Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything they want to know. The teacher's job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.

    It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize some facts or a formula (公式). It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn't get anything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind.

    The reason for their success is that they knew how to study. They read books that were not taught at school. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.

    Above all, they knew how to use their brains.

    We have to admit that many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand for environment friendly products have actually contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers are produced and these are difficult to get rid of.

    However, today, more and more consumers are choosing “green” and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they take action to buy a product, they ask questions like these “Will this shampoo add damage to the environment?” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”

    A recent study showed that two out of five adults now take the environmental safety of a product into account before they buy it. This means that companies must now adjust the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are “green” that is, friendly to the environment

    Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds of them advocating green. In addition, some supermarket products carry labels (标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have adopted the manufacturing (生产) of clean and safe products as their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising.

    The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it.” The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

    When I was younger, I thought that boys and grown men should not cry. The tears were signs of being weak and a sissy(胆小鬼), which a man is not supposed to be. This was even strengthened in my young mind when the song, Boys Don't Cry, came out in the early 1980s.

    But just this June, I discovered that courage is not all about trying to keep all the pain inside in check. Courage is not all about trying to hide the tears. It is the opposite — the tears strengthen the heart's courage. And I saw this in my father. That day my father cried.

    My 18-year-old sister eloped (私奔) and from it I saw how weak my father's heart was. My sister and I were used to seeing him as an iron-willed figure and authoritarian father.

    For three days after my sister eloped, he would not talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he felt about everything.

    It has been years since I have laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we have drifted apart (疏远) farther and farther while I was growing up. That night，though, I sensed my father trying to control his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We have all cried over what happened except him. All of us except him.

    The simple touch and my words, "Dad, it is not your fault.", broke my father's dam.

    In the darkness, he began to cry. I felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, "Where did

    I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait?"

    I understood then why he preferred to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his family of a father's pain. His tears, though we did not see them before that night, were there all the same. I saw his courage, that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and understood his pain.

Comments on the July Issue of Reader's Digest

    Jennie Gardner, Bath

    I couldn't agree more with Lee Child, that books are really important. Yes, you can get lost in them but you can also find yourself and new worlds and possibilities in them. Books help us to forget and remember. They remind us both of what's really important and what's not.

    And, as Lee says, they let us hold the whole world in our hands, We can feel the weight of this word, we can mark our favourite spots, add in our own thoughts and see our progress through the pages as the story leads us back home, allowing us to re-find ourselves along the way.

    Jayne Wile, North Wales

    Brian Blessed's I Remember was most enjoyable. I love Brian, a popular actor of stage and screen. It was interesting to learn more about his life. I noted how he enjoyed being involved in the Space Program, doing 600 hours training in Moscow and I have to agree with his thought："We need to get out to Mars because the Earth has got to rest." Mars has always been a source of inspiration for explorers and scientists.

    Melanie Lodge, West Yorkshire

    I was thrilled to read author Lee Childs If I Ruled The World. I was most impressed that he wanted to make teachers the most respected and highest paid professionals.

    I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school and have done so since my youngest daughter began school 12 years ago. Until then I had no idea just how much planning was involved in each lesson and how much patience was required in a class of 30 children! I also agree with Lee that there's nothing more rewarding than finishing a good book.

    A few weeks ago, I called an Uber to take me to the Boston airport for a flight home for the holidays. As I slid into the back seat of the car, the warm intonations(语调) of the driver's accent washed over me in a familiar way.

    I learned that he was a recent West African immigrant with a few young children, working hard to provide for his family. I could relate: I am the daughter of two Ethiopian immigrants who made their share of sacrifices to ensure my success. I told him I was on a college break and headed home to visit my parents. That's how he found out I went to Harvard. An approving eye glinted at me in the rearview window, and quickly, we crossed the boundaries of rider and driver. I became his daughter, all grown up—the product of his sacrifice.

    And then came the fateful question: "What do you study?" I answered "history and literature" and the pride in his voice faded, as I knew it might. I didn't even get to add "and African-American studies" before he cut in, his voice thick with disappointment, "All that work to get into Harvard, and you study history?"

    Here I was, his daughter, wasting the biggest opportunity of her life. He went on to deliver the age-old lecture that all immigrant kids know. We are to become doctors (or lawyers, if our parents are being generous)—to make money and send money back home. The unspoken demand, made across generations, which my Uber driver laid out plainly, is simple: Fulfill your role in the narrative(故事) of upward mobility so your children can do the same.

    I used to feel anxious and backed into a corner by the questioning, but now as a junior in college, I'm grateful for their support more than anything. This holiday season, I've promised myself I won't get annoyed at their inquiries. I won't defensively respond with "but I plan to go to law school!" when I get unrequested advice. I'll just smile and nod, and enjoy the warmth of the occasion.

I will never forget the year 1979. I was just ten years old when my father decided to take me to see a stunt (特技) show starring the famous motorcyclist, Evel Knievel. After seeing the amazing stunts, I started dreaming about riding bikes and performing stunts myself one day.

My whole childhood was spent at skate parks; there was a group of us that would go there every day after school with our BMX bikes (a type of bicycle designed to ride on rough ground). After all, I would need to get some practice if I was going to be like my hero!

My later teenage years were spent competing in endless BMX freestyling championships; some I won and others I lost. But it was never about the trophies (奖杯). The atmosphere was magical, with over 1,000 riders at some events. I just loved the rush of energy I got from this, and from continuously trying newer, more daring stunts.

In 1995, I was chosen to compete in an important international action sports competition. For once in my life I was nervous. I landed badly on my hand and got injured. It took me out of the sport for a while, but my attitude was: "If others have suffered more and gone on, then why can't I?" I had once read that Evel Knievel suffered a total of thirty­five broken bones.

When the International Olympic Committee made BMX an Olympic sport, I couldn't have been more delighted! The way I see it, the sport finally got the recognition it deserved. Its entry into the Olympics encourages more people to take it up seriously.

I have heard some people say that BMX is too dangerous for kids. The risks, though, are really no greater than, say skateboarding. With riders pushing the limits far beyond what I could ever have imagined when I first started riding professionally, BMX seems set to remain one of the most exciting sports in history.