2 . One night, as I was driving down the road, I found something was sitting in the middle of the road. A few seconds later, I realized I was looking at a large turtle (海龟). Afraid of it being crashed by cars, so I pulled over, ran across the road and dragged the turtle to safety. But I’d made one big mistake.

I had heard that the best way to pick up a turtle without hurting it was picking it by the tail in order not to get bitten. So I’d made that big mistake. While the turtle turned out OK generally, I was determined to figure out how to move a turtle properly. I needed to find someone who dealt with turtles. I found the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre. I talked to Dr. Sue, its Executive and Medical Director.

Dr. Sue told me that the organization dealt with a number of aspects of turtle conservation, including rescue, settlement, birth programs, research, and education. Sue explained that southern Ontario is home to a vast majority of turtles in Canada, but is also one of the vastest road networks of the country.

“Ninety percent of injured turtles brought in are caused by cars. These turtles spend a lot of time on land. And they do travel many kilometers on land for a variety of reasons, to find a nesting spot, or to hang out for the summer or winter. Turtles know where they want to go. So, just keep them going in the direction they want to go and you may have saved a turtle’s life,” Dr. Sue said.

Once an injured turtle arrives at the center, there are medical facilities (设备) ready to go, including an X-ray machine. That’s when the team gets to work with healing injuries, and help their patient.

3 . Two weeks ago, a 5-year-old girl named Sunshine Oelfke emptied out her piggy bank (存钱罐) onto the living room floor and immediately started counting. Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, thought she was playing as she carefully lined up the coins, but then she saw the girl put the coins into a plastic bag and place it in her backpack.

“What are you doing with that money?” Jackie asked her granddaughter.

“I’m taking it to school,” Sunshine replied. “I’m going to take it for milk money. My friend Layla doesn’t get milk— her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”

Jackie’s heart melted at Sunshine’s words. Choked with strong feelings, Jackie held her sweet granddaughter tightly in her arms.

Last week, Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved. There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk. It costs $ 0.45 a carton (纸盒). The total adds up to about $180 a month for every child in the class to have milk every day.

After dropping Sunshine off at school, Jackie posted a tearful video on Facebook to explain her granddaughter’s plan. To her surprise, many people offered to donate toward the cause. Within a week, Jackie raised more than $1,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class can get free milk for the rest of the year.

Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends. “She doesn’t understand the effect she’s brought about,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”

4 . When you set a foot outside of your door to drop trash, go to a social event or go for a walk, thoughts like “I hope I don’t see anyone I know” or “please don’t talk to me” may run through your mind. I’ve also said such things to myself. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to talk with someone, especially someone new.

Why do we go out of our ways to avoid people? Do we think meeting new people is a waste of time? Or are we just lazy, thinking that meeting someone new really is a trouble?

Communication is the key to life. We have been told that many times. Take the past generations, like our parents, for example. They seem to take full advantage of that whole “communication” idea because they grew up talking face to face while Generation-Y grew up staring at screens. We spend hours of our days sitting on Facebook. We send messages to our friends and think about all of the things we want to say to certain people that we don’t have the courage to do in reality.

Nowadays, we are so caught up in our little circle of friends—our comfort zone. We love it that they laugh at our jokes, understand our feelings and can read our minds. Most importantly, they know when we want to be alone. They just get us.

Holding a conversation with someone new means agreeing with things that you don’t really believe and being someone you think they want you to be—it is, as I said before, a trouble. It takes up so much energy, and at some point or another, it is too tiring.

But meeting new people is important. Life is too short, so meet all the people you can meet, make the effort to go out and laugh. Remember, every “hello” leads to a smile—and a smile is worth a lot.

5 . Although most games have winners and losers, the goal of sports is not to win every game. The real goals include getting exercises, having fun, and learning important social skills, like sportsmanship.

Good sportsmanship is all about respect. Good sports respect the other players on their team. They respect the players on opposing teams. They respect coaches and they also respect the referees (裁判) or other officials involved in their games.     1     They shout at their teammates and they talk back to coaches or referees.

Kids usually learn sportsmanship — good and bad — from the adults in their lives.     2     If parents and coaches show disrespect to other fans, referees, or each other, kids will likely act the same way on the field.

    3     some of them are very basic and easy to do, like shaking hands with other players before a game. Other examples may take a little more courage, such as acknowledging a great play made by the opposing team.

Learning good sportsmanship is important because it helps you develop an attitude of graciousness (礼貌) and respect that will carry over into all the other areas of your life!     4     Being a good sportsman in the classroom will eventually lead to being a good sportsman in the workplace.

So be a good sportsman in whatever you do!     5     When others see you acting in a way that makes it clear that winning isn’t the most important thing, you can move on to focusing on the important things, like having fun, getting exercise, and improving your skills.

6 . Things to do in Miyakojima

Famous for its sunny beaches and natural wonders, Miyako Island welcomes many visitors during holidays.

Unique beaches

Yonaha Maehama Beach is the most famous beach in Miyakojima, where white sand stretches for seven kilometers. The ocean is colored in emerald blue, attracting visitors with its beauty.Compact Sunayama Beach, known for its arch-shaped rock, is accessed by walking through a narrow tunnel of trees.

Diverse and colorful fish

Snorkeling is a must-try in Miyakojima. Dense coral reefs, schools of tropical fish, sea turtles and plenty of space to free dive to depths of 8 to 15 meters close to the shore are standout features.For beginners, Aragusuku and Shigira are a good choice but advanced snorkelers may see Imgyo Marine Garden, Waiwai Beach and Shimojishima as their ultimate spots.

The bridges

Irabu Bridge is the longest toll-free bridge in Japan. It connects Miyakojima and Irabujima,stretching for 3540m, drawing a gentle curve. The length of the bridge can also be read as“san go no shi ma,” meaning coral island in Japanese. Smaller bridges connect Irabu and Shimoji islands,giving visitors additional beach options. On Shimoji Island, there is a boardwalk around Tooriike,two dramatic marine ponds connected to each other and the sea by an underwater cave system.

Fresh island food

Delight your senses with juicy, melt-in-your-mouth Miyako beef, delicious Miyako soba (noodles served in soup), or fresh fruit. Okinawa prefecture boasts the highest mango yield in Japan,and Miyako Island’s warm subtropical climate is optimal for growing fresh, juicy mangoes. Ice cream with a pinch of salt known as “yuki shio (snow salt)”does more than simply keep you cool.

9 . The sun is setting, brightening your kids’ faces as they play in the waves. You reach for your phone for this perfect moment. But before you do, here’s a bit of surprising science: Taking photos is not the perfect way to keep memory as you think.

Taking too many pictures could actually harm the brain’s ability to keep memories, says Elizabeth Loftus, a psychology professor at the University of California. So, we get the photo but kind of lose the memory. Photography “outsources” memories. It works in two ways: We either shake off the responsibility of remembering moments when taking pictures, or we’re so distracted (分心的) by the process that we miss the moment altogether. The first explanation is the loss of memory. People know that their camera is recording that moment, so they don’t try to remember. The other is distraction. We’re distracted by the process of taking a photo — how we hold our phone, composing the photo, such as smiling faces, the background to our liking and clear image, all of which use up our attention that could otherwise help us memorize.

However, taking photos can help memory when done mindfully. While taking a photo may be distracting, the act of preparation by focusing on visual details around has the opposite. When people take the time to take clear pictures, memories become strengthened.

Another advantage is that we recall moments more exactly with the photos. Memory has been reshaped with the help of new information and new experiences. Thus, photos or videos help us recall moments as if they really happened. Memories die away without a visual record backing them up. Therefore, a photo is an excellent tool to help remember when done purposefully, which is worth exploring further.

10 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.

Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.

All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.

There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.

Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.