【推荐1】In January 2015,I left my hometown and family in Virginia and moved to Iowa so I could be coached by Jackson. I'd been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal since I was eight—but gradually, that dream seemed like a million miles away.

On February 2,2016,while Mom was visiting me in Iowa, I told her," I don't like swimming any more. I want to try dancing, or become a singer. I can get a job in Virginia. I just want to come home."

Mom's eyes narrowed and her expression turned to stone." You're breaking my heart! Brie," she said. "You've been doing swimming for ten years, and now you want to quit? Have you lost your mind?"

I hadn't lost my mind, but I had lost my fire. It's an entirely different thing to push toward that dream when you feel alone.

"I'm not trying to break your heart, Mom,"I said." I just don't want to do it any more."

"I know you miss home. But you've signed a contract that says you will represent your country to the best of your ability. You've got a responsibility to your teammates. And now you just want to walk away? I will not let you be dishonorable. If you don't like swimming, then at the very least, you'll finish the season."

The next afternoon as I dragged myself into Jackson's swimming center, I thought of the efforts Mom had made in order to pay for my training. I thought of my two sisters: Arielle, who gave up ballroom dancing, and Joyelle, who stopped ice skating so that our single mom could afford to keep me in swimming.

For now, here's what you need to know: Exactly 210 days before I ever attempted my first event（赛事）in the Rio Summer Olympics, my leap(飞跃，跳跃) of faith came this close to ending in a crash of disaster.

【推荐2】My mother and sister had gone through Grandma’s belongings after her memorial service and decided on the sewing machine for me. I wasn’t sure if I was the right person for it, though. I hadn’t sewn since taking a class in high school. This would take some experimenting.

I opened the built-in drawer to find Grandma’s old pieces of thread. I held her tomato-shaped pincushion (针垫)and thought of all the memories wrapped up in this machine. Grandma had become a tailoress (女裁缝)out of necessity. With four small children to clothe, she’d quickly learned how to sew almost everything they needed. For over 30 years, Grandma kept up with her sewing. She made matching Easter dresses for my sister and me and costumes for our school festivals. She was always in search of a new project, whether it was teaching our neighbors or sewing dresses for the homeless. But for the last several years of her life, dementia (痴呆)had left a shy and silent woman in place of the strong, opinionated, loving grandmother I’d known.

To honor Grandma’s memory, I wanted a project to help people the way she had. With the stay-at-home order in place because of COVID-19, I certainly had the time. So I dug out Grandma’s machine to sew masks, and read up on how to sew. I turned on my computer to research how to get the machine going again. After hours of digging through old black-and-white handbooks and sewing lessons online, I operated the machine one more time. I held my breath and pressed down on the pedal. Hurrah! It worked! In no time, my fingers were flying, steadily moving material under the very cooperative needle. When I sewed enough masks for my family, I kept going. I delivered nearly 500 masks to a hard-hit hospital in the area. Quite a big job for an old sewing machine.

A staff member met me outside to receive the donation. “Thank you,” she said, not knowing that any thanks for my efforts belonged to Grandma, who provided the inspiration.

【推荐3】When Facebook was entirely used by people under the age of 25, things were simple. But now an important social question has appeared—should you “friend” your child, or accept a parent as a “friend” ?

Lindsay Stewart, 15, completely understands why you’d refuse a parent’s friend request. Her parents have agreed on not becoming Facebook friends. Lindsay says, “She said she wasn't going to ask to be friends. My brother and I were relieved(放心的). ”

Though there may be nothing embarrassing or secrets being discussed, it’s not a place she wants her mother to have access to. Lindsay explains, “My mum is my mum. I like her, but she's not necessarily what I’d call my friend.”

Mum is Sandy Stewart, a 50 year old Indiana-born mother of two now living in South London. Mrs. Stewart has strong opinions about what role a parent should play in the world’s biggest networking site—stay away from your children.“I wouldn't dream of being friends. There’s no way，”Mrs. Stewart insists and suggests trying “friending” could seem like an invasion of privacy(侵犯隐私).

Yet Tim Harness, 54, and his daughter Josie, 18, are“friends” on Facebook and perfectly happy. Josie left home in the summer for university in Plymouth, and Mr. Harness can see her online.“I have a little look at her photos now and again，” he explains.“She seems to be having a good time.”

Josie tells me it’s reassuring(令人安心的) to know that her father’s checking up on her every few days. She has plenty of family friends and what they see on her Facebook doesn’t concern her.“The worst dad might see is a photo of me a bit drunk, ” she says.“Is it an invasion of privacy? Not really. Everyone has Facebook these days. In my view, the only reason why you wouldn't want them is if you've got something to hide.”

【推荐1】The disease Ebola is spreading in West Africa. The situation frightens both local citizens and travelers.

There is no vaccine or special treatment. It is difficult to stop Ebola from spreading. It moves easily from person to person. The disease strikes its victims through direct contact with the blood or other fluids from the body of an infected person.

The bodies of victims still contain the virus days after they die. Local traditions and burial and funeral customs also make the sickness hard to control. Doctors say it is important to identify an Ebola case early to prevent others from becoming infected. Patients suffer from high body temperature, bleeding and diarrhea(腹泻).

Only a few prevention measures exist. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. suggest staying away from countries with confirmed Ebola cases. People at increased threat include those working in animal research, health care workers and others caring for patients in the community.

In the past, cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sudan, and Uganda.

Doctors advise careful protective measures if you must go to an area where Ebola exists.

If Ebola has been identified directly around you, the C.D.C. and W.H.O. strongly suggest wearing protective clothing. Cover your face and hands. Goggles can protect the eyes. Try to remove Ebola germs with cleaners that fight infection.

【推荐2】Every superhero, no matter how small, needs a cape. That was Robyn Rosenberger’s motivation when she started sewing superhero capes for kids with cancer, heart defects, and other serious diseases. It all began when she was making a cape as a birthday present for her nephew. Rosenberger heard of a girl named Brenna who was battling a potentially deadly skin condition called harlequin ichthyosis. Anyone suffering from what she was going through had to be tough. “I had an aha moment (顿悟),” Rosenberger says. “Brenna was a superhero! She needed a cape.” So Rosenberger sent her one, and Brenna’s mother was delighted.

Rosenberger found ten more kids online and sent out ten more capes. Before long, she quit her job at a software company to dedicate herself full time to tinysuperheroes.com, a website where people can buy hand-made capes for brave kids facing illness and disability.

Since 2013, Rosenberger and her small paid staff have sent more than 12,000 handmade capes to kids in all 50 states and 15 other countries. The capes come in pink, blue, purple, or red and can be decorated with the child’s initials or specialized patches, including a heart, a rocket, or a lightning bolt. One recipient was eight-month-old Gabe, who was born with a cleft palate (腭裂), which causes distinct facial features. Rosenberger sent him a red cape with a bright yellow G in the center. It was a hit.

Gabe is now a fixture on the company’s social media posts. “The Tiny Superhero community has been a wonderful connection to have,” says Gabe’s mom, Kate Glocke. In fact, two years later, “We still bring Gabe’s cape with us to every hospital appointment.”

【推荐3】A child who had tested positive for Covid-19 was stopped from boarding a plane just in time, thanks to the joint effort of the police and health officers who pulled off the feal in "under an hour," a Maryland State Police official said.

The health officer told police they had been unable to reach the 9-year old child's mother. As a consequence, State Police immediately reached out to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) police and gave them the family's departure time, destination and names. It took airport authorities about half an hour to locate the family, and by 3:45, they were able to get the mother on the phone with health officials.

It all happened in “under an hour,” Nelson said. “Never got on the plane, no serious exposure there or anything like that.”

The family was sent home with the isolation order for the boy and a quarantine order for his mother, due to her direct exposure, Nelson added. The family has not been dentified and it is unclear when or why they were tested for the virus.

The stop was a good display of the state's cooperation system at work, Nelson said, and is a testament to the trust that's been built across the state over this year, to the point where a local health department can get important information across the state in just a matter of minutes.

【推荐2】Recently, my mother asked me to drop off some letters at the post office and pick up some stamps for her. Without giving it a thought, I took the letters and purchased her stamps.

A few days later, she mentioned that one of the letters I had mailed was missing a stamp, and asked me if I had put a stamp on it. She had remembered asking me to put a stamp on it, though I certainly had not heard her. So, unfortunately, it looked like the letter, which was a bill of course, would come back marked "Return to Sender for Insufficient Postage". A few days went by and I returned to the post office to pick up our mail. While I was there, I saw the postmaster and happened to tell him about Mom’s letter missing the stamp. I asked him to be on the lookout for it coming back. It was then that he told me his story. "You know," he said, "I immediately saw after you had dropped the mail off that your letter was missing a stamp. I also noticed that it was a bill for a credit card company. I thought to myself that you have always been kind to me and my partner, and I wanted to return the favor. So, to prevent your mother from getting charged a late fee from the credit card company, I took money from our change dish (extra pennies for folks who need one), and purchased a stamp for you."

When I heard it, I couldn’t believe it. What a blessing that was! I thanked him over and over again for putting the stamp on the letter for us. Then, I immediately dumped(倾倒) all the change out of my purse and into the penny dish in order to help others out in the future. When I got home, I was able to tell Mom the good news. This was kindness karma(因果报应) in action, I believe!

【推荐3】French writer Annie Ernaux won the 2022 Nobel Prize in literature on Oct 6. She is the first French female to win the prize. In the words of the Nobel committee, Ernaux was given the award for the courage and sharp insight of her writing.

Having spent over five decades as a writer, the 82-year-old winner has published more than 20 books to her name, including Cleaned Out, Shame, a 2008 memoir called The Years and A Girl’s Story. Rather than consider herself a writer of fiction, Ernaux has used the term “an ethnologist (民族学家) of herself” to describe herself.

Born in 1940 in a rural village in Normandy, France, Ernaux grew up in a working-class environment as her parents ran a combined grocery store and cafe. She worked as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer.

According to CNN her “upbringing and experiences navigating adolescence and adulthood” inspire many of her works. For example the book Shame explores the theme of childhood trauma while A Girl’s Story follows a young woman’s coming of age in the 1950s.

Though the matters Ernaux describes in her books are serious and even sometimes heavy, they are always written in plain language. Ernaux described her style as “flat writing” through which she aims to tell her stories objectively, “unshaped by florid description or overwhelming emotions.” noted Fox News.

“She writes about things that no one else writes about, for instance her jealousy, her experiences as an abandoned lover and so forth, I mean, really hard experiences,” Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Literature said after the award announcement in Stockholm. He went on to say, “She gives words for these experiences that are very simple and striking. They are short books, but they are really moving.”