【推荐1】If you are a fruit grower—or would like to become one—take advantage of Apple Day to see what's around. It's called Apple Day but in practice it's more like Apple Month.     1     But since it has caught on, events now spread out over most of October around Britain.

    2     To people who are used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets, it can be quite an eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence, such as Decio which was grown by the Romans. Although it doesn't taste of anything special, it's still worth a try, as is the knobbly(多疙瘩的) Cat's Head, which is more of a curiosity than anything else.

There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions.     3     But you'll need a warm, sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it, so it's a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it.

    4     Therefore you can discuss which ones will best suit your conditions, and because these are family affairs, children are well catered for with apple themed fun and games.

Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit, including stately gardens and commercial orchards(果园).     5     The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale is near Faversham in Kent.

【推荐2】In India，one of the most significant festivals is Diwali，which falls between October and November. It’s a five-day celebration that includes good food，fireworks，colored sand，and special candles and lamps.

In honor of Lakshmi，the Hindu goddess of wealth，people make special prayers on the first day to obtain blessings for welfare，succcss，and well-being. People welcome the goddess into their homes by decorating entrances with colorful lanterns and traditional designs. In addition，many people treat themselves to fine jewelry，praying for good fortune. Those who cannot afford so much，seek out cheaper items such as clothes or household goods.

The second day of the festival is called Kali Chaudas. For some，the day provides an opportunity to drive away misfortune from homes and businesses. They decorate their homes with clay lamps and create design patterns called rangoli on the floor using colored powder or sand.

The third day is when the biggest celebrations occur，which begin early in the morning with a visit to a temple to seek the blessings of the goddess. As the sun sets，festival observers light up their homes with small lamps and enjoy delicious traditional foods with their loved ones.

The festival’s fourth day is celebrated in many different ways. Friends and relatives visit with gifts，sweets and best wishes for the season.

And the final day of the festival is called Bhai Oooj. It honors the close bond between brothers and sisters and is observed with traditional ceremonies and more delicious food.

For children in India，Diwali is similar to Christmas. They get all entire week off from school and are treated to gifts，new clothes，amazing food，and，in the past at least，a large number of fireworks. It is no wonder that the festival ranks high among the country’s favorite celebrations.

【推荐3】Halloween is a festival celebrated on October 31st. The name of the holiday means "hallowed" or "holy evening" because it happens the day before All Saints Day. It is said that Halloween is the children's New Year's Eve. They dress up with special costumes (服装), they eat too much, and they stay up too late celebrating.

Children go around the neighborhood wearing make-up, and dress in masks and colorful costumes. The most common costumes are witches, ghosts, skeletons (骷髅), and popular TV, movie and storybook characters. Some costumes are homemade; others are bought in stores. The children go from door to door saying "trick or treat". People give them candy, cookies, fruit or money. Sometimes money is collected to help UNICEF, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

Homes, stores, and classrooms are decorated in the traditional Halloween colors, orange and black. Usual decorations are witches, ghosts, skeletons, and Jack-o'-lanterns, Jack-o'-lanterns are pumpkins that are carved (雕刻) to look like faces. They are placed on doorway entrances and in windows. Horror movies and ghost stories are shown on TV on this day.

Adults and older children also celebrate Halloween with parades, festivals, and costume parties. Some people create their costumes; other people rent them. Contests are held, where the best costume receives a prize. One of the party events popular with children is dunking (浸泡) for apples. Apples are put in tubs filled with water. People try to get the apples using only their mouths; hands cannot be used.

【推荐2】In 2000, when I was seven years old, my family and I were coming back from a T-ball game.   In our driveway, we spotted two adult geese and a baby goose. The adults were frightened by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly. We are no strangers to wildlife, so we avoided physical contact with the baby goose out of fear that it would keep us in its mind and be lost to its family forever.

Hours passed, and night fell. The baby goose needed protection, warmth and food. So we had to do something. We brought him onto our back porch (走廊). My sister called the little guy Peeper, because he would follow us making a peeping noise. We also decided that Peeper was a boy.

A year passed and we became best friends. Peeper slept on our back porch and used it as a restroom. My dad would spray off his droppings daily with a hose (软管). Part of this routine included Dad throwing Peeper up into the air, letting him fly around the house and come back once the porch was clean. One evening, my uncle came over, and my dad wanted to show him Peeper’s flight. He threw him up in the air, but Peeper just flew off. Everyone was sad. Twenty years passed, and Peeper became a fond memory.

Geese live to be around 25 years old and are very loyal, never forgetting their first home. Even so, it shocked me when, in 2019, an old adult goose appeared at my house. After two weeks of the goose coming back repeatedly, I believe this wasn’t a random goose. He did all of the same things Peeper used to and responded to the name Peeper. Much to my amazement, my old best friend had returned, 20 years later.

This experience has been as meaningful to me as anything in my life. I hope that my children,   someday, have the opportunity to connect with nature and a wild being in this same way.

【推荐3】A biologist once criticized for stealing eggs from the nests of the rarest bird in the world has been awarded the “Nobel Prize” of conservation after his methods saved nine species from extinction.

Professor Carl Jones won the 2016 Indianapolis Prize --- the highest accolade in the field of animal conservation --- for his 40 years of work in Mauritius, where he saved an endangered kestrel from becoming the next Great Auk.

When the 61-year-old first travelled to the east African island in the 1970s, he was told to close down a project to save the Mauritius kestrel. At the time there were just four left in the wild, making it the rarest bird on Earth. However, he stayed, using the techniques of captive breeding (人工繁殖), which involved snatching eggs from the birds’ nests and hatching（孵化）them under incubators, prompting the mothers to lay another set of eggs in the wild.

A decade later, the number of Mauritius kestrels had soared to over 300 and today there are around 400 in the wild. The biologist has also been necessary in efforts to bring other rare species back from the edge of extinction, including the pink pigeon, echo parakeet and Rodrigues warbler.

Prof Jones was awarded the $250,000 (£172,000) prize at a ceremony in London.

“As a young man in my 20s, I certainly didn’t enjoy the stress and the tension of the criticism I received,” reflecting on the start of his career, he said the Maurutius kestrel project had been seen as a “dead loss” at the time. In the 1970s there was fierce opposition to the captive breeding techniques, with critics arguing that they were too risky and took the emphasis off breeding in the wild.

Prof Jones has devoted his whole life to his work, only becoming a father for the first time eight years ago, at 53. He said receiving the prize was particularly important to him, because it proved that his work to save birds was right.

【推荐2】New research has found that young adults who smoke both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes appear to have a higher risk of stroke than those who only smoke tobacco.

Carried out by researchers at George Mason University, the new study looked at 161,529 participants aged 18 to 44 years of age, who were surveyed about their cigarette and e-cigarette use.

The researchers also calculated the participants’ risk of experiencing a stroke, taking into account factors such as how much participants smoked, high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol levels, body mass index and physical activity levels.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, showed that the participants who smoked cigarettes and used e-cigarettes were nearly two times more likely to have a stroke compared to current cigarette — only smokers, and nearly three times more likely than non-smokers.

The team also found that participants who used only e-cigarettes had a lower risk of stroke than those who smoked only tobacco cigarettes. In fact, those who used e-cigarettes on their own did not have a significantly greater risk of stroke than non-smokers.

However, the researchers failed to find any clear benefit from switching from cigarette smoking to using e-cigarettes, even though many people believe that e-cigarettes are a “healthy” alternative to cigarettes, and a way to help smokers kick the habit. They also noted that the nicotine dependence and toxicity associated with e-cigarettes is worrying, particularly among young adults who smoke them for fun and the range of flavors.

“It’s long been known that smoking cigarettes is among the most significant risk factors for stroke. Our study shows that young smokers who also use e-cigarettes put themselves at an even greater risk,” explained lead investigator Tarang Parekh, MBBS, MSc. “This is an important message for young smokers whoperceivee-cigarettes as less harmful ones and consider them a safer alternative.We have begun understanding the health impact of e-cigarettes and concomitant cigarette smoking, and it’s not good.”

“Our findings demonstrate an additive harmful effect of e-cigarettes on smokers’ blood vessels, hearts and brains,” explained Parekh.

“Consider this study as a wake-up call for young vapers, clinicians, and healthcare policymakers. There is an urgency to regulate such products to avoid economic and population health consequences and a critical need to conduct further research on the benefits and risks of smoking cessation altermatives,” warned Parekh.

【推荐3】Every autumn and winter, a large number of migratory birds look for shelter in the area around Fan Yunting’s home village of Daxinzhuang in Kaifeng, Henan province. It is always the busiest time of the year for the 66-year-old farmer.

Braving bitterly cold winds and occasional heavy snow, he often patrols(巡逻)more than 10 kilometers a day by bike along the banks of the Yellow River. Fan has been doing this unpaid work for more than 20 years. To date, he has helped over 500 wild birds that have been trapped, injured or even poisoned, and prevented illegal(非法的) hunting more than 200 times. His devotion has seen him wear out five bikes.

His love for birds dates back to his childhood. As a small boy, he often fed wild birds with whatever food he could get. In early adulthood, he not only kept the habit, but also sold crops for money to treat any injured or sick birds he came across. He even sometimes bought meat to feed wild eagles.

At then, when few people were aware of the need to protect birds, his actions won him the nickname “Idiot”. However, he just smiled when he was called the name and continued his protection work without complaint.

Later, the officials invited him to work as a volunteer for wildlife protection. He accepted it with pleasure. Since then, from October to March, when many migratory birds arrive to overwinter, Fan usually gets up at about 5 am to patrol the shores of the Yellow River near his village.

The freezing temperatures are not the only challenge he has had to face. In 2001, he even argued with hunters. “I tried to persuade a group to stop hunting. But they refused and together they started to beat me,” he recalled.

Fan’s strong will has brought him many honorary titles. He became a model worker of China in 2020. In 2021, he was selected as one of the country’s top 100 model volunteers in the field of environmental protection.