Is Started with a Bunch of Anthuriums

    My first job out of high school was at a science research center. As a youngster, I was pretty worried by the administrative supervisor(行政主管). I wished I didn't have to pass her desk every morning. In the first month there, I don't think I ever saw her 1.

    I am not sure what encouraged me but one day I decided to bring her flowers. They were bright red anthuriums. As soon as I walked into the office, 2 her the flowers. But then, came the most beautiful smile. It spread across her face slowly and it seemed that the room got a bit 3 too. I remembered my heart pounding out of my chest because I then realized I had certainly not seen her smile before. She 4 me for the flowers and did so every day for as long as the flowers lasted. From then on, she always greeted me with a smile.

    Then, it became my 5 to make her smile every day. Some days I'd bring her something I baked, tell a funny story, or invite her to lunch with our colleagues. Then things6. She began to smile more and talk to people, even when she didn't need to. She just seemed lighter.

    Now you would think this 7 was about the administrative supervisor. It's not. It's about how it changed me. I used to be pretty shy but after that day with the anthuriums, I started coming out of my shell too and I learned to smile more. I began to see people 8, you know, actually " seeing" people by looking deeper rather than accepting the superficial(表面的).

    That experience taught me a lesson for life：A loving act of kindness has a beautiful way of helping both the receiver and the giver in ways that we cannot imagine.

Studying abroad

    Yuncheng went to school for only one day and he did not start learning to read until he was 12 years old. He has a disease which affects the muscles in his body. His parents first noticed there was something wrong with their son when he was just three years old. By the time he was seven, the boy could neither run nor jump. He could only walk. On his first day of school, Yuncheng had to watch the other students as they ran around at lunchtime. That day he caught a cold and his parents decided not to send him back to school. So Yuncheng stayed at home and over the years his condition got worse and worse.

    However, Yuncheng's condition has not stopped him making the most of his life. Yuncheng also taught himself to write and when he was 17 he wrote a letter to a newspaper describing his situation and his dream of a better life. The letter was read by Zhang Danuo, an editor at the newspaper, who was inspired by Yuncheng's spirit.

    Zhang Danuo offered to help Yuncheng achieve his ambition to write a book. Yuncheng was always happy when he finished an assignment." I felt everything in the world was beautiful and how wonderful it was to live in the world, "he said. Yuncheng's book describes what his life is like, what his hopes and dreams are and how he overcomes the problems he faces every day. Readers have been inspired by his courage and his good heart and his book has sold extremely well. Yuncheng says that because his life will not be long one, he must do as much as he can in the time that is left to him.

    How do you feel when your teacher asks you to work on a group project with other students? Do you like to work together with others or work alone?

    The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, carried out a survey of students' ability to work together in groups. They found that students who do well on tests by themselves are also likely to be better at working with other people.

    This finding was true for many countries. Students in Japan, South Korea, Finland and Canada, where test scores are high, also did well in working together to solve problems. But this was not the case for every country. Chinese students, who tend(趋向)to have high scores as well, displayed just average collaborative(合作的)skills.

    "One reason might be that Chinese parents and teachers focus too much on grades, "said Zhao Zhongxin, former vice president of the Chinese Family Education Association." Students have a lot of exam pressure and they view school as a place for competition."

    "However  collaborative skills are very important for preparing students for today's society, "he added." Luckily, more Chinese parents and teachers are realizing the importance of this and are thinking of ways to help students improve this skill."

    Another interesting finding from the PISA survey was that girls tend to be better than boys at working together. They said girls show more positive attitudes toward relationships, which means they are more willing to listen to others' opinions.

    PISA also found that the classroom environment tends to influence how well students collaborate. In classes where there are a lot of activities that require communication, such as class debates, students tend to have better attitudes toward collaborating.

    A new research has discovered that meditation(冥想)and oxygen sport together reduce depression(抑郁). The Rutgers University study found that this mind and body combination, done twice a week for only two months, reduced the symptoms of a group of students by 40 percent.

    "We are excited by the findings because we saw such a meaningful improvement in both clinically depressed and non-depressed students, "said lead author Dr. Brandon Alderman." It is the first time that both of these two behavioral ways have been looked at together for dealing with depression."

    Researchers believe the two activities have an interactive(交互的)effect in combating depression. Alderman and Dr. Tracey Shors discovered that a combination of mental and physical training( MAP) enabled students with major depressive disorder not to let problems or negative thoughts defeat them.

    Rutgers researchers say those who participated in the study began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of oxygen sport. They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing, which enabled those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention.

    Shors, who studies the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus-part of the brain involved in memory and learning-says scientists have shown in animal models that oxygen sport exercise keeps a large number of certain cells alive.

    The idea for the human intervention(干预)came from her laboratory studies, she says, with the main goal of helping individuals acquire new skills so that they can learn to recover from stressful life events.

    By learning to focus their attention and exercise, people who are fighting depression can acquire new learning skills that can help them process information and reduce the overwhelming recollection of memories from the past, Shors says.

    "We know these treatments can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be affective in improving mental health, "said Alderman." The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost."

Green is the Way to Go

    Today, communities(社区)around the US are going green. For some, that means paying attention to the environment by recycling or controlling pollution. But others are turning their neighborhoods green by planting community gardens.

    Green Brings Benefits

    A growing number of government and community leaders point out that gardening is a great way to improve the appearance of a neighborhood. It also unites neighborhood residents(居民). Research at Texas A＆M University and the University of Illinois shows that city areas with more green have less crime.

    One Neighborhood's Story

    Norris Square in Philadelphia is a neighborhood that has benefits from a community garden. In the 1980s, Norris Square was known for its run-down buildings and vacant parking lots filled with rubbish. Then a group of Puerto Rican women planted vegetables and flowers in one vacant lot. Soon there was also an outdoor kitchen and colorful murals showing rural life in Puerto Rico.

    The community garden became a place of beauty and a source of fresh food for Norris Square residents. It also became a source of neighborhood pride. Soon people were working together to do home repairs, clean up other vacant lots, remove graffiti, and plant more trees and flowers throughout the neighborhood.

Today, instead of fights in the park, there are festivals. Instead of abandoned cars along the streets, there are trees. People can now enjoy a neighborhood that is cleaner, safer, and more beautiful.

    Plant Your Own Seeds

    If you want to start a community garden in your area, you can get information from the Community Gardening Association at www.communitygarden.org.

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