The answer to protecting and saving marine(海洋) wildlife can start with cutting back on something Americans use every day—plastic drinking straws. Actor Adrien Grenier, best known for playing Vincent Chase in 2015 movie Entourage, has launched a campaign to reduce the amount of single-use plastic usage in this country in order to protect and save marine wildlife and the environment. Plastic drinking straws are among many single-use plastic products contributing to the shocking loss of marine life, but they're a great place to start because they're something Americans are using by the hundreds of millions without any awareness that they're so damaging.

According to Ecocycle, an international environmental organization, Americans use more than 500 million straws daily, which are enough to fill 127 school buses each day, and they can't be recycled. They means plastic straws end up in landfills or oceans, where fish and other marine wildlife mistake the small bits for food and swallow them. After seeing a photo of a whale beached on the shore with a belly full of plastic, Grenier felt the inspiration to launch the Lonely Whale Foundation, hoping to inspire and educate others on the challenges facing marine life.

     Along with stopping the use of straws, Grenier hopes to educate consumers on the dangers of other single-use plastic items such as grocery bags and water bottles. While many Americans use these plastic products in their daily life, there are more sustainable alternatives that can help protect the environment. Ecocycle recommends the use of straws made from stainless steel, glass, and even bamboo instead of plastic. You can buy a number of these environmentally friendly straws online and in stores.

    Let's have fun!

    Big Hugs Elmo

    Sesame Street Big Hugs Elmo. There are so many ways to play with Sesame Street Big Hugs Elmo! When preschoolers give Elmo a great big hug, he'll hug back, say fun phrases or sing a sweet song about hugs! Press Elmo's left foot and he will invite children to join in 1 of 4 imagination activities. There are 50 plus lively sounds and phrases. Elmo loves getting hugs from you. Let's play.

    Furby Boom Figure—Peacock

    A whole new generation of Furby creatures is about to be born! Dust off your Furbish dictionary and get ready to party with your Furby Boon creature! Your Furby has a mind of its own, and the way you treat your Furby will shape its personality—so the more fun you have with it, the better! It speaks more English the more you play with it. Tickle（挠痒）your Furby, talk to it, and feed it.

    FurReal Friends Cuddles My Giggly Monkey

    Cuddles My Giggly Monkey responds in lifelike ways to being loved and cared for. Feed her with the banana-shaped bottle and she will move her mouth like a real baby monkey, make slurping sounds, and even say “mm” when she's full! Snuggle（偎依）her close and she will turn to snuggle right back while making sweet, lovable monkey sounds. When it's time for bed, rock Cuddles, and she will also sleepy sounds.

    The First Flower Girl Doll—Disney Sofia

    Your little Sofia then first fan will love this target-exclusive 10 flower girl doll; she is inspired by the hit animated series from Disney Junior, Sofia the First. This beautiful Sofia doll is beautifully dressed in a never-before0seen gown inspired by the flower girl fashion she wore at her mom's royal wedding.

    If you get into the forest with your friends, stay with them always. If you don't, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don't try to find your friends—let them find you by staying in one place.

    There is another way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give them a signal (信号) by shouting or whistling (吹口哨) three times. Any signal given three times is a call for help.

    Keep up shouting or whistling always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They give you two shouts, two whistles, or two gun-shots (枪声). When someone gives you a signal, it is an answer to a call for help.

If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house—cover up to the holes with branches (树枝) with lots of leaves. Make yourself a soft bed with leaves and grass.

    What should you do if you get hungry or need drinking water? You would have to leave your little house to look for a river. Don't just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back. The most important thing to do when you are lost is—stay in one place.

Dear 17-year-old self,

    When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family. This sounds simple, and you may think it's a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

    I said INVEST.

    I did not say GIVE

    Let me explain.

    Purely giving material things to your siblings（兄弟姐妹） may appear to be right decision. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay, all of their bill. You want them to live a beautiful comfortable life, right？

    But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.

    You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world﹣and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all.

Invest in their future, don't just give.

    Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

    I'm writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don't have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning（断绝） them off of the addiction that you facilitated That addiction only leads to anger, hatred and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.

    As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.

    Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and headache, some of which remains to this day.

Much love

    When I was about 4 years old, I decided to go to Disney World. For most young kids, it's a normal request, but I had cerebral palsy(脑瘫).Walking into anywhere, let alone a crowded place like Disney World was, to put it lightly, a tall order. Luckily, I had people in my corner to help me. Over the next three years, I worked with physical doctors, acquired a walker, and practiced walking, standing, and balance—all skills that I would need to turn my goal into a reality.

    I remember the feeling when my legs would protest doing any more work. Despite this, everyone else told me I could do it, so I kept it up. It was all because of people like my parents, brothers, teachers, and doctors that I was able to grow so much, both physically and mentally. Constantly pushing me to “walk on,” yet encouraging me whenever I needed it.

    On June 9, 2008, as I stood in the tunnel leading into Main Street, My dad asked me if I wanted any help. I instantly replied, “No!” and situated myself facing the end of the tunnel, feet planted firmly, heart most likely beating out of my chest. Then I went, walking ever so slowly at first, then gradually speeding up. Step, step, step, step, bump. Holding fast onto the handlebars, I gathered up all my strength, picked up my walker and straightened out, picking up my pace once again. It wasn't too long before the cheering increased because I had made it to the end, where my mom was waiting with tears in her eyes and arms open wide ready to hug her son and tell him how proud she was.

    Looking back on that experience, I realize something pretty thoughtful. Every once in a while, life will throw a few bumps in the road. Though it may set you back for a bit, don't let it stop you. Pick yourself back up and finish. It's worth it. Besides, there just might be someone there cheering you on along the way.

A new study of fifth and sixth graders in Germany examined the relation between classmates' gender stereotypes (性别刻板印象) and individual students' reading outcomes to explain how these stereotypes contribute to the gender gap in reading.

"It's a cycle of sorts," explains Francesca Muntoni, a researcher at the University of Hamburg, who leads the study. "Reading is first thought as a female advantage." It stresses that girls are born to have an advantage in reading, which in turn greatly affects boys by causing them to devalue their actual reading ability. So finally, it damages their reading motivation (积极性)."

The study has proven that boys are less motivated to read and hold weaker reading-related beliefs about their own skills if they hold the strong stereotype mentioned above. And accordingly, they perform poorly in the reading test. The effect of classmates' stereotypes is seen over and above the effect of individual stereotypes. The study found fewer individual positive effects and no effects of classmates, stereotyping on reading-related outcomes for girls.

The researchers say although their study provides evidence of lasting negative effects of stereotypical beliefs in a classroom context, they need more experimental findings on the subject. They also note that students' gender stereotypes were measured by self-reports, which might limit their accuracy. Finally, they point out that their study did not settle how gender stereotypes were formed.

"To solve socially the determined gender inequality in reading and help create classroom contexts that discourage students from acting on their stereotypical beliefs, teacher and parents may consider educating boys and girls in ways that change stereotypical behaviors. And thus students can become aware of their gender stereotypes to counteract their effects on other students' outcomes and to create a gender-fair learning environment," says Jan Retelsdorf, professor of the University of Hamburg, who co-authored the study.