While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.

    The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to complete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.

    I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold—his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.

    I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.

    But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.

    No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.

    A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.

    Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.

    In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog.

In a Station of the Metro

    The apparition of these faces in the crowd;Petals on a wet, black bough.

    This is the only Ezra Pound poem that many people will read in their lives. Why? One obvious reason is that it's just two lines long. The poem, which can be understood as “A man sees a bunch of faces in the subway and thinks they look like flowers on a tree branch,” is an exercise in shortness. Pound wrote it after having a spiritual experience in a Paris metro (subway) station.

    In 1916, the US poet originally thought he could best describe his vision in a painting. Unfortunately, he wasn't a painter. So he wrote a thirty-line poem, which he didn't like. He dropped the long version in the waste bin. Six months later, he wrote a shorter poem, but didn't like that one either. Finally, a full year after the experience, he had been reading short Japanese poems called haikus, and he figured he would try this style. The result, which was published in 1913, is one of the most famous and influential works in modern poetry.

    This poem is one of the monuments (纪念物) of the 20th-century artistic movement known as “Imagism”. Basically, Pound and his friends thought that images (意象) weren't just decoration: they were the highest form of speech. By finding the right image, the poet can express the true, spiritual reality of a thing, which is more important than using a bunch of adjectives to describe its physical appearance. Thus, “In a Station of the Metro” is a poem that consists of one image expressed with absolute (绝对的) exactness and nothing else.

    To the imagists, the best way to describe an experience is not to use more and more words; the best way is to find exactly the right words. Have you ever told a beloved one that “words can't express” how much you love them? Well, Pound would say that you're just being lazy. In his view, words can express anything, even if it takes an entire year to find the right ones.

    England continues to be one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. London in particular is one of the most visited cities and draws people in with its appeal, history, and pubs. England's smaller cities, like Bath and Oxford, are equally as attractive with a lot of culture and fewer crowds. Liverpool, birthplace of The Beatles, has a rich musical history. The countryside has wonderful natural beauty. Here are some tips on traveling in England.

    Free museums—Public museums offer free admission in every city throughout England and the UK. It's a great way to learn about the country's most influential artists and history, and spend a rainy day without paying a cent.

    Book early—Book all transportation well in advance, even if you don't plan to use it. Fares can be around ￡2 with a little planning. The Megabus not only runs buses but also provides trains throughout England and is the best choice for cheap travel throughout the country.

    Pub food—Eating in England can be quite expensive, but for good cheap and filling meals, visit the local pubs, where you can get a good meal for less than ￡10. Besides, the pubs are a great way to meet people!

    Get a Taste of UK card—The Taste of the UK card offers up to 50% off at selected restaurants. You don't need to be an English to get the card, and you needn't pay the first month's membership fee, which is perfect for most travelers.

    Take a free walking tour—Many major cities in England offer free walking tours. They usually last a few hours and are a great way to see the city.

    Animals, including insects, do not have a language like ours. They do not talk to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have ways of communicating with each other.

    Can you see the rabbits' tail? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run too. The rabbit has reminded them of potential dangers without making a sound. It has given them a signal.

    Many other animals use this kind of language. When a cobra(眼镜蛇) is angry, it raises its hood(兜帽) and makes itself look fierce. This warns other animals. When a bee has found some food, it goes back to its home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

    Some animals say things by making sound. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs(猫的呜呜声) when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like “Oh” or “Ah!” when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.

    But we have something that no animals have a large number of words which have the meanings of things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other all kinds of different information in words and sentences, which no other animals can do. No other animals have so wonderful a language as we have.

    The Broadcom MASTERS competition aims to find a balance between celebrating individual accomplishments and acknowledging that science seldom happens alone. The competition takes off when students from around the country are teamed up and have to solve a series of hands—on challenges in the spotlight.

    Nowadays, kids are fed with “the myth of the lone scientist”, so placing such challenges in the middle school period has a huge potential for impact. The focus on teambuilding skills gets students excited before more fears and stereotypes(成见)set in.

    The initial pool of qualified students comes from the participants in nation-wide science fairs. Those who score in the top 10％(about 10, 000 kids)have the qualification to apply. The judges select the top 300 young scientists, and that group is finally narrowed to 30 finalists.

    Selection at this stage is clearly an honor in itself, but it counts as step one for the finalists. They are then flown to Washington, D. C. and placed into teams of five for the hands-on part of the competition. Each team is made up of students with different talents and skills, including academic focus and experience.

    Unlike the science fairs, where most of the work takes place behind the scenes and students share a polished outcome, the hands-on challenges create a space where the work is the competition itself. The students take up a range of challenges in science, technology, engineering, math and so on. Each of the challenges will need the insight and skills of multiple team members.

    Judges observing the challenges aren't just looking for outcomes but also for leadership, teamwork and problem solving.

    The Broadcom MASTERS attracts increasing numbers of passionate and talented young people who are eager to take part in a program that helps them grow as scientists, engineers and inventors. It lets the students experience a sense of coming together with true peers. More importantly, it provides them with new skills to tackle future challenges.

    Everyday Food by Martha Stewart

    No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day you want meals that are easy to prepare. And you want lots of choices and variations. You'll find all of that in this book: 250 simple recipes for delicious meals that bring freshness and nutrition.

    Paperback, published by Random House, $16.79

    Zeroes

    By Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

    The New York Times best-selling author Scott Westerfeld teams up with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti in the book about six teenagers with amazing abilities. These teenagers have powers that set them apart. They can do things ordinary people can't.

    Paperback, published by Simon & Schuster, $12.99

    Mighty Jack

    By Ben Hatke

    Jack dislikes summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his sister, Maddy. It's lots of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. But one day, at the market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made.

    Hardcover, published by First Second, $14.15

    Only Daughter

    By Anna Snoekstra

    She's caught stealing. She's homeless and on the run. But she happens to look the same as a girl who went missing a decade ago, Rebecca Winter. She takes Rebecca's identity, using it as a way out. Little does she know her new life as Rebecca is itself a prison and it looks like a killer might be after her.

    Kindle edition, published by Harlequin Enterprises, $8.88