【推荐1】When most people go to the famous amusement parks in Orlando, Florida, they miss some of the natural wonders the State has to offer. It was in Citrus County on the beautiful west coast of Florida that we went to see the manatee (海牛), which occupies coastal waters and rivers.

Our days started early in the morning at Homosassa Springs. We boarded a boat with Captain Traci Wood from Native Vacations. Having spotted two manatees just below the water, Captain Traci stopped the boat as they slowly swam toward us. They used their tails to drive themselves, steering with their flippers(脚蹼), gracefully moving their bodies through the water in our direction. Our boat was soon surrounded by other members of this gentle species.

Soon we continued our journey. Within a few minutes Captain Traci stopped the boat again and we were given instructions. Whatever you do, she said, remember the three golden rules: minimize splash (拍水) noise; act with very slow movements; and when you touch one of these friendly, gentle grey giants on the back or stomach, never touch with more than one hand at a time. The Endangered Species Act forbids touching a manatee unless it touches you first, and they will let you know. The protection of this endangered species is taken very seriously. But this won’t affect the experience in the least. Most Homosassa manatees are very social and will come to you.

Manatees feed strictly on plants, and they eat a great variety of species, including hyacinth and water lettuce. They’re very big, measuring 3 to 5 metres and weighing as much as 1,600 kilos. Despite this, they look very cute. Manatees are of course wild creatures, although when face to face with them, you’re unlikely to feel any fear.

From December to March, groups of manatees escape the cold winter ocean and bathe in the warm waters near power plants and coastal springs that stay about 23 degrees year-round. Divers and swimmers come to Florida from all over the world for a chance to swim or interact with the manatee in its natural environment, rich in marine vegetation. This rich source of food makes this area an ideal place for the manatees. So the manatees arrive every year by the hundreds to find warmth, nourishment(营养) and maybe, just maybe, to visit us, the curious humans.

【推荐1】Cheating is considered to be a major problem in colleges and universities. Colleges and universities across the US have decided to do more than talk about the rise in student cheating.

We frequently hear about “the good old days”, when Americans were better, happier, and more honest. But were they more honest? Maybe yes, a long time ago when life was very different from what it is today.

School children used to know the story of how Abraham Lincoln walked five miles to return a penny he’d overcharged a customer. It’s the kind of story we think of as myth. But in the case of Lincoln, the story is true — unlike the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Washington’s first biographer invented the tale of little George saying to his father, “I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my ax.” What is important in both stories, however, is that honesty was seen as an important part of the American character.

And these are just two stories out of many. Students in the last century usually didn’t read “fan” stories. They read stories that taught moral values. Such stories pointed out quite clearly that children who lied, cheated, or stole came to bad ends.

Parents may have further reinforced those values. It’s difficult to know. We do know that children didn’t hear their parents talk of cheating the government on income taxes — there weren’t any. The vast majority of Americans still believe that honesty is an important part of the American character. For that reason, there are numerous watch-dog committees at all levels of society.

Although signs of dishonesty in school, business, and government seem much more numerous in recent years than in the past, could it be that we are getting better at revealing such dishonesty? There is some evidence that dishonesty may ebb and flow (起伏). When times are hard, incidents of theft and cheating usually go up. And when times get better such incidents tend to go down.

Cheating in school also tends to ebb and flow. But it doesn’t seem linked to the economy. Many educators feel that as students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, they are less likely to cheat. Surprisingly, some efforts to prevent cheating may actually encourage cheating — a person may feel “they don’t trust me anyway,” and be tempted to “beat the system.” Distrust can be contagious (传染的). But, so can trust!

【推荐2】Now that members of Generation Z are graduating college this spring—the most commonly-accepted definition says this generation was born after 1995, give or take a year—the attention has been rising steadily in recent weeks. Gen Zs are about to hit the streets looking for work in a labor market that’s tighter than it’s been in decades. And employers are planning on hiring about 17 percent more new graduates for jobs in the U.S. this year than last, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Everybody wants to know how the people who will soon inhabit those empty office cubicles will differ from those who came before them.

If “entitled” is the most common adjective, fairly or not, applied to millennials (those born between 1981 and 1995), the catchwords for Generation Z are “practical and cautious”. According to the career counselors and expert who study them, Generation Zs are clear-eyed, economic pragmatists. Despite graduating into the best economy in the past 50 years, Gen Zs know what an economic train wreck looks like. They were impressionable kids during the crash of 2008, when many of their parents lost their jobs or their life savings or both. They aren’t interested in taking any chances. The booming economy seems to have done little to assuage this underlying generational sense of anxious urgency, especially for those who have college debt. College loan balances in the U.S. now stand at a record $1.5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

One survey from Accenture found that 88 percent of graduating seniors this year chose their major with a job in mind. In a 2019 survey of University of Georgia students, meanwhile, the career office found the most desirable trait in a future employer was the ability to offer secure employment (followed by professional development and training, and then inspiring purpose). Job security or stability was the second most important career goal (work-life balance was number one), followed by a sense of being dedicated to a cause or to feel good about serving the great good.