I have an 11-year-old son named Peter. I knew that playing sports would be good to our son. He would get some exercise, learn about teamwork and learn some physical skills. We continually encouraged him to have a try, but after a while it was clear that he didn’t like team sports, and there was nothing we could do to change it.

We decided not to push him to take part in sports, even though most of his friends did sports. As time went by, we gradually realized that we had made the right decision. Don’t misunderstand (误解) me. I have nothing against sports. Now my son isn’t interested in sports, but I’m not pushing him to do sports. Here are the reasons:

I want him to know I accept him unconditionally. I don’t even want Peter to feel that I will love him only if he behaves in a certain way or takes part in some activities. Whether he succeeds or fails, he will always be my son, and that will never change.

I want him to form his own path (道路) in life. His path doesn’t have to be the same as mine. In fact, we both have similar interests in several areas like music, computers and Star Wars, but we’re also different in many ways. Peter needs to be free to go his own path.

I want him to know that I don’t judge (判断) my worth by his achievements. Every father will feel proud of his son if he can make great achievements. So most parents always push them so hard. Sometimes we have seen ourselves indirectly through our own sons. Their achievements remind us of our wonderful days in the past. We must make sure we don’t want to make up for (弥补) our own regrets by pushing our sons to climb higher and go further than we did.

Zhang Guimei, who founded a high school for girls to study for free in Lijiang, Yunnan province in 2008, has helped about 1,200 girls go to college in the past 13 years.

She came up with the idea of setting up a high school especially for girls after she visited the homes of the girls who gave up studying. She learned that most of the dropouts (辍学生) would get married. Poor families couldn’t pay the tuition fees (学费). Some girls had to do chores at home.

Between 2003 and 2007, Zhang spent her vacations on the streets, asking people to give away money for her girls’ school. Many people thought she might lie and cheat money from them. So she only raised about 10,000 yuan.

In 2007, after her dream was reported, the Yunnan government invested 60 million yuan in the project. The Huaping High School for Girls was completed (完成) in 2008 with only one teaching building. In 2009, after seeing no hope, nine teachers resigned, leaving just eight to teach there. In 2011, the first intake of students graduated and all went to universities or vocational colleges. By 2015, construction (建设) of all the school’s facilities (学校设备) was completed.

In 2019, she was diagnosed with many illnesses. But she is still fighting on. She hopes that girls can change their fates (命运) by receiving education and influence their future children in a positive way.

Table Mountain is the most famous landmark (地标) of South Africa. Table Mountain is overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. The mountain has a flat top which is about 1500 meters long and 200 meters wide. Table Mountain is often covered in cloud. The cloud that stays around the mountain is called “tablecloth”. The mountain hides many surprises that wait to be discovered.

There are about 2200 kinds of plants on Table Mountain. More than 70% of the plants found on the mountain are regional plants, which means they can’t be found anywhere else.

Although some animals such as Cape Lions and Mountain Zebras (斑马) are no longer found here, the mountain is still the home of Cape Rock Hyraxes (蹄兔、岩狸) and Chacm a Baboons (狒狒).

The height of this mountain is 1087 meters. The rocks on the mountain are over 60 million years old, which makes Table Mountain one of the oldest mountains in the world.

It is recorded that the first climb of the mountain was done by the Portuguese admiral (海军上将) Antonio da Saldanha in 1503. It was him who gave the mountain its name. He named it “Tab la da caba” that means “Table of the Cape”. Now more than 800 000 people from all over the world visit it every year. The cable ears for this mountain opened in 1929 and each cable car could carry 65 passengers at a time. Since then it was easier for people to reach the top than before.