Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is one of life's essentials. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have all been told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip.

    But for many people the thought of food as first thing in the morning is by no means a pleasure. So despite all the efforts, they still take no breakfast. Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures are available, the number of people who didn't have breakfast increased by 33 percent-from 8.8 million to 11.7 million-according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America.

    For those who feel pain or guilt about not earing breakfast, however, there is some good news. Several studies in the last few years indicate that, for adults especially, there may be nothing wrong with not taking breakfast. “Going without breakfast does not affect performance,” said Arnold E. Bender, former professor of nutrition（营养）at Queen Elizabeth College in London, “nor doegiving people breakfast improve performance.”

    Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better performance is surprisingly inadequate, and most of the recent work involves children, not adults. “The literature,” says one researcher, Dr. Ernesto Pollitt at the University of Texas, “is poor.”

    The burst of barking suddenly woke me up. It was 2:30 a.m. in the early morning. Wondering why Rock was making so loud noises, I decided to go to him. By the time I made it to the bottom of the stairs, he was running up. I felt strange, for he had never come up the stairs, no matter what. I think that was his way of telling me, “We've got to go back up.”

    When I got to the top of the stairs, I turned around and saw a light on, but I didn't remember leaving one on. I walked downstairs again, and that's when I saw fire. I immediately shouted to my wife to wake up and get our three kids. I grabbed a knife and cut out the plastic that covered the window to the porch roof. I then forced open the window and kicked out the screen. I got everybody out on the roof and threw a blanket out there so we wouldn't slip off. It was cold, January cold. Then I started screaming for help. But help never came.

    I was scared of heights, but I couldn't let my family burn up. So I just jumped off the roof and got the wind knocked out of me when I landed.

    I found our ladder, placed it against the house, and climbed back up to the roof. I wrapped my arms around my daughter and carried my nine-month-old with my teeth, by his little sleeper. Then I climbed down the ladder. Once on the ground, I had my little girl hold her brother, and I went back up to the roof to get my other daughter. Then I went back up again and got my wife. I tried to get my dog, but he just disappeared in the black smoke. I never saw Rock alive again.

    Plastic is easy, convenient, cheap and long-lasting, but it does great harm to the environment.

    Since plastic entered mass production, 8 billion tons have been produced – and we aren't very good at recycling. By 2015, 6,945 tons of plastic waste had formed, with around 9 percent of it getting recycled. About 79 percent of it ends up in landfills or around the environment, including the ocean. We may end up drowning in plastic before long.

    Chemists at Colorado State University have found a polymer（聚酯）that has many of the qualities of plastics – it's light, strong, durable and heat-resistant – but that can be changed back to its original small-molecule（分子）state for complete recycling. Even after being recycled, the polymer can be turned back into its plastic-like state, and this can be done quickly and cheaply.

    This new polymer has all the good qualities of plastics, yet it is relatively easy to make and to recycle. Making it requires room temperature conditions, a short reaction time to bond the monomer（单体）into polymers and only a small amount of the catalyst（催化剂）remains in the end product. It has a high molecular weight, stands up to heat and generally behaves like plastic. Recycling it requires similarly little effort. Mild lab conditions are required and so is a catalyst. Once applied, the polymers are once again monomers in a matter of minutes and can be used to create another product.

    But don't get too excited about this just yet. Scientists stressed that the polymer isn't ready for mass products just yet. There's still plenty of development to do, including making it more economical to produce and recycle.

    Twenty-five years ago, as a parent educator, I began reading about the dangers of praise. I was completely shocked by what I was learning: praise is not good for our kids. How could that be? So I spent years talking with experts, reading about the effects of praise, and finally decided to close the door on praise and focus on building an encouraging family.

    Even today, with many studies available to parents, I still hear people say, "How can that be? How can saying 'Good job' or 'You're smart' be bad?" I understand. It can be a difficult habit to break.

    If we tell a boy "You are so smart!" when he brings home an A in his math test, how does he feel when he comes home with a D? If we've told him that he is smart, then he will more likely feel a failure when he struggles with homework — "I'm supposed to be smart. Why can't I do this?"

    Praise trains children to depend on constant feedback on what a "great job" they are doing. This dependency shatters rather than builds children's confidence. Praise trains children to ask, "Do you like it?" "Did I do a good job?" "Are you proud of me?" They begin to believe that what others think is more important than what they think about their achievements and mistakes.

    Praise breaks the relationship between parents and children. Without even realizing it, parents may be using praise as a tool to direct the child's behavior. The message is clear — I approve of you when you … and I do not approve of you when you … Living with this kind of constant judgment can damage not only the child's confidence but also the relationship.

    The solution to the problem of praise is encouragement. Encouragement can be given at any time, to anyone, in any situation. It is a comment, an acknowledgment, a statement that focuses on effort, improvement or choice. Hearing "You are so smart!" can leave a child at a loss when they don't do well in a test. Using "That took a lot of work to come home with an A in your test …" gives a child the chance to be something else.

    We all have some people whom we respect very much, like our family members, our friends or our teachers.

    Respect often means different things to different people. There are several aspects that many people can agree on, though. For example, at its most basic level, respect means being kind and considerate to others.

    Respect can take many forms. Don't make fun of others. Put yourself in other people's shoes and think about how they feel. Remember the Golden Rule: treat others the same way you'd want to be treated.

    Respect is important because it sets the proper stage for all our human interactions. Friendship, love, and even basic communication must all start with respect.

    Everyone wants to be respected. To get respect, though, you must also show respect for others. It's always a two-way street. You can't be impolite to others and expect respect in return.

    It's easy to show respect. Be polite. Look for the best in people rather than concentrating on their mistakes. Show compassion to others and try to put their interests before your own. Make others comfortable when they're uneasy. Help out whenever you can. When you pay it forward, amazing things can happen.

    And be respectful to everyone. The world is an unbelievably huge place filled with billions of people, each one of whom is unique and special. And they all deserve your respect!

    Be careful, though. Not everyone will show you respect all the time. In fact, you'll probably see examples of impolite behaviour each and every day. How you respond to impolite behaviour, though, can make a huge difference.

    If you choose to respond to impolite behaviour by acting rudely yourself, you've gained nothing. You've only continued the pattern of impolite behaviour and set a bad example. Instead, act respectfully and set a good example. Consistently acting respectfully might just help others learn from your example!

The world has been extremely impressed by China's high-speed trains that cross the country by the hundreds in all directions every day, but in one corner of this vast land is a gentle reminder that life was not always this fast.

Those fortunate enough to travel to Jiayang in Sichuan province will find railway carriages dragged by steam locomotives(火车头), among the last steam trains operating in China and still running every day. First used to transport coal from Jiayang Coal Mine 62 years ago, today they transport local farmers and their produce to market and serve as a tourist attraction.

"In the early days of the railway, farmers headed for the farm produce market sitting beside coal," said Liu Chengxi, the Jiayang official in charge of the trains. "As coal production has stopped, the trains are now exclusively(专门地)for farmers and tourists."

The narrow railway, only 76.2 cm instead of the standard 144 cm, stretches for 19. 84 km, with the trains reaching a top speed of 20 km/h.

A one-way ticket costs 5 yuan for seated passengers and 3 yuan for standing passengers on the ordinary trains regardless of whether they are travelling empty-handed or with animals or vegetables. But Li Cuirong, who has worked as a train dispatcher(调度员)for more than 20 years, recommends tourists pay 80 yuan for a sightseeing train, as the carriages, which have 37 seats, are more comfortable and air-conditioned. A one-way trip takes about one and a half hours.

The scenery is dramatic as the train winds through the mountain, passengers can view chickens and geese wandering among the orange trees and butterflies dancing over the fields and ponds.

Rob Dickinson, a steam train lover from the United Kingdom, has ridden the trains twice. He hopes the narrow line can last long enough for him to find the time to get back again.