A couple of days ago, as the test results came out, my son and a group of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell-phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPad, and she's only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A.”

    I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell-phone, and the DVD player?

    I saw the road ahead:As the homework load increased, my income would decrease.I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!

    I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal achieved by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns? What about the orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.

    “We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it.”

    Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she's spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation. And what about the primary grades? What do these students get? “When the teacher asked if anyone got rewards for good grades, everyone in my class raised their hands and said they got ice cream cones ,” said one third-grader.

Show Biz Summer 2019

Location: Rosewood Center for Family arts

Important Information:

● Tuition paid on the first day of class. No tuition refunds(退款).

● DCT reserves the right to cancel any class; refunds made for cancellation(取消).

● Please accompany student to the first day of class.

● Registration begins one-half hour before class time.

How To Register:

● Mail: fill out the form in this brochure.

● Be sure to list the class and group that you want & the dates.

    Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum

    Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don't need to book. They end around 21:00.

    November 7th

    The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early "civil engineers".

    December 5th

    Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London's ice trade grew.

    February 6th

    An Update on the Cotsword Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.

    March 6th

    Eyots and Aits-Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.

    Online bookings:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book

    More into:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

    London Canal Museum

    12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

    www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www.canalmuseum.mobi

    Tel: 020 77130836

    Did you ever have to say "no" to somebody? Such as a classmate who asks to go to lunch with you? New research suggests that, at least socially, a rejection (拒绝) should not include an apology. In other words, saying you are sorry does not make the person being rejected feel any better. In fact, it might make the rejected person feel worse. That is surprising. Many people consider it to be good manners to say they are sorry when they turn down a request.

    Gili Freedman is doing some related research at Dartmouth College. For her research, she asked over 1,000 people to respond to different examples of social rejection. In one example, the researchers asked people for their reaction (反应）after a person named Taylor asked to join a co-worker who went out to lunch every Friday. And Taylor was told "no". But in some cases, the person rejecting Taylor offered an apology. In other cases, the people doing the rejection did not say they were sorry. People were asked how they would feel if they were being turned down, just as Taylor was. Most said they would be more hurt by a rejection with an apology than a rejection without an apology.

    Freedman said the reason is that apologies make people feel like they need to say that the rejection was okay— even when they felt like it was not okay. Rejection without an apology lets them express their feelings of disappointment, hurt or anger more easily. Freedman also said that an apology often makes the person doing the rejection feel better—even as it makes the person being rejected feel worse.

    Her research deals only with social communication. A business situation might be very different. "If a manager rejects a job interviewee or a boss must tell an employee that he or she is being fired from a job," Freedman said, "reactions to apologies may be different."

    Nine years ago, when the closest and largest full moon fell on March 19, 2011, many people used the term, "supermoon", which we had never heard before. In 2012, we heard this term again to describe the year's closest full moon on May 6, 2012. Supermoons also appeared in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

    What does "supermoon" mean exactly? And how special was the March 19, 2011 supermoon?

    The word "supermoon" didn't come from astronomy. Instead, it came from astrology (占星学). In 1979, astrologer Richard Nolle defined it as a new or full moon which occurs at or near its closest point to the earth in its orbit. In short, the earth, moon and sun are all in a line, with the moon at its nearest point to the earth.

And the full moon of March 19, 2011 was the largest moon of that year. This "supermoon" was at perigee (近地点) — its closest point to the earth in its orbit. It was bigger and brighter than other full moons of 2011. Astronomers call this sort of close full moon a perigee full moon.

    That doesn't sound very special, does it? In fact, the March 2011 full moon lined up much more closely with perigee than Nolle's original definition. But were you able to notice with your eyes alone that this full moon was bigger or brighter than usual? Astronomers said no. But it was fun to stand outside under this full moon and know that the moon was closer than ever.

    In 2019, there were three supermoons. The first supermoon of 2019 was the Super Blood Wolf Moon on January 21, which occurred with a total lunar eclipse (月全食) at the same time, also known as a "blood moon". The second supermoon of 2019 was on February 19, also called the Snow Moon, which was the closest full moon of the year. The third and final supermoon of 2019, known by Native Americans as the Worm Moon, occurred on March 21. It fell on the day of the vernal equinox (春分), which signals the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Emily, a 14-year-old teenager, walked through her town one afternoon. Her eyes were drawn to the sight of people without homes on street corners, trembling（颤抖） against the chill. It was a scene that stirred something deep within her—a desire to make a difference, no matter how small.

Emily decided to turn her love of baking into a force for good. She whipped（搅打） cream, mixed flour, and baked cookies and cakes in her family kitchen. With the support of her friends and family, she set up a colorful stall in her bustling neighborhood, offering her homemade treats to passersby in exchange for donations.

The response was overwhelming. People were not only touched by Emily's handmade cookies but also inspired by her spirit. Before long, donations were pouring in. In just a few short weeks, Emily had raised over $1,000—a symbol of one's kindness to ignite a community's generosity.

But Emily's heart was set on doing even more. Inspired by the success of her bake sale, she came up with the idea of organizing a charity run. A community-wide event that would bring people together in support of a common cause. She reached out to local businesses and called for volunteers to help her realize the project. On the day of the charity run, participants ran under the clear, open sky, and the running campaign raised over $5,000 for the local homeless shelter.

For Emily, the true reward lay not in the dollars raised or the miles run but in the knowledge that she had touched the hearts of her community and shown that even the smallest act of kindness can make a difference to the world.