2 . It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning thirty. I was insecure about entering a new decade of my life and feared that my best years were now behind me.

My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy-nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on this particular day, he noticed I wasn’t full of my usual vitality and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on my life once I reached Nicholas’ sage, so I asked him, “What was the best time of your life?”

Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, “Well, Joe, this is my philosophical answer to your philosophical question.”

“When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents, that was the best time of my life.”

“When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.”

“When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, that was the best time of my life.”

“When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.”

“The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for North America, that was the best time of my life.”

“When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.”

“When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.”

“And now, Joe, I am seventy-nine years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life.”

5 . A heatwave has hit many countries in Europe, pushing temperatures over 40℃. A heatwave is a long period of unusually hot weather. The heat is expected to continue until the end of July.

The Italian Island of Sardinia reached 46℃ on 18 July. The Italy government has asked people to dress in linen(a thin, light material) and to stay indoors between 10 am and 6 pm. The government has asked people to drink plenty of water but avoid alcohol, fizzy drinks and coffee, which can make you feel thirstier. In Rome, the country’s capital, people aged over 70can go to swimming pools for free to help them keep cool.

Wildfires have broken out in many places. In Greece, which recorded 41℃ on 18 July, fires near the capital, Athens, have destroyed huge areas of forest and thousands of people have been moved to safety. Heatwaves can make fires worse because hot weather dries plants, which fuel the fires.

In the US, temperatures in Death Valley, California, hit 53℃ on 18 July, close to the hottest ever recorded on Earth. On 16 July, the US National Weather Service issued warnings in parts of the country, affecting more than 80 million people.

Despite the high temperatures in many European countries, the UK is not experiencing a heatwave. This is because a different weather pattern has brought rain and lower temperatures to the UK.

The heatwave in Europe is being caused by a weather pattern that has stopped the air from moving very much. That means the hot, dry weather has got stuck and temperatures have kept rising. Earth is also experiencing a natural climate pattern called El Nino(厄尔尼诺), which causes the water in the eastern Pacific Ocean to warm up more than usual. This can lead to hot weather around the world. Temperatures in some parts of Europe were expected to fall on 20 July.

10 . Children should do housework. That’s a controversial (有争议的) idea, though not everyone will admit it. A few parents will say that their children are too busy for housework. Many more of us assign (分派) housework, or say we believe in them, but the housework just doesn’t get done.

That’s a problem. For starters, housework is good for kids. Being a part of the routine work of running a household helps children develop an awareness of the needs of others, while at the same time contributing to their emotional well-being.

One small study, done over a period of 25 years, found that the best predictor (预测) for young adults’ success in their mid-20s was whether they participated in household tasks at age 3 or 4. Those early shared responsibilities extended to a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives.

But for all that their help matters, few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1,000 American adults, 75 percent said they believed regular housework made kids “more responsible”. Yet while 82 percent reported having had regular housework growing up, only 56 percent of those with children said they required them to do housework.

Sports and homework are not get-out-of-housework-free cards. The goal, after all, is to raise adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities with whatever lifetime achievement goals they choose. Housework teaches that balance.

What should you do when getting children to do housework? Accept no excuses. Don’t worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you’re spending more time getting the child to do this job than it would take to do it yourself, then you’re doing it right. Can a payment help? Maybe. But if you’re trying to teach kids to share the responsibility of a home, paying them for routine housework is not the right message.