1 . Hanging stockings by the chimney with care is one of the most popular Christmas traditions, but many families display theirs without wondering why. No one can be sure when and why the practice started, but some stories give us a clue.

One of the most popular origin tales starts with none other than St. Nicholas — yes, he was a real person. In the third and fourth centuries, St. Nicholas was a bishop in modern-day Turkey who made helping others his life mission, and he caught wind of a family in need.

As the story goes, a single father was raising three daughters but realized he didn’t have enough money to pay their dowries (嫁妆)---and without dowries, they couldn’t get married.

St. Nicholas heard of the family’s dilemma but knew they were too proud to accept handouts. To make sure they didn’t refuse his generosity, he secretly sent them gold at night. Some legends say he dropped gold down the chimney, and the gifts landed in the stockings that were laid by the fire to dry, while others claim Nicholas himself hopped down the chimney. Someone - either the father or the daughters, depending on the version of the tale - caught the bishop in the act and thanked him for his help. The gifts were enough for the daughters to marry and live happily ever after.

St. Nicholas^, feast day was on December 6, and eventually, the tradition of leaving gifts in stockings was paired up with Christmas celebrations.

That makes a neat and tidy origin story, but some scholars suggest the stocking tradition might have started even before Christianity in Scandinavian cultures. The Norse god Odin was said to come on Christmas, riding on an eight-legged horse. Children would leave sugar, carrots, and hay in their shoes to feed the mythical horse, and Odin would leave them gifts in return.

We’ll never know whether these stories were true or not, but stockings have a strong foothold in Christmas tradition.

5 . When you think of the Himalayas, you may picture tall, rocky, snow-covered peaks. But that’s not true.

The subnival (亚冰雪的) region is the zone between the treeline and the snowline. It is 5 to 5 times as large as the areas of glaciers and permanent snow, which means studying it is vital to understanding the Himalayas as a whole.

The treeline is the edge of an ecosystem where trees are able to grow, and beyond the treeline environmental conditions become too tough to allow tree growth. Meanwhile, snowlines are the boundaries on mountains that separate areas with permanent snow (where snow is present for the majority of the year) from areas with seasonal or no snow.

Researchers used satellite data from 1993 to 2018 to measure plant cover between 4,150 meters and 6,000 meters above sea level. The scientists discovered that the greatest increase in plant cover was between an altitude of 5,000 meters and 5,500 meters. Subnival plants mostly include small shrubs and grasses.

Even areas once completely occupied by glaciers now hold rocks covered with mosses, lichen, and sometimes even flowers. In addition, the snowline seems to be retreating, while the treeline is expanding. This shows that the region is becoming warmer, causing more melting of snow and allowing vegetation to move up in height.

In the past 40 years, 25% of all Himalayan ice has been lost due to global warming. Himalayan glaciers are reducing by about 0.5 meters each year. The rate of glacier melting has doubled in this decade. The melting of glaciers increases water in the region, making it wetter. Receding snow also forces the snowline to move up, providing a greater amount of area for the warm and moist conditions, which are perfect for vegetation growth.

As of now, we do not know whether vegetation will accelerate or slow down the rate of glacier melting.

7 . Nowadays, video gaming has made impressive gains in the field of standardized competition. One of the fashionable debates is whether competitive video games are sports or not. If cyberathletes are competing against formal teams in a formal environment, with real titles and monetary stakes on the line, it seems strange not to consider the activity a sport. However, unless something technologically odd gains complete control over our world in the next few decades, they never should be. Cyberathletes and eSports aren’t incomparable to traditional athletes and sports because they require less physical exertion or dedication. They are incomparable because they are different from traditional sports in a number of ways.

Traditional sports are steadfast, and consistent in their structures and mechanics. A professional American football player from any past decade could be transplanted into a current football field, and would only have to be told of a few minor rule changes. The player would know what to do, where to go, and how to accomplish the ultimate goal. He may need to learn a few new plays, but it’s fundamentally the same game. However, competitive video gaming has a variety of goals, and those goals are fluid and dynamic. A competitive video gamer from decades past might be aware of the final goal (winning the game, capturing the flag, eliminating the opposing team, etc.), but the execution (执行方式) would be completely foreign. Controls change, maps change, locations change, even the minute rules are adjusted on a regular basis. As a competitive video gamer, one needs to adapt to a much more aggressive ruleset than most sports or other games. Therefore the video game competitions are less likely to be properly regulated.

Most traditional sports are approachable by Everyman, even the esoteric(深奥的) ones, at least in an educational setting, where budgets and funding are set for them. While home computers are widely accessible, a large percentage of the gaming population is unable to participate in competitive gaming due to the high-standard computing requirements. Even decade-old competitive games like Counter-Strike 1.6 require more equipment and gear than most traditional sports. A pick-up game of basketball, football, or soccer is far more accessible than a pick-up game of Counter-Strike.

Traditional sports are embedded in our culture for good reasons: they offer an entertaining diversion and a great form of physical activity for millions of worldwide fans. The principles and lessons gleaned from traditional sports emphasize teamwork, collaboration, and critical evaluations of any given game setting. While many of these lessons are applicable to competitive gaming, competitive video gamers are still distancing themselves from competing for “sport” status, when their pastime and trade is so fundamentally different and ever-changing at such a regular pace.

8 . A fellow speaker from California named Geri flew to Japan, in her favorite jeans and a casual jacket, to give her first speech. Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at Narita Airport. Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards. With her bag in one hand, Geri took their cards with the other. She thanked them, glanced briefly at the cards, and put them into her jeans pocket quickly.

When the five of them arrived at the hotel, they invited Geri to tea in the lobby (大厅). While sipping tea, the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened. She was thrilled with the gift and shouted excitedly, “Oh, it’s beautiful!”

At this point, the four Japanese gentlemen stood up and, bowing only very slightly, said “Sayonara” and left immediately. Poor Geri was left astonished. What did she do wrong?

Everything! Her jeans were the first gaffe. Even if you’re coming off a bicycle in Japan, you do not meet c1ients (客人) casually dressed. The second mistake was Geri’s handling of their business cards rudely. In Japan, the business card is one of the most important communicative tools. It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands. However, Geri put their cards away much too quickly. In Japan, people use business cards as a conversation starter. You chat about each other’s cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safekeeping. Putting it carelessly into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect.

Then, the fourth horror of horrors was that Geri should not have opened the gift in front of her clients. In a land where saving face is critical, it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received. What is worse, Geri hadn’t even given them a gift!

9 . “When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?”

On Wednesday, poet Amanda Gorman read her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, at the inauguration (宣誓就职) ceremony of President Joe Biden.

By Thursday, the 22-year-old was a superstar.

Gorman is the youngest poet in U.S. history to mark the change of presidential power. Past inaugural poets include famous writers like Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.

Gorman is a native of Los Angeles, California, and in 2017 was named the country’s first Youth Poet Laureate (桂冠). She recently completed her studies at Harvard University.

On Wednesday, Gorman offered a hopeful future for a deeply divided country.

“We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be.

A country that is bruised (瘀紫的) but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.”

Her reading — and the ceremony as a whole — took place exactly two weeks after a violent mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked and occupied the U.S. Capito Building.

Gorman says she had completed a little more than half of “The Hill He Climb” before the January 6 attack at the Capitol.

“That day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,” said Gorman. She chose not to make direct note of the attack, but her references to the event were clear： “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy (民主).

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.”

Hours after the inauguration her two books — which are to be released later this year — became number 1 and 2 on Amazon, com’s sales list. Gorman’s poetry collection “The Hill We Climb” and her children’s book “Change Sings” are set to be published in September.

10 . For most people, graduation is an exciting day the celebration of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.

I remember that weekend two years ago. Family and friends had flown in from across the country to watch our class walk across that stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy turn from bad to worse. What I thought would take a week dragged into two. and then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself in the exact same spot as 1 was before. And the due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping ever closer.

You know that feeling when you wake up and you are just consumed with fear? Fear about something you can't control—that sense of approaching failure that remains over you as you hope that everything that happened to you thus far was just a bad dream? That feeling became a constant in my life. And the most frustrating part was no matter how much 1 tried, 1 just couldn't seem to make any progress.

So what did I do to maintain my sanity（理智）？ I wrote. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer—a little brighter. Something about writing gave me hope. And if you want something badly enough... sometimes a little hope is all you need! So I channeled my frustration into a children's book. And then one day, without any sort of writing degree or contacts in the writing world — just a lol of hard work and perseverance—I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things slowly began to fall into place. 1 was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with The Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.

The moral of this story is... don't give up. Even if things look bleak now, don't give up. Things change If you work hard, give it time, and don't give up, things will always get better Oftentimes all we need is the courage to push beyond the river.