Yours,

Li Hua

It all started with a simple question: “Can I paint your portrait?”

In the summer of 2015, Peterson and his wife, Vanessa, had just moved to Santa Ana, California. Outside the couple’s fourth-floor apartment, a homeless man was often yelling on the street corner, sometimes keeping them awake at night. Peterson, 28. would pass the guy on his way to his job, but they never spoke . What could they possibly have in common?

One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading a book, when his quiet was disturbed by the homeless man. Inspired by the book’s compassionate message, Peterson made an unexpected decision: He was going to go outside and introduce himself.

In that first conversation, Peterson learned the man’ s name was Faris. He’d moved to California to pursue a care er in music, but he soon fell on hard times and ended up living on the street for more than a decade.

“It was the weirdest thing to me,” Peterson recalled later. “I saw beauty on the face of a man who hadn’t shaved in probably a year, had overgrown finger nails, probably hadn’t had a shower in close to a year. But his story, the life inside of him, inspired me.”And even though Peterson, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in about eight years, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris’s portrait. Faris said yes.

Peterson’s connection with Faris led him to form Faces In the Community(FIC), a nonprofit organization focused on befriending and painting portraits of members of the community who are unhoused. Peterson sells the portraits sign atured by both subject and artist for a few thousand dollars, splitting the proceeds(收入) and putting half into what he calls a”love account”for his model. He then helps people use the money to get back on their feet. Of course, Faris was the first to benefit from FIC.

Seeing his portrait, the homeless man was moved to tears.

Inspired by Peterson and Faris, many artists joined them.

6 . There is nothing quite like enjoying the sights, sounds and culture of a city while tasting a cup of coffee outdoors. But it is not that enjoyable when heat waves sweep the city. An outdoor cooling system produced by Kinonko, an Israeli company, began to be tested in Tel Aviv. The sweltering city is a perfect place to try the new technology.

With global warming heating up the temperature, it will soon be too hot to sit outside in cafés. While outdoor cooling systems have existed for a while, most of them use some sort of water or misting system to cool the air around them, consuming too much water and power. After two years of development, the perfect solution to the problem was found. “We have invented a new generation of air conditioner,” Kinonko CEO Leizer said.

As Leizer introduced, the energy is from the pressure created between liquid nitrogen (氮) and gas nitrogen. When liquid nitrogen at-196 degrees turns into gas, it produces a very strong pressure and the pressure is used to run a mechanical engine. It is that mechanical engine that slowly releases freezing nitrogen gas to cool down the air around it.

The technology is unique and amazing. Beyond the coolness of the concept, it also has other advantages. The work unit doesn’t need to be power-driven, and doesn’t blow out harmful warm air as it works. As for the potential price, it will probably be no more expensive than any other air conditioner. In addition, the liquid nitrogen container will need to be replaced every seven to ten days, depending on usage. This makes it an affordable option for all sorts of businesses. The cooling system is expected to be on the market in 2024.

A few years ago, I was having dinner with some good friends from work to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holiday. As we were finishing up that evening, one of my friends told us a very sad story about something that had happened the day before. Her son’s friend was in his md-twenties and self-employed. He lived on the second floor of a house nearby. Someone who lied on the first floor had been smoking and fell asleep. The house burned down. All the people escaped, but the house was completely destroyed with everything in it.

All this young man had were the clothes on his back and his pickup truck. He had no family in the area and nowhere to go. My friend was putting him up for a few days until he could decide what to do next.

Those of us sitting at the dinner table were horrified. Everyone started opening their wallets to contribute money. My friend put up her hand and said, “He will not accept money. We tried to persuade him, but he thinks it is charity and won’t take it. All he wants is a warm coat and some used clothing if anyone has some.”

We were all more than happy to fulfil this request and were told that he wore a size 2XL. None of us knew men who wore that size, so it was going to be a bit of a challenge to take care of this quickly.

It was a typically cold New York Christmas, and I couldn’t imagine him without a coat. I shed tears on the drive home, a combination of grateful tears for the many blessings I had in my life and sad tears for this poor young man and his troubles.

I went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night with a very clear thought in my mind. I was to find this young man a coat.

The next morning, I went to a nearby charity shop and a lady greeted me with a smile.

A few minutes later, she came out of the backroom with a brand-new coat.

8 . Many years ago, when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children. As it was getting late we _________looking for a hotel only to find out that it was _________ time in that part of the country, and all the hotels were _________.

Finally, we stopped at a gas station to fill the car up with gas. My husband asked for a(n) _________ book and told the woman at the counter that we were trying to find a hotel. She told us it would be _________. He tried for 15 minutes. When he was _________, the woman, Linda, said she and her family lived nearby and would be happy if we spent the night at her home.

My husband was _________ at her offer of generosity. She called her son to _________us, since she had to work at the gas station till midnight.

When we reached their home, her husband _________ us. He invited us to have coffee and chat while we __________ his wife. She came back past 12 am. We asked if we could slip away in the morning so as not to __________ them. They said we were now __________ and we would have to have breakfast with them.

Next morning, we ate breakfast, and when we were leaving, my husband asked if he could offer some __________. They would not hear of it and __________ we were their guests. We kept in touch with them for many years, and invited them to our home, too. Over the years, we have lost touch with them, but have __________ forgotten their kindness.

10 . British Museum

Located in Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, the British Museum houses a vast collection of world art and artifacts and is free to all visitors. The British Museums surprising collection spans over two million years of human history and culture, and it has more than 7 million objects, so it would probably take a week to see everything.

Over 6 million visitors every year experience the collection, including world-famous objects such as the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.

Admission (入场费) and opening times

Free, open daily from 10:00 to 17:30.

Open until 20:30 on Fridays,except Good Friday.

Closed on 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

Large luggage (行李), suitcases and cabin baggage

For everyone’s safety, all bags, packages and personal items may be searched before entry. Wheeled cases and large items of luggage are not allowed on British Museum for safety and security reasons. Storage for luggage is available at major rail stations, including Euston, Kings Cross and Charring Cross.

Membership

Membership allows you to discover two million years of human history with free unlimited entry to special exhibitions.

Individual (个人) membership: $74

Under 26 membership: $54

Young friends (ages 8—15):$25

Shops

The Museum has four shops where you can buy books, souvenirs, and family gifts.