You're rushing to work and a man ahead of you collapses (跌倒) on the sidewalk. Do you stop to help? In a study of by-standers, it was found that some people avert their gaze and keep on walking rather than stop and get involved. “There is a tendency to decide that no action is needed.” says a psychologist. “The first thoughts that pop into (进入) your mind often keep you from offering help. In order to take action, you have to work against them.” Here are some common thoughts that might prevent you from helping.

    Why should I be the one? I'm probably not the most competent (有能力的) person in this crowd. You might think someone older or with more medical knowledge should offer assistance (帮助).

    What if he doesn't really need my help? The fear of embarrassment is powerful; no one wants to risk looking foolish in front of others.

    No one else looks concerned-this must not be a problem. We can follow the people around us, but most  people tend to hold back their emotions in public.

     “If you spot (发现) trouble and find yourself explaining inaction, force yourself to stop and evaluate the situation instead of walking on,” says the psychologist. “Then retry to involve other people; you don't have to take on the entire responsibility of being helpful. Sometimes it's just a matter of turning to the person next to you and saying, “It looks like we should do something.” Or asking someone if an ambulance has been called and, if not, to call for one. Once you take action, most people will follow you.”

    One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange problem — inability to read.

    In the library, I found my way into the “Children's Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

    There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked identical（相同的）to my dog. I ran my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. Unknowingly, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together.

    My mother's call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.

    I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般地) experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words has held.

    My wife, daughter, and I moved into our home nine years ago and we spent a lot of time and energy in the yard to get it looking like the way it does today. We live on a corner, higher than street level, and the entire side of the yard is surrounded by a professionally built rock wall. The front of the house though is another story because instead of a wall along the sidewalk, the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish.

    We did the best we could with what we had to work with and called this area our "rock garden". Whenever we had leftover flowers or plants, Denise or I would stick them out front, just to bring some color to the area. We would do all of the yard work on our own, even the tiring weed-pulling.

    Last summer I had reached the end of the rock garden and found a tiny little plant that I could not immediately identify, I knew I didn't plant it and Denise claimed that she didn't either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could figure out what it was.

    Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the mystery plant, it appeared to be a Sunflower with a tall skinny stalk（茎，杆）and only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The Sunflower had not started where I saw the stalk begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.

    That's when I realized that if a tiny little Sunflower didn't let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. Once our environment begins to see that we believe in ourselves like that little Sunflower, we can attain the same nourishment（营养）and growth as well.

    Stand tall like the Sunflower and be proud of who and what you are and the environment will begin to support you. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle in order to reach your desires.

Welcome to Student Voice

    What is it?

    Student Voice aims to promote student engagement and success in Ontario's schools by listening to and learning from students. Student Voice provides you, the students, with a variety of ways to share your ideas with your school, the education community and the ministry about what would help support your engagement in your learning. Student Voice can help you take action to shape your learning environment while you build your skills.

    Check out this video to get an idea of what's changing for Ontario students!

    It all starts with you.

    Speak up! You have a voice and we want to hear what you have to say about your education. Your ideas and actions can make a difference in Ontario's publicly funded education system. We want to help you make your school a place where everyone feels welcome and where you are empowered to speak your mind, get involved and become active citizens and leaders.

    Students told as that you want to:

    ●share your ideas with government on how to strengthen student engagement and make Ontario's publicly funded education system even better.

     ●have a school culture where all students feel and know that they belong.

    ●work as partners with your teachers, and participate in school decisions that will shape your lives and the lives of other students.

    This is your education. Speak up and get involved! Let's all work together to ensure Ontario's publicly funded education system remains among the best in the world.

    Send your comments and ideas to studentvoice@ontario.ca

    Johnny Smith was a good math student at a high school. He loved his computer. He came home early every day, and then he worked with it till midnight. But Johnny was not a good English student, not good at all. He got an F in his English class. One day after school Johnny joined his computer to the computer in his high school office. The school office computer had the grades of all the students: the math grades, the science grades, the grades in arts and music, and the grades in English. He found his English grade. An F! Johnny changed his English grade from an F to A. Johnny' parents looked at his report card. They were very happy.

    "An A in English!" said Johnny's Dad. "You're a very clever boy, Johnny."

    Johnny is a hacker(黑客). Hackers know how to take information from other computers and put new information in. Using a modem（调制调解器）, they join their computers to other computers secretly. School headmasters and teachers are worried about hackers. So are the police, for some people even take money from bank computer account and put it into their own ones. And they never have to leave home to do it! They are called hackers.

I was asked by a reader recently why so many animals seem to have pink ears，when their bodies are all different colours? The truth is that most animals actually don't have pink ears. Let us explain.

Near the equator (赤道), where the climate is hot, animals are likely to have darker skin, including on their ears. Think of the African elephant, which has quite dark ears. In colder climates, skin colour is usually lighter and often pink.

Why is skin colour different in different climates? Skin pigmentation, which is what gives skin its colour, can protect against sunburn and skin cancer. When animals live in colder parts of the world, they don't need it as much to survive. Light-coloured skin also helps animals stay warmer because it reduces heat loss, which is useful if you're in a colder climate.

For most animals, the colour of their fur or other body covering has generally developed as camouflage. That allows animals to mix into the background and avoid being eaten, or for predators (捕食者) to remain hidden during hunting. One example is the sandy-coloured coat of the desert fennec fox, which uses camouflage for both hunting and hiding.

By the way, in many animals, ears come in many different shapes and sizes. For example, in bats, the serval (a type of African wildcat) and the fennec fox, the ears are large compared to their body size—this helps them hear better because it allows them to sense more sound waves. Naked mole-rats have tiny ears because they need to dig a lot. Big ears would get in the way. The other downside of big ears is that you can lose a lot of body heat. That's why animals that live in really cold places, like the Arctic fox, have quite small ears.