【推荐1】Four years ago, Fred was on his way to work when he accidentally fell onto the tracks of Brooklyn’s train as a subway train was coming. The incident caused the loss of both of his legs.

But surprisingly, with the loss of his legs, Fred gained a new passion for racing. Before his accident. he wasn’t really that athletic. He would just occasionally (偶尔地) play basketball. But that all changed after he was introduced to handcycling (手摇自行车运动). “When I saw it. I was like, ‘Oh, this is great. You don’t even need legs to use it, this is perfect. ” he said. “So, I got on it, I rode and fell in love with it right away.”

Within a few months, he completed the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile ride through New York City. After that, he did his first marathon (马拉松) in 2021. He finished that race in 2 hours and 11 minutes, placing 12th out of 38.

“I’m going to attend this year’s marathon and take on challenges. My hands are on the wheel, my eyes are focused, and I think my time is going to speak for itself,” he said. He’s made a significant commitment to training. He rides his handcycle at least 13.1 miles a couple times a week and spends a lot of time in the gym. And he plans to keep pursuing his athlete goals. He wants to complete the Abbott Six-the world’s six largest marathons. One day, he said, “I’ll maybe even make it to the Paralympics.”

For those who might be following his journey, he hopes they will take some lessons from his story. “There will be ups and downs but the trend (趋势) is what’s important, focus on the good,” he said. “And also, take your big problems and divide them into small solutions, and then all of a sudden, your big problems turn into many small wins. ”

【推荐2】Aaron has performed in Germany, Korea, the Czech Republic and across the United States. His back flip (翻) earned him a place in “Guinness World Records”. Aaron doesn't use a skateboard to do his tricks. He sticks a perfect four wheeled landing with his wheelchair. That's quite an accomplishment for a kid who was born with spina bifida, a developmental birth defect (缺陷) that made him even unable to sit independently.

One day, when he was eight, his friends encouraged him to roll down a shallow ramp (斜坡). It was a scary first ride. Aaron crashed his hands, but he was attracted. Six months later, after endless hard trying and training, he accomplished his first trick—lifting up one of the back wheels while crossing a barrier.

“The more I rode, the better I became, though I have to admit that the process involved falling in every way possible,” says Aaron. When Aaron performed his first airborne 180 out of the box, Steve, his father, sensed an opportunity, videotaped the performance and sent it to the Internet. A letter soon arrived from John Box, founder of Colours’N Motion, encouraging him to call him directly whenever they needed anything. Aaron has a sponsor since.

With his mother helping with scheduling, he has had the opportunity to travel within the US as well as internationally. He has attended summer camps for disabled children as a coach. “I know that I can be an inspiration for disabled kids,” says Aaron. “The message I want to convey to kids and adults is very simple: Always test your boundaries and don't let the disability restrict your capacities and possibilities.”

The contest is open to all Virginia public, private Kindergarteners -12 in the United States, District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories (领土).

Posters will be judged on the following criteria:

• Clear message conveyed by the text and artwork

• Creativity, originality and artistic quality

• Visual clarity - easily read

• Bright and colorful

• Must not use published materials.

Virginia will select the top 5 winning posters from each grade group (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) and send them to the National Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) Internet Security Awareness Poster Contest. The Virginia winners will receive a certificate of appreciation. MS- ISAC will select four winners in each grade and award a prize. These winners will have the honor of having their artwork made into a poster calendar which will be handed out throughout the country and may also be used in campaigns to raise awareness among children of all ages about the Internet.

All posters must be received by midnight, Jan. 6, 2017.

Poster should be mailed to:

Kids Safe Online Poster Contest Virginia Information Technology Agency Commonwealth Security & Risk Management

11751 Meadowville Lane Chester, VA 23836

Electronic posters can be sent to: CommonwealthSecurity@virginia.gov

Students create their posters and the school can choose up to 15 posters to send to VITA by midnight January 6, 2017.

Virginia posters will be judged and the top 15 posters will be sent to MS-ISAC for national judging.

A．A poster presented by a British child.

B．A poster copied from a published magazine.

C．A poster made with a black pencil.

D．A poster originally created by an American kid.

【推荐2】The gender gap in maths-related subjects is obvious. In almost all countries, far fewer women than men choose STEM（理工科）careers.

It's not that girls and women are bad at maths. In the UK in 2019, for example, 39% of 18-year-old girls who studied maths at A-level achieved an A or A*, compared to 42% of boys. For A-level physics, 29% of girls achieved the top two grades, compared to 28% of boys. But in both subjects, boys heavily outnumbered girls-by more than 3:1 in the case of physics. So why are so many girls turning their backs on these subjects?

A study published recently in the journal PNAS suggests that the answer may in fact lie in male-female differences in academic ability, but the ability in question is reading, not maths. Thomas Breda, at Paris School of Economics, and Clotilde Napp, at Paris Dauphine University, wondered whether this male-female difference in reading could help explain the gender gap in STEM careers. Every three years, hundreds of thousands of 15-year-olds in more than 60 countries take part in the PISA study. Students complete tests in maths, reading and science, and answer questions about their future career intentions. When Breda and Napp looked at the data from PISA 2012, they realized they were on to something.

"There were small gender gaps in maths performance at 15 years old, but these gaps were too small to explain the huge gender segregation（隔离）in STEM," says Breda. But for reading, the tables were turned; the girls were much better than the boys. As a result, when a boy and a girl had similar scores in maths, the girl usually had an even better score in reading.

When Breda and Napp compared each student's scores in reading and maths, they found the greater a student's advantage in reading, the less likely they were to plan a career in maths, even when their maths score was also high. Notably, this was true for both boys and girls.

"It makes a lot of sense," says Sarah Cattan, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. "It shows that what matters most when boys and girls choose their field of study is not how good they are in maths or in reading, but how good they are in maths relative to reading."

【推荐3】Dale Bolton was driving to his home in Toronto when he heard the statistic that changed his life. It was 2004 and he was listening to a speech that said there were over 34 million orphans in Africa. “I almost ran into a tree,” says Bolton. “The number was surprising.” He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

That statistic on a journey led the Boltons to create an organization Thrive for Good, a not-for-profit that gives communities the resources and knowledge to help grow their own crops. The couple raised money for funding orphanages and digging wells. However, As Bolton spent more time on that, he learnt that the agricultural yields on the continent were significantly lower than in other parts of the world, and came to believe that the problem was the way commercial agriculture had been introduced.

Bolton and his wife Linda decided to start small: by funding and training people to grow modest organic gardens. Bolton started an organic farming course in Kenya. There, he met Mootlan, a farmer’s son, who also believed in the power of small-scale, organic farming. Together they travelled around to help communities start what they came to call a “life garden.” Locals didn’t think it could be done at first, Mootlan remembers. “But once they started tasting the food, they were like ‘Wow.’”

After that first project, things moved quickly. “When we helped one village, three more villages asked for help,” says Bolton. Today, Thrive for Good has 80 employees, and it has helped more than 1,000 communities create healthy meals for almost 30,000 people. Since 2012, they’ve run a training school in Kitale. “I’m still planting seeds,” he says, describing how trainees from Kenya — as well as 19 other countries in Africa and beyond — head back home with a newfound knowledge to feed their communities.

【推荐1】My family, my wife, Joan, our two teenagers Hannah and Joseph, and I, live in Atlanta with our two dogs.

Ten years ago, we moved into our dream house, a very big three-story home. It was a beautiful place, but as our children grew up, our sense of togetherness (团结) began to disappear slowly. In the big house, we sometimes seemed to be strangers to each other.

One day when Hannah was 14, she became upset about the difference between the world’s haves and the have-nots. She expected us to be “a family that makes a difference in the world, even if it’s a small difference. ” Joan asked her, “What are you willing to sacrifice? Your house? Your room? ” Hannah said yes to both. After talking it over as a family, we decided to sell our house and move to one that was half its size and price and donate (捐赠) the difference to those in need.

After a lot of research, we chose the Hunger Project, a US-based organization. It works with villagers in Africa, Asia and South America and helps them fight against poverty (贫穷). Our money went to pay for building two centers. Each has a meeting place, a bank and a health clinic (诊所). Together, the centers would serve more than 20 villages in eastern Ghana. We also traveled to meet the villagers and were blown away by their hard work and warmth.

To be honest, we were a little worried at first. Would we regard the new home as being too small for us? Or would we think we had given up too much? Two years later, I can tell you: It’s the best move we have ever made. While we worked together on our family project, we became much closer. As Hannah said the other day, “We learned how to really trust each other. ”

【推荐2】Engineers have launched a huge garbage collection device to gather plastics floating in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. The plastic makes up what is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is the world’s largest spread of garbage, twice the size of the state of Texas.

The Organization Ocean Cleanup created the collection device. The group’s founder is Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old inventor from the Netherlands. When Slat was 16, he went diving in Mediterranean Sea and saw more plastic bags than fish. Since then, he has made up his mind to clean up the oceans.

He told the Associated Press that researchers with his organization have found plastic from the 1960s and 1970s among the material in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It contains an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in total. Most of them float on the surface of the water, or are within a few meters of the surface.

Last Saturday, a ship pulling the pipe-shaped floating barrier left San Francisco for the Garbage Patch. The barrier, called the floater, is 600 meters across. Attached to it is a screen (筛子) that hangs three meters down in the water. The screen is designed to collect the plastic as it moves through the water. Sea animals can safely swim under the barrier. The cleanup system also comes with lights powered by the sun, cameras, and other special devices. Slat said this enabled the system to communicate its position at all times.

Shipping containers will hold all the plastic gathered, including bottles and fishing equipment. Slat said the containers were expected to be back on land within a year. Then the plastic will be recycled. And they will also study how the system performs in severe ocean conditions, including huge waves.

【推荐3】“You're going to the doctor，”your mum tells you. But why go to the doctor when you're not sick？Regular checkups（健康检查）are a good idea for kids. These visits happen when you're feeling fine and are sometimes called “well-child” visits because you're well.

It's a chance for the doctor to see that you're growing and developing normally. It's also a chance for your parents to talk with the doctor about any issues，such as safety or nutrition，so they can help you stay healthy. And it gives you a chance to ask any question you might have about your health. You might wonder when you will grow taller，for example，or if you weigh the right amount.

A checkup may start when a nurse calls you and your parents from the waiting room. He or she might start by checking your weight and height，as well as your blood pressure and maybe your temperature.

Blood pressure：This shows how hard your heart is pumping blood throughout your body.

Body temperature：Using a thermometer，the nurse can find out if your temperature is in the normal range. If it is higher，it means that you have a fever and your body is working to fight off an infection（感染）.

The nurse may check your hearing and vision. If you have trouble with either one of these，you might need to see a hearing expert or an eye doctor. Urine（尿）can tell whether something is wrong with the way a person's body is working.

All of these numbers，measurements，and test results will go into your medical record，so the doctor can look them over. Then it's time to meet the doctor.

【推荐1】A simple piece of clotheslines hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who see clothes dryers as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the "what-I-can- do environmentalism”

But on the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations(HOAs) across the US to stop outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This has led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws be passed to protect the choice to use clotheslines. So far, only three states have laws to protect clotheslines.

Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-friendly person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But several days ago, the HOA in North Carolina told him that a dissatisfied neighbor had telephoned them about his clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warning and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard "Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don't take matters in their own hands," says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors complain.

North Carolina lawmakers say that stopping clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can" even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.

Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, "The clothesline is beautiful Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.

【推荐2】Vegetarianism is growing in popularity in a lot of countries. And now, South Africa is one of them. Today, more and more South Africans are experimenting with the vegetarian (素食者) way of life by cutting meat out of their diet.

Some others are exploring veganism. Vegans (纯素者) are similar to vegetarians but they avoid all animal based products, including mike and eggs. Some vegans even do not eat honey. There is no official count of how many vegans there are in South Africa. But the interest has led to the birth of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Johannesburg, the nation's economic center. And this year, Africa's first big vegan and plant-based festival was held in Cape Town. The Vegan & Plant Powered Show took place at the end of May.

But veganism can be a lonely road for many South Africans. The country is Africa's top consumer of meat from cows, pigs and sheep, based on information from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Many South Africans express shock at the thought of giving up meat, which is central to celebrations and spirituality.

This is an issue for many African vegans, including Anesu Mbizvo. “In African traditional culture, a big part of a family's worth is their livestock (家畜), which decide the wealth of a family. And so when an African kills an animal at a gathering, it's thought that he would give away his wealth.” But she adds, “Offering home grown vegetables would not be considered to be valuable. I think that thought mainly prevents some people of African cultures from being vegans.”

Some South Africans are finding their path somewhere in the middle, Thirty-one-year-old Thandiwe Ngubeni is a communications specialist. She still eats meat but less and less of it as time goes by. “I feel more energetic when I eat a vegan meal. It actually gives me more energy.”

【推荐3】It was a normal school day for senior Solymar Solis until an unexpected visitor arrived . Her dad, Solis Melendez, surprised her by coming home early from Kuwait and visiting her unannounced at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.

After serving in Kuwait for nine months, Melendez returned home a week earlier than his daughter expected . He held balloons and flowers in a classroom as he sat at a student’s desk to blend in with the crowd. “ It came across my mind like, ‘How is she going to react?’, he recalled the heartwarming moment.” Is she going to be happy and run to me and hug me, or cry? That was all going on through my mind .

As unsuspecting Solymar entered the classroom, she was soon overcome with emotion, immediately bursting into tears and covering her mouth. She didn’t talk. She was just crying. She was overwhelmed with everything. She thought it was a dream.

Melendez was a single parent so while he was deployed (调度), he got his sister to live with his daughter. When he was coming back and talking to his sister, both of them came to the conclusion that they should do something special for his daughter. Melendez and his sister got in touch with the school and they planned this whole being -in -the-classroom thing,and it turned out perfect.

The two are very much looking forward to some daddy-daughter time now that he’s home. “It means everything,” Melendez said of being able to surprise his daughter this way. “After all the sacrifices she’s made, she deserves all the special arrangements and special occasions and celebrations. I’ll do anything for my daughter. I believe I’m doing good parenting!”