I can’t remember the first time one of my children told me, “I hate you.” I can, however, tell you that it still happens occasionally, but it doesn’t bother me. As their father, I often say things that are unpopular. If they hate me once in a while, I know I’m doing a good job.

There are three other words that I won’t allow in my house, however. Last week, I was watching my older son play with a paper airplane. After he accidentally threw it into a wall and it came apart, his eyes welled up with tears.

“I hate myself,” he said. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, and I was concerned that he’d started to actually believe it.

I knelt down next to him and made him look into my eyes. I told him that I never wanted to hear those words again, and that he needed to respect himself.

The difference between your kid telling you they hate you and them saying they hate themselves is that, five minutes later, they’ve already forgotten they “hate you”. Self-hate is much more potentially poisonous and for young people, it can linger into the rest of their life.

Kids who start to believe they hate themselves sometimes struggle to form new friendships. As teenagers, they avoid the chance to connect with a potential love interest, because they assume they’ll be rejected. And as adults, they might choose not to apply for the dream job because they assume it won’t work out.

I know this is true, because I didn’t have a high opinion of myself as a child. I found myself struggling in many areas, and I’d hate to see my children suffer the same fate.

Sometimes, words are just words. But some words can make the kind of impact I’d very much like to avoid for my children. I don’t fear strong language; I fear language that makes us weak.

On March 17, people around the world celebrate the Irish holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day. It is a major holiday in Ireland, but the rest of the world has influenced its celebration as much as the Irish themselves.

Most Americans think of Saint Patrick’s Day as a big party centered around drinking alcohol. But its beginnings in Ireland were religious, says Mike Cronin, a professor of Irish history with Boston College of Massachusetts.

Ireland is a mostly Roman Catholic country. Saint Patrick lived in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. He is widely considered to have established Christianity in the country. The Church honored him with a holy day in the 17th century. March 17 marks the date of his death. The average Irish person honored March 17 quietly. Attending church services was the main activity. In fact, most businesses that served alcohol would close in honor of the day.

In the early 1900s, Ireland’s government made St. Patrick’s Day an official holiday. By the 1960s, towns across Ireland started celebrating the holiday with parades and music. In Ireland today, St. Patrick’s Day is a four-day public celebration that includes parades, music, food, and games.

For Irish people living outside Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day became a chance to celebrate their Irish identity and culture. Now, countries and cities around the world celebrate March 17 in creative ways. Many countries hold Saint Patrick’s Day parades. Famous monuments, including the Great Wall of China, the Niagara Falls, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai will all be colored by green light for the day.

Cronin says that the worldwide popularity of Saint Patrick’s Day has helped the Irish government, which uses the holiday as a form of diplomacy. And for a small island of 4.5 to 5 million people it’s quite remarkable that they have that kind of soft power.

Underneath the Greenland ice sheet lies a body of water covering an area larger than West Virginia, and until just a few years ago, scientists had no idea that it existed.

First discovered in 2011, scientists now believe it covers some 27, 000 square miles and contains more than 100 billion tons of liquid water.

The melt-water reservoir (蓄水池) was discovered under the ice, in a south-eastern part of Greenland, by researchers from the University of Utah about two years ago. According to the BBC, at first the researchers expected to find waters stored in small spaces between the rocks. What they actually found was a massive reservoir of water trapped in the ice, kind of like the liquid in a snow-cone. Newser quotes lead study author Richard Forster saying, “we thought we had an understanding of how things work in Greenland, but here is this entire storage system of water we didn’t realize was there.”

OK, so snow water under the ice in Greenland; why is this a big deal? Well, researchers say it could provide new clues to understanding Greenland’s ice melts and sea level rise in general. Voice of America quotes Forster saying, “of the present sea level rise, the Greenland ice sheet is the largest contributor, and it is melting at record levels, so understanding the aquifer’s (地下蓄水层) capacity to store water from year to year is important, because it fills a major gap in the overall connection of melt-water runoff and sea levels.” According to researchers, the water is 15 to 60 feet beneath the surface and likely stays fluid because it’s covered by snow. They’re unsure how old the reservoir is or whether it flows into the ocean.

England is the perfect place for you to travel to if you’re thinking about taking your first abroad trip. You’ll need to prepare for the trip with some international travel basics and map out a realistic itinerary（旅程）to make the most of your experience.

Get Your Paperwork Done

    31     If you don’t have a current passport, you’ll need to bring your pictures and some proof of your citizenship—a birth certificate, a certificate of naturalization, or a certificate of citizenship—to a post office. Fill out a passport application, and in a month you’ll have your passport.

Plan Your Trip.

Plan your trip to England in early to mid—October or in mid— to late March, because that’s when flights are the cheapest. During the winter, the days grow very short. Besides, sunlight is sometimes limited to less than eight hours per day.     32    

Settle Yourself in England

Find affordable accommodations by staying at a hostel. Hostels vary in shapes, forms and sizes.     33     If you can afford to stay at a hotel, make sure you are aware of check—in times and policies.

To get around England, the most common methods are bus and rail     34     Passes for a full day, week, or month can save you money if you’re going to take the Tube for even a few stops.

    35    

Buy a budget travel book to find attractions and sites in cities such as: London, Bath, Cambridge Oxford, Canterbury, Leeds and Wimbledon. Popular attractions include: Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Portobello Market and the Tower of London in London; Bath Abbey in Bath; the colleges of Cambridge; and the Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury.

Every Christmas, the firm I worked for raised money for poor kids in the area. And every Christmas I’d dress as Santa and ______ out with my colleagues to ______ gifts. Some years ago, we were returning to work in my truck, and ______ in the middle lane at a crossroads as the lights turned red. Then I became ______ of an SUV coming up directly behind us at speed. At the last moment, it ______ the right-hand lane. But it ran too fast to stop and ______ into another vehicle.

I jumped out and ran to the SUV. Inside, I saw a man slumped over (伏在) the steering wheel. As I shouted at my workmates to call the police, there was a loud “bang” and ______ leapt from the car’s ______. I knew the car’s battery had ______ and that there was no time to lose. Still wearing my costume, I rushed to the passenger side ______ the fire. The door was locked and was slightly out of ______, but by trying to ______ the window frame hard, I managed to tear it open. It was a cold day, but flames were now rolling over the hood (引擎盖) and I was ______ in my suit. I leaned in, untied the driver’s ______ and started to pull him across to the passenger side. That’s when he ______ up, and confused, started yelling and trying to fight me off. “Sir,” I said, “your car’s on fire—let’s get out of here.” He ______ down, and I walked him over to the safety of my truck.

I headed back to the crossroads ______ I directed traffic around the ______ vehicle until the police arrived. The first two police officers laughed as they jumped out of their car. “What’s happened here, ______?” one of them asked. I briefed them, and then they ______, “OK, you can probably ride your reindeer (驯鹿) away. We’ll take over from here. ”

It is sad but true that people die in earthquakes from falling furniture and     56    (brick). Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings     57     falling down. So if your home is in     58     earthquake area, you should prepare carefully before the earth- quake     59    (come).

First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall     60     all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts (螺栓) underneath your house. They are one of the most important ways of     61    (protect) a house.

Second, look at the objects in your house. Those in the living room,     62     are most likely to hurt us, are computers, televisions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or stuck to them so they won’t     63    (easy) move around. The kitchen, which is also very dangerous, must have strong doors on all the cupboards. This is the place     64     many small things are stored that might fall down. Windows are a special problem. When they break, glass can cause many accidents. It is better     65    (use) safety glass if you can, especially for pictures.

There was a rich couple who was throwing a big new year party at their house. So they went shopping at the market where everything was of high cost and fixed price. They wanted to maintain their high living standard so they didn’t mind paying a lot for it. After purchasing everything they needed, they called a porter to carry everything and drop it off at their home. The porter who came was of an old age, not very healthy looking. His clothes were torn and he looked as if he wasn’t even able to meet his daily needs.

They asked the porter about the charges for delivering their goods at their home. The old porter quoted just a $20, a price well below the market rate for delivering goods at couple’s home in his cart. Yet, the couple argued and bargained with the porter and finally settled for $15. The porter was struggling to make money for every single meal so he needed anything he could earn.

The couple was very happy thinking how well they bargained with the poor porter and paid him $15 in advance and left after giving the porter their address for delivery. They reached their home and one hour passed, two hours passed, but the porter still hadn’t delivered their stuff.

The wife started to get angry at her husband, “I always tell you not to trust such person but you never listen to me. Such a person is not even able to earn to feed himself for one time in a day, and you handed him everything we purchased for our big party. I am sure instead of delivering at our home, he must have disappeared with everything. We must immediately go back to the market to inquire and then to the police station to file the complaint against him.”

They both left towards the market. On their way, near the market, they saw another porter. They stopped him to inquire about the old porter and noticed that he was carrying their stuff in his cart!