1 . It was Jennifer Williams’ mother who got her interested in books. A librarian, she read to her three children every day. “Until we went to college,” Williams told vadogwood.com, a local news site.

When Williams, now 54, became an elementary school teacher in Danville, Virginia, she wanted her students to fall in love with reading just as she had. But early on, she realized that some kids had limited access to books.

“It’s very obvious to teachers of young children which kids are read to and which are not,” she said. “It’s obvious at the end of the first day of school.” To Williams, the solution was simple: Give kids books. In 2017, as part of a city event called Engage Danville, she gave away 900 used children’s books over three days. Most people would be satisfied with that. Most.

“I was like, ‘Anybody could do that’,” she said. “I wanted to do something that’s going to stretch my faith, my work principle, my everything.”

So she raised the number considerably by setting a new goal for herself: Give away one million books. It sounds like an unreachable number, but as Williams posted on Facebook: Don’t complain in the bleachers (露天看台) if you aren’t willing to work hard out on the field.”

So she got to work, first by roping in friends to donate books or money to buy books. Before long, as news of Williams’ project spread, strangers started leaving collections of books on her doorway. As quickly as the books come in, Williams gives them to local schools—only 922,000 more to reach her goal! And she’s not slowing down. It’s too important for kids with few options.

“Reading can take you anywhere,” she told CNN. “You can travel in time and space. If you can read, you can learn almost anything.”

4 . Life for almost anyone is increasingly influenced by screens. Not only are screens themselves cheap to make, but they also make things cheaper. Any place that can fit a screen in can cut costs. And any activity that can happen on a screen becomes cheaper. The physical experience of learning, living and dying is becoming smooth glass. All of this has led to a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good (奢侈品).

“What we are seeing now is the luxury of human engagement,” Milton Pedraza, the chief of the Luxury Institute, said. Expected spending on experiences such as enjoyable travel and dining is outpacing spending on goods, according to his company’s research, and he sees it as a direct response to the rapid increase of screens.

Screens exposure starts young. And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a landmark study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study focuses on brain development of more than 11,000 children. Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who spend much time on screens are different. For some kids, their cerebral cortex (大脑皮层) would become thinner before expected time. In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression.

There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing separation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a vital gap.

For normal people, running away from the screen becomes impossible. It’s not a luxury, and it’s easy to get. It is normal for more people to need the network constantly. In addition, it has become an important part of social interaction.

5 . A number of events are going on at the Cooperage Project, located at 1030 Main Street in Honesdale. Enjoy!

The Cooperage Maker Fair

The Cooperage Maker Fair will be held from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday, June 12 on the grounds of the City Museum. The Maker Fair is a place where people show what they are making—a showcase for invention and creativity,and share what they are learning. Anyone interested in presenting their projects, hobbies and experiments should apply to take part at www.cooperagemakerfair.com.

Such Sweet Thunder

At 7:00 pm on Wednesday, June 17, there will be a film screening of comedy Twelfth Night as part of the Such Sweet Thunder: Shakespeare’s Plays on Film Series. Dr.Robert Dugan will introduce the play with a brief background. Admission is free, but due to limited seating, booking is required at www.suchsweetthunder.com.

Sounds Like Teen Spirit

On Thursday, June 24,there will be an event called Sounds Like Teen Spirit from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm.Sounds Like Teen Spirit is designed to provide an opportunity to showcase the talent of our community’s youth.School-aged students are encouraged to share their performing art on stage at the Cooperage Project!

Great Brazilian Music Tour

On Saturday, June 27,a fantastic opportunity is ready for you to listen to some great Brazilian music by the musical group Minas. It is from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, and doors open at 2:00 pm.We encourage children and their families to come to learn all about the rhythm, excitement and sound of Brazilian music.The two-hour performance is sure to be fun for the whole family. The admission charge is $5 for each person, and all the money will go to the local food bank. You can also give away old clothes and money at the entrance.

6 . Jules is now in his sixties, and is one of the many homeless people who live on the streets; he buys a newspaper most days. Today, with his fellow tramps, he reads about yesterday's student demonstrations.

Like many of the tramps who live under the bridges, Jules was not always so poor. A long time ago he was in the Navy, and like many who have been to sea for a long time, he has stayed slim and fit. Despite the strict organization on board ship, he loved his life, and had the opportunity to see many countries. He visited Poland and Russia; in South Africa he realized what he valued in each country was the people he met. He was always astonished and delighted by the ways in which the people he met differed from one country to another. Some day, he hopes, everyone will see the world as he does.

After many happy years in the Navy, he had to retire. The good things in life always come to an end. His mother and father had long since died and he’d lost touch with his other relatives. He became an industrial designer. He was happy, although it wasn’t the same as the sea. He never wanted to get married and have children.

And then there was the period of darkness. He smiles sadly. He shrugs his shoulders and looks at his hands. There are tears in the corners of his eyes. This is something that he cannot bring himself to talk about. ''It all went wrong, '' he whispers.

He was silent for a while, then recovered. He began to talk more loudly. ''Look at me now---it makes me angry. And what about the President? He's been in power for years, and look what he's done for us. Nothing! I am still out on the streets and live the life of a dog.''

8 . Summer is here, and with it comes a chance you'll get too much sun. While there's no cure for sunburn, a small but fascinating new study suggests taking large amounts of vitamin D after exposure may prevent the associated redness and inflammation (发炎).

In the paper, researchers exposed 20 volunteers to a light resembling solar radiation to induce a sunburn on a small piece of skin. They then gave the ''burn victims'' large amounts of vitamin D, and followed up with participants one, two and three days (and a week) later to measure skin redness and thickness. The researchers found that vitamin D decreased inflammation and redness, compared with taking a placebo (安慰剂). And this effect increased in proportion to how much was consumed. Vitamin D also appears to increase the activity of a gene called arginase-1, which is involved in tissue repair and healing. Taking 50, 000 international units (IU) of vitamin D--125 times the recommended daily allowance-led to a significant reduction in redness and inflammation, compared with the placebo. Those who took 100,000 IU had even less redness and pain; and those who took 200, 000 IU had the greatest reduction in inflammation.

This is the first study to show vitamin D can reduce inflammation, and suggests that it   ''could potentially help prevent sunburn, '' says senior author Kurt Lu, a physician scientist and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University.

It used to be thought vitamin D was primarily involved in building healthy bones and muscles, but recent research has found it has many more roles, including influencing inflammation, such as the kind associated with sunburns.

So, if you get burned, should you take a lot of vitamin D? The study authors don't recommend it. ''I think that's probably not a good idea and not well established by this study, '' says Barbara Gilchrest, a physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Such large amounts, if taken repeatedly, have the potential to cause vitamin D toxicity (毒性).

9 . I was thrilled to go on an adventure with my master Rev.Young, a tall man with kind eyes.Mr. Muir was going too. But he said, “Such a helpless creature will only be in the way.” I was disappointed when I heard what he said, and yet I still wanted to follow him.

One stormy morning, Mr. Muir set out alone to study nature. He ordered me to stay behind. But I could not let him go alone, so I followed him into the wild weather. We crossed Taylor Glacier and endless sheet of ice, which was cut by cracks. I was unafraid and sailed over these bottomless holes. Mr. Muir was delighted that he was not crossing them alone.

As dusk fell, we reached an enormous crack that was impossible to jump across. In between the two sides was a U-shaped bridge of ice, so thin that one wrong step would mean dropping to your death. Daylight was disappearing, and gusty winds blew snow into my eyes. I turned to return to camp the way we came. However, Mr. Muir decided to cross the crack. He sat down and rode the narrow U-strip as if it were a horse. Once safe on the other side, he called out to me. But I had never been so terrified before. “I am not good at climbing steep slopes.” I was scared and thought.

Then I looked at Mr. Muir, already across on the safe side. Slowly, I began to cross it. I could feel his eyes on me the entire way. Before I knew it, I made the happiest landing of my life. I ran round and round and jumped up and hugged him. From that day on, we spent every moment together.

10 . I was so blessed for all the special moments I had with my mother. When she was eighty-two, she thought she was ________ me by asking me to take her to the many doctor visits she had, but it was a ________ for me to spend quality time with her.

I tried to make a(n) ________ of our days together, ________ her doctor’s visits with doing something thrilling. One day, while we were driving and deciding where to eat lunch, I ________ to a stoplight and saw a large sign outside a restaurant. I looked at the ________ sign and asked my mother. “Have you ever played Skee-Ball?”

“No.” she replied.

So we chose to eat in this restaurant. I ________ the special lunch buffet, and it came with fifty tokens (代币) for the arcade (电玩) games. I ________, “Aha! We are rich!”

After we ate, it was time to use those golden tokens. Mom loved playing Skee-Ball and collecting ________. She moved from game to game like a child. She had fun ________ as one machine spewed (喷出) out seven tickets again and again! I ________ her token after token for the next game to be played...until we ________ tokens.

When we went to ________ in our handfuls of tickets at the automatic counting machine, Mom chose a toy whistle. The man gave her a(n) ________ one for me, so we had fun blowing whistles together.

I keep that whistle on my desk, a ________ of a wonderful experience with my mom as we embraced (欣然接受) her willingness to make the most of every day.