【推荐1】Many parents have had challenging conversations with their children．There's one more to add to the list- climate change．    1     But the most important thing parents can give them is hope：there are solutions，and everyone has something to contribute no matter what their ages are．Here are tips that will help parents have a positive climate conversation with their children．

Start by listening．    2     They first learn about climate change in the school，online or from their friends．By taking time to understand how children feel about climate change，parents can help them figure out how they can be part of the solution．

    3    Being a parent is tough and the to-do list never seems to end．The good news is talking about climate change doesn' t have to be complicated．There are many websites parents can turn to for help．Continuing to learn more about climate change can prepare parents themselves to answer kids' questions．

Connect with nature．Encouraging kids to play outside helps them appreciate the outdoors．A study conducted a few years ago found that kids who play outdoors are more likely to be interested in protecting nature．    4    Research suggests that kids who interact with nature are more likely to be in good health．

Encourage kids to act．Most kids know that climate change is happening，but they might not know what they can do to fix it．Often，what holds them back from acting is a lack of efficacy（效力）：they are not convinced that they can make a difference．So build children's efficacy by looking for examples of people，especially kids who are making a difference．    5    

【推荐2】Ever since I can remember my mom has always been growing things or talking about growing things. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly share her green thumb skills. She tells me it’s because I don’t give the plants the love they deserve. I won’t lie, that stings a little bit!

After a crazy few years of working my way through college and then the pandemic(大流行病), I felt I had this disconnection with my mom and her gardening. As a kid, I spent a lot of time with her in her garden. And those were some of the happiest moments of our lives. For Mother’s Day this year, I decided to get back in the garden to spend some quality time with her. Though we weren’t able to plant everything we wanted to, due to the weather, we had a good time.

My mom always makes sure to fertilize(施肥于) her garden with natural fertilizers. She doesn’t like using chemicals. It’s not good for pollinators(传粉者) and the chemicals can run off into the nearby river. Each year she designs her garden differently so that each section of the garden can have a variety of vegetables and later on, nutrients are added to the soil. “Where did you learn all of this?” I asked her. Growing up I was always under the impression that my mom just knew everything. It was not a wrong assumption, but I was curious. “Wisconsin Public Radio!” she said. “Each Friday it has Garden Talk where Larry Meiller interview s gardening experts about planting in Wisconsin.”

Besides a garden, my mom also grew a prairie, filled with tons of native Wisconsin flowers.   A pollinator paradise (乐园). This year, she planted sunflowers, purple coneflowers, and a variety of other wildflowers to help out the pollinators in the yard and give her garden the best chance to thrive(繁荣). At the end of the day, I was glad to have gotten my hands dirty with my mom, I learned a lot, and I felt that I had gotten closer to her.

【推荐3】The Sunday Mail magazine interviewed some parents about whether children should do chores at home.     1    

Ms Miller thinks that kids these days already have enough stress from school. They do not have time to study and do housework, too.       2     They should spend their time on schoolwork in order to get good grades and get into a good university. When kids get older, they will have to do housework.       3     She thinks that doing chores is not so difficult.

    4     He thinks it is important for children to learn how to do chores and help their parents with housework. It’s not enough to just get good grades at school. Children these days depend on their parents too much. Doing chores helps to develop children’s independence and teaches them how to look after themselves.     5     Everyone should do their part in keeping the house clean and tidy. The earlier kids learn to be independent, the better it is for their future.

【推荐2】The idiom “shoot for the stars” has just taken on a literal meaning for cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux. On February 22, 2021, the Memphis, Tennessee, native was selected to be one of four crew members of the Space X Inspiration—the world’s first civilian astronaut mission. The 29-year-old will make further history as the youngest American—and the first with a prosthetic limb(假肢)—to travel to space.

“Until this mission, I could have never been an astronaut,” Hayley said. “This mission is opening space travel to people who are not physically perfect.”

Hayley’s space dream began two decades ago, following a visit to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, during a family vacation. “I got to see where the astronauts trained and of course wanted to be an astronaut after that—who doesn’t?” She recalls. However, the young girl’s dream was destroyed a year later when she was diagnosed with bone cancer—in her femur(股骨).

Fortunately, the often fatal disease had been caught early and the experts were able to limit its spread through chemotherapy(化疗) and by replacing the diseased bones with metal rods in her left leg. Given NASA’s strict medical requirements, Hayley knew that her dream of becoming an astronaut would probably never be realized. However, the young girl had already set her mind on a different, and equally challenging mission—working with young cancer patients at the hospital where she had been cured.

As it turned out, Hayley’s dream of going to space was far from over. On January 5th, 2021, she got a very surprise call from Jared Isaacman, CEO, asking her if she would like to go to space. “Immediately I said, ‘Yes, yes, absolutely!’” Arceneaux told AFP.

【推荐3】You’d think that being the president of a country would be the top of anyone’s life. For Jimmy Carter, it was just one stop on a very long train ride, filled with powerful, good deeds and gentle influence.

Former President Jimmy Carter is almost as well­known for his volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity as he was for being the 39th president of the United States (1977－1981).His relationship with Habitat for Humanity, a global nonprofit housing organization devoted to providing comfortable and affordable homes for families, started in 1984.

Jonathan Reckford is Habitat for Humanity’s chief officer. He said, “The group was started by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976. The Fullers asked Jimmy Carter to help with one of Habitat’s building projects in 1984. Jimmy Carter agreed. Since that time, the former president’s beloved wife Rosalynn has worked by his side.They now continue to lend their names and muscle to this international aid group. They have worked on thousands of homes across many countries.”

Not surprisingly, volunteering is in Carter’s DNA.   Jimmy Carter said, “My mother served as a doctor for many poor African American patients. She refused to acknowledge most racial distinctions.” In 1966, at the age of 68, Miss Lillian became a Peace Corps volunteer. She stayed in India for 20 months, where she taught women about birth control and treated people with disease.

Through the years, to help the unfortunate families, Jimmy Carter has worked alongside thousands of everyday volunteers. When we say work, we mean those related to getting his hands dirty, wearing jeans, and picking up tools. He slept in all manner of accommodations, and dealt with all types of weather around the world. And Carter hasn’t let his worsening health hold him back either. In early October, the former president, now 95 years old, didn’t let a severe fall hold him back from kicking off the 36th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville.