My 16-year-old son, Anton, had gone to the local swimming hole． Most of the kids swim there, and there are plenty of rocks for them to use as safe harbors, so I had no fears for his safety．

    Still, the firefighter's first words "You need to come up here to the Stillwater River" made me catch my breath, and his follow-up words gave me relief: “Your son is OK．”

    When I got to the river, I immediately saw the firetruck, ambulance and Anton, wrapped with a towel about his shoulders, sitting quietly on a low platform of the fire engine．I hurried over to him． "You OK?"I asked．

    “Yeah,” was all he said． But my eyes begged for an explanation, I didn't get it from my son, however, who tends to play his cards close to his vest ．

    The story was this: A woman was being swept under water． Hearing the cries, Anton and his friend Tyler, without hesitation, swam out to her, and brought her safely to shore.

    In an age in which the word "hero" is broadcast with abandon and seemingly applied to anyone who makes it through the day, I realized the real thing in my son. The teens are stubborn and self-centered, but that didn't mean they have no desire to do good.

    Still shocked by my son's daring, I drove him home. Along the way, I tried to dig out some more information from him but he had precious little to say. The only words he said were, “What's for supper?”

    I spent some time alone that evening, thinking about the tragedy that might have been. The next morning, when Anton got up, I half expected him to tell me the story. But all he did was toast some bread, pull himself together, and head for the door to start a new day. Watching from the window, I was reminded that still water often runs deep.

    Canada is one of the few nations in the world to have two official languages：English and French. There are 10 provinces in the country but only one of these—Quebec is known as "French Canada". This is because it was founded by French explorers while British adventurers discovered the rest.

    Canada left the Britain in 1867 to become an independent country, and English and French have been recognized as the official languages ever since.

    Most people speak English as their first language and the two national television networks broadcast in English throughout the country. Apart from in Quebec and a few places on the east coast, French television is very rare.

    The same goes for traffic signs and menus, for example. Outside of Quebec, there are only a few places where you'll see traffic signs in French. In restaurants, it's almost impossible to find French on the menu unless you are in the heartland of French Canada. However, all products sold in Canada must, by law, have labels（标签）and instructions in both languages.

    In Canada's English speaking provinces, official bilingualism（双语）means that students can choose to complete a special French language course. Under this programme, they are taught most of their subjects in French. If a student begins the course in kindergarten（幼儿园）or Grade One, it is likely that all their lessons will be in French. However, if they start at junior high school, 25 per cent of the teaching will continue to be in English.

    Bees and other pollinators（传粉者）  use smells to track down fresh flowers. Air pollutants can weaken those scents（气味）.  Scientists had worried this might make it harder for some pollinators to find a meal.

    Many animals help pollinate plants. Species that do this include bees, butterflies, etc. But for many reasons, the pollinators available to help plants in this way are decreasing. Scientists think a loss of habitat（栖息地）can be one factor. Diseases and exposure to poisonous chemicals also count.

    Jose Fuentes points to air pollution as another possible factor. He's an atmospheric scientist at Pennsylvania State University. In an earlier study, he showed some air pollutants could weaken or destroy scents emitted(发出)by flowers.

    Searching for a meal leaves pollinators out in the open and at risk of becoming other animal's lunch. And any time spent hunting food is time away from their duties back home, like protecting a hive（蜂巢）or nest, explains T'ai Roulston. He's an insect biologist at Virginia University. Roulston worked with Fuentes on the new study.

    In the study, the researchers focused on five kinds of representative scent molecules(分子)plants emit. One molecule they looked at, for example, is called beta-myrcene. Many flowers give off this chemical into the air.  Normally, this gas can travel some 800 meters from its flower source. But in polluted air, this same molecule could travel only half as far.

    Worse still, air pollution might do more than just weaken scent plumes（气味烟云）．Chemical reactions between air pollutants and plumes may transform the flowers' smells, creating new scents. And these scents may be unrecognizable to pollinators.

    That's certainly Fuentes' concern.  So, he says his next research project will look at how insects handle any new flower scent. "It's possible that some insects will change ways to detect and use these new molecules to find food," he says.

    This contest from the Winchester Poetry Festival is intended for “surprise and delight”. However, don't try to surprise and delight them with a short story or a photo of your cat dancing in a Tutu. Stick to a poem of up to 40 lines.

    Closing: Quarterly.

    Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250.

    Entry Fee: £5.

    Starts Theatre One-Act Play Competition

    This annual contest from Strerts Theatre in Cornwall is for plays for up to four adult actors, with a running time of between 25 and 35 minutes. Plays can be on any theme; you need to be 18 or over to enter.

    Closing: Annually.

    Prizes: £100 plus performance of your play in Sterns Studio.

    Entry Fee: £7.

    Artificium Short Stories & Poetry Prizes

    This one from Artificium, a journal of new fiction and poetry, has two categories: Short Stories and In Brief. The former is for stories of between 2,000 and 8,000 words in any genre（体裁）. The latter is for poetry of between 500 and 1,000 words.

    Closing: End of each month.

    Prizes: £200, £100, £50.

    Entry Fee: £5 for one, £9 for two.

    PENfro Open Poetry Competition.

    This contest from the PENfro Book Festival is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject and in any style. Costa Award winning poet Jonathan Edwards, whose taste in poetry is broad-ranging, will be judging.

    Closing: End of each month. Prizes: £300, £100, £75. The top ten winners will be invited to read their works at a spoken word event at which Jonathan Edwards will present the prizes.

    Entry Fee: £4.

    The Pope John XXIII Regional High School robotics team has brought about many crea-tions in its laboratories. Most of these creations have earned them prizes in their robotics leagues, articles in local media and praise from many people around the world. None of them, however, can equal to what they experienced during one of their most recent projects.

    The robotics team helped design and build an electrically during one of their most recent projects, girl during an event snonsored by the GoBabyGo program and Toyota. The goal of the disabled is to build an electncally opiated vehicle and meet the needs of a specific disabled child. After hearing about the program, the robotics team jumped on the opportunity.

    When they got to the hospital for the event，the team members joined forces with engi-neers from University of Delaware, Toyota employees and and doctors to help a girl named Jaleah.

    Using instructions provided on an iPad by GoBabyGo,they put together a plastic battery-oper-ated vehicle-one of 12 that were made at the event-that was bespoke to Jaleah. Her vehicle was a baby blue jeep that had designs from the hit Disney movie Frozen and was decorated with snowflakes (雪花)，butterflies and flowers.

    More importantly，the team rerouted the electrical system in the car so that Jaleah only needed to push a large button on the steering wheel to drive the car, giving her the freedom to move. In addition, they helped design special seating structure to keep Jaleah safely secured.

    When they completed the project, Jaleah and her parents' reactions took the PJ robotics members by surprise.“ It was really satisfying,” PJ junior Austin Fett said. “When she was riding it, she was having so much fun. It was a great feeling. ”

    While they are looking forward to their future projects and competitions in the FIRST Technology Challenge league, the robotics team will always remember the days they helped Jaleah become a mobile kid.

    “We made something that she will love and use forever,” PJ senior Keith Johnson said.

    On my first day of high school, I asked an eleventh-grader where my class was. And he told me it was "on the fourth floor, next to the pool." I found out five minutes later that we don't even have a fourth floor and there's no pool either! Besides that, I didn't have any trouble with the older kid.

    I think the biggest difference between middle and high school is the homework load (工作量) and size of the school. I went from maybe fifteen minutes of homework a night to several hours, so I had to learn how to make full use of time! Our class size is around 550, but joining in clubs, sports, music, and other activities at school makes it easier to get to know people in every grade.

    The best advice I can give about the years you spend in high school is to learn things for yourself, not just to get a good grade. There have been so many tests that I've prepared for the night before. I have gotten an A, and not remembered anything later. I've changed that this year, and I enjoy school so much more. Don't take easy classes just to have a simple year. If you have a choice between chemistry and sports, the first will prove to be a lot more useful!

    While drinking and smoking might be present in some middle schools, they're also around in high schools. I have a lot of friends who promised they'd never drink or smoke, but are now partying every weekend. If you have "fun" and spend your nights wasted instead of studying, you will regret it when you're applying for (申请) college. The "friends" who say you're a loser for not partying are really not your friends at all. It's hard to see your closest friends grow apart and go in different directions, but don't follow their footsteps. Create your own path in life and make your own decisions.