【推荐2】Most kids can walk into a library or bookstore and find hundreds of books to read. But it’s not that simple for kids who are blind. They read in a different way. Jenny Lee and other braille (盲文) transcribers take the printed words of a book and change them into a code of raised dots. Blind people can read these dots with their fingers. To know what braille feels like, take a ballpoint pen and press hard onto a piece of paper. Now turn the paper over and touch the raised dot made by the pen point.

When Lee first saw the dots of the braille alphabet, she wondered if she’d ever be able to read and write them easily. She took a class and practised hard for about six months before she passed the final exam: she had to convert 35 pages of a book into braille. Today, Lee works for a publisher. One of her jobs is to change children’s books into braille.

To do this, Lee first types the story into a computer and then uses a computer program to translate it into the braille code. Next, she looks over the translation several times to make sure it’s mistake-free. After that, a copy of the braille story is printed with a special printer. Then Lee and a proofreader work together to find and correct any mistakes. When a book is ready, many copies of it are printed. Afterwards, some are sold through websites and others are sent to libraries.

Sometimes, going over a story again and again gets tiring. That’s when Lee takes a break. Several of Jenny Lee’s co-workers, who are blind, use guide dogs. When the animals aren’t working, Lee likes spending a few minutes with them. To her, playing with dogs “is always a pick-me-up in the middle of the day”.

“I love this mission,” Lee says. “Through my brain power and my fingers, I am putting the dots into some kid’s hands.”

【推荐3】With the help of the car manufacturer (汽车制造商) Hound, a 13-year-old girl was able to send a message to space, where her dad works on the International Space Station (ISS).

“He gets to live and work in space and he is doing lots of experiments up there. He has to stay there for long periods of time... I miss him when he is gone,” Stephanie, who is from Houston, Texas, said in a video. “I think if we could write a really big message he would be able to see it from space.”

Hyundai took her wish to heart and decided to take on the challenge. Using Nevada’s Delamar Dry Lake as a canvas (画布), 11 drivers drove Hyundai cars, spelling out “Steph♡s you” across 2.14 square miles of desert. A promotional video, which Hyundai made to record the process, caught her father’s response and showed the picture he took of her message from the ISS.

“I am happy that he could see it and knows that we are thinking about him back home,” Stephanie said. “He has seen so many things up there, but I hope that this message was the most special.”

There are many misunderstandings about what can and cannot be seen from space. Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space, but many seemingly less important things can be seen.

“A farmer from Louisiana could be burning wastes in his backyard, and it would make a big smoke trail that astronauts could see it from space,” Mike Gentry, a photo researcher for NASA’s human-tended vehicles. And with a special camera, they can see the earth in great detail and even keep up an eye on their favorite sports teams.

【推荐1】Walking is the best form of exercise. It is good for the upper respiratory (与呼吸有关的) system and the legs. It helps us control our weight and blood sugar. Walking is also a good way to help you make more friends, bringing chances to see new things and meet new people. Personally I try to walk at least 5 miles daily.

As well as walking, I also cycle around Xiamen. Cycling is great for weight loss and helps to build stamina (耐力). However, cycling does not allow for the same level of social contact as a walk. It is for this reason that I will strongly suggest that you try long-distance walking if you want to be physically healthy. I originally started walking around Xiamen because I didn’t have a car, but I soon started to enjoy the walking for its own sake.

I have also made many friends during my walks. It’s not uncommon for my 5-mile walk to sometimes take as long as 2 or 3 hours, because I stop to chat with different shop owners along my route. These days, if I skip my walk for even one day, the people in the shops may want to know why I didn’t come.

I’ll never forget the first time some people followed me when I was walking, and asked if it was okay for them to walk with me, I really didn’t know what to say, so I just replied that I didn’t mind. I have been invited for lunch, dinner and sometimes just to sit and drink tea with total strangers. There is nothing more pleasant than walking past a schoolyard and hearing all the kids say hello to me.

【推荐2】Six years ago, something unforgettable happened. My wife, Liz and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary that year. It was a lovely event hosted by our sons for us. Many wonderful friends from the past surprised us with presents and congratulations. Our gift to each other was a driving trip out west. We drove from Ontario into Alberta, then southward into Glacier National Park in Montana and continued to Yellowstone National Park.

It was a cold spring day and the Beartooth Highway had opened for the season just days before. Alongside the road there was still a great amount of remaining snow. The scenery was so impressive that we made numerous stops to record memories with my camera. At almost the highest point of the highway, I stopped at a lookout to catch the amazing views with my wife in the center of my camera lens (镜头) .

There were not many vehicles on the road. Occasionally, cars with energetic young tourists passed by. And then we heard a motorcycle in the distance. The driver of the motorcycle in rags (衣衫褴褛) parked behind our car. A she approached us, his only words were, “Give me your camera and get over there with your wife.” I must admit I felt nervous that we might be robbed where we just created some beautiful memories. Surprisingly, he just took a picture of us, handed back my camera and rode off before we could express our gratitude. The photo he took is one of the most cherished and prized of our trip.

I learned my lesson in the journey. We should never judge a man by his appearance. If the motorcycle driver reads this story and remembers the situation, we would like to say “thank you” to him.

【推荐1】Take a look at your fingers. Would you believe me if I told you that the length of your fingers in relation to one another can predict your personality? I know that it sounds like one of those silly tests you see on Facebook, but I have to admit that it was spot-on for me.

Look at your three middle fingers of your left hand. Is your index finger（食指）longer than your ring finger? Is your ring finger longer than your index finger? Or are the two the same length?

Category 1: A longer ring finger. If your ring finger is longer than your index finger, research shows that you’re likely a charming type, and you can probably talk yourself out of any situation. Others often find this personality type irresistible and will go to great lengths to help you. You’re more likely to take risks, and you’re good at problem-solving. People in this category make great engineers, soldiers and crossword-puzzle solvers.

Category 2: A longer index finger. If your index finger is longer than your ring finger, chances are you are full of confidence — possibly even to the point of being over-confident and too proud. You are not necessarily introverted（内向的）,but you do enjoy time to yourself especially when you’re trying to complete a project. You are a determined go-getter who can make things happen, but you may be shy when it comes to taking the first step in building up a friendship. You are also probably happy with what you have, but you’re always wishing for more.

Category 3: The two are the same length. If your index finger and ring finger are roughly the same length, you are likely to avoid conflict at all costs and seek to keep the peace in your relationships. You are well-organized, faithful and sympathetic. But deep down under all of that caring and peace-loving, you also have a fiery core（暴躁的本质）and can lash out（猛然怒斥） unexpectedly when you’re pushed too far.

How well did these descriptions match your personality? I was surprised at the accuracy（准确性）in my case.

【推荐2】Born in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, to a Canadian missionary family in 1915, Crook came into the world.   While Isabel Crook's parents were engaged in setting up schools and education institutions in Southwest China, Crook herself was more interested in anthropology(人类学) and the many ethnic minority peoples in China. She was very curious about what was going on around her.

At the age of 23,Crook graduated from a Canadian college with a master's degree and began carrying out field research in Li County of Sichuan Province.   In 1947,Crook and her journalist husband were warmly welcomed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to observe and study the revolutionary land reform taking place in China. In 1948 the couple accepted an invitation from CPC leaders to teach at a newly-built foreign affairs school. The school was the forerunner of today's Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), which has seen over 400 ambassadors(大使) and 1,000 counsellors（参赞） walk through its doors. As a teacher at BFSU she laid the foundations for foreign language education in China.

As two of the first three foreign teachers at the school, Isabel and David Crook brought new Western teaching methodologies to the classroom. Michael Crook noted that since some students were extremely poor during the 1950s and 1960s, his parents were especially sensitive to their situation and did what they could to help them while protecting their self-esteem. For example, they would bring food such as eggs and bread for picnics and share them with students who brought steamed corn bread.

According to the younger Crook, because of his parents' belief in communism, they chose to use political texts as their teaching materials, such as works once admired by Karl Marx. Understanding that the students would become diplomats representing the People's Republic of China, his parents tried to help students gain knowledge in different fields to better prepare them for communicating with foreigners in English.

On December 15th 2018, Isabel got the award of ‘The Most Influential Foreigner throughout 40 Years of China’s Development’ from the Chinese government. On September 17, 2019, Isabel was awarded “the Friendship Medals” by the Chinese government for her lifetime of devotion to China.

【推荐3】People across Western Europe are experiencing a heat wave this week, with the worst still to come on Thursday. Officials sounded high-temperature health warnings on Wednesday, mindful that some heat waves before had caused thousands of deaths across an area where people are not used to such weather and few homes have air conditioning.

Rene Pierron, 51, a street cleaner at Paris City Hall, was not lucky, and said it was difficult to work outdoors under such conditions. “The buildings and roads here take the heat in during the day and act like radiators (散热器) — it's unbearable,” he said while taking a break near the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.

Kate Simmonds, also 51, who works in a restaurant in central London, could commiserate (同情).“It's so hot—we can’t work like this,” she said on Wednesday. But she said business was good this week, with plenty of people buying cold drinks and ice cream.

Nation after nation have given health-related warning for people becoming tired and weak in the heat. Belgium gave its highest warning since its weather warning system was put in place 20 years ago, and Germany placed the whole country under a heat warning.

Britain's weather service, the Met Office, placed five of England’s nine areas, including London, on a “Level Three” heat health watch, one level short of a national emergency.

Liz Bentley, the chief executive of Britain’s Royal Meteorological Society, warned: “While a country like Britain is not used to heat waves, they could become more common because of the changing climate. If you live in a Mediterranean(地中海) country, the population adapts to these temperatures. But we’ll see the number of deaths go up in the next coming days.”