【推荐1】Colorado' s grays peak(山顶)rises 14,278 feet above sea level, high enough that trees can't grow toward the top, though there are plenty of bushes and rocks. It was in this unforgiving area that Bev Wedelstedt was unlucky enough to have her left knee broken.

It was August 2018, and Wedelstedt, 56, was on her way back down the path with three friends. A storm was coming, and they were anxious to get off the mountain. When they approached a rocky drop of a couple of feet, Wedelstedt decided to jump over it. She landed on her left leg. Then she heard the snap (咔嚓声).

Every step after that was great pain. Before long, she had to stop. As one friend ran down to get help, a number of other hikers, all strangers, attempted to help Wedelstedt down the narrow path by walking on either side of her to support her weight, but that proved slow and dangerous.

Finally, one hiker, Matt, asked her, “How do you feel about a fireman's carry?” Before she knew it, he had lifted her over his shoulder. “Now, I' m not tiny,” says Wedelstedt, a former college basketball star. Matt clearly couldn't carry her all the way down by himself. So six hikers and one of her friends took turns carrying her while she tried to make light of a difficult situation. Three hours and two rock –strewn (遍布) miles later, this human conveyor belt finally met the doctors, who took Wedelstedt to the hospital.

She has mostly recovered from her hike, but Wedelstedt knows she'll I never shake one thing from that day: the memory of the band of strangers who came to her rescue. “I'm still in awe.” says Wedelstedt.

【推荐2】Many schools across the US hold graduation ceremonies this time of year. In some schools, even 5 and 6-year-olds observe their graduation from kindergarten. And so can older people, much older. Meet 70-year-old Jerry Reid, who just graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He earned a bachelor’s degree.

Mr. Reid might not look like the average college student; his hair is definitely grayer. But still Jerry Reid’s age is easy to forget, other UVA students know him as one of their own.

Mr. Reid sat into the “Hoo Crew,” a group that cheers loudly for the school at sports events. He also joined a men's group on campus. He sang drinking songs along with many other students. Mr. Reid’s school friends say they can talk to him just about anything.

About a half century ago, in his 20s, Mr. Reid was not in school. Instead, he was racing cars and chasing girls. But he says his friend Bill invited him to UVA parties.

“Bill told me what a terrible life I had unless I came up here and went to school with him,” said Reid.

That was in 1963. Jerry Reid says it took him 48 years to take that advice. In 2011, he entered college. UVA Professor Luke Wright says Mr. Reid influences students. He opened the minds of the young adults. The teacher says Mr. Reid showed them that life does not end at 40. Instead, the 70-year-old college graduate believes that getting older can be the beginning of a dream.

“Remember that path that you left waits for you. It’s there. It’s yours. All you must do is to get out of your own way and get back to it. And, that's exactly what I did,” said Reid.

Mr. Reid says that he and his wife Susan now would take some time off to enjoy his college degree. Then, he’ll return to UVA to begin studying for his graduate degree.

【推荐1】Nobody ever imagined that after being lost for more than half a century the intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) known as Gaolou Mixian would be restored and passed down by a young man. “ As someone of Gaolou origin, I have a responsibility to restore our ancestors’ art form, ” said Chen Guorui, the world’s only inheritor (继承人) of this ancient art.

Gaolou Mixian uses rice paste to glue together selected grains of transparent (透明的) rice to create realistic figures or structures. It is a unique folk art that developed during the Qing Dynasty and reached its peak during the first half of the 20th century. Each household in Gaolou village would make rice structures that they put on display in their ancestral halls (祠堂) during the Chinese New Year, which attracted people from all sides.

However, due to the wet weather in southern China, these rice-made artworks would only last three to four months before losing their shape. It is for this reason that these works are not seen in museums in China. Due to various historical reasons, most people in Gaolou village did not pass down the art form, which caused it to disappear nearly 70 years ago.

Chen found out about this after hearing one former resident express disappointment about its loss. Curious, he started to do research and tried out the methods he heard about from older people in the village. After several months of exploration, Chen finally completed his first successful work.

Over the past five years, Chen has gradually improved his skills and even begun using new techniques, such as making some colorful artworks with colored grains of rice. Since 2017, people at home and abroad have taken an interest in this long-lost art form. To avoid being the last inheritor, Chen has been giving classes to some students at a primary school in Fuzhou with the support of local education authorities.

【推荐2】It’s a race against time, as generations of cultural heritage conservators at the Dunhuang Academy make a great effort to protect the artistic charm of the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, despite erosion (侵蚀) by sand and wind.

The team is dedicated to protecting the 45, 000 square meters of murals (壁画) and more than 2, 400 painted sculptures of the 735 caves of the site, the construction of which spans about a thousand years, from the 4th century to the 14th century. The cultural relics are the product of the cultural exchanges that took place over centuries on the ancient Silk Road. “Our work, repairing murals and painted sculptures, is to better preserve the caves, which promotes the great Dunhuang spirit of inclusiveness (包容) to the world and inspires modern people,” says Su Bomin, director of the Dunhuang Academy.

Commonly seen “diseases” affecting the murals include cracking and flaking (剥落), as well as erosion that is caused by changes in temperature and humidity of the caves, and the deposition of salts. To restore (修复) a mural requires an all-rounder. Restorers should know painting, master the skills of a mason (石匠) and have some knowledge of chemistry and physics, to be able to recognize the problems and their corresponding (相应的) causes and deliver a solution. They must also select proper materials and tools, and conduct experiments, before formally carrying out the restoration and evaluating the effect afterward.

The restoration (修复) should respect the original work and aim to maintain the status quo (现状) of the murals rather than repainting them. When the restorers find some parts of murals missing or fading away, they never repaint them to create a “perfect” appearance in restoration. “Cultural relics are witnesses of history,” explains Su. “When you pursue the so-called intact (完好无损的) look for artistic reasons, you will lose their key meaning.”

Cave conservation is about continuously solving problems. “It needs a long-term research to better preserve the caves, over a much wider time span that goes beyond our lifetimes,” Su says. But at least, they can keep the existing look of the murals for as long as possible.

【推荐2】When I reached inside the floorboard, my hand touched what felt like a book. I pulled it out. It was an old and small book: Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. I wondered whom the quotations (引语) were supposed to be familiar to. What I did know, thanks to Ms. Rattray, my seventh-grade teacher, was the correct way to use quotation marks. I decided to see what was inside this little book.

On the top corners of each page was a word or phrase, I opened it to “comfort and despair” and then “doubt” and “light”. I’d never thought about “light” any other way except as a lamp or daylight. It turned out that Mr Bartlett didn’t feel all these emotions himself. He had gathered up quotations from thousands of other people.

I was relieved to discover that those people were not afraid to express what they thought, including the fears and that they had so many thoughts about things that troubled me. Before this, I was lonely and I didn’t know whom talk to about the world and my role in it.

In ninth grade, I worked as an assistant at our local library. I often hid in the comer, where no one would see me, and I would read. It was at this library that I realized how some of those emotions I’d felt while reading Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations came to life in the characters I had started discovering in novels.

I have bought a few of the newer editions, but the original one is the one that helped me explore my inner self and see more than young mind and heart were able to understand.

【推荐3】In one of the old buildings near our school, one could see an old man sitting by a large window on the first floor. His name was James. During the three years at school, I had hardly ever found him missing from his usual position.

He was a high-ranking government official and lived happily with his wife. Once there was a bus accident, in which a number of passengers were seriously injured and were taken to the hospital for treatment. James was responsible for the rescue operation. It was a big hospital, but James was shocked to notice how ill-equipped it was. There were no enough life-saving drugs and life-supporting equipment. The injured and their companions had to struggle there. James attempted to help. However, though he emptied his pockets, many of them died that day.

That was a turning point in his life. He made a decision to devote his life to helping others, particularly the poor and needy patients and their companions. He began spending much of his income on these people. Since this required a lot of time and energy, he found it difficult to fulfill his official duties and therefore chose to retire, which, in turn, reduced his income considerably.

His wife was deeply worried. Most of the time, James was out and paid least attention to home affairs. Meanwhile, as he was spending a lot helping others, she had to struggle even to meet the household expenses. Though she was not opposed to his helping the poor, she urged him not to overlook his own life and home, but it had no effect on him. One day they had a heated argument and in the end she left him, never to return. Though he continued with his work, this was a great blow and did serious harm to his health and enthusiasm and he was soon forced to stay indoors. That was when he took his position by the window, spending his time looking outside.

A few weeks after my graduation, I returned to school, only to find the buildings gone. I heard that they were torn down. All the people left except James. He refused to go and the next morning, he was found at his usual place by the window, dead.