Mr. Parker was born in a small village. His father was so poor that he couldn't send him to school. The boy had to help his parents to do some farming and learned English and maths by himself when he was free. Later on he was made to leave his home village and hoped to find a job in a city. And as soon as war broke out, he joined the army. He couldn't forget his terrible past and fought with the enemies bravely. So he became a general when he was fifty. He was honest and friendly to his soldiers and often punished those who tried to pocket a portion of the soldiers' pay (克扣军饷). And his soldiers liked him very much.

    Once Mr. Parker heard from a soldier. In the letter the young man said the food in their military camp was very bad and he wished the general could go to find out the reasons, the old man went there at once, without telling anybody. He went in the kitchen and examined everything carefully and found it was very dirty. Then he went in the soldiers' bedrooms and found there were a lot of fleas. He became angry and asked the soldiers, “What do you think of your food, young men?”

    The soldiers saw their officer standing by the general and said nothing Only a new soldier said, “Very bad, sir!”

    “What did you have for lunch today?” asked Mr. Parker.

    “A fried chicken, some fish and pork, a cake, six eggs and I had three cups of wine.”

    “Really?” Mr. Parker called out in surprise. “It's the King's lunch, I think!”

    “So do I, general,” said the young man. “But it's my birthday today. I paid three hundred dollars for them all in the restaurant!”

Reader's Travel Photography Competition

    This month's images include some original and brilliant shots. The overall 2018 winner will receive a $200 holiday ticket and go on a 16-night wildlife holiday.

    An exciting landing process of Chang'e-4 lunar probe (月球探测器 ) was seen through the monitor at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, Jan. 3, 2019. It touched down on the far side of the moon at 10:26 a.m. Beijing Time, becoming the first spacecraft soft-landing on the moon's unknown side never visible from Earth.

    China's Chang'e-4 probe has started the exploration on the far side of the moon thanks to the relay satellite that provides a communication link with ground control. The relay satellite, named Queqiao, meaning Magpie Bridge, after a Chinese legend (传说) , was launched on May 21, 2018, and became the first communication satellite operating in the halo orbit, nearly 500,000 km from the earth. It can also provide communication for probes from other countries. The relay satellite will also be used for scientific and technological experiments. The maximum distance between the satellite and the Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the moon is 79,000 km. The satellite processes data from the probe and sends it to Earth.

    The satellite can stay in its orbit for a long time due to its relatively low fuel consumption, as the earth's and moon's gravity balances its orbital moving. While in orbit, it can "see" both the earth and the far side of the moon.

    The concept of using a relay satellite in the halo orbit was first put forward by U.S. space experts in the 1960s, but was realized by Chinese space engineers.

    Researchers hope to use the cameras on the satellite to record asteroids (小行星 ) hitting the far side of the moon. To control the cost of the Chang'e-4 probe, the relay satellite was designed to be relatively small, weighing about 400 kg.

    Researchers had just 30 months to develop the satellite, putting them under high pressure. To promote public interest in space exploration, the China National Space Administration invited people to write down their wishes for lunar and space exploration, and the relay satellite carries the names of tens of thousands of participants and their messages.

Humans' overconsumption of resources is a leading contributor to global climate change, says University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm. Therefore, it's increasingly important to understand the choices consumers make and how those decisions affect the health of a planet with limited resources. In a new study, published in the journal Young Consumers, Helm and her colleagues explore how materialistic values influence pro-environmental behaviors in millennials, who are now the nation's most influential group of consumers.

The researchers focused on two main categories of pro-environmental behaviors: reduced consumption, which includes actions like repairing instead of replacing older items; and "green buying," or purchasing products designed to limit environmental impacts. The researchers also looked at how engaging in pro-environmental behaviors affects consumer well-being.

More materialistic participants, the researchers found, were unlikely to engage in reduced consumption. However, materialism did not seem to have an effect on their likelihood of practicing "green buying." That's probably because "green buying," unlike reduced consumption, still offers a way for materialists to fulfill their desire to get new items, Helm said.

Study participants who reported having fewer materialistic values were much more likely to engage in reduced consumption. Consuming less was, in turn, linked to higher personal well-being and lower psychological suffering. Green buying—which may have some positive environmental effects, although to a smaller degree than reduced consumption—was not found to improve consumer well-being, Helm said.

The take-home message for consumers: "The key is to reduce consumption and not just buy green stuff. Having less and buying less can actually make us more satisfied and happier," Helm said. "If you have a lot of stuff, you have a lot on your mind," she said. "For example, it requires maintenance and there's a lot of burdens of ownership, and if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better and freer."

Helm and her colleagues additionally looked at how materialism affects millennial consumers' proactive financial behaviors, such as budgeting and saving. Examining financial behaviors alongside pro-environmental behaviors provides a picture of how young adults proactively deal with resource limitations in two contexts: environmental and financial, Helm said.

As expected, Helm and her colleagues found that those who reported having more materialistic values engaged in fewer proactive financial behaviors than their less materialistic counterparts (对应的人). The researchers also found that, consistent with previous studies, proactive financial behaviors were associated with better personal well-being, life satisfaction and financial satisfaction, as well as lower psychological suffering.

Understanding how materialistic values impact consumer behaviors, and how those behaviors in turn affect personal and environmental well-being, is important, Helm said. However, she acknowledges that for many consumers, shifting behaviors to be more financially proactive and consume less will be challenging.

"Someone once asked me, 'What's the tool you would want to give any student'? And I said, 'A mask and snorkel （潜水通气管） set, "' the ocean biologist Thys says in a video. And Thys explains, "Ninety-eight percent of the living space on this planet is the ocean. It's worth a view. "

Thys has devoted her career to seeing the ocean and to helping others watch the great diversity of the underwater world. A big part of what motivates her work is the chance to let people develop a sense of respect for the grandness of the ocean, and to get people to participate in efforts to protect endangered ocean ecosystems. 

Since studying ocean biology, Thys has focused her research on how sea animals live. One animal she particularly studies is the ocean sunfish. "It's so different from any other fish, "says Thys. "It looks like a mistake. Where does the tail go?" Thys adds. "The sunfish provides an entry point to understanding more about the behavior of creatures in the ocean, and about how environmental changes impact underwater ecosystems. "

Thys's work also takes her above ground, where she's looking at ways to create new connections between human populations and natural environments to help address social and environmental challenges. For instance, she's working on nature's effects on mental well-being. 

Thys's passion for her work is evident in every lecture, video, and public appearance she makes. Using the media, Thys encourages people to learn about the ocean and love it. Due to many ocean research projects and activities from the media, Thys is up to her neck in work every day. She could hardly spare plenty of time for a good rest. Thys's devotion to her work as an ocean scientist and ecological warrior is infectious. She's a role model and an inspiring guide to ocean life. 

Those who had the pleasure of watching Benny Goodman at work saw a rather ordinary-looking man in rimless glasses and a conservative business suit; but they also saw a human being who could play the clarinet （单簧管） like no one before or since. This made Benny Goodman a unique individual.

Other Americans who have stood out from the flock include Joe DiMaggio, Beverly Sill, Ernest Hemingway and Jonas Salk. They, like Benny Goodman, were recognized and honored for no other reason than excellence.

It is doing something better than other people that makes us unique. Yet a surprising number of people still see individuality as a surface thing. They wear garish clothes, dye their hair strange colors and decorate their skin with tattoos to make some kind of social statement. But an ordinary guy who has dyed his hair purple or orange is nothing more than the same person with a funny-looking head.

The whole purpose of individuality is excellence. Those who invent, who improvise （即兴发挥）, who know more about a subject than other people do, and who take something that doesn't work and make it work—these people are the very soul of capitalism.

Charles Kettering didn't like the idea of cranking a car to make it start, so he invented the electric starter. Henry Ford figured out the assembly-line technique and made it possible to mass-produce automobiles, and Elisha Otis, inventor of the elevator, indirectly created the city sky-line. These people understood that individualism means working at the top of one's capacity.

The ones with the purple hair and the funky jewelry are just along for the ride, trying to be "different" and not knowing how to go about it.

The student who earns straight A's on his report card has grasped the idea and has found the real meaning of individuality. So has the youngster who has designed his own spaceship, who gives piano recitals, who paints pictures of the world around him.

Benny Goodman understood it too. This is why he was at his best, blowing his clarinet, in a blue suit and black shoes.