My grandparents believed that you were either honest or you were not. They had a simple saying hanging on their living-room wall: “Life is like a field of newly fallen snow. Where I choose to walk every step will show.” They didn't have to talk about it; they showed this truth by the way they lived.

    They understood that honesty is an inner(内部的) standard for judging your behavior. Unfortunately, honesty is in short supply today. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society and a discipline (自制能力) we must demand of ourselves.

    There's a story told about a surgical nurse's first day on the medical team at a well-known hospital. She was responsible(负责) for all surgical instruments and materials during an operation. At the end of the operation, the nurse said to the doctor, “ You've only removed 11 sponges（海绵）, and we used 12. We need to find the last one.”

    “I removed them all,” the doctor assured her. “ No, you didn't , sir,” insisted the nurse. “ Think of the patient.”

    Smiling, the doctor lifted his foot and showed the nurse the twelfth sponge.

    So when you know you're right, you can't yield. Don't be afraid of those who might have a better idea or who might even be more intelligent than you are.

    Self-respect and a clear awareness (意识)of right and wrong are powerful parts of honesty and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others. Honesty means you do what you do because it's right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not easily yielding, will always take you forward. My grandparents taught me that.

    It was dawn of March 21, 2018. Gary Messina was on his morning run along New York City'8East River. Suddenly something caught his eye—a large 60-year-old man balancing on the four-foot-high fence that guarded the path from the water. As Messina got closer to the scene, the man took a step forward and slipped into the dark river below.

    When Messina reached nearer, the man was struggling in the water, clearly unable to swim. Other joggers also heard the man's cry. David Blauzvern and John Green dropped their phones and keys on land and jumped in. “ People had called the police, but it was unclear when they'd get there,” says Green. “We just reacted. Messina joined them in the river. Just as the jumper was losing strength, Blauzvern take hold of him. The pair were about 30 yards from the seawall when Messina and Green caught up to them. They seized the man, with Blauzvern supporting his back and Messina and Green holding him up from either side. As the men made their way toward the concrete seawall that stretched for blocks in each direction, Blauzvern had an awful realization:there was no way out of the river.

    By now, a crowd had gathered on land. “A rescue boat is on its way, someone yelled to them. Swimming forward was getting tougher by the minute. The jumper, who was six foot two and weighed around 260 pounds, was heavy in his rescuers' arms. After ten minutes, they managed to get to the river's edge. “I've never been so out of breath, ”says Blauzvern.

    Fifteen minutes after the men had jumped into the river, the two-man rescue boat appeared. But because it couldn't risk getting too close to the seawall, the men had to swim out to it. “I was completely out of energy at this point, “says Blauzver. The men in the water pushed the jumper while the men in the boat pulled him up and, finally, to safety. The man they had saved was taken to the hospital for evaluation(评估). Details on his condition have not been released. As for the rescuers, each of them was at work by 10:30a. m. “I was a bit late,” admits Blauzvern, smiling. “But I had a good excuse.”

    There are two type of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

    People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied .By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves dissgreeable everywhere .If this turn of mind was founded in nature ,such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied . The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation .It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realise its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them and help them change this habit.

    Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck .Those people offend many others; nobody loves them , and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success .Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others, If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them .Otherwise , it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient , especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

Life in the Clear

    Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet — as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, "These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they're eating it, or unless something is eating them."

    And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see­through? It's trickier than you might think.

    The objects around you are visible because they interact with light.  Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter (散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks.  Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.

    But a transparent object doesn't absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn't look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don't see it — you see the things behind it.

    To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments (色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn't have pigments, so its tissues won't absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.

    Animals are built of many different materials — skin, fat, and more — and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat.  Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see­through. Others build a large, clear mass of non­living jelly­lie (果冻状的) material and spread themselves over it.

    Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they're doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process.  When they die, they turn a non­transparent milky white.

    I was ever bullied badly when I was in high school. One kid in particular would try to make me feel worse in every way he knew. For example, he would throw stuff at me constantly, hit me on the head, punch(殴打)me, call me ugly and stupid, make fun of me and, of course tell me he would beat me up if I ever fought back. It was like his daily mission.

    And it was my daily mission to just get through the day. What could I say? It made my world very small because that was my main focus- just surviving. Everything else fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, that included any form of social life. So not only was my world tiny, but it was very lonely

    Looking back to that time, which was about 11years ago, my biggest mistake was not bringing anyone into that world of mine. I was too proud (and embarrassed) to get help. I would rather not face the fact that I needed help because in my mind, that would mean that the bully won. It would also mean that I was weak.

    Let me just say this: bullying someone is a weak choice. The only reason why they come after you is that they think you won't do anything about it. Does that make anyone strong? Absolutely not. Be stronger-ask a parent, a teacher or a friend for help. Simply admit that you are struggling and need help.

    You can put it like this, "Somebody who is weak and trying to build himself or herself up has chosen to do that by putting me down. The only reason why they are doing that is that I am nice and I haven't done anything about it yet. Well I am through putting up with this. I have basic human rights that they are trying to take away to feel better and that is just not OK. How do I handle this? I don't want the pain cycle to continue and I don't want to become someone I don't want to be.

    It can be a real struggle trying to learn a new language. I had always enjoyed learning languages in school, but only recently did I start learning German. I found that I could understand and learn individual words easily, but when it came to literature, I really struggled. That was when my tutor at university suggested reading some children's books printed in the target language.

    At first, I felt a bit silly going on a hunt for a book designed for someone half my age, lout then I realised that everyone has to start somewhere. As children, we are given these basic texts to familiarise our brains with certain vocabulary and writing structures, and from there, we can learn and develop. I started with books which are taught to us as children in the UK. I managed to find Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

    The beauty of reading books that were introduced to you as a child is that you are already familiar with the plot. As a result, you can work out some of the definitions of words with your prior knowledge of the story. At first, I used to read with the book in one hand and a dictionary in the other, but this method did not work well for me. The method I would recommend is to read a chapter of your chosen children's book and at the end of that chapter, highlight the words you do not know and then look up the definitions. If you can wait a bit before you use a dictionary, you may be surprised what you can get merely from the context of the sentence in the story. Additionally, a lot of children's books have pictures which may give you a clue as to what or to whom the passage is referring.