My heroes are the Singapore Women's Everest Team．In 2009，they became the first all-women team to climb Mount Everest．The team of six young women trained for seven years before they climbed the mountain．It was difficult for them to train because Singapore doesn't have any snow or any mountains．But they didn't stop，and in the end they made it．They Worked hard every day for their dream so I really admire them．

——Lance Reed, 16, from Britain

    My mum，Mary Evans，is a real hero．I have a very big family, with two brothers and three sisters．My mum works very hard every day to look after us, and she is very busy．She always makes time for everyone and she always listens to me if I have a problem．I really respect my mum because she always looks after my family and makes sure we have everything we need．

——Mark Sterling，l7，from America

    I admire the Salwen family from Atlanta，USA．In 2006, they made a very unusual choice．They decided to sell their house and give half of the money to charity(慈善)．They moved into a smaller house and gave $800,000 to charities in Ghana. I really respect them because they gave their money to people in need．

——William Kloster, 17, from Canada

    I really admire Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple．He invented a new kind of technology．Apple technology is very intelligent(智能的)．The products that he made are also really beautiful．Steve Jobs created a successful business in IT．I was very sad when he died in October 2011．I respect him because he changed the way people use technology all over the world．

——Richard Hale, 18，from Australia

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    Why do we read poetry? First obvious one: because we enjoy it. The only other reason is for academic purposes, and that's not why this is here.

    Many of us read poetry simply because we often feel depressed and hopelessly lost, and in poetry we see how beautiful and strange everything is. So in that way poetry calms our anxiety.

    There are many different kinds of poems. They are not all calming. Some poems make me anxious, angry, scared, and sad, which is why I value them. As a reader, I want a full meal, not just dessert. I want the sweet and the bitter. Often, I read poetry when I'm already relaxed. In fact, I read more when I'm not stressed out.

    Here are the main reasons I respond to poetry, as far as I can tell. Metrical(格律的) poems are about setting up rules and then bending them. Usually, this is done by setting up a rhythm and then violating it or almost violating it. And then returning to it again. This satisfies my desire for order and also my desire for testing boundaries.

    Poetry plays with language and often slams words together in surprising ways, which is thrilling the way food can be when the chef has paired ingredients you never thought would taste good together but somehow do.

    Many poems are dense. Words mean two or three things at once and lots of suggestions are packed between the lines. This is intellectually inspiring and it allows me to read the same poem over and over always finding new things in it.

    And, of course, there's the subject matter. It interests me just as it would if the same subject was explored in a story or essay. Not all poems interest me in this way, but then not all stories and essays do, either.

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    Kids undergo a large amount of pressure and stress during their school exams, which can often become quite overwhelming (to much) for them. It may be the first experience of stress, at this level, they have ever experienced and therefore quite frightening. Yes, you may say that it's all a part of growing up and therefore good lessons for them to learn, and to an extent I agree with you. However, it's important to learn how to prepare for life's challenges so that they aren't overwhelming or scary and so that we are able to manage them the best we can.

    Here are some tips you can use during your kids exam time.

    Break their revision plan down into small parts. Doing this will help transform what once seemed like a huge impossible task into a more manageable one.

    Help them arrange properly so that the subjects they like the least (perhaps ones that require more time and effort) are worked on first; once they are out of the way, it will help reduce the worry.

    Plan week on week to make sure they are on track. Ticking items of a list each week will help them to feel good about themselves and their progress.

    Create rewards for all the ticks - a favourite TV programme, a delicious snack, an hour's surfing the Internet, computer games or whatever it was that they enjoy the most. This will encourage them to carry on and make them feel good.

    Think of strategies on how to deal with exams calmly so their anxieties don't get the better of them.

    Talk about times in their lives when they had been successful at something and look at the qualities they used to get them there - determination, persistence, hard work, patience, positivity, dedication - discuss how they can apply these skills to their exams.

    Acknowledge that if they do their best that is good enough.

    Ensure they realize that this period in their lives will pass and that exams are only a temporary time in their lives; nothing can and does last forever.

    Ensure they keep their eye on the prize: enjoying their long summer holiday when the exams are finished; giving them something to look forward to will help to motivate them and provide a positive end in sight.

    Perhaps you think you could easily add to your happiness with more money. Strange as it may seem, if you're unsatisfied, the issue is not a lack of means to meet your desires but a lack of desires—not that you cannot satisfy your tastes but that you don't have enough tastes.

    Real riches consist of well-developed and hearty capacities (能力) to enjoy life. Most people are already swamped(淹没) with things. They eat, wear, go and talk too much.They live in too big a house with too many rooms, yet their house of life is a deserted hut.

    Your house of life ought to be a mansion (豪宅) , a royal palace.  Every new taste, every additional interest, every fresh enthusiasm adds a room.  Here are several rooms your house of life should have.

    Art should be a desire for you to develop simply because the world is full of beautiful things. If you only understood how to enjoy them and feed your spirit on them, they would make you as happy as to find plenty of ham and eggs when you're hungry.

    Literature, classic literature, is a beautiful, richly furnished room where you might find many an hour of rest and refreshment. To gain that love would go toward making you a rich person, for a rich person is not someone who has a library but who likes a library.

    Music like Mozart's and Bach's shouldn't be absent. Real riches are of the spirit. And when you've brought that spirit up to where classical music feeds it and makes you a little drunk, you have increased your thrills and bettered them. And life is a matter of thrills.

    Sports, without which you remain poor, mean a lot in life. No matter who you are, you would be more human, and your house of life would be better supported against the had days, if you could, and did, play a bit.

    Whatever rooms you might add to your house of life, the secret of enjoying life is to keep adding.

    Samanta Schweblin, one of the best young Spanish language novelists nominated (提名) by British literary magazine Granta, has visited Beijing to promote the first Chinese edition of a collection of her short stories. The collection, Birds in the Mouth, has been translated and published by Shanghai-based publisher Reader.

    “Sometimes I hold the Chinese edition and choose a story at random and try to guess which one it is. But it is almost impossible for me; even the length is different.” says Schweblin. “When a book is translated into a Western language, I can at least understand some parts of my stories, and therefore suffer some doubt about the quality of the translation. But my Chinese edition is more like an act of faith.”

    Born in Argentina in 1978, Schweblin says she is influenced by the literary traditions of the La Plata area, home to many famous Latin-American novelists.

    Interested in writing stories of ordinary lives where suddenly something extraordinary happens, something new, strange or unknown, she thinks, “The stranger and the unknown are not always related to ghosts or aliens, but can be something related to the known world, something that actually could happen.”

    Birds in the Mouth tells of a divorced father who worries about his 13-year-old daughter and her mysterious appetites. It turns out that his daughter eats live birds.

    The idea for this story came to Schweblin when she was browsing the Internet, “Click, click, click, a picture of a little girl who looks frightened with her hands covering her mouth came to my eyes. Little by little, I developed the story in my mind, and then wrote it down” recalls Schweblin.

    Although there are elements of violence and bloodiness in Schweblin's stories, she skillfully hides them, thinking the trick to writing a thrilling story is to stop the monster from appearing, while maintaining a frightening and mysterious atmosphere.

    It's always adventurous and romantic to visit an island country. Take a look at some breathtakingly beautiful island countries in the world, which everyone should visit at least once in his lifetime

    Maldives

    It's believed that Maldives is one of the most popular honeymoon(蜜月) places as well as one of the most beautiful island countries. Situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Maldives is made up of a series of ancient coral reefs that grow up along the sides of ancient volcanoes, with fascinating beaches

    Fiji

    Fiji has plenty of surprises for any adventurous traveler. It is famous for the world's best surf scenes, attracting many surfing lovers to ride the great waves. Well, if surfing is not for you and you love sitting on the beach and relaxing, hiking or seeing breathtaking waterfalls, Fiji is also a suitable island country to visit

    Malta

    Malta, a beautiful southern European country in the Mediterranean Sea, has a rich history and culture. There are amazing sky-high cliffs to climb>, wonderful temples to visit and lots of amazing places to go diving. There are plenty of interesting things to explore here and everyone can find something to enjoy. The historic part of Malta is shown in its architecture, great walled cities, and many underground tunnels.