public management at the University of Lausanne, told Earther. "Even if the IOC is dissatisfied with the way host cities have prepared for the games, they have no built-in systems to watch them so that they strictly follow the Olympic Charter." The only thing they can do if they're not happy is to withdraw (= take back) the right to organize the game. "But the IOC could include more enforcement (执行) systems into the contract they make with the host city," he added. That contract must be signed and obeyed by everyone and those who break it must be fined.

    Boykoff, the author of several books on the Olympics, suggested a similar solution. "The IOC could insist that host cities take their ecological (生态的) promises into account first, but instead they look the other way, time and time again," he said.

    The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.

    The key to their success: 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.

    The goal is to find out whether kids using today's new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.

    The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device's camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accompli shment in Ethiopia.

    With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn't know any English. That's unbelievable,” said Keller.

    The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won't be in Amharic, Ethiopia's first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.

    I was waiting for my train and on the subway station's floor was a man just sitting there. I looked around and nobody stopped so I just went my way. After a few steps, I turned and asked him whether he needed help. He told me his house was one station further and he would only need to take the train there. So I reached for his hand to help him stand up.

    He wanted to take the stairs but I feared that he would hurt himself since he seemed too weak to walk, so I asked him to take the elevator. Even though my mind was trying to turn the danger lights on, I put the thought that I should not go alone with a drunken man out of my mind and accompanied him on the elevator.

    We arrived on the platform with no incidents. The man's knees seemed to soften, so I asked him to rest on a bench. While sitting there, he thanked me, telling me that I saved him. No, I said, I really did nothing; he saved himself as he walked on his own feet.

    At the next station, we said our goodbyes. Before I knew it, he left 100 dollars and dashed out of the train. There was no way to give him back his money. I wanted to leave it on the seat, but a young woman who thought it belonged to me ran after me and gave me the note.

    My initial reaction to getting that money was of shame and I even felt offended. Then I thought he just wanted to thank me, the best way he knew how. Now, my question is — what act of kindness shall I do with these 100 dollars?

    Imagine a small group of people with a shared passion for the same craft. They all have different skills and approaches, but they come together to share skills, share stories, and share in the joy of making something.

    Modern maker culture is filling headlines and lab spaces all over the world. The way makers communicate with each other has changed over time. In the past, skills mainly came from personal sit-downs with members of the group. But sometimes a teacher wasn't available, or the one available didn't know how to do the skill others wanted to learn.

    Today a teacher doesn't even have to be in the same country or occupy the same decade as the students. Thanks to the work of people who take the time to break down and share the details of their craft, an interested individual can learn anything. Guides may range from videos to diagrams and text. Regardless of the media, maker resources are meant to be shared.

    One of the features of the maker movement is the crossover between different interests. Perhaps a passion for cars and for leather craft can result in a truly custom interior (定制的内饰). Perhaps a love of knitting (编织)and robotics will result in a tiny ——but very mobile ——robotic furry cat.

    And once you have started your creation, finding a community to share with is no longer limited to the people nearby. Modern makers have been sharing videos of their progress online for years, contributing greatly to the rapid spread of the maker movement. As different as the participants might be, they share enthusiasm, support, and a willingness to try.

    Imagine making a ping-pong table together with your makers' team. One group builds the basic frame. Another group takes on the responsibility of painting. You knit the net. There is joy in just giving it a try. It will remind you of childhood creations. Whether you are an experienced programmer or just picking up a hammer for the first time, it is never a bad time to come up with an idea, try something, and share the results.

    A company has just launched(发起) what it calls "the world's first free standardized English test" recently. Anyone can take the test for free. The new exam is called the EFSET, which is short for Education First Standardized English Test. The company, Education First, is known by the letters EF.

    It is reported that there are two billion English language learners worldwide. Many of them are interested in attending an American college or university. To do so, foreign students need to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language—better known as TOEFL. However, many foreigners are not rich enough to take the TOEFL. In addition, test-takers often have to travel overnight to reach an official testing site. The World Bank says an average Cambodian worker earns only about $1,000 per year. The cost of taking the TOEFL is about 17.5 percent of the average worker's yearly wage.

    It is not just individuals who find the test pricey. Some governments also find it too expensive. What's more, not everyone needs official results from the TOEFL or IELTS—the International English Language Testing System. In the future, it's likely that the government may use the EFSET to test millions of employees and students.

    Experts believe that the EFSET meets the highest value in language testing. It uses special computer software that makes the questions easier or harder, depending on one's performance. The EFSET measures all the English learners' levels while the IELTS and TOEFL only measure learners' levels from intermediate(中等的) to advanced. The EFSET is unique in the sense that it gives free online access to anyone interested in measuring their English level.

    There is a 50-minute and a two-hour version of the test, which its developers are calling the EFSET Plus. Both versions test only reading and listening skills. It's hopeful that speaking and writing skills will be tested in the future. The IELTS and the TOEFL still use humans to rate the speaking and writing sections. It's a huge deal for students who are in areas where they can't get to the TOEFL or the IELTS. However, it is too early to know whether the EFSET results are acceptable for colleges and universities in America.

    Do you know the term "tweenager"? It's a slang word being used in the UK to describe children 10-13 years old. They are between junior and the teenage years. Why are they suddenly referred to in this way?

    Tweenagers now have more money, freedom and influence upon their parents than they've ever had before. More and more companies are creating products and services for tweenagers. You can get everything from branded lunchboxes and mobile phone covers, to monthly fan magazines and clothing-it's all about sales.

    Most children in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did a decade ago. It is because parents are having fewer children on average than in the past. In addition, the divorce rate in the UK is continually rising and parents spend less time with their children than they used to. So, many parents try to compensate(补偿) by buying presents for them.

    And do tweenagers have more freedom? Well, UK children today are very familiar with media and computer. Many have a television, if not a computer, in their bedrooms. They have access to much more information about the world.

    They may have experienced a lot in life as well, since 24% of UK kids live in single-parent families. People now say that "Kids are getting older younger". With such sophistication (世故) at such a young age, they are much more fashion conscious and concerned about their image.

    In a world of TV programs that promise overnight success and fame at a young age, some people think it's extremely important to look fashionable. Surely none of the above is a good thing, is it? Can it really be healthy for us to encourage kids to be like adults at such a young age? Are we stealing childhoods in return for profit?

    The UK government is certainly concerned, and for that reason has strict laws preventing companies from marketing their products and services at children. So, is there a happy ending to this story?

    Companies have just worked out that the older tweenage audience is now looking for something darker and more rebellious. As a result, films such as Twilight are being produced for this older tweenage audience.