【推荐1】An increasing number of old U.S. citizens are traveling abroad. The U.S. Department of State wants you to be prepared so that you can enjoy your trip. Please consider the following tips as you plan your travel.

Travel Documents.

    1    Some countries require that passports be valid for six months after your trip ends and some foreign countries require that U.S. travelers obtain a visa.

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A secure way to maintain your emergency contact information is to enroll （登记）with our Smart Traveler Enrolment Program. Your information is stored securely and enables the American Embassy to contact you，your family，or your friends in an emergency according to your wishes.

Health Information.

Health care tops the list of concerns for many old U.S. citizens who are thinking about traveling abroad. Consult with your physician prior to your travel overseas to identify your health care needs at your destination. Research the environmental conditions at your overseas destination that may contribute to your specific health concerns.     3    

Medical Insurance Beyond Medicare.

Medicare，the U.S. government health plan for people aged 65 years and older，does NOT cover health care overseas.     4     Many companies offer short-term health and emergency assistance policies to cover health care expenses incurred overseas，including emergency services such as medical evacuations（撤离）.

Smart Travel.

    5    Be aware that sudden changes in diet and climate can have serious health consequences for the unprepared traveler，no matter your age. At the same time，if you aren't sure about anything，turn to the Internet.

【推荐2】We usually travel because we want to see other countries and visit places that are famous, interesting or beautiful. We travel to meet new friends, to try new kinds of food, to experience life in other parts of the world or simply to get away from cold weather.     1    . Many of today’s adventure travelers are looking for an unusual experience and adventure travel. Here is a quick look at two popular adventure travel activities: hiking and rafting.

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If you don’t want to spend your vacation on a bus, in a hotel or sitting on the beach, you may want to try hiking. Hiking is a great way to travel. You will get close to nature and take exercise at the same time.     3     You can hike close to home or other places. The basic equipment you need for hiking is simple: good shoes, clothes and a backpack. You can hike in the mountains, in a forest or along a river. You can also go for a hiking in the city.

Another exciting adventure is rafting.

A raft is a small boat that you can use to paddle (划桨) down rivers and streams.     4     If you want a normal rafting trip, choose a quiet stream or river that is wide and has few fallen trees or rocks. As with hiking, you should always think about your safety and wear good clothes.     5     For example, how to handle the raft, how to paddle and how to get in and out of the raft. You should not raft unless you know how to swim, and you should always wear a life jacket.

【推荐1】We youngsters believe that our responsibilities to the country begin only when we enter the workforce. This is because we consider ourselves as helpless to do anything at that time.     1    

Raise awareness of important social issues in the country. The voice of the young can make itself heard in areas like education, pollution and health care. These are issues that directly influence our lives and should be taken notice of by us.     2    

Support the community by actively participating in volunteering. Volunteers are always needed to assist old people’s homes and other charity organizations.     3     Simple things like cleaning the house, entertaining or listening to the elderly, or making voice recordings for the visually disabled are all within our reach and far more significant than shopping or hanging out at shopping malls.

Participate in all kinds of activities that promote our environment. Planting new plants and trees to minimize pollution and create a clean environment in which to live.     4     Using one-off materials, such as plastic bags and lunch boxes, also causes burden to nature. We should avoid these and many other similar behaviors if we want to see a better environment.

    5     There are many things we cannot do right now, such as influence public policies, but we may prepare ourselves to be ready when the time comes for us to contribute. A significant amount of time and money has been invested in developing us as young leaders of the future, and we must not ignore our responsibilities. In the end, taking on our responsibilities to our society is a big step in helping to improve life in our country.

Living off grid

When you need electricity, you just plug in the machine and switch it on. If you need water, you turn on the tap.     1     For many people, these facilities are the basics of civilized society and the idea of living without them seems risky. Yet for a growing number of people, the idea of living off grid — without electricity, water or sewage — is an increasingly attractive lifestyle.

Off-gridders do not have to give up electricity or a modern lifestyle — some choose to, but most use small hydroelectric power systems, solar panels or windmills to generate enough power for their needs. Heating and cooking needs are met by solar energy or wood burning systems, and toilet facilities range from non-water toilets to outside compost toilets.     2     It ranges from traditional yurts (a type of tent) to luxury house with high-speed internet and central heating. Whether they live in simple homes or luxury houses, what they all have in common is that their lifestyles do not create any pollution or carbon emissions — the ultimate goal for off-gridders.

Around 100,000 people are thought to be living off grid in the UK now.     3     They grow their own food, home-school their children and provide their own medical care. They are people who have been priced out of the housing market or who have grown disillusioned with what modern society can offer and who decides that an alternative lifestyle isn’t a pipe dream, but a viable option.

A part from living an alternative lifestyle, cost is a big factor in choosing to live off-grid. Off-grid houses are far cheaper to build than ordinary homes since they don’t need to be connected to the electricity or water supplies and even road access is not necessary. Materials tend to be cheaper, too. Popular options include straw or old tyres and cement.

Surprisingly, the biggest problem off-gridders face is not building their homes or becoming self-sufficient but getting permission to build. Rural areas away from town are the perfect choice but these are often protected by law from construction of any kind or have building restrictions. There are now several websites dedicated to land-sharing so that the costs of buying land and getting permission can be shared, and there are increasing numbers of off-grid communities.     4     Off-gridding could soon be common all over Europe and America.

【推荐3】Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand (消费者需要) for environment friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic and metal container are produced, and these are difficult to get rid of.

However, today, more and more consumers are choosing “green” and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these, “Will this shampoo damage the environment?” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”

A recent study showed that two out of five adults now consider the environment safety of a product before they buy it. This means that companies must now change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are “green”, that is, friendly to the environment.

Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarkets’ products carry labels (标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have made producing of clean and safe products their main selling points and emphasize (强调) it in their advertising.

The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it.” The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

【推荐1】With fashion magazines, advertisements and teenage idols sporting the “latest and greatest” trends, there’s a lot of pressure on teenagers to fit the mold...no matter how expensive it might be. For decades, teenagers have used fashion as a social weapon. Bullies (霸凌者) will pick out peers that aren’t wearing the best brands of clothing and criticize them.

Dr. Jensen, a professor at Western Illinois University, says there are some signs your child might be a victim of fashion bullying. They’ll become picky about what clothes they wear and will be very demanding when you take them shopping. He continues: “Bullying of this kind can be quite insidious (阴险), it can just be a look that a child is given. Advertising and marketing have made our society increasingly image-conscious and our children are suffering the consequences. Schools and colleges should be places where all children feel equal, but it is actually impossible for schools to protect their pupils from the harsher aspects of these commercial influences.”

Andy Cranham, a teacher at City of Bristol College said: “The need to belong in groups is crucial to young learners and exclusion (排挤) is something they see as the end of the world.”

What Not to Wear, a popular television show, features fashion bullying as entertainment. Each week Stacy and Clinton pick out a fashion victim, thinking little of her appearance, and verbally trashing her wardrobe. They bully the victim while she shops according to their “fashion rules”. After she receives a total fashion renovation, Stacy and Clinton offer her acceptance and approval. Each show ends with a homecoming celebration where the former fashion disaster returns to friends and family who praise her with admiration as a “new woman”.

I think beauty is probably at the base of fashion, but the problem comes when so called “stylish” people start defining beauty in a way that excludes other people. Why wait for a trend in order to follow it? If you’re able to wear something with confidence, you will be the one starting a trend.

【推荐3】I remember growing up, my mom always said, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.” It is so true. Friends and mates allow us to enjoy our success and our joys, comfort us in our challenging moments, and provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I’ve always looked at friends as the family we choose. They enrich our lives. As Robert Louis Steven once said, “A friend is a present which you give yourself.”

To be a good friend or partner, it’s important be a good listener. Hear what your friend or mate has to say first rather than jumping to conclusions or getting defensive. Sometimes it is useful to be their mirror, for when they hear their words repeated back to them; it can help them to realize that what they said was not exactly what they meant to say.

Patience, compassion and empathy are also important traits in being a good friend or partner. You know the old golden rule, “Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.”The support of a friend during a tough time could make the difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are priceless gifts that can help change a person’s life.

Take care, though, with whom you choose to have close relationship, for they can have a tremendous impact on your self-esteem and life path. As someone once told me, “the attitude of your friends is like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or down.”

【推荐1】On June 16, 2020, Virginia governor Ralph Northam made an announcement. The state would move to recognize June 19, or Juneteenth, as a paid state holiday. The next day, New York governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that he' d do the same in his state. This makes Virginia and New York the latest states to officially honor Juneteenth. Now, at least 45 out of 50 states, plus Washington, D. C., recognize Juneteenth. “We became independent in 1776. Every year as a nation, we mark the Fourth of July Independence Day," Northam said during a press conference. “But that freedom we celebrate did not include everyone.

Learning more about the holiday means going back in history to the Civil War. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation ( 解放黑人奴隶宣言). His speech declared freedom for enslaved people. The Civil War ended more than two years later，in April 1865. The Union won. But there were many enslaved people who had not been told of this. On June 19, Union soldiers told crowds in Galveston, Texas, that the state' s 250 ,000 enslaved people were free. They were among the last to find out. The day became known as Juneteenth, which refers to June and 19th and is sometimes called Emancipation Day. Over the years, as black people from Galveston moved to different cities, the celebration spread slowly. And in the 1960s, the civil rights movement brought a really wider awareness of Juneteenth because it broke out all over the country.

It's believed that such a holiday helps educate people about what happened in the past. Sheila Jackson Lee represents Texas in the US House of Representatives. Earlier this week, she introduced a bill to Congress, which asks for national recognition of the holiday. Juneteenth has been celebrated in a variety of ways people can choose from. Usually, there are community gatherings, cookouts, and festivals.

【推荐2】Medicine is not only a human invention. Many other animals, from insects to birds to nonhuman primates (灵长类), have been known to self-medicate with plants and minerals for infections and other conditions. Behavioral ecologist Helen of the Borneo Nature Foundation has spent decades studying the island’ s orangutans (红毛猩猩) and says she has now found evidence they use plants in a previously unseen medicinal way.

During more than 20,000 hours of formal observation, Helen and her colleagues watched 10 orangutans occasionally chew a particular plant (which is not part of their normal diet) into a juice and then rub it into their fur. They spent up to 45 minutes at a time rubbing the mixture onto their upper arms or legs. The researchers believe this behavior is the first known example of a nonhuman animal using an external pain-killer.

Local people use the same plant—Dracaena cantleyi (龙血树), an unremarkable-looking bush with stalked leaves—to treat aches and pains. Helens, co-authors studied its chemistry. They added chemicals from the plant to human cells that had been grown in a dish and had been artificially stimulated to produce cytokines (细胞因子), an immune system response that causes inflammation (炎症) and discomfort. The plant chemical reduced the production of several types of cytokines. The scientists reported the finding in a study published last November in Scientific Reports.

The results suggest that orangutans use the plant to reduce inflammation and treat pain. Such findings could help identify plants and chemicals that might be useful for human medications.

【推荐3】Chopsticks，or Kuaizi in Chinese，are used to eat Asian food. The earliest evidence of a pair of chopsticks made of bronze was found in the Ruins of Yin near Anyang，Henan Province，dating back to about 1，200 B. C..

Chopsticks are round on the eating end which stands for heaven，and the other end is square which stands for earth. This is because keeping enough food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and earth in Chinese culture.

There is no single standard for the use of chopsticks，hut better keep some rules in mind while eating with them. Playing with chopsticks is considered impolite and rude，just like playing with a fork in a western environment. Besides，chopsticks are not used to move bowls or plates or to play with one's food. Chopsticks are not supposed to stab(戳)，either. Exceptions include tearing larger items apart such as vegetables. Also，chopsticks should not be left standing up in a howl of food. Any stick-like object pointing upward looks like the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to family members who have died. In addition，never tap chopsticks on the edge of one's bowl. as beggars are believed to make this noise to attract attention. Moreover，chopsticks should not be chewed on，or stay in one's mouth for too long.

Today，chopsticks serve many other functions. For example，you can buy a pair of chopsticks as a gift for a newly-married couple as their wedding gift. In Chinese，“chopsticks”reads“kuaizi”,which means having sons soon. Skillful craftsmen paint beautiful scenery on chopsticks to make them look like fine artwork. Additionally，it has been said that using chopsticks improves one's memory，increases finger flexibility(灵活性) and can be useful in learning and improving skills such as Chinese character writing and brush painting.