1 . I was at a new school in a new state and needed something solid to stand on: a place to feel grounded. I also needed to do laundry, so I walked to a nearby self-service laundry and stuffed a machine with my clothes. As I struggled to close the washer door, the woman working behind the counter told me to give it a good hit with my hand. The washer did its job, yet even after an hour, the dryer seemed to have barely warmed my clothes. I left, having decided to air-dry them on my car in the August heat.

A month later, I learned her name was Sandy, which she told me after I’d helped her stop a washing machine from moving across the floor. I was grading poems at a table when one of the washers broke loose and skipped an inch into the air. I jumped to the machine and held on while she unplugged it. The next week, Sandy told me dryer No. 8 was the fastest.

It went on like this. I’d do laundry once a week, usually Thursday or Friday. Sandy worked Tuesday through Saturday and we’d talk small while I folded clothes. She told me about her son and his grades, as well as the new dog they’d just adopted. She was fascinated that I was studying poetry. She teased (开玩笑) that it was harder making a living as a poet than as a laundry attendant. Even then I knew she was probably right.

I began to recognize others there: workers taking breaks by the door, a mother and her baby, and even some delivery drivers. But Sandy was the center of my community. For nearly three years and almost every week, I’d do laundry and talk with her. We checked on each other, expecting the other to be there. We asked where the other had gone when we missed a week. There was a note of concern for the other’s absence, a note of joy at their return.

I’d found a place to stand on solid ground.

5 . Charvi Goyal is a high school student from Dallas, Texas, who helps out other classmates by tutoring them between classes.

When Goyal’s high school moved online last spring because of COVID-19, she decided to also take her teaching online. The 17-year-old junior and three of her fellow students created TutorScope, a program that offers free tutoring services to other children, including younger ones. It started with a small number of tutors who helped young people in their city. But it has grown into a group of 22 tutors from Texas, Arizona and Ohio. They have helped more than 300 students, some from as far away as South Korea.

TutorScope aims to give the one-on-one help that teachers have traditionally given while walking around their classrooms. But now, many teachers cannot provide that one-on-one support because they lack time or have issues with technology.

Sarah Newman said her children, 7-year-old twins, have had helpful TutorScope experiences. The service has freed up her and her 17 year old son. “With these tutors, I realize they have time,” she said. “I think they are very patient with these younger kids. I have patience with other things, but I don’t have patience to teach.”

What makes the TutorScope effort special is the connection between the teenage volunteers and the other students they are helping. Although the pandemic (传染病) has forced many students to look inward, Goyal said that working with others on a big project has permitted her to look outward. “My confidence level has increased,” Goyal said. She added that she has made friends with other students from her school. She said one of the best things about running a growing non-profit program is fliat it does help with the boredom of being stuck at home.

6 . Maybe it's my love of baseball that connects my aunt Helen and me. She has always kept me _________ in her experiences of playing baseball back in the 1940s. I would listen to these _________ over and over. She used to say, “Go after what you want. Don't be ashamed of failing. Real _________comes from never trying.^”

In 1943, she was one of the young women who _________ for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league. She _________ what it would be like to win a championship for her hometown! She imagined a long narrow pointed flag _________ at the baseball field, and on it the name Helen would be there for all to _________ .

About a week later, Aunt Helen received a _________ from the leaders of the girl's baseball league in Chicago! Aunt Helen _________ it open and learned that she had been invited to the league's main tryouts!

But as the days went by, Aunt Helen became __________ about traveling to Chicago alone. What if she went all that way and __________ ? When the day of the tryouts __________ , she was too afraid to go.

Aunt Helen has spent the rest of her life wondering what would have happened __________ she had gone to those tryouts. Because of this, she never missed another __________ in her life. She learned that every dream is worth __________ ， even if you catch only a few of them.

7 . A 63-year-old Chinese carpenter’s traditional skills have become an unexpected Internet hit as he creates woodwork with a single piece of wood, without glue, screws or nails. Wang De wen, known as “Grandpa Amu” on YouTube, has been praised as the modern day Lu Ban, a well-known Chinese structural engineer during the Zhou Dynasty, thanks to his rich carpentry(木工手艺) knowledge.

Grandpa Amu’s most popular video, which shows him making a delicate wooden arch bridge, has gone viral on YouTube, gaining more than 40 million views. “If you do something, you have to love it, and you have to be interested in it; however, being interested doesn’t mean there’s only happiness and no pain.” Grandpa Amu shared when talking about his excellent carpentry skills.

His most popular works include a folding stool, a model of the China pavilion from the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and an apple-shaped interlocking puzzle, known as a Lu Ban lock. Grandpa Amu follows an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon(榫卯) technique, which means no nails or glue are involved in the entire process of building the arch bridge.

The master carpenter has also made several wooden toys for his grandson using the same technique. His young grandson’s favorites include a walking Peppa Pig and a bubble blowing machine. Attracting over 1.17 million fans on YouTube, Grandpa Amu’s videos so far have gained more than 200 million views.

His wonderful woodworking skills, using the same mortise and tenon joints found in the Forbidden City, were developed from the age of thirteen as a way of supporting his family in East China’s Shandong Province. “The grandson is so happy, as there have been so many fine and unique toys made by grandpa from an early age,” commented one netizen; while another said “It’s amazing. I hope these traditional crafts can be passed on!”

8 . It is a well accepted assumption that students come to colleges to get good grades and that they are usually too busy to do anything else.

But Connie Snyder Mick, an academic director of the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, says it is just half of the truth. There are many volunteering centers like hers at the colleges and universities in the United States. Mick says these centers help students seek an experience that may not be directly related to a student’s academic progress, but that is still important.

Volunteering is not uncommon in higher education. Many college groups organize volunteer events for different causes. Officials in charge of student housing often organize such events to help build a sense of community. Participation in these kinds of activities is good for students, Mick says. For example, the busy nature of college life can create a lot of stress for students. Doing something completely unrelated to a student's studies can help calm them by putting their mind on other things.

For a more meaningful addition to their college experience. Mick urges students to visit centers like the one she heads. She says these centers exist to create volunteer opportunities that are more complex and meaningful than just a day spent cleaning a local park or raising money, for example.

Such volunteering centers often partner with local organizations that serve the people of the nearby communities. Even for students with little interest in building a connection with the local communities, there is still value in what volunteer centers have to offer, Mick says. She notes some opportunities can push students to use what they are learning in the classroom out in the real world and having that kind of experience can make a student appealing to employers in the years to come.

9 . A research paper recently reported that the Chinese paddlefish (中华鲟) — one of the world’s largest freshwater fish — has been declared extinct.

Scientists say the Chinese paddlefish and its close relatives have been around for at least 200 million years. The species, reaching up to seven meters in length, survived unimaginable changes, such as the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. But there’s one phenomenon this ancient species, sometimes called the “panda of the Yangtze”, could not survive humans.

Their huge size and plentiful flesh made them a popular target for fishermen and a welcome addition to inner tables in China. In the 1970s, 25 tons of paddlefish were harvested per year on average.

But the construction of the Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze forever changed the Yangtze River habitat of paddlefish, because it was constructed without a fish ladder or sideway and cut off the paddlefish from their only breeding (繁殖) grounds upstream. Populations of the fish continued to decrease after the completion of the dam in 1981, but nobody had yet figured out how terrible the situation was. As is often the case, there can be a significant delay between major disturbances and their consequence. The researchers say the fish had become functionally extinct by 1993, meaning there were not enough fish to meaningfully reproduce.

Pan Wenjing is an ocean expert with Greenpeace East Asia. She told The Associated Press the extinction of the Chinese paddlefish was “a huge loss” for nature. She said the development confirms that the Yangtze River is experiencing major environmental damage.

“The ecosystem of the Yangtze River is close to its breaking point due to human activity in past decades.” Pan said. “The paddlefish’s extinction should serve as a wake-up call to protect other freshwater species. Moving forward, we need to balance the needs of humans with the needs of life in rivers and seas. Humans should not live alone on this planet.”

10 . The morning after an evening struggle to care for my three-year-old daughter, I couldn’t wait to get her to school. I, as a mother, was tired from the anger and her inability to communicate because of her slowed language development.

As I accompanied her into the car, I felt desperate. Nothing was right with our world. She’d been born around the same time when the nation was witnessing the birth of another Great Recession. My job and my house had been victims. Then this happened. My child’s language delay was identified, but doctors struggled to properly help her, I felt like we both needed to he rescued.

I returned that afternoon as disenchanted with the little girl I loved as when I left. Walking slowly toward the school’s playground gate, I found her preschool teacher racing to greet me.

“You should have seen her today!” His breathy words were supported by excitement. I didn’t interrupt. “See that climber.” He pointed to a wooden piece of playground equipment that looked like a rock wall. I nodded. “Well, every day since she started school, she’s tried and failed to make it to the top.” He took a breath. “And today she did it!”

He expressed his joy just as he’d witnessed her conquering Mount Everest! “She cheered and celebrated! I wish I’d recorded it!” His words comforted me. My daughter had conquered her mountain.

As she ran toward me, I recognized something I hadn’t before. I saw her perseverance (毅力). I saw her strength. I saw a Hero.

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