Make A Difference Day is the largest national day of community service in the USA, which takes place on the fourth Saturday of October.

    Who takes part in Make A Difference Day?

    Anyone! Young and old, individuals and groups, anyone can carry out a volunteer project that helps others. It might be as ambitious as collecting truckloads of clothing for the homeless, or as personal as spending an afternoon helping an elderly neighbor or relative. USA WEEKEND covers volunteers and their projects in articles and photos.

    How do I get started?

    Look around your community. Are people hungry, homeless or ill? Are parks or schools dirty or neglected? No matter where you live, there's a need nearby. And on Make A Difference Day, millions of Americans are expected to roll up their sleeves to help others. You can act alone or enlist your friends, family and co-workers. You can also call the Make A Difference Day Hot Line, 1-800-416-3824, for information. Or use the ideas on this website for inspiration.

    What do I do after I've selected a project?

    Tell others what you're doing and enlist help. Several weeks before the day, tell us about your plans in the Make A Difference DAYtaBANK, a national listing of local projects that will be viewed by interested volunteers, other people looking for good project ideas and news media looking for good stories to tell. It will only take a few minutes to post your plans in the DAYtaBANK hosted by HandsOn Network.

    Do it!

    Carry out your plans to help others on Make A Difference Day. Be sure to take lots of pictures and share them on the Make A Difference Day Photo Album.

    A study, conducted by David Evans of the World Bank and Anna Popova of Stanford University, looked at 19 programs around the world in which individuals were given cash transfers from the government, either as a handout or as a "reward" for something like getting kids to school on time or taking them to the doctor for checkups.

    Evans and Popova looked at the impact those cash transfers had on the family budget and whether or not they led to an increase in spending on alcohol and cigarettes .What they found was that they almost always led to a reduction in a family's alcohol and tobacco purchases.

     The news may surprise some people, but it's true, and the researchers have several theories about why.

    One theory is that the cash transfer made things possible that once seemed impossible. Investing in their kids' education or buying healthier and more expensive foods may be within reach now, but without the cash handout, these goals weren't even a possibility. So families cut back on other expenses (like alcohol and tobacco) to make those dreams a reality.

    Another theory is that people just generally seem to do what they're told. If they are given money and told to use it for their family's welfare, in most cases, they will do just that. And that leads to the third theory: These cash transfers are usually given to women, and studies show that when women control the purse strings, more money is spent on taking care of their children.

    Whatever the reason for the trend, the data is clear—families that receive cash handouts don't waste the money on booze and cigarettes as was previously thought. Instead, they typically use that money for the benefit of their families. And that's money well spent.

    "Fast fashion" means clothes which are inexpensive but look like the latest designs. One reason for the success of fast fashion is the rise of the social media. A report by the investment research firm Bernstein found that Millennials—people born in the 1980s and 90s— wanted to wear a variety of clothes in the photos they posted on social media. As a result, many businesses which offer trendy and low-cost clothes are growing.

    But the situation is changing now. Maxine, a woman in her early thirties, looks in her closet full of clothes, but she has nothing to wear. She says she hates always shopping for what is in style.    Instead, she wants to buy fewer clothes that she can wear over and over. "Other people want the same thing." she says.

    So Maxine and a business partner, Soraya, started a "slow fashion" clothing company called Zady. "Slow fashion" means clothes that last a long time. They often feature classic colors and shapes, and are made from natural materials.

    The terms "fast fashion" and "slow fashion" are related to "fast food" and "slow food": fast food is still popular in the U.S., but many restaurants increasingly offer high-quality, more expensive and relaxed meals.

    Like slow food, slow fashion also aims to use sources that are good for the environment and workers. Maxine says people in her generation want to know where their clothes come from and who is making them. To answer Millennials' demand for information about the products they buy, Ms Maxine's company, Zady, includes details about the history of the brands. It also describes the process in which the clothes are made. Maxine says Zady aims to tell shoppers where their clothes come from, where they go, and how they impact the world.

    The international business H&M is answering Millennials' demands in another way. It has created a recycling program for clothes. Shoppers who bring clothes they no longer want to H&M stores can receive a discount on new things they buy. An H&M spokesman says, "We have a clear vision to avoid and minimize waste that goes into landfills."

    “Who made your T-shirt?” A Harvard University student raised that question. Piertra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to find the answer. A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path form Texas cotton, to Chinese factory and to charity bin (慈善捐赠箱). The result is an interesting new book, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy.

    Following a T-shirt around the world in a way to make her point more interesting, but it also frees Rivoli from the usual arguments over global trade. She goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner. In China, Rivoli shows why a clothing factory, even with its poor conditions, means a step towards a better care for the people who work there. In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes that, “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market,” where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color. Rivoli's book is full of memorable people and scenes, like the noise, the bad air and the “muddy sweet smell of the cotton,” she says. “Here in the factory, Shanghai smells like shallow water Texas.”

    Rivoli is at her best when making those sorts of unexpected connections. She even finds one between the free traders and those who are against globalization. The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check. True economic progress needs them both.

    How do young children learn to have good values? How can parents teach their children about the importance of kindness and patience? At a time more and more parents worry about the violent images (暴力形象) their children see on TV and on the Internet. So many parents are turning to fairy tales. They want to teach their children how to behave in society by this way.

    It is believed that fairy tales have a great influence on children because they describe the two sides of good and evil (邪恶) very clearly. When children hear the tales, they learn to care about others' feelings. In each tale, they can see that there are many different kinds of people in the world and that we all have a choice about what kind of person we want to be. We can choose to do good actions, rather than bad ones, in our lives.

    What kind of values can children learn from fairy tales? In The Princess and the Pea, a poorly dressed girl says she is a princess. Few people believe her, so she is given a difficult test. When she passes the test, we learn that her dream comes true because she stays true to herself. In the Little Mermaid (《小美人鱼》), the mermaid, who lives under the sea, wishes to be with the humans on land. Through her experiences, we learn about the importance of living with and accepting other cultures.

    Teaching values is probably the main reason for encouraging children to read fairy tales. These tales can teach children lessons about human relationships that have been accepted around the world for many centuries. This might be the reason why they have been around for so long and will not disappear any time soon.

"What should I learn to stay excellent?" {#blank#}1{#/blank#} , but it is still worth thinking—both for the professional benefits and the complete joy of learning something new. Here is a look at sone skills that will surely benefit you. 

Self-management

Self-management is your ability to manage behaviors, thoughts and emotions. It is a way that better serves you and your work. Rules of self-management usually include: How to create and keep a calendar; {#blank#}2{#/blank#} ; How to do a weekly review; How to focus deeply. 

Logic and reasoning

Logical（逻辑） thinking can be extremely powerful for making better decisions and solving problems. However, most of us receive little training in this area in school. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} .

How to do exercise

You can just pick an activity you enjoy and do it regularly. Try different things and see what you enjoy. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . The best program is the one you'll actually hold on to.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} .

Knowing how to fix things around your house or apartment is wonderful. Instead of having to wait hours or days for others to fix it. you can do so immediately. And doing your own repairs can save you lots of money. You can buy a basic tool kit. And when you meet some kind of problem with your place, see if you can figure out how to fix it on the Internet.

A. It's a difficult question to answer

B. How to make and use a to-do list

C. How to perform basic home repairs

D. There's a bit more to it than that

E. So it's worth spending some time learning how to think logically

F. And remember that there's no such a thing as the "best" exercise program

G. But having logical thinking in your mental "toolbox" can be very useful