Papa, as a son of a dirt-poor farmer, left school early and went to work in a factory, for education was for the rich then. So, the world became his school. With great interest, he read everything he could lay his hands on, listened to the town elders and learned about the world beyond his tiny hometown. "There's so much to learn," he'd say. "Though we're born stupid, only the stupid remain that way. " He was determined that none of his children would be denied an education.

    Thus, Papa insisted that we learn at least one new thing each day. Though, as children, we thought this was crazy, it would never have occurred to us to deny Papa a request. And dinner time seemed perfect for sharing what we had learned. We would talk about the news of the day; no matter how insignificant, it was never taken lightly. Papa would listen carefully and was ready with some comment, always to the point.

    Then came the moment—the time to share the day's new learning.

    Papa, at the head of the table, would push back his chair and pour a glass of red wine, ready to listen.

    "Felice," he'd say, "tell me what you learned today. "

    "I learned that the population of Nepal is .... "

    Silence.

    Papa was thinking about what was said, as if the salvation of the world would depend upon it. "The population of Nepal. Hmm. Well . . . . " he'd say. "Get the map; let's see where Nepal is. " And the whole family went on a search for Nepal.

    This same experience was repeated until each family member had a turn. Dinner ended only after we had a clear understanding of at least half a dozen such facts.

    As children, we thought very little about these educational wonders. Our family, however, was growing together, sharing experiences and participating in one another's education. And by looking at us, listening to us, respecting our input, affirming our value, giving us a sense of dignity, Papa was unquestionably our most influential teacher.

    Later during my training as a future teacher /1 studied with some of the most famous educators. They were imparting what Papa had known all along—the value of continual learning. His technique has served me well all my life. Not a single day has been wasted, though I can never tell when knowing the population of Nepal might prove useful.

    A little old couple walked slowly into McDonald's one cold winter evening. They were so old that they looked out of place among the young families and young couples eating there that night.

    Some of the customers looked admiringly at them. You could tell what the admirers were thinking. “Look, there is a couple who has been through a lot together, probably for 60 years or more!”

    The little old man walked right up to the cash register (收银台), placed his order with no hesitation and then paid for their meal. The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off the tray (托盘). There was one hamburger, one order of French fries and one drink. The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. Then he carefully counted out the French fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them.

    As the man began to eat his few bites of hamburger the crowd began to get restless. Again you could tell what they were thinking, “That poor old couple. All they can afford is one meal for the two of them.”

    As the man began to eat his French fries one young man stood and came over to the old couple's table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple to eat. The old man replied that they were just fine. They were used to sharing everything.

    Then the crowd noticed that the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She just sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.

    Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy them something to eat. This time the lady explained that, no, they were used to sharing everything together.

    As the little old man finished eating and was wiping his face neatly with a napkin the young man could stand it no longer. Again he came over to their table and offered to buy some food.

    After being politely refused again, he finally asked a question of the little old lady. “Ma'am, why aren't you eating? You said that you share everything. What is it that you are waiting for?”

    She answered, “The teeth”.

    An organization,Eye Care 4 Kids,is bringing much-needed eye care to poor kids.It provides free eye examinations for kids from poor families.Founded by Joseph Carbone in 2001,the organization has helped around 100,000 children in Utah and Nevada.

    Now,Cecil Swyers,a biomedical engineer who was once a poor child himself,is bringing the charity's services to poor students in Arizona,so that vision impairment（视力受损）doesn't stand in the way of their education.

    “Eye Care 4 Kids is bringing eye care and glasses to families that wouldn't have the means to pay for them,” said Mario Ventura from Isaac Elementary School District,the first school district in Arizona to receive its services.

    Good vision is important to a child's learning experience.According to a study,up to 80 percent of learning happens through sight for children between 6 and 18 years old.Without proper eye care,it's difficult for students to learn better and succeed.

    Swyers is hoping that by bringing the organization to Arizona he'll help a lot more students.He teamed up with two other organizations to get doctors to volunteer their time with the group.Using Eye Care 4 Kids mobile clinic,Swyers visited Alta E.Butler Elementary School and has already helped 40 students.

    The school was grateful to receive the eye care,especially since the services came to them.“It's is great for us,” said Assistant Pricipal Cindy Alonso.

    Swyers is hoping to bring Eye Care 4 Kids' services to other schools in the state.He said that hopefully his work will have a positive effect on students' futures.“If we can help students while they're young,we can make a difference in their futures,” he said.

    Feelings often run high where insects are concerned, with many people even sick when seeing them, let alone touch or swallow them. And yet insects present a huge nutritional opportunity as an increasing global population seeks more sources of food and feed.

    Insects have generally high levels of animal protein and key micronutrients with lower environmental footprints than traditional alternatives, and they can be raised on leftovers. But cultural, social and economic problems remain, reports an article published today in Nutrition Bulletin.

    “Insects present a nutritional opportunity, but it is unclear how their nutritional quality is influenced by what they are fed,” says Darja Dobermann, a researcher at the University of Nottingham. “In ideal conditions, insects have a smaller environmental impact than most traditional western forms of animal protein; less known is how to raise insect production while maintaining these environmental benefits.”

    “Studies overall show that insects could make valuable economic and nutritional contributions to the food or fed systems, but there are no clear regulations in place to bring insects into such supply systems without them turning into a more expensive version of poultry（家禽）for food,” says Dobermann.

    The article highlights how insects have been a source of food for hundreds of years in more than 100 countries with over 2,000 species that can be eaten; in central Africa, up to 50% of dietary protein has come from insects, with their market value higher than many alternative sources of animal protein.

    Insects need to be large enough to make the effort of catching them worthwhile and easy to locate, preferably in predictably large quantities. They are consumed at various life stages, as raw, fried, boiled, roasted or ground food.

    Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should know that your choice of sport might have great influence on the environment.

    Some sports are resource-hungry（消耗资源）. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses（球场）in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

    There are many environmentally-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don't have to worry about resources and your wallet. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

    Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environmentally-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms(健身房；体育馆)”. They are better replacements（代替物）for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or some other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it's free.

    The Asian country announced yesterday that China was putting tariffs or taxes on about $3 billion worth of imports from the U.S. The tariffs are on 128 American-made products, ranging from pork and fruit to steel pipes. This will make it more expensive for America businesses to sell those products in China. And China says this was done as a response to the tariffs that the U.S. recently put on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum.

    Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump says more tariffs, new ones worth as much a $50 billion are being planned by the U.S. on additional goods from China. So, one big question is, will all this cause a trade war, when countries take turns putting tariffs on each other 's goods, causing prices to rise?

    We don't know yet. The U.S. and China ship hundreds of billions of dollars of goods back and forth every year. So, the tariffs we've seen so far are a tiny part of that. And America's treasury secretary says the U.S. and China are talking behind the scenes about how to prevent a possible trade war.

    But a number of experts are concerned this could turn into one and so are some stock investors. The Chinese tariffs were a major factor in a drop of the U.S. stock market yesterday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 459 points. But just like it's hard to tell if a trade war is on the horizon, it's also hard to tell what kind of effects one could have decades down the road.