【推荐2】Though many of us may have been away somewhere nice last summer , few would say that we’ve “summered”. “Summer” is clearly a noun - a verbed noun.

In our childhood, we all learned the difference between a noun and a verb. With such a clear definition, it was easy to notice the difference. Not so in adulthood, when we are expected to “foot” the bill and “chair” meetings. Chances are that you didn’t feel uncomfortable about those verbed nouns.

“The verbing of nouns is as old as the English language,” says Patricia, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review. Experts found that 20% of all English verbs were originally nouns. And it seems to be snowballing. Since 1900, about 40% of new verbs have come from nouns.

Even though the conversion (转化)is quite common, plenty of language experts disagree with it. William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White have this to say, “Many nouns lately have been pressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but some are in doubt. ”The Chicago Manual of Style takes a similar standpoint, advising writers to use verbs with great care.

“Sometimes people dislike a new verb because they refuse to accept what is unfamiliar to them,” says Patricia. That’s why we’re comfortable “ hosting” a party, but we might feel upset by the thought of “medaling” in sports. So are there any rules for verbing? Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief at Random House, doesn’t offer a rule, but suggests that people think twice about “verbifying”(使动词化)a noun if it’s easily replaced by an already existing popular verb. Make sure it’s descriptive but not silly-sounding, he says.

In the end, however, style is subjective (主观的).The easy conversion of nouns to verbs has been part of English grammar for centuries. It is one of the processes that make English “ English”. Not every new word passes into general use, but as for trying to end verbing altogether, forget it.

【推荐1】With more than 2.5 million visitors annually, Olympic National Park is a most popular park in the US. If you’re looking for breathtaking views, these are the best places to camp inside Olympic National Park.

Campground

●Deer Park

Only tents are allowed here. 14 campsites are available on a first come, first served basis from June through mid-October.

Cost: $15/night

●Staircase

There are 49 campsites. The location is open through the whole year. Some of its facilities (设施) are only available during the summer.

Cost: $24/night

●Kalaloch

With its 170 campsites, Kalaloch is the largest and most popular campground in the whole park. It is interesting and convenient to park.

Cost: $24/night

●Dosewallips

Dosewallips features about 30 campsites, none of which can be reserved ahead of time. It is accessible throughout the year.

Cost: Free

Things to Know Before You Go

●Bring a Bear Canister (防熊罐): The park is filled with all kinds of wildlife that are more than willing to help themselves to your food. Bring a bear canister to keep your supplies safe.

●Firewood: Some campgrounds have firewood for sale, but visitors are allowed to collect kindling (引火物) in locations where that isn’t the case.

●Group Camping Sites: The park offers large-group camping sites in Kalaloch. The reservation may require a phone call to complete and has different pricing models. Visit the website for more information.

●Reservation Fees: All fees for the various campsites arepayable by credit card only. No cash is accepted. Be sure to have a card with you if you are not making a reservation online ahead of time.

【推荐1】As the school year barely starts in Denver, French teacher Melanie is filled with worry that her students are always absent-minded. Yet, the problem isn’t messaging, enjoying video games or delivering notes. Surprisingly, the problem is about the ongoing heat wave in Denver.

“Today was a little bit hot, so I noticed kids were very sleepy and they were having to get up to drink water quite often.” said Melanie, who works at Denver’s East High School. “If you lose too much water, and you have to keep going to the water fountain, that can take away from their classroom experience.” While nodding off in class on a warm day may seem acceptable for the average teen, Melanie’s observation carries a bigger consequence than dry lips.

“There have been quite a few media reports about teachers noticing that students weren’t able to focus on hotter days,” said R Jisung Park, a researcher, “Does a hotter climate during the school year actually affect the rate of learning?” The drops in academic achievement couldn’t be explained by hotter weekends or hotter summers, but the trend was connected to higher temperatures on school days alone.

The connection between lost learning and a greater number of hot days is one more example of how climate change is already affecting our lives — and it’s an alarm bell for what we stand to lose in the future. Humans still have time to lessen the worst consequences of continued global warming. Without the unlikely important changes in the next 10 years, the globe will be trapped in an unavoidable era of heat waves that were unprecedented (前所未有的) for human beings.

【推荐3】These great getaways offer big fun with little money. We’ve collected choices all around the country, so a wonderful vacation is always right around the corner, even if you only have a day or two.

●San Diego, California

San Diego’s near perfect summer weather, the free beaches of Coronado Island, and the museums and outstanding zoo in Balboa Park all add up to a memory-making a quick getaway for families in Southern California for kids of any age.

●Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is perfect for families, especially high school kids since the capital city is home to a wide range of colleges, where they can get inspired with schoolyard tours and museums.

●Estes Park, Colorado

Known as the base camp to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Estes Park is only 90 minutes from Denver International Airport, but has a real Color ado mountain village feeling with plenty of outdoor activities to fit any member of the family. Families can try hiking in the national park on their own, booking a mountain bike ride, learn fly-fishing, or try rafting (乘竹筏) experiences

●Houston, Texas

If you think Houston is only a business city, you’re in for a surprise when you visit it with your family. Start your visit at Discovery Green, an urban park designed for kids, with everything from $5 kayak (皮划艇) rides on gentle Kinder Lake to special toddler (学步的儿童) play-group hours. The Children’s Museum of Houston is one of the best in the country, with indoor and outdoor space where they can have hands-on fun.

【推荐1】I began working in journalism when I was eight.It was my mother's idea.She wanted me to “make something” of myself,and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue.The crowds were there.There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union.For several hours I made myself highly visible,making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.When it was supper time,I walked back home.

“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked. “None.”

“Where did you go?”

“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.” “What did you do?”

“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.” “You just stood there? Didn't sell a single one? My God,Russell.”

Uncle Allen put in, “I've decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he   paid me a nickle(五分镍币)．It was the first nickle I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence,and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day,I told my mother I'd changed my mind.I didn't want to make a success in the magazine business.

“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you'll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that,as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines.Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember.My mother, dissatisfied with my father's plain workman's life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people.But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband's people for true life and love.

【推荐2】It is a bright morning in the Ethiopian countryside. Yohannes walks beside a pair of donkeys that are pulling a two-wheeled cart. They arrive at the agricultural town of Awassa where Yohannes opens the sides of the cart to display, not the usual vegetables or tools, but children’s books. This is the Donkey Mobile Library, the first of its kind in Ethiopia and one of only a few in the world.

Yohannes was born in Ethiopia, North Africa, but trained to be a librarian in the USA and returned to Ethiopia years ago. The cart is full of picture books donated by American libraries, teachers and school children.

Yohannes arranges small painted benches in the shade of the trees, and suddenly Ethiopian children come shouting and racing down every road and path. It’s mobile library day! They circle the bookshelves with great excitement. Until the Donkey Mobile Library began its regular two-monthly visits, many of these children had never seen a book.

“Without books, education is very dull, like food without salt. You can survive but you can’t really come alive,” says Yohannes. “The ability to read is the basis for greater productivity, better health and longer life. Even though the children lack material goods, with books they can imagine a world of possibilities.”

Yohannes first worked in the children’s section of the main library in America. Surrounded by books he had never seen before, he realized how joyful and imaginative children’s literature is. He says, “I always thought of Ethiopia. But how could I bring children’s books to my home country when it had almost no libraries to keep the books in?”

He contacted Jane Kurtz, a writer born in America but brought up in Ethiopia, and together they created the Donkey Mobile Library. The children say that the Library has given them ideas about what they might do in the future. A child called Dareje wants to be a scientist and find a cure for life-threatening diseases. An eleven year-old girl, Fikerte, wants to do research about the moon and discover new facts about outer space. Tamrat, aged 10, comes every time.

“What brings you back here time and time again?” the librarian asks him.

“The stories,” Tamrat replies instantly.

【推荐3】My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations, and is hesitant to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a leader who laughs loudly and chants," Girls rule, boys drool." But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and nervous.

This has been challenging for me at times. "Shy"is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been a year of firsts for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of confidence. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she completed her first kids' triathlon(三项全能).

On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son's birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to participate in her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike to run with her, we got all the equipment she'd need, and we kept talking about the race. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she held my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep it together.

And then it was her turn. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart soared. My daughter transformed into the most confident human being I had ever seen.She dominated(主宰)that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the finish with the biggest smile on her face.

I can honestly say that I never felt so proud of someone in my entire life. It wasn't because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and conquered(克服) that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn't seen before.

All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I won that day. I won the chance to see my girl shine.

Shine on, sweet baby.