【推荐2】Air pollution levels vary greatly between different places in Gothenburg. This is the finding of a new study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, which concludes that trees contribute to cleaner air in cities.

It is well known that green spaces can improve the quality of life and create a better climate in our cities, but how important is vegetation(植被)for producing cleaner air for cities? This question is the focus of a group project led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg.

In the project’s first study, the researchers measured pollutants in the air and compared them with pollutants on the leaves of broadleaf trees. The study looked at the oak(橡树), and sampling was made in June and September. The study was conducted in seven urban settings in Gothenburg. The researchers chose to focus on PAHs, a group of air pollutants not yet studied closely but some of which are believed to be very harmful to human health.

The results were clear: the pollutants in the leaves increased over time and the researchers could show a clear connection between the level of air pollutants and the concentration of pollutants in the leaves.

“The study establishes that the leaves collect the air pollutants during the summer, thus reducing human exposure to harmful substances in the air. The study confirms that trees play a role in improving air quality in cities,” says Hakan Pleijel, professor of environmental science at the University of Gothenburg.

At the same time, the researchers discovered that pollution levels varied greatly between different measurement sites. At the most polluted site —Nils Ericsson Terminal, the main bus station —the levels of PAHs were seven times higher than at Angered City Park on the edge of the city.

The researchers hope that the study can be an important piece of the puzzle when planning urban landscapes.

【推荐3】A program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is hoping to fight against loneliness brought on by the pandemic by forming friendships between students and seniors in the community. They’re making it possible through weekly calls.

“It’s been a thing I look forward to every week,” Miranda Savioli, a VCU medical student said.

The program is run by students involved with the American Geriatrics Society and pairs medical and health science students with seniors in the community.

VCU education administrator for the School of Medicine, Chuck Alexander, says it was formed to fight against loneliness and give students valuable interaction with that age group — something that’s been missing since training programs stopped earlier this year. “It’s mostly just social — just chatting,” Alexander said. “A lot of times they just need someone to talk to. A lot of times they feel that they have a connection with someone younger who is just entering a new phase in their career and that they have some wisdom to impart to them — medically and socially as a friend.”

So far, the volunteer program has paired around 40 students with seniors.

Every week, Savioli video calls retiree Joan Kerby, who lives in a retirement community in Henrico.

“It’s a really good connection because in lockdown you really don’t have long conversations with anybody,” Kerby said. Those long conversations soon turned into a visit. The two participants decided to meet in person back in November and Kerby said it was a special moment. “We talked for two hours. We probably could have gone on longer but we had to stop,” Kerby said.

Savioli says they plan to keep the program going, and encourages others to pick up the phone and call a loved one who may be isolated. “It was developed to help seniors with isolation, but mean, we all got isolated during this pandemic,” Savioli said. “It’s been nice to talk to someone every week.” The group has no plans to stop the program. “We’re going to keep the program going and as for Joan and I, we’ve established ourselves as lifelong friends,” Savioli said.

【推荐2】Education is a self-enlightening process. It is an important part of life.

    1     The first thing that strikes me about education is knowledge gain. Education gives us knowledge of the world around us. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life. Education makes us capable of explaining things rightly. It is not just about lessons in textbooks.     2    

Education is important also because it equips us with all that is needed to make our dreams come true. It opens doors to brilliant career opportunities.     3     We are weighed in the market on the basis of our educational skills and how well we can apply them.

    4     It wipes out all the wrong beliefs in our minds. It helps create a clear picture of everything around us and we no longer remain in confusion about the things we learn. It can lead us to enlightenment. It is education that builds in every individual the confidence to make decisions, to face life and to accept success and failure.

For the progress of a nation, for the enrichment of society in general, education is necessary and important. A country’s literate population is its asset(有利条件). The number of institutes offering vocational courses and colleges offering online education is increasing by the day.

Well, schools, colleges and other such educational institutes define the basic framework of education. But education does not end here.     5     Self-learning begins at a point where institutional education ends. The process of self-learning continues.

Children learn best when the significant adults in their lives—parents, teachers, and other family and community members—work together to encourage and support them. This basic fact should be a guiding principle as we think about how schools should be organized and how children should be taught. Schools alone cannot address all of a child’s developmental needs: the meaningful involvement of parents and support from the community are essential.

The need for a strong partnership between schools and families to educate children may seem like common sense. In simpler times, this relationship was natural and easy to maintain. Teachers and parents were often neighbors and found many occasions to discuss a child’s progress. Children heard the same messages from teachers and parents and understood that they were expected to uphold the same standards at home and at school.

As society has become more complex and demanding, though, these relationships have all too often fallen by the wayside. Neither educators nor parents have enough time to get to know one another and establish working relationships on behalf of children. In many communities, parents are discouraged from spending time in classrooms and educators are expected to consult with family members only when a child is in trouble. The result, in too many cases, is misunderstanding, mistrust, and a lack of respect, so that when a child falls behind, teachers blame the parents and parents blame the teachers.

At the same time，our society has created artificial distinctions （区别）of the roles that parents and teachers should play in a young person’s development. We tend to think that schools should stick to teaching academics and that home is the place where children’s moral and emotional development should take place.

Yet children don’t stop learning about values and relationships when they enter a classroom, nor do they cease learning academics— and attitudes about learning —when they are at home or elsewhere in their community.

These days, it can take extraordinary efforts to build strong relationships between families and educators. Schools have to reach out to families, making them feel welcome as full partners in the educational process. Families, in turn, have to make a commitment of time and energy to support their children both at home and at school.