4 . William Lindesay, a famous Great Wall expert and conservationist, and his wife Wu Qi have traveled the globe, providing their sons with a unique growing environment. Sun hats, backpacks and sneakers (运动鞋) — these are the day-to-day must-haves for the family.

Most of their trips seem far from relaxing—cultural study in the hot and dry desert, a 53-kilometer hiking tour of New Zealand, a one-day climb to three English mountaintops and a six-day train ride from Beijing to Moscow.

Many assume the family must be wealthy and can afford their global travel, but they are not. Lindesay says they just choose to spend money on travel and eschew pricey hotels and restaurants when possible. Lindesay mentions the trip to Moscow as an example. Instead of taking a taxi from the railway station to the hotel, they took the subway. “We crossed the city for saving money, communicated with local people, and saw they were people just like us. We arrived at our destination feeling comfortable.”

However, their journeys, which can last weeks or months, have sometimes been inconsistent with their children's schooling. Wu remembers once Lindesay let their elder son ask for leave so that they could go to New York for a 45-day lecture tour. Therefore the son missed his final exam. Things like that bother the family all the time.

Lindesay attaches great importance to learning out of the classroom, saying that children might score well on school tests, but traveling outside, in distant lands with different languages, cultures and political structures, is the real test. “You can only get streetwise on the street. You can only get worldly-wise when seeing the world,” he says.

5 . Cassandra Warren was in a rush and feeling a little overwhelmed with work and planning her wedding. As she was getting invitation for her wedding in the mail one day, she addressed one to her aunt and uncle in Eugene, Oregon, about 20 minutes from where she lived.

A week later, the invitation came back. She had mistakenly written down the wrong address. A handwritten note was written on the return envelope: “I wish I knew you —this is going to be a blast. Congratulations — go and have dinner on me. I’ve been married for 40 years—it gets better with age.” A $20 bill was put inside.

Cassandra was at a bit of a professional crossroads and had been having a tough day. In fact, she’d been complaining to her fiance, Jesse Jone, about her frustrations just as she opened the misdirected envelope. Then she read the note.

“It was kind of prefect timing,” said Cassandra, who worked as a nanny. “I was really grateful for it.”

And the magic envelope wasn’t finished with its surprises. Cassandra looked closer and saw that the person had written “Live long and prosper” on the envelop, a nod to Star Trek (《星际迷航》).

“We’re kind of Star Trek fans,” she said.

Cassandra, 26, and Jesse, 24, had no idea who the mystery note writer was. But they figured the Star Trek reference was because the person noticed the corner of their invitation, which had both a Star War sword and a Harry Potter wand (魔杖).

“She assumed we’d understand her message,” Cassandra said, “Which we did.”

Cassandra, who was a counselor (顾问) for families with autistic children, went out to dinner the following night with a friend who was going overseas with military. They happily put the $20 toward their bill.

Then Cassandra stopped by a store and bought another card — a thank-you card. She wrote her aunt and uncle’s incorrect address on the envelope again -- this time on purpose —and addressed it to “Kind Stranger”.

Inside, she wrote, “Thank you for the note and taking the time to send it. Not many people would have done that. It was a big blessing after the day I was having. I am thankful for people like you still being in the world.” Don’t miss other real-life acts of kindness like this one that will warm your heart.

6 . Fancy spending your summer break improving your skills and preparing for your first job? We have gathered the best summer programs in Singapore in recent years. Now you will be able to narrow down your choices and make a decision.

StandOut Global Summer Program

At StandOut Summer School, one of your missions will be to work as an intern (实习生) with leaders in the business world who have plenty of years of experience in the field. Through this program, you can boost your knowledge by interacting with experts in fields like digital marketing, entrepreneurship (创业), investment, etc. Wherever you come from, the school will welcome you in their all-inclusive program.

NTU Summer School Program

Nanyang Technological University will take you on a unique experience in their summer camp. In NTU`s summer school, you will be able to enjoy your favorite business track out of five different options, Each track will lead you to an internship at. a top-ranked company lasting from 3 weeks to 2 months.

NUS Summer School

The National University of Singapore offers one of the leading summer camps in Singapore. The program is designed for students who are from its partner universities located all around the world. With passion as one of the university’s core values, the NUS Summer School guarantees continuous development for its students.

Singapore Management University Global Summer Program

With its third Global Summer Program starting in July, Singapore Management University offers international students an unforgettable opportunity: 4 weeks of learning in Singapore, with a week spent overseas in another Asian city to merge in an unmatched experience.

Get in touch with us to get all your questions about global summer programs answered!

8 . The New Year was heartbreaking for Melanie Lee. A few weeks earlier, her 33-year-old son had ________ his battle with a long illness. Then the engine on her old car ________ working. She had no means of paying for it to be fixed.

“When it ________, I broke down,” Lee said. “Now I don’t have my ________, now I don’t have transportation. How am I supposed to stay ________ in my grandchildren’s lives?”

Eliot Middleton, 38, the owner of a barbecue restaurant and a former auto mechanic who, in his free time, ________ and gives away used cars. He’d heard about Lee’s difficult ________ from her nephew. On New Year’s morning, Middleton showed up unannounced at Lee’s home with a(n) ________: a white 1933 Oldsmobile.

“I had no idea what was going on,” said Lee. “He ________ me the keys and didn’t ask for anything.” Once again, she was able to ________ her granddaughters from school and take them to dance classes. “I got my ________ back.”

The ________ for the used-car giving away came to Middleton a year earlier during a ________ drive he’d organized. Many of those who’d lined up for a meal ________ up to four miles to get there because they didn’t have cars.

________ are the lifeline in this part of South Carolina, Middleton said. There’s no public ________, no taxis to take people to doctor appointments, even food shopping. So he ________ on a social media platform an offer to trade his restaurant’s specialty for broken-down ________. Since then, people have left more than 100 cars in ________ states of disrepair. Many cars sit in Middleton’s yard waiting to be fixed and ________, usually to those he’s heard about by word of mouth.

It’s a list of names that grow daily.

“People think Middleton is a good man,” Lee’s nephew said. “And I do too.”

9 . It was Christmas morning. The ground was white with _________. The birds could not get anything to _________.

Bessie looked out of the window and saw them _________ about the street. They were _________ food. Bessie was a kind little girl. She felt _________ for the poor birds. She wanted to ask them to come into her warm home. _________ she knew that they were afraid to come in. At last she thought of a good idea. She decided to make a Christmas _________ for the birds. Bessie put a little tree outside the window. Then she hung on it little baskets full of _________ and small pieces of bread.

_________ the birds did not come to the tree. But by and by two or three came near and looked at it. They ate some of the seeds and bread. Then they flew __________ to tell the other birds about it. Soon many birds flew here to get their __________. They liked them as much as Bessie liked her Christmas presents. They sang songs to give their __________ to her.

Being __________, Bessie told her parents that she would give some of her bread to the birds every cold day. But her father said that she could not feed all the hungry birds even if she gave __________ of their bread. Thinking for a while, she said that all the birds would be fed __________ other children did the same.

10 . Eating out is such a pleasure-the food, the wine, the joy of having it all brought to you by someone else — that it’s a pity to ruin the experience by sharing it with other people.

Well, I do like visiting restaurants with friends. But dining out alone has its own very special attractions. For a start you can give all your attention to the food. There’s nothing worse than having to invent and deliver an opinion on school league tables or Sanchez’s move to Manchester United, plus listen to everyone else’s opinions, when all you really want to do is enjoy each mouthful along the way.

A second great thing about eating out alone is the chance to combine food with one of life’s other true pleasures: reading. You have to plan this carefully: Indian or Chinese restaurants are best—you need food you can eat with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold your reading material.

But perhaps the biggest attraction of a table for one is the chance it gives to people- watching. Restaurants and the different reasons for visiting them-first date, business meeting, night out with friends-produce human behaviour of surprising richness and variety. Will the man selling his business idea get any joy out of his possible investor (投资者)? Will the married couple think of anything to say to each other before their main courses arrive?

This “human zoo” part of eating out alone is one of the reasons I’d hate to be famous: everyone would be watching you, so you wouldn’t be able to watch them. The snooker player Steve Davis says this was one of the strangest consequences of becoming well-known: he got very worried about his eating in public, almost to the level of doubting whether he was “doing it right.”

So next time you’re considering your eating out choices, remember the advice of the businessman Nubar Gulbenkian: “The best number for a dinner party is two — myself and a super head waiter.”