Generations of children grew up reading comic(漫画) books secretly, hiding out from parents and teachers who saw them as a waste of time and a risk to young minds. Comics are now gaining a new respectability at school. That is thanks to an increasingly popular and creative programme, often aimed at struggling readers, that encourages children to plot, write and draw comic books, in many cases using themes from their own lives.

    The Comic Book Project was started in 2001 by Michael Bitz at an elementary school in Queens. Since its creation, the programme, which is mainly conducted after school, has spread to more than 850 schools across the country. It has gotten a big push from the craze(狂热) among adolescents for comic book clubs and for Manga, a widly popular variety of comic originating in Japan.

    The point is not to drop a comic book on a child's desk and say “read this”. Rather, the workshops give groups of students the opportunity to collaborate(合著) on often complex stories and charac-ters that they then revise, publish and share with others in their communities.

    Teachers are finding it easier to teach writing, grammar and punctuation with material that students are fully invested in(投入). And it turns out that comic books have other built-in advantages. The pairing of visual and written plotlines that they rely on appear to be especially helpful to struggling readers. No one is suggesting that comic books should substitute for traditional books or for standard reading and composition lessons. Teachers who would once have dismissed comics out of hand are learning to exploit(利用) a style that clearly has a powerful hold on young minds. They are using what works.

    Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that generally things turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply "yes" to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic, cheerful and outgoing. You may well be successful at work and in love.

    But you may be misguided because things don't turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (For example, you may fail to land a new job, but another chance will come around soon). Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams in your face. That's bitter reality.

    Now a book has been published which confirms what we pessimists(悲观者) have suspected all along. It's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear, anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, "What's interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation's outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better."

    So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on a date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a backup plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket", and "Don't count your chickens until they hatch." To have a confident and optimistic approach to life's problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien, the American comedian says, "Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem."

    There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don't feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.

    Hip-hop culture covers many fields; it includes spoken words, break-dancing, beat-making, painting, fashion, lively design, technology, and more. Hip-hop is becoming the unofficial music in the education world, as more artists launch school programs, summer camps, and other activities connected city youth in the classroom through the beliefs of hip-hop culture. Even more and more university teachers — who once would have been strongly against hip-hop — have joined the crew. In the past two decades, hip-hop culture, including hip-hop education, has become a legitimate(合法的) field of study in universities and the subject of numerous books.

    Hip-hop culture has influenced every piece of American and global culture because the culture is so prevalent. Teachers must be willing to engage in it if it's part of the unique reality of their students' lives. That way, teachers can truly be effective, reaching students in a meaningful, culturally connected way.

    Teachers might at first feel frightened by hip-hop culture, an area in which they might not have previous knowledge or experience. But a lack of knowledge is actually a blessing; the best trained hip-hop educators have been those that are at the beginning disconnected(分离的) from the culture. One of the biggest sayings in hip-hop is “keep it real”. If a teacher comes to the classroom and says, “I don't know hip-hop, but I recognize that it's your culture and I want to learn,” the kids will teach the teacher, and then the students will be more willing to learn from that educator. Hip-hop is about a respect for youth culture.

    Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to adapt to my changing body, I also had to deal with my parents' bitter divorce, a new family and the upsetting move from my country home to a crowded town.

    When we moved, my beloved companion, a small brown pony had to be sold. I was heartbroken and terribly lonely. I couldn't eat or sleep and cried all the time. Finally, realizing how much I missed my pony, my father bought me another horse, Cowboy.

    Cowboy was without doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn't care. I loved him beyond all reasons.

    I joined a riding club. When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged by appearance, we were quickly "shown the gate". I knew nothing could turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the timed speed events. I chose the jumping race.

    For the whole next month we practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home, totally exhausted.

    All of our hard work didn't make me feel confident by the time the show came. One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. I sat at the gate and sweated all out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the court and finish in first place.

    My turn finally came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped over it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.

    No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds.

    I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I'd always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the owner of my fate.

    Over millions of years, African penguins have developed a keen sense of where to find food. Once they're old enough, they set off from the shores on which they were hatched（孵化） for the first time and swim long distances in search of tasty fish like anchovies and sardines. But they don't search directly for the fish themselves. When African penguins head out to sea, they look for areas with low surface temperatures and high chlorophyll（叶绿素）. Because those conditions signal the presence of algae（藻类）. And lots of algae means lots of plankton（浮游动物）, which in turn means lots of their favorite fish. Well, that's what it used to mean.

    Climate change plus overfishing have made the penguin feeding grounds a mirage（海市蜃楼）. The habitat is indeed plankton﹣rich, but now it's fish﹣poor. Researchers call this an "ecological trap." "It's a situation where you have a signal that previously pointed an animal towards good﹣quality habitat. That habitat has been changed, usually by human pressures. The signal stays, but the quality in the environment gets worse."

    Richard Sherley, a zoologist at the University of Exeter and his team used satellite imaging to track the African penguins from eight sites along southern Africa. Historically, the birds benefited from tons of fish off the coasts of Angola, Namibia and western South Africa, but now they're going hungry.

    "I was really hoping we'd see them going east, and finding areas which the fish had moved to but it ends up being quite a sad story for the penguins." said Richard.

    The researchers calculate that by falling into this ecological trap, African penguin populations on South Africa's Western Cape have declined by around 80 percent.

    Some research groups are exploring the idea of moving them to a place where they can't get trapped, like the Eastern Cape. But Sherley thinks that a solution in the long run means making and carrying out rules to create more sustainable（可持续的） fishing industry, which needs public support.

    When you visit America, you will see the word Motel on signs and notice boards. It is made up of "motor" and "hotel" and it is really a hotel for people who arrive by car (however, you don't need a car to stay at one). You have to pay when you arrive for your room, which usually has a bath. Meals are not provided, but there will certainly be a cafeteria (自助餐馆). Americans eat a lot of salads and sandwiches. Along the main roads there are a lot of motels. Each tries to offer more than next. Some provide television in every bedroom; others have swimming pools; and so on. Motels are especially useful when you are in the country, far from a town or city. You will also find them in the big National Parks.

    In these great National Parks, you may meet guests you don't expect to see. An American friend told me a little story. In the middle of a moonless night she heard strange noises outside her motel window in the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Thinking it might be a thief, she jumped out of bed, opened the door and crept towards a dark shadow. As she got close, she saw the thief. She was dreadfully frightened: it wasn't a human thief ­ it was a big black bear. The bear was turning over some empty tins with its paw, looking for tasty bits of food. My friend decided to leave that particular thief alone!

    There are also, of course, places called "rooming houses", where they receive lodgers (房客). You will see such signs as Tourists or Rooms Rent, and you could try one of these. A word of warning ­ looking for a room in New York during the tourist season is like looking for gold on the moon!