1 . Space Center Houston offers a variety of age-appropriate and inspiring camp experiences with safety top of mind. In the wake of covid-19 we aim to continue inspiring all generations through the wonders of space exploration while maintaining the highest level of safety for all. Our Explorer Camps introduce children ages 4-11 to science, technology, engineering and math through engaging and hands-on learning activities. Discover and explore our Explorer Camps for ages 67 and below.

JOURNEY TO MARS

June 14-18, July 12-16, Aug 9-13 $289.95 5-DAY EXPLORER CAMP

While demonstrating best safety practices, campers are involved in activities that arouse their interest in science along with their sense of adventure. These young engineers learn the basics of rocket, discover coding, and explore hands on science activities.

ENGINEERING BASICS

June 7-11, Juy 5-9 $289.95 5-DAY EXPLORER CAMP

Campers discover what it takes to solve problems related to space exploration in Engineering Basics. Taking LEGO bricks “out of the box and to new and exciting places”, this camp gets your little builders using lego bricks like never before. These engineers-in-training will participate in problem-solving activities, building simple machines, art projects, androbotics.

JOURNEY TO SPACE

June 28-July2, Juy 26-30 $289.95 5-DAY EXPLORER CAMP

How do astronauts work in space? Why is Venus so hot? Will people ever go to Mars? How do robots work? what do engineers do? all these questions are answered as campers explore space through art, science, robotics, and engineering activities This camp leaves all inquiring minds inspired to continue their journey.

EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY

June 1-5 $229.95 5-DAY EXPLORER CAMP

Campers discover what it takes to send people, supplies and spacecraft beyond earths atmosphere. During this five-day adventure, former astronauts will deliver speeches on how they live and work in the space station.

2 . Coffee shops are cool, but in Wilmington, Bitty & Beau’s Coffee enjoys a good name for its warmth.

At the heart of the shop’s popularity is its ______ staff: Almost everyone has an intellectual (智力的) or developmental disability.

The coffee shop was opened in 2016 by Amy Wright and her husband, ______ by two of her four children, Beau and Bitty, who have Down syndrome (唐氏症).

When the couple discovered that most people with intellectual and developmental disabilities could never find an employer (雇主) who would even give them a(n) ______, they decided to do something about it.

“It ______ me like a flash of lightning: a coffee shop!” Wright said. “It would be the perfect environment for bringing people together. Seeing the staff ______ customers at the door, preparing food, serving orders and cleaning tables, people would realize how ______ they are. ”

When the shop opened, it immediately had ______ out the door. The media attention ______, and six months later, it had to move to a ______   space.

Today, the store employs 40 people with disabilities, who are really good at their jobs.

What makes Amy most proud is the ______ it has built in the neighborhood. “Every day, people say, ‘You’ve made my day. Thank you.’ That’s a feeling of happiness most people don’t get elsewhere, and it's what ______ people back here,” she said. “This is a place where people can ______ with those with disabilities and realize how much more alike we are than different. It’s ______ a cup of coffee. It’s a human rights movement. It’s given our employees the respect and a sense of being ______ that they deserve. For many employees, it’s their first job, and their ______ fills the air. ”

6 . My 12-year-old niece was staying with us for a little while. One night we stayed up talking about how we used to _________and take part in random acts of kindness. We talked about how so much had_________, and how difficult it would be to do so many of those things now, _________ when it came to helping out strangers.

The next day, I _________ something from downtown and took her to shop. We were walking around _________we heard a beautiful male voice singing. We turned around to see a middle-aged man sitting on a corner with his guitar. A couple was sitting on a bench nearby and listening to his _________.

After I ran my errand (杂事), we_________to sit at an outdoor restaurant across from him on the other side of the street. My niece kept_________and saying how wonderful his singing was. Seeing how moved she was by his music, at the end of our_________, I gave her a $10 bill and asked her to put it in his bowl.

She was __________, and headed over. As she __________, the man was just finishing a song, and they had a conversation. She told him how __________ she was by his music, and he told her she__________his day. As she was excitedly talking about the __________with me, she mentioned, “He didn’t even know how much it was. He just__________ that someone was enjoying his music.”

The young woman was feeling a little sad on that Sunday in May. After all, it was Mother’s Day and 800 miles separated her from her parents in Ohio.

She had called her mother that morning to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, and her mother had mentioned how colorful the yard was with spring arriving. The young woman could almost smell the fragrance of purple lilacs (丁香花) hanging on the big bush outside her parents’ back door.

Later, when she mentioned to her husband how she missed those lilacs, he said, “I know where we can find all you want.”

So off they went with the kids, driving along the country roads of northern Rhode Island on the kind of day—only mid-May can produce.

Where they stopped, there wasn’t a lilac insight. “Come with me,” the man said. “Over that hill is an cellar (地下室) hole, from somebody’s farm of years ago, and there are lilacs all round it. The man who owns this land said I could hang around here anytime. He won’t mind if picking a few lilacs.

Before they got halfway up the hill, the fragrance of the lilacs drifted down to them, and the kids started running. Soon, the mother began running, too, until she reached the top.

There were the towering lilacs bushes with beautiful flowers. The woman walked among the lilacs. Carefully, she picked some lilacs.

Finally they returned to their car for the trip home. When they were within three miles of home, she suddenly shouted to her husband, “Stop the car. Stop right here!”

The man stopped the car. The woman was out of the car and running towards the top of the hill with lilacs still in her arms. At the top of the hill was a nursing home. The parents were outdoors walking with relatives or sitting on the porch (门廊). The young woman went to the end of the porch, where an elderly patient was in her wheel chair, alone, head bowed.

The young woman lifted the elderly patient’s head, and smiled.

The next day the man purchased many young lilacs bushes and he planted them around their yard.

9 . Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital services, but many publishers are too cautious about piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six publishers, only Random House and Harper Collins license e-books with most libraries.

Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of e-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money. If these people switch to borrowing e-books instead of buying them, what then? Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles away, book files can be downloaded at home. The files disappear from the device when they are due.

E-lending is not simple, however. There are various incompatible e-book formats, devices and licenses. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, which secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive’s global market dominance, as the company can control fees and conditions. Publishers were annoyed when OverDrive cooperated with Amazon, the world’s biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon’s website.

According to Pew, an opinion researcher, library users are a perfect market for Amazon. Late last year Amazon introduced its Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets its best customers borrow free one of thousands of popular books each month. But a recent Pew survey found that more than half of Americans with library cards say they prefer to buy their e-books. It also noted that e-books actually are available at most libraries, and that popular titles often involve long waiting lists, which may inspire people to buy.

So publishers keep adjusting their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing price earlier this year, and Harper Collins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.