2 . The Internet plays a big part in human life. We use it for work and pleasure. We use it to learn a new language. We find advice on it. We use it to connect with family and friends. We use it to stay in touch with events we care about. The list goes on and on.

Well, that train has left the station.   This expression means there is no going back to an Internet-free life. But can using the Internet too much be bad for our health? It might be, researchers say. A new study finds that heavy Internet use may be connected to high blood pressure in an unlikely group: teenagers.

High blood pressure makes your heart and blood vessels work too hard. Over time, this extra pressure increases your risk of a heart attack. High blood pressure can also cause heart and kidney disease. It is also closely linked to a brain disease.

The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan did the study. 335 young people, from 14 to 17 years old , took part in it. 134 of the teens were described as “heavy Internet users.” And researchers found that out of these 134 teens,26 had high blood pressure. The researchers say the study is the first to connect heavy web use with high blood pressure. Other research has connected heavy Internet use with anxiety, depression and obesity.

The lead researcher is Andrea Cassidy Bushrow. She said, “Using the Internet is part of our daily life, but it shouldn’t ruin us.” Ms. Cassidy Bushrow adds that it is important for teens to take regular breaks from their computers or smartphones and do some kind of physical activity. She also suggests that parents limit their children’s use of the Internet to two hours a day, five days a week.

3 . We think of kids playing video games as being in a sort of loneliness, locked in their darkened bedrooms. In truth, they are usually communicating with other gamers, via audio or text, about the action on the screen. And sometimes the chatter shifts from the world of fantasy to real life.

That’s what happened to 14-year-old Reilly Howard from East Hampton, Connecticut last October. While playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, he noticed that an online friend, a-13-year-old from Florida, was not his normal self. Reilly’s sixth sense was confirmed when the friend messaged him, “Yo, we need to talk.” Reilly immediately called him.

“He starts to open up about what’s going on in his life: ‘I have nothing to live for; I’m going to kill myself.’ Reilly told nbcconnecucut.com. He couldn’t even talk, he was crying so much.” Unable to verbally convey his sufferings, his friend typed out, “Tonight is going to be the night.”

Suicide is a lot to throw at a high school kid, but Reilly, a sophomore(二年级学生)at the time, resolved to stay on the line for as long as he was needed. “I knew he didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want him to go.” he told WFSB. “He’s my friend. I didn’t want him to die.”

For two hours, Reilly said everything he could think of to persuade his friend to embrace life. “I just kept comforting him. You’ve got a lot to live for.” says Reilly. “I said, I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m going to be playing with you tomorrow. You promise, nothing is going to happen tonight.”

About that time, Reilly’s parents came home from dinner. He filled them in, and they contacted Florida police, who tracked down the boy.

The troubled teen is doing well now, thanks to a good friend—one he’d never met in person—who was willing to put down the keyboard and lend an ear. Says Reilly’s mother, Sheila Reilly, “You just have to show up and talk to people. And listen.”

4 . On a hill 600 feet above the surrounding land, we watch the lines of rain move across the scene, the moon rise over the hills, and the stars appear in the sky. The views invite a long look from a comfortable chair in front of the wooden house.

Every window in our wooden house has a view, and the forest and lakes seldom look the same as the hour before. Each look reminds us where we are.

There is space for our three boys to play outside, to shoot arrows, collect tree seeds, build earth houses and climb trees.

Our kids have learned the names of the trees, and with the names have come familiarity and appreciation. As they tell all who show even a passing interest, the maples make the best fighting sticks and white pines are the best climbing trees.

The air is clean and fresh. The water from the well has a pleasant taste, and it is perhaps the healthiest water our kids will ever drink. Though they have one glass of juice a day and the rest are water, they never say anything against that.

The seasons change just outside the door. We watch the maples turn every shade of yellow and red in the fall and note the poplars’ (杨树) putting out the first green leaves of spring. The rainbow smelt fills the local stream as the ice gradually disappears, and the wood frogs start to sing in pools after being frozen for the winter. A family of birds rules our skies and flies over the lake.

5 . Your action can speak louder than your words. It is important to know another language and how to communicate without words when you are in another country. Before saying anything, people communicate with each other by using gestures(手势). However, many gestures have different meanings, or no meaning at all, in different parts of the world.

In the United States, nodding your head up and down means “yes”, while in some parts of Greece and Turkey, it means “no”. In the southeast of Asia, it is a polite way of saying “I heard you”.

Today in the USA, when someone puts his thumb(大拇指) up, it means “Everything is all right.” However, in Greece it is bad manners to do so. Also putting your clasped(紧握的)hands up above your head means “I am the winner.” It is the sign which players often make. In Russia it is the sign of friendship.

In the USA, holding your hand up with the thumb and index finger(食指)in a circle, and the other three straight means “Everything is OK.” In France, it means “You are worth nothing.”

It is also important to make eye communication. If you look down when talking to an American, he or she may feel that you are shy, or you are trying to hide something.

Besides these, you should also know there are some topics that can not be talked about, such as age, weight and marriage. You can talk about the weather, work, sports, food, where one lives and news of the day.

6 . Lizzy Brown, a 42-year-old mother of three from East Riding, Yorkshire, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 14 years old. Ms Brown received the diagnosis having woken up frightened on her 14th birthday. She was admitted to a hospital in Cambridge in 1989, where she was told that she shouldn’t expect to survive into adulthood.

While being monitored (监护) at the hospital, Ms Brown was looked after by a kind nurse called Debbie Bye. Ms Brown has never forgotten the good care that Ms Bye provided during her time of need. “My prognosis (预断) was very poor,”' Ms Brown said. “I wasn’t expected to live more than five years, but now I’m 42 with three children and there’s not a wheelchair in sight. She might have thought she was doing her job but it went above and beyond that. I remember watching Debbie work and being so inspired by the way that she did things. She showed me that children are children no matter what is wrong with them and she treated us all the same.”

The childhood cancer survivor always wondered what had happened to the nurse over the years,which is why she decided to put a call out on Twitter. Ms Brown tweeted an appeal to find Ms Bye, with her tweet being shared more than 1,000 times. Her action proved successful, as the two women were eventually able to make contact (取得联系) thanks to the power of social media.

“To be there when Lizzy was given her prognosis was something I will never forget,’’ said Ms Bye, who has since retired (退休) from hospital work and now works part-time in a school. “She was a teenager in denial and over the years I have often wondered what happened to her and came to the only conclusion I could and thought she had passed away. I am blown away.”

7 . Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee(拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法)to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now? ” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture, ” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up. ” says the teacher.

8 . During the month of September， a dear friend of mine lost her husband suddenly in an accident． This accident was sudden and certainly unexpected． We sometimes take our love ones for granted， and we expect that they will be with us forever． However， as we all know， life does not work that way and sometimes we get a wakeup call that shocks us and realize how short life is．

In comforting her， I tried to imagine if I was in her shoes how I would feel． It was impossible to imagine what she was going through． What words do I say to help her？ Sometimes words just cannot express our feelings． Sometimes our actions are much more meaningful than words． A hug can sometimes express more than our words will ever express． Sometimes， just being there to listen is more meaningful and helpful to people．

As I was leaving the funeral parlor（殡仪馆）， I ran into Marilyn． She is one of those friends who is with you in the good times and is always by your side in the bed times． She has a sense of humor that makes everyone feel at ease． We chatted for a few moments， and then she asked me how my job was． I was telling her I was having a stressful week with my job． She listened to me， then without saying a word， she took her hands and placed them on my face， and said to me， "But at least you have a day．"

Since that day， when I start feeling stressed， I remind myself of Marilyn's words --- but at least I have a day! Things could be a lot worse， but I am alive and I have a lot to be thankful for ----- so I shall not waste my days with stress and frustrations（挫折） ------- life is too short．

9 . Recently, a woman who lives in a small apartment in San Francisco asked me a question. She wanted to know how to prepare for a big earthquake. In fact, it’s quite necessary for people in San Francisco to do that. Since she lives in an apartment, she cannot store water in a backyard or place a rain collection system. Here is my answer to her.

Firstly, you should store water and food. Storing water is actually very easy. A gallon per day is enough for you to drink. You can buy one of those 5-gallon spring water containers and put it in the kitchen. Check the expiration date (截止日期), and get some new water when needed. Food isn’t that hard, either. Get a few cans of soup, some canned fruit, and canned chickpeas or beans. Make sure they all can be eaten without heating. This will cost less than DS|20 and take up very little space in your kitchen. Throw a cheap can­opener in there while you’re at it, tape (用胶带粘贴) it to the can, and forget about that one, too.

Secondly, first aid is going to let you stay out of limited medical facilities (装备), allowing you to avoid getting truly injured. In a big disaster, you’ll probably get hurt. Being able to clean and protect a skin wound is important. The Red Cross first-aid kit is cheap (DS|16) and small, and contains what you need.

Finally, information is almost as important as the other two. You really want a small radio to know what is going on around you. There are going to be shelters, first-aid facilities, and safe and unsafe areas. You need a radio to know where they are. The National Guard will be somewhere helping out, and you need to learn where. The network will probably be down, so you can’t count on that.

Therefore, you just need DS|60 and about 30 minutes of shopping, and then you can survive for 3 days without any help.

10 . Just the other day，I was driving my son to the part­time job that he had at a workshop for the disabled.The sky was very dark.A cold rain was pouring down.The world seemed silent and sad with both people and animals taking shelter from the storm.I turned on the car radio for music to make me calm.When I did，however，Karen Carpenter's sweet voice came out，singing，“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”I turned off the radio.That was not the song I wanted to hear on such a day.Still，the song kept playing in my head as the showers(阵雨)continued throughout the day.

Later that afternoon，I was walking out of the bathroom when I saw my son turn on the television.A classic movie was playing and suddenly I heard these musical tones(曲调)coming from Gene Kelly's voice，“I'm singing in the rain，just singing in the rain.What a glorious feeling.I'm happy again.I'm laughing at clouds，so dark up above.The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love.”

At that moment I saw that God in his loving­kindness had reminded me once again that all of life is a choice to love.Rains and problems will always come.We can let them get us down or we can choose to sing.We can let the showers soak our souls(灵魂)or we can use them to help our souls grow.We can allow the darkness to make us sad or we can use it to awaken the sunshine and love in our hearts.

What are you going to do when the rains of life fall down upon you？I choose to sing.I choose to sing with all the love that God has put in my heart.I choose to share my sunshine even in the darkest days and never let my music die within me.May you do the same.