【推荐1】If you have a brother or sister, you already know you are different. You live in the same house and with the same parents, but you have different personalities. Maybe you are quiet but your sister is much more outgoing. Why is this? One reason may be the way your parents think of you.

First-born children get more love from their parents. In most Families, first-born children has twice more photos than any other child. Parents usually give first-born children more responsibility (责任) because parents ask them to look after younger brothers and sisters. As a result, first-born children are often responsible, hard-working and jealous (妒忌的). They often want to do well at school and work.

When a second child arrives, parents are more relaxed. The second child has compete (争) with the first-born for parents and love. These children often have different sports and interests to do well in at school and work, but they must have a new way to get their family’s care. They are often friendly and cool.

Do you think so?

【推荐3】Every year, wildfires destroy millions of hectares of forest land. Homes are damaged, and thousands of people die. Smokejumpers help to stop this.

Smokejumpers are a special type of firefighter. They jump from planes or are lowered by helicopters into areas that are difficult to reach by car or on foot, such as the middle of a mountain forest. They race to put out fires as fast as they can.

At a fire site, smokejumpers first examine the land and decide how to fight the fire. Their main goal is to stop a fire from spreading or to slow its progress until full, ground-based firefighters arrive. Using basic equipment such as shovels and axes, smokejumpers clear land of burnable material, like dry grass and dead trees. They carry water with them, too, but only a limited amount.

Although the majority of smokejumpers are men, more women are joining now. The most important factors are height and weight. Smokejumpers employed in the United States, for example, must be between 54 and 91 kilograms so they don’t get blown away by the strong winds or get hurt when they land. Smokejumpers must be also capable of surviving in the wildness. In Russia, many smokejumpers know how to find food in the forest and can even make simple furniture from trees.

The work is dangerous, and the hours are long. But for these firefighters, smokejumping isn’t just a job. They love being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As a 28-year-old Russian smokejumper Alexi Tishin says, “This is the best job for tough guys.”

【推荐1】Lots of kids have been trying to find ways to help save the Earth. Some of them are encouraged by the “30 by 30” plan: Fifty countries have promised to protect 30% of Earth’s land and waters by 2030.

One of the kids is 11-year-old Beckett from Georgetown, Texas. He wants to help protect endangered species (物种). In 2019, he began working with Rainforest Trust. “I was really interested in trying to stop climate (气候) change,” he said.

With the help of his schoolmates, Beckett has started a group called Protection of Earth. The group organized a local Run and raised more than $700. The money helped to save more than 1,000 acres (英亩) of rainforest land. When the COVID-19 came, Beckett put together an online activity called Trivia: People could test their knowledge of birds, endangered species, and climate change. That raised $600 for rainforest land.

In Los Angeles, California, 10-year-old Justin is worried about frogs. Justin calls them “magical, because they come in different colors.” Last year he joined Rainforest Trust to help Ecuador’s rainforest and its frogs. He appeared on local TV news, and many people learned about what he had done. That helped him raise $2,000 to save almost three acres of Cloud Forest.

Justin hopes he can encourage other people to understand why frogs are so cool. “Frogs are telling us the planet needs help,” he said. “If frogs are dying wherever you are, that’s bad because it means the water you are drinking is polluted.”

【推荐2】It might be strange to wear clothes made out of plastic bottles. But in fact, some clothing companies are already making clothes like these.

Fashion brand JUMA recently showed its newest collection at a workshop in Shanghai. Eighteen clothing things from the collection, including jackets, shirts and dresses, were made from recycled plastic bottles.

“We realized that billions of water bottles were being thrown into landfills (垃圾填埋场) and oceans every year and that these bottles take hundreds of years to decompose (分解). We thought we should use them to create our clothes and help the environment, said Alia Juma, the company’s design director.

Many other fashion companies are finding similar ways to save our planet these days. The process is really simple. First, the plastic bottles are washed and cut into small pieces. Then they are melted (融化) and shaped into small balls. The balls are melted again to form thread (线). People can then use the thread to make different kinds of clothes.

According to Juma, it takes 67, 000 bottles to create 1 ton of thread. This reduces carbon emissions (碳排放) by 4.2 tons and water use by 6.2 tons compared with the normal way of making thread.

“Five bottles can make a shirt. Ten can make a dress, and 20 a short coat,” Juma said.

Some people might have doubts about wearing something made out of plastic bottles. But it is reported by Causeartist, a website that focus on creativity, that the quality (质量) of the clothes made from plastic bottles could be even better than nylon (尼龙) and polyester (涤纶). Plastic thread can be made into different materials, such as cotton, silk, or even wool. It seems that this may lead into a greener future of fashion.

【推荐3】

【推荐1】China’s Green Beat is the first green media in China. It provides enjoyable short films to make people care for environmental problems. It has created more than ten short films in order to teach people about environmental problems through these stories.

Shanghai: Over-packaging

In recent years, the packaging for certain products, for example, mooncakes, has become very beautiful but excessive（过分的）. The cost of the packaging（包、盒）is often higher than that of the product. The over-packaging of goods creates a lot of waste, seriously wastes our natural resources and pollutes our environment. This new video, produced in Shanghai, visits markets.

Kunming: No Car Day

September 22 is “No Car Day” around the world, but Kunming is the only Chinese city to have “No Car Day” every month. It is on the last Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The policy requires that only taxis, buses, bikes and special purpose vehicles（交通工具）are allowed to travel anywhere in the city. On September 22, the air quality in Kunming was reported to be much better because pf fewer vehicles.

【推荐2】These days, teens are heavily influenced by the media. Many of them have watched TV for thousands of hours. That's more time than they spend with teachers at school. And that doesn't include the hours they spend using the Internet or reading newspapers.

However, several studies have shown a serious problem: Today's teens have no media literacy (媒体素养). In other words, they have difficulty critically (批判性地) thinking about the information they see. One study has found that more than 80 percent of teens can't give a careful decision about how good or bad a piece of information is.

Professor Kevin John from Stanford University tries to help his students learn media literacy in his class. The professor gives an example that shows why media literacy is important. In the example, two news stations report a snowstorm. One cares about the terrible road conditions. The other pays attention to kids playing in the snow. "In a news story, news stations tell you about what they feel important, but the information largely depends on the opinions of the news director," said John. "A person who has media literacy would realize that each story is about one part of the event at that time."

Some people think school is the best place to teach media literacy. In fact, everyone—from parents to news reporters — should help teens learn it.

As for the best time to start learning media literacy, many experts suggest being at the age of 12. But others think it could be even earlier. "It's never too early to start learning media literacy," said John.

【推荐3】In the USA, it is normal for men to shake hands when they meet, but it is quite unusual for men to kiss when they greet each other. Greetings are informal (非正式的)—a handshake, a smile and a “hello” will do just fine.

The British often simply say “hello” when they meet friends. They usually shake hands only when they meet for the first time. Social kissing, often just a peck (轻吻) on the cheek, is common in an informal situation between men and women who know each other very well.

In Japan, the common greeting for both men and women is to bow when they greet someone, instead of giving a handshake or a hug.

Hungarians (匈牙利人) like to greet in a friendly way-kiss each other on both cheeks. The most common way is to kiss from your right to your left. When men meet for the first time, a handshake is the norm.

In Albania, men shake hands when greeting one another. A kiss on the cheek may be also common if there is a close relationship. Women may shake hands or kiss each other on both cheeks.

In Armenia, by tradition, a woman needs to wait for a man to offer his hand for a handshake. Between good friends and family members, a kiss on the cheek and a hug are also common.