【推荐1】I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling (叛逆). I suggested they recall their own teenage years. At that age they would like to be growing away from parents. They preferred to stand on their own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of going out fighting bravely on their own, most of them are grasping one another's hands for reassurance (肯定).

They declare they want to dress as they like, but they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music, but somehow they all end up gathering around listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in a similar way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon (茧) into a larger cocoon.

It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today's parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All these create a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.

But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don't, care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go for it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really matters.

【推荐2】Seventh-grader Jonah Maxwell has become a local celebrity after an anti-bullying(反欺凌) video he made went viral(走红) online.

He wrote and directed a six-minute 30-second film with friends from school.Their faces cannot be seen in order to take back power from bullies insulting others on social media.

"If it's happened to you,you have to tell someone.If you are doing it,just think about this: It's just as easy to be nice as it is to be mean and manners and respect cost nothing,"he said.

This social media has given bullying a new life far beyond fights in the school lunchroom or hallways. “It’s mainly happening through social media but there is physical and social bullying. I have seen people getting ‘booked’ in hallways—somebody gets bumped and the books fall all over the floor. The victim gets embarrassed."

Jonah has been interested in making videos since he was even younger.The first video he ever made was filmed with a Crayola camera when he was 6 years old.His dad is a filmmaker and he helped him with the final editing for his anti-bullying video.

The youngster said he wants people to "speak up" and tell someone if they are being bullied."Tell someone-it’s too hard to go through something like this alone,"he said.

"The bullying sometimes never stops if there is social media involved-you don't leave it behind you at the school gates.It's scary for me to think what kids go through but what is worse is that the kids don’t feel they should or can tell.Jonah's message clearly states it doesn't have to be this way,"said Jonah's mother Jenny Maxwell.

Maxwell said teachers in the United States and abroad,including Brazil,Ireland,the United Kingdom and Australia,have been showing the video in school."If it changes one person’s life,it will have made a difference in our lives,"she said.

【推荐3】It’s nothing new that you can find many files or services you can download or use from the Internet. The question is: Is downloading legal or not? In most cases the answer is negative. Of course, you can find files for legal downloading, but you have to pay for them.

It seems innocent if you click on the download mark, but it isn’t. It should be compared with stealing in a store. Would you steal a magazine, an MP3 player or a car? Downloading from the Internet is a then, and sharing files, once you have stolen them, only makes it worse.

Many people may think it better, easier and cheaper to do downloading. I think, that is the main reason why Internet users prefer sharing something to buying them. In the modern world we love convenience and what could be more convenient than getting music, films and games without having to leave your house? However, you could be in big trouble if you are caught. But so far only a tiny amount of people have been charged for downloading illegally. The majority of people who download illegally, and use the files for their personal use, will not get in trouble. And that’s why it’s important for people to understand what the long-term consequences are if they don’t want to pay for their music, films and TV. Will film and music companies still spend millions of pounds every year if they have no chance of making a profit? The answer is plainly “no”.

Finally I would like to say that the Internet offers a lot of services for money, but people will always try to get them for free. To summarize my thoughts, I’d like to highlight that illegal downloading is both unfair towards producers and dangerous for those who practice this kind of activity. You have to decide whether to buy or download.

【推荐1】A New Fashion Trend

Fashion designers are always looking for new materials to work with. Lately, it’s all about sustainable materials — recycled tires, mushrooms, even pineapple fibers! What if you want a sustainable pair of shoes? Thaely is here to help.

This sneaker brand out of Dubai wants to fight the growing problem of plastic pollution. Led by 28-year-old Indian businessman Ashay Bhave, they may have found a winning strategy: making shoes out of plastic grocery bags. “Thaely” means “plastic bag” in the Hindi language.

“I was looking to create footwear that is cost-effective and safe for the environment,” Bhave said in an interview with the Khaleej Times newspaper. “I needed to come up with something that uses recycled plastic without creating any more plastic waste.”

Plastic bags were the perfect solution. Bhave’s home country, India, banned single-use plastics. However, in an interview with Elle magazine, Bhave said it’s poorly enforced. He said five trillion (万亿) plastic bags are used around the world each year. “I was motivated to find a solution to this problem,” Bhave said.

That solution was the fabric called ThaelyTex. Made entirely from plastic bags, the material looks and feels like leather, Bhave claimed. That sounds promising. Better yet, the production process requires no additional chemicals and releases no toxic by-products. The end result is a smart-looking pair of white low-top sneakers.

Thaely wouldn’t reveal the full process for making Thaely Tex, but he said that each pair of shoes is made from up to 15 plastic bags and up to 22 plastic bottles. Where do they get so much material? Bhave told Elle that was the hardest part. “The biggest challenge we faced was right at the first step of acquiring the plastic bags.”

Finally, they got help from Trio Tap Technologies, a waste management plant. Bhave said they offered to collect the bags and also to process them into ThaelyTex. So far, it seems like things are falling into place. There are already hundreds of pre-orders in place. It sounds like they have some plans for the future. “We have a few more colours coming up,” said Bhave. They also plan to put out a high-top model and introduce a line of clothing. Let’s hope their growth is also sustainable.

【推荐3】It had been a “long” and hard walk from home to the subway station for teenager Mandy Chan when she first put on hanfu in public.     1    . “It was a set with a cream-colored shirt, a brown jacket in China’s Ming dynasty style and a red pleated skirt made by me,” she recalled recently, almost 10 years later.

    2    . Chan added, “If anyone had asked what I was wearing, or the history behind it, I would have been afraid I couldn’t tell them the whole picture.”

    3    . Hanfu was the traditional clothing of China’s Han ethnic group that was formed in the main residential areas of the Han people in ancient China.     4    . The cutting and stitching line in the middle part of hanfu fits the spine of the human body and helps people to dress properly. This design, which has transcended（超越）itself as mere decoration, points to the qualities of the wearers as upright and moderate（温和的）individuals.

“Instead of imitating people like what I used to do, I have jumped out of my comfort zone and found the style that suits me best,” Chan said. “Through hanfu, I have found myself and so many unexplored things in my life.” Chan added that she had found her lifelong passion through hanfu, which is a goal and dream that has never been absent from her life. Chan found she was not alone after falling in love with hanfu.     5    .

【推荐1】With advances in transportation and information technology, even the most remote places on Earth are within reach of the traveler. In fact, tourism is now the world’s largest industry, with nature tourism growing the fastest.     1     In response to this increasing appreciation of nature experiences, a new form of travel has arisen called ecotourism.

    2     The Nature Conservancy adopts the concept explained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature that promotes conservation, has a low visitor influence and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local people.

Increased tourism to sensitive natural areas without appropriate planning and management can threaten (威胁) the whole of ecosystems and local cultures.    3     Likewise, local communities and can be harmed in numerous ways by crowded foreign visitors and wealth.

    4     Ecotourism can provide much-needed reveriues (收益) for the protecting of national parks and other natural areas, which might not be available from other sources.

Additionally, ecotourism can provide a practical economic development alternative for local communities with few other income-generating options. Besides, ecotourism can increase the level of education and activism (积极) among travelers.    5