2 . I have met many westerners who do not feel anything to put their feet on the table while sitting on the chair.    1    They don't feel like it is a strange or rude thing to do it. And I-know that they don't mean to be ill-behaved. However, in the eyes of a Myanmarese, it is really a very rude thing.

For Myanmarese, the head is the most sacred（神圣的）part of the human body while the feet are the most inferior part.    2    They touch ground, dirt, mud and garbage. Just think of all the dirty things lying on the ground. So the Myanmarese regard feet as the most dirty and smelly part of one's body.

    3    When you put that dirty part of your body onto other people's clean table, it is like an insult（侮辱）to that person if that person is a Myanmarese. There is nothing more insulting to a Myanmarese than to point your feet towards him.

So, if you want to win the heart of your Myanmarese friends, next time when you drop in on him or he visits you, try not to put your feet on the living room table or point your feet towards him. Indeed, your feet should never be pointing to the direction of a person or a sacred place.    4    

Possibly, your Myanmarese friend will not say anything even if you do it. But it does not mean that he is OK with your behavior or approves of your behavior.    5    Even if that person is your employee or your house maid, you should never do it to him or her.

3 . Have you ever heard of invisible ink? You may have seen it in movies. When light is shone on the paper which invisible ink is written on, you can read it!

As magical as this seems, the change in color is due to science. The ink is absorbing higher energy light and giving lower energy light. This reaction is an example of fluorescence（荧光）.

Light is a very broad term that describes a range of electromagnetic rays, including gamma rays, infrared light（红外光）and ultraviolet light. One part of the electromagnetic visible light is the colors that we can see with the human eye. These rays travel in curvy lines and each type of the ray is characterized by a different wave pattern. For example, Gamma rays have a shorter wavelength than infrared light. Shorter wavelength is connected with higher energy, so gamma rays also have more energy than infrared light.

Corals（珊瑚）are animals that live underwater. And the corals in the Red Sea exhibit fluorescence. Why is this happening? Scientists have shown that fluorescent objects absorb higher energy light and release lower energy light. Since the corals of the Red Sea are deep in the water where there is very little visible light, scientists theorize that these corals absorb ultraviolet light and produce visible light. They have special photo proteins, which enable them to change invisible light to visible light.

Fluorescence is not just used to create pretty colors. Corals have developed photo proteins for a biological reason. The visible light is used by algae（海藻）, which are eaten by the coral, to make food through photosynthesis（光合作用）. The visual character of these photo proteins could also be used for biomedical research. They can highlight cells and cell structures under a microscope.

Isn't it amazing that a simple organism that we don't think very much of is not only grand but could also have so many potential uses in medical research!

4 . Target Car Seat Trade-in Event

Recycle car seat & save 20% on new seat May 1 through May 13 Step 1: Bring your old car seat to Target. Step 2: Trade it in at Target Guest Service for a coupon(赠券). Step 3: Save 20% on a new car seat.

Frequently Asked Questions:

·What is the car seat trade-in program?

Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 percent off coupon toward a new car seat.

·What type of car seat qualifies for a trade-in?

Target will accept and recycle all types of car seats, including: baby car seats, car seat bases, as well as car seats that are damaged. Guests will receive a 20 percent off coupon for trading in any one of these items.

·Where do I bring my old car seat to trade in?

Car seats can be traded in at any of the Target stores. Target will have drop-off boxes for guests' unwanted car seats located near Guest Services.

·How do I redeem(兑现) the coupon offer?

Coupons can be applied to both in-store and online purchases and are valid(有效的) until May 31.

·What does Target do with the car seats that are traded in?

Materials from the old car seats will be recycled by Target's partner, Waste Management, to create new products such as plastic plates, plastic buckets and construction materials such as steel beams and carpet padding.

·Is this the first time Target has had car seat trade-in program?

Target introduced its first car seat trade-in program in April 2016. Since the program launched, more than 789, 000 car seats, or 11. 98 million pounds of car seats, have been recycled.

5 . I was standing in the checkout line behind a woman who looked to be in her 60s. When it was her turn to pay, the cashier greeted her by name and asked her how she was doing.

The woman looked down, shook her head and said: “Not so good. My husband just lost his job. The truth is, I don’t know how I’m going to get through these days.” Then she gave the cashier food stamps(食品券).

My heart ached. I wanted to help but didn’t know how. Should I offer to pay for her groceries, or ask for her husband’s resume(简历)?

Walking into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart. I remembered something in my purse that I thought could help her. It wasn’t a handful of cash or an offer of a job for her husband, but maybe it would make her life better.

“Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling a bit. “I couldn’t help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you’ re going through a really hard time right now. I’m so sorry. I’d like to give you something. ”

I handed her the small card from my purse. When the woman read the two words “You Matter” on the card, she began to cry. And through her tears, she said: “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

I was a little startled by her reply. Having never done anything like this before, I didn’t know what kind of reaction I might receive. All I could think to say was: “Would it be OK to give you a hug? ”

A few days earlier, one of my workmates gave a similar card to me as encouragement for a project I was working on. When I read the card, I felt a warm glow spread inside of me. Deeply touched, I ordered my own box of “You Matter” cards and started sharing them.

6 . Paralympian Anastasia Pagonis’ remarkable success story began when she lost her vision at age 14. Granted, it’s a tough age for any teen, but dealing with a life-changing disability made things even more challenging.

“It took me about eight months to regroup myself,” she told TODAY, “and then I got it in my head, ‘Okay, I’m blind. Now what am I going to do with my life?”

A Long Island native, Pagonis practically grew up in the water. She’d taken up competitive freestyle swimming just a few months prior to going totally blind. While she excelled at the sport with limited vision, an “abusive team” atmosphere prompted her to quit competition.

After months of therapy, however, the persistent teen was ready to get back in the swim-only swimming wasn’t enough for Pagonis. She wanted to compete.

Now she was faced with another dilemma. “Nobody wanted to train the blind girl,” she recalled in an interview with TEAM USA. “I ended up after about eight months finding an amazing coach who was willing to train me and actually put on blackout goggles to try to figure out a way for me to swim.”

By the age of 16, Pagonis was earning a reputation as a fierce competitor, taking two gold medals at the World Para Swimming World Series in Australia. When Pagonis realized her experiences and positive outlook might be a boon(益处) to others, she eagerly stepped up as a role model. “I want to help people the way I needed help,” Pagonis told TEAM USA. “I started doing Instagram and social media and was soon getting a bunch of replies saying, ‘Wow! You really helped me get through bad things,’ or, ‘I was getting bullied in school and you helped me get through that,’ or, ‘You let me know how much I was worth.’”

Back in the water, Pagonis was truly in her element. “It’s my happy place,” she told TODAY. “It’s the place where I feel like I don’t have a disability and I feel like that’s the only place where I feel free. When I dive in the water, it’s just me in the pool and I feel such a connection with it. Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith because if you don’t try, you don’t know. Always follow your dreams.”

7 . I’m a 34-year-old man, married, live in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant(顾问). But my life was not always so great. My learning disability made my school days very challenging from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language, I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.

I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn’t a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate(有读写能力的).

Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I’ve got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

8 . In spite of our efforts, we seemed to be getting no closer to Mary. She became an autistic(自闭症的) child because of her mother’s _______. I wanted this child to live happily _______ she could enjoy the beauty, wonder and fun of living again even though she had to suffer the pain of losing her mother.

On a sunny day in March, I _______ the children how to weave(编织) baskets and how to put paper _______ on them. I placed the beautifully colored paper on Mary’s desk and encouraged her to _______. Then I left the children to produce their own _______, and I started to read the newspaper at the back of the room.

Soon after, Kristie hurried to come towards me with her _______all red. “Come and see Mary’s _______,” she cried. “It is so pretty! You’ll never _______ it!” The moment I watched it, I caught my breath at its ________. “Mary,” I said, “this is so beautiful! ________ did you do it?” She looked at me with the shining eyes of any normal(正常的) little girl. “My mother loved flowers,” she said simply. “She ________ all of these flowers in our garden.”

We fastened her basket in the very center of the border at the front of the room. It remained there until school ended in June. On the last day, Mary held it ________ as she carried it out the door. Then she came running back, pulled a paper crocus(番红花) from her basket and ________ it to me. “This is for you,” she said, and she gave me a hug(拥抱).

I’ve ________ the crocus in my desk ever since—just to remind me of the miracle(奇迹) brought about by ________ and faith (信任).

It was a cold and snowy morning after the winter holiday. Actually, it     1    (be) my first day at my new school. I was walking     2    (slow) and worrying about lots of things. A girl     3     was on a bike passed me quickly. She was riding on snowy ice when suddenly she fell off her bike just a few steps in front of me. Without thinking, I went over and     4    ( help) her stand up. She said “ Thank you! ” to me with a smile and then rode away. The words “ Thank you! ” helped me and this small event (事情)made me less nervous about my new school.

Pop music is a musical style. Pop music can make people feel    1    (excite) and comfortable. Since the 1980s, pop music has been popular in China. Nowadays, Jay Chou     2    (love) by a large number of fans of all ages. He has sung lots of songs about the world we live in. One of     3     (they) is Dao Xiang. It encourages people not to give up even when life is difficult.