2 . To improve road safety and raise awareness among Russia’s notoriously (臭名昭著地) careless drivers, Russian police have tried to get drivers to slow down at zebra (斑马) crossings by having painted horses as zebras walk across on the busiest streets in some of the big cities.

The light grey horses, painted with black stripes (条纹), carried signs on their backs reading: “Careful, children are on their way to school.” The police sent the “zebras” to several different locations in the Russian capital, where officials in orange vests walked them over zebra crossings and handed out leaflets (传单) to passing drivers.

Some held up rainbow-coloured umbrellas over the painted animals to protect them from the rain. Russian roads are notoriously dangerous and drivers still rarely take steps to avoid pedestrians (行人). Nearly half of all traffic accidents in the country’s big cities are caused by cars hitting pedestrians, and a third of those occur on crossings, according to traffic police figures published last month.

In the first six months of this year, 378 people were killed and more than 6, 600 injured on pedestrian crossings in Russia, according to police. In Moscow alone, 43 people were killed, including two children.

Though police officials said that only safe paint would be used on the animals, animal rights activists still disagreed with the idea, accusing the police of “treating animals like garbage”.

“Children understand that paints are bad for animals,” the Interfax news agency quoted president of Vita animal rights group Irina Novozhilova as saying.

Let’s hope this part of the campaign is over and animals are left out of future attempts to raise pedestrians’ awareness.

3 . One summer during high school, my mom volunteered me to help Grandpa research our family tree. Great, I thought, imagining hours spent pawing through dusty, rotting boxes and listening to boring stories about people I didn't know. "You'll be surprised," my mom promised, "Family histories can be very interesting."

In truth, Grandpa didn't want to limit my work to just research, hoping to also preserve our family memories. He'd discovered a computer program that helps digitally scan old pictures and letters to preserve their contents before they crumble from old age. Grandpa wanted me to help him connect the scanner and set up the computer program. He could type documents and send emails, but had never used a scanner.

Soon after, I became fascinated with my relatives' lives. I asked Grandpa to tell the story behind every picture and letter we scanned. The stories, which turned out not to be boring at all, helped me not only understand but also relate to my relatives. I became so hungry for more information that Grandpa needed additional props to keep me satisfied. He showed me a chest filled with random stuff, all covered in dust.

Perusing through their belongings, I felt I was opening a window into the world of my relatives, a world long since gone. Grandpa showed me a bundle of letters he had sent to Grandma from the front lines of World War II and I could almost smell the gunpowder. I turned the pages of my great-grandmother's recipe book and could picture her cooking in her kitchen. All of the people who had been merely names to me now had faces to match.

Later, Grandpa admitted, "I probably could have done this project myself. I just wanted someone to share it with." I can't thank him enough for sharing the experience and making me appreciate the family members who have made me the person I am. I will cherish family memories and hope that someday will be able to pass them down to my own grandchildren.

5 . Some people say that friendship is the only channel through which human beings can ever experience the value of life. In our daily life, it is likely that you share some common interests with others-they may like the same sport, go to the same school or like the same kind of music as you do. Since you often meet them, they become your acquaintances（相识的人）. Although some people develop many acquaintances, only a few become their good friends in their lifetime because there are differences between acquaintances and friends.

It is said that true friendship begins when someone knows what you are really like, but still likes you anyway. A true friend shows loyalty（忠诚）from the very beginning of the relationship. A friend will go through challenges to help you without expecting anything in return. A “friend” today may probably become a “true friend” tomorrow when they get involved in unexpected circumstances（条件）together with you-for example, when you are going through a difficult experience and your friend is there to help you out. However, some acquaintances might leave you when you badly need their help. At this time, you can experience what true friendship is.

In our life, some people seem to go through life with plenty of friends. They may be funny or they may have a bright and pleasant personality（性格）. For these people, wherever they go, people seem to like them and welcome their company. But when they go through challenging life experiences, some of their friends are not there to help them. Therefore we can say some of their friends are not real friends and their friendship is just skin-deep.

However, others seem to go through life with no friends at all. They like to be alone, to travel by themselves or to do their own things. It’s a pity that few of these people find success in life because they have no friends. They lack the best gift in life-friendship.

6 . That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theater. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.

As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.

About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.

Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.

Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pulled up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes: “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.

It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.

7 . Traveling alone can be daunting. I have traveled by myself many times but, on every occasion, there was someone to meet me at the other end of the bus, train or plane journey. This time was different.

Last week I had a holiday, from work, but none of my friends had the same week off. I decided that I still wanted to do something, so I booked a train ride to Toronto and reserved a bed in a hostel for one week.

One week by myself. Would I be lonely? Would I be bored? Quite the opposite. In fact, there are many benefits that come from traveling alone. Firstly, I was able to do whatever I wanted. I spent hours in museums that would have seemed boring and dull to some of my friends. I walked all around the city, which' some people may have found too exhausting. Instead of relying on someone else to remember directions or to suggest activities to do, I discovered my' independence and developed map-reading skills that I didn’t know I had. I could get up and go to sleep when I wanted and I didn’t have to wait for anyone else to shower and get ready every morning. Being in the safe environment of a hostel with like-minded travelers also gives a great opportunity to meet new people from all over the world, which can help combat loneliness.

In spite of the benefits, I found that there were also some disadvantages of traveling alone. I missed having someone to talk to and to bounce ideas off. Experiences are often more enjoyable if they are shared, and part of the fun of traveling is the memories you have afterwards. Without a travel partner, I won’t be able to laugh about and remember my Toronto adventure with a friend or family member in years to come.

In addition, eating in a restaurant or cooking in the hostel was less fun on my own.

I am very proud of myself for traveling alone, and I had a fantastic time in Toronto. However, in the future, I think I will always prefer to travel with another person or in a small group. Though, maybe it depends on who you travel with I would rather be by myself than with someone who is lazy, difficult and argumentative.

9 . A night in the African rainforest camping under the stars is just one of the many never-to-be-forgotten experiences of our latest offer to Weekly News readers.

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10 . Should we focus on our goal, or on the process?

What happened to Brenda Martinez, a US Olympic runner, may provide us with the answer. She lost her balance in the 800-meter run and failed to qualify for the Olympics. Instead of focusing on her failure, she prepared to win in the next race. “I just quickly let go of what happened in the 800m and got back to my routine, to focusing on all the little things I could do that would give me the best chance of running well later in the week,” she told New York Magazine. She said it was this mindset that led to her winning third place in the 1500-meter race about a week later to qualify for the Olympics in Rio. Instead of attaching herself to the goal of making the Olympic team, she concentrated on the process.

There is a problem with setting goals. Researchers from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern found that overemphasizing goals based on measurable outcomes often leads to risk-taking, unethical (不道德的) behavior and reduced motivation. Their results were published in a Harvard Business School report titled Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting.

When you become overly focused on achieving the goal, you may lose sight of your original purpose for accomplishing the goal in the first place. Another danger is actually completing the goal without setting a plan for what’s next. For example, some marathon runners experience what’s called the “post-race blues”. Achieving your goal may cause you to drop the good habits that got you there in the first place. Dieters often experience this in what’s called “yo-yo dieting” when they drop down to a desired weight, but then gain all the weight back when they resume (重新开始) their bad habits.

“After you set a goal, it’s best to shit your focus from the goal itself to the process that gives you the best chance of achieving it and to judge yourself based on how well you complete that process,” columnist Brad Stulberg wrote on the website The Cut.

Ultimately, changing your attention from goals to process will cause you to achieve little victories on your way to accomplishing long-term goals. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School psychology professor, wrote that focusing on this process “leaves you with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, regardless of the measurable outcome”.