4 . Becoming a real runner

I would never use the word “athletic” to describe myself. To me, athletes are people who really enjoy working out. I remember crying in middle school when I had to run a mile during gym class. I huffed and puffed as I jogged. As I grew up, I would go to the gym, but I never enjoyed working out. That, I thought, was for real runners.

In June 2017, my friend sent me an email that would forever change my attitude towards running. He was training for a 200-mile relay (接力赛) and wanted me to be on his team. I would run three legs between four and six miles each over the course of two days. Figuring that I would never again have the chance to work with some top runners, I immediately agreed, and started running outside to prepare.

That first run was hard. I purposefully avoided Central Park in order to stay away from real runners. After a few blocks, I was already winded, and ran the rest of the way home. I called my mom, choked up, to say I had no hope at all of running this relay. But she encouraged me to keep at it, so I didn't quit. I went from running four miles a week to eight within one month before my advanced training began.

I was frightened going into the first training session with the team as everyone else was super “athletic”. We ran for five miles, and I was significantly slower. However, my teammates were so supportive that I felt the runner’s high, which I had never believed existed.

One day, about two weeks into training, my ankle gave out while I was running in Central Park. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture (应力性骨折). The doctor told me to stop running for two months. It took me a while to face the fact that I was out of the race. My doctor told me that he too had once been struck down with a stress fracture, and the following year, he beat his best running time in a half-marathon. That brought me hope.

I made it through the next two months by picturing myself running again. Just yesterday, for the first time since that fateful day, I took my outdoor run with my physical therapist. I mentioned that I might run a half-marathon the next year. Now I wake up excited for the days I get to run. Maybe I am a “real runner” after all.

5 . Want to know about the biggest page-turners in 2020 for your kids before you buy? Check out our list of New York Times best-selling chapter books

A Tale of Magic age 12+ ★★★★☆ Imaginative, lively tale. Chris Colfer|Fantasy|2019	Brystal Evergreen lives in a country where women are forbidden to read. She is a bookworm, trying to find creative ways of getting books. One day Brystal uncovers a secret area of the library and finds a book about magic that changes her life forever…
A Wolf Called Wander age 14+ ★★★★★ Exciting & vivid autobiography of a wolf. Rosanne Parry|Animals|2019	Swift,   a young wolf cub（幼崽）,   lived with his pack in the mountains learning to hunt when they were attacked,   and Swift got separated from his family. Alone and scared. Swift must escape and find a new home…
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager age 15+ ★★★★★ A funny story of an immigrant teen facing culture shock in U. S. Ben Philippe|Coming of Age|2020	Norris, a 14-year-old Black French Canadian, arrives in Texas, where his mother gets a teaching job at a university. Though lacking knowledge about U. S. high school life, he tries hard to build a new life…

6 . Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world-Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey-rats will soon be man's new best friends.

What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

How does it work? First，the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University-New York says, “Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark.They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity!

The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn't get to and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).

7 . Claire Wyatt, a 24-year-old British volunteer, led eight Cambodians living with disabilities on a 155-mile bike ride from Phnom Penh, the nation’s capital, to Siem Reap to raise money and deliver supplies to those in need in the coronavirus pandemic(新冠病毒大流行).

“Leading this trip was an incredibly special experience for me,” said Claire. “Not only was I encouraged by the determination of each and every rider, but also the team taught me every day not to focus on their disability.”

When she was first asked to lead the trip, Claire admitted, she was feeling nervous about her team traveling such a distance in just a few days because cycling with a disability can come with added physical and emotional challenges.

One team member named Dy, who lost an arm in an accident, biked using just one arm to balance. Another named Vulta could only pedal on one side due to polio(小儿麻痹). Despite all the difficulties, Claire realized quickly that she didn’t have to worry about her team. She saw them deal with rough area that she had seen abled cyclists give up on before.

The volunteers covered the distance in just four days, not only helping so many people across the country, but also overcoming huge difficulties to get there.

“The best thing about this ride is that the riders have all volunteered their time to do this. They are so enthusiastic about Cambodia and raising money for others in need,” said Claire. “The money raised will feed 99 families in Siem Reap.”

Claire recalled her favorite moment of the experience, when one of the cyclists pushed an exhausted teammate up a hill for 2 miles. “One moment that stood out for me was when Naret, our only female rider, was feeling tired,” she said. “Her fellow rider gently put his hand on her back and pushed her for 2 miles! They were encouraging each other to push through the tiredness.”

8 . In the past five years, about 2.8 billion of school textbooks were sold per year, with total spending of 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), news magazine Outlook Weekly reported, citing data released recently by the National Press and Publication Administration.

If these textbooks are reused for one year, the costs saved can be used to help build around 40,000 Hope Schools in impoverished regions.

The figures show that in 2018, the number of retailed textbooks for primary and secondary schools was 2.93 billion copies, totaling 25.99 billion yuan. If all of them are reused, a total of over 20 billion yuan will be saved per year.

Zhao Dehua, in charge of a company recycling resources, said many college graduates sell the textbooks they have accumulated over the years at an average price of 1 yuan per kilogram. As these textbooks are mostly used to produce recycled paper, the cost is even higher than that of raw paper as the processing procedure of recycled paper is complicated.

At present, free textbooks related to music, art and P.E for the nine-year compulsory education have been reused, but account for less than a fraction of the total number of textbooks. Because of the supply chain obstruction, which increases the costs to match supply with demand, the lack of sound platform and service supporting system for the second-hand textbook trade, most of the textbooks used for compulsory education and higher education end up as waste.

“Every year, second-hand booksellers collect textbooks at a price of about 4,000 yuan a ton, which is more than twice the price of ordinary waste paper, but the number of people who come to collect second-hand books is still few,” Zhao Dehua said.

Besides, the incomplete policies and regulations might bring second-hand book sales platforms and sellers to legal risks.

“Establishing the system of textbook recycling can not only save resources, but also help to cultivate students’ consciousness and sense of responsibility,” said Zhu Pin, deputy head of a school of nine-year compulsory education in Jiangxi province. The school has set up a system for reusing the textbooks and the books are disinfected every week.

9 . For Stevens Point locals in the US, the city is flooded with delicious fried fish. Here are four top choices for the community to have a try.

Hilltop Pub&Grill

Hilltop Pub&Grill first opened in the 1980s and took the Stevens Point community by storm with its delicious food and unique decoration style. Its fried fish are beloved due to the use of “high-quality North Atlantic fish, with a light beer batter (面糊)”.

The Final Score Bar&Grill

The Final Score Bar&Grill aimed to become a local hot spot in 2001 when Jim Billings, the owner, took charge of the business. Billings feels that their five batter choices set them apart from their neighboring bars. Besides, various wines are available.

Point After Pub&Grill

Point After Pub&Grill started serving delicious food and cold beers in a welcoming environment in 2009. But its history runs much longer. “Before it was Point After Pub&Grill, it had been Northside Bar for 30 plus years,” explained Molski, the owner. Molski feels that the pub’s four special batter choices and other fish specials are what help make it an area landmark.

Two Harps Pub

This Irish pub opened its doors to the public in 2017 and has been drawing fans and locals ever since. “I had done my career for a long time and was kind of bored with it,” said Nick Moore, the owner. “And this opportunity fell into my lap, so I went with it. It really made sense to open up an Irish bar.” The growing pub advises guests to try a cold beer with their Friday fried fish.

10 . One of the important, but seldom-discussed, problems in healthcare reform is how to take care of our aging population as people continue to live longer. According to a new study from the MacArthur Research Network on an Aging Society, by 2050 Americans may live 3.1 to 7. 9 years longer than the government expects. That would mean women would live 89 to 93 years and men 83 to nearly 86 years. The researchers base their conclusion on "rapid advances in biomedical（生物医药）technology that delay the start and progression of major deadly diseases or that slow the aging process・”

While this is good news, especially for the young, the life expectancy, which is in excess of（超过）the government's estimates, would raise costs sharply for Medicare and Social Security. If the study's predictions are accurate, the total cost for those two programs through 2050 could be between $ 3. 2 trillion and $ & 3 trillion higher than the US Census Bureau（人口普查局）and the Social Security Administration currently expect.

And that's only the beginning. With anticipated scientific breakthroughs in coming decades, people could eventually live to 150 years of age, says Dr. Steven Joyal, an official of the Life Extension Foundation (LEF) a nonprofit organization that promotes research on how we can live longer and healthier. The MacArthur paper, in fact, says that some experts believe the average life expectancy could hit 100 by 2060.

What's more, Joyal says, the conquest（战胜）of disease and the slowing of the aging process will lead to a sharp decline in disability, allowing people of advanced age to function as well as they did when they were much younger. "In other words, a 90-year-old person could have the same mental and physical capacity as somebody 40 or 50 years old."