Light travels at a speed which is about a million times faster than the speed of sound. In one second, light travels about 300,000 km, but sound travels only 344m. You can get some idea of this difference by watching the start of a race. If you stand some distance away from the starter, you can see smoke come from his gun before the sound reaches your ears. This great speed of light produces some strange facts. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us. If you look at the light of the moon tonight, remember that the light rays（光线）left the moon 1.3 seconds before they reached you. The nearest star is so far away that the light which you can see from it tonight started to travel towards you four years ago at a speed of nearly 2 million km per minute. In some cases the light from one of tonight's stars started on its journey to you before you were born.

    Thus, if we want to be honest, we cannot say “The stars are shinning tonight.” We have to say, “The stars look pretty. They were shining four years ago but their light has only just reached Earth.”

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    Do other countries' students also have so much homework? What do they usually do in their free time? You may feel curious about them.

    On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6,200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who studies hardest?

    Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That's much more than the stud the US (26.496), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleeps most often in class?

    Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes doze off in class. In South Korea, it's 32%; in the US, 21%; and 5% in China.

    South Korean students don't like taking notes. About 70% said they write down what the teacher says in class, many fewer than in Japan (93%), china (90%) and the US (89%).

    Who is the most distracted (走神)?

American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted: 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated books in class.

What do they do after school?

    In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.

    Why do you go to the library? For books, yes--but you like books because they tell stories. You hope to get lost in a story or be transported into someone else's life. At one type of library, you can do just that--even though there's not a single book.

    At a Human Library, instead of books, you can “borrow” people. Individuals volunteer as human “books” and participants in the event can “read” the book--meaning they would have a one-on-one conversation with the volunteer and share in a dialogue about that individual's experience. “Books” are volunteers from all walks of life who have experienced discrimination (歧视) based on race, religion, class, gender identity, age, lifestyle choices, disability and other aspects of their life

    For a certain amount of time, you can ask them questions and listen to their stories, which are as fascinating and as attractive as any you can find in a book. Many of the stories have to do with some kind of stereotype. You can speak with a refugee (难民), a soldier suffering from PTSD, a homeless person or a woman living with HIV. The Human Library encourages people to challenge their own long-held beliefs-to truly get to know, and learn from someone they might otherwise make a quick judgment about.

    According to its website, the Human Library is “a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.” It provides the opportunity for the community to share and understand the experiences of others in their community.

    The Human Library Organization came to be in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2000. Ronni Abergel, his brother Dany, and some colleagues hosted a four-day event during a major Northern European festival, hoping to raise awareness about violence among youth. After the success of this event, Abergel founded the Human Library Organization, which has been growing ever since.

    Though there are a few permanent human libraries, most aren't places at all, but events. Though many do take place at physical libraries, you don't need a library card—anyone can come and be part of the experience. There have been human library events all over the globe, in universities and in pubs, from Chicago to Tunis to Edinburgh to San Antonio.

The stories these "books" tell range from fascinating to heartbreaking and everything in between. And that's the very point of the organization--to prove that no person can be summed up in just one word. It seeks to show people that you truly can't judge a book by its cover—or by its title or label.

    TEENSGIVING is an exciting yearly event where hundreds of New York City teens gather together annually for a remarkable day of community service. This year, TEENSGIVING in SPRING 2016 participants will once again better New York City and influence thousands of lives!

    When is TEENSGIVING in SPRING 2016?

    Sunday, April 20, 2016

    Where is TEENSGIVING?

    All over New York City. Everyone will meet at the 92nd Street Y ( 92nd and Lexington ) at 9:00 AM for the event kick-off. Then, all TEENSGIVING volunteers will go across the city to work with our partnering agencies where they will make a HUGE difference and have fun!

Who participates in TEENSGIVING?

    Hundreds of teenagers from around the city. Teens come from the 92nd Street Y, various city schools, youth groups, and organizations in the area. In addition, many adult volunteers ( aged 21 and older) will donate their time to TEENSGIVING in SPRING 2016.

    What projects do participants do at the agencies?

    Sample projects include painting park benches, planting gardens, visiting and playing with poor and disabled children, assisting at animal shelters, working at soup kitchens, delivering meals and celebrating with families at homeless shelters.

    Do I get anything for participating in TEENSGIV1NG?

    Yes! Everybody benefits! Teen volunteers will receive “6 hours” of community service credit, good towards honor society, high school graduation and college application requirements. Adult volunteers will be thanked with a light breakfast, a gift certificate for their troubles, and the satisfaction of helping our city's youth contribute to their community. In addition, all teen and adult volunteers will receive a cool TEENSGIVING in SPRING 2016 T- shirt.

    This sounds awesome! How do I register for TEENSGIVING in SPRING 2016? Interested teens and/or adults should e-mail the TEENSGIVING Coordinator Josh Hyman at jhyman@92Y.org < mailto: jhyman@92Y.org > (subject: TEENSGIVING) to receive more information and to register for this fantastic event!

    Teens can also contact their school's Community Service Advisor.

    TEENSGIVING is sponsored by the 92nd Street Y.

    Everybody, at some point in their lives, has experienced failure. It could be something as simple as not getting the job you wanted, or getting fewer marks even after hard work. But what makes you is not your failure, but how you get back up after being hit.

    Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire accident in his school and was assumed that he would not live. His mother was told that he was sure to die, for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body. Even if he were to survive, he would be lame throughout his life.

    But the brave boy did not want to die nor did he want to be lame. Much to the amazement of the doctor, he did survive. But unfortunately from his waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just hung there, lifeless. Eventually he left the hospital. But his determination to walk was unshakable. At home, when he was not in bed, he had to stay in a wheelchair. One day, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He reached the fence, raised himself up and then began dragging himself along the fence, firmly determined. He did this every day, with faith in himself that he would be able to walk unaided. With his iron determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk on and off, then to walk by himself and then to run.

    He began to walk to school, and then run to school, to run for the joy of running. Later in college he was on the track team.

    In February 1934, in New York City's Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run - this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile.

    A good example of the power of positive thinking and faith in oneself, Glenn Cunningham continues to be an inspiration for many, and his story, a brilliant evidence to how one can bounce back even when all difficulties are piled against one, to the degree that death seemed the preferable option.

    After moving to the United States, immigrant groups trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American, a new study finds. That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America.

The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respondents' food choices. After being questioned about their ability to speak English 75 percent of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite. Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same.

    When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes, such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches.  In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant. Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study. Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories,  including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat (饱和脂肪).

    "People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in," said Sauna Cheryan, an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington.

    "If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives, this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health." Cheryan added.

    Social pressures, the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem.  "In American society today, being American is associated with being white. Americans, who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English, feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan.