1 . Can siblings (兄弟姐妹) learn to get along? The answer to this question is, yes! Maintaining healthy relationships is challenging.     1     They discover that when siblings lovingly invest in their relationships, the resulting friendships are an incredible blessing.

Apply the following recommendations to strengthen your relationships with your siblings.

The role you have in your siblings’ lives is one that no one else can play. You can be a source of great good in your siblings’ lives by investing encouragement, praise and love in your relationship. Or, you can be a source of hardship by acting selfishly.     2    

You and your siblings will have many differences, even when you grow up in the same household. Sometimes differences drive people apart, but those differences can often help you grow.     3     Instead, learn about and learn from them. As you learn to get along with your siblings, you are preparing for other relationships in the future.

    4    

When conflicts arise between you and your siblings, do all you can to restore your relationship without delay. When you are wrong, ask for forgiveness for your hurtful attitudes, words, and actions. When a sibling has offended (冒犯) you and comes to ask for your forgiveness, forgive quickly.

When you give something away, you usually gain deeper appreciation from those who receive your gift. At times when you are struggling to get along with a particular brother or sister, consider giving.     5     You could also offer to help him or her with a project or a household chore (家务).

2 . When the European Commission’s LIFE program first brought together more than 20 organizations in 2002 to rescue the lynx ( 山 猫), the species had all but disappeared. Widespread hunting and a virus had wiped out ( 彻底消灭) most of the Iberian Peninsula’s European rabbits, the lynx’s main prey (猎物).

Lynx breed in captivity ( 圈 养) easily, however. Near one main release location, Iberian lynx have even learned to live in neighborhoods, in olive groves (橄榄树丛), and around highways.

“Thanks to the work carried out over the last 20 years, the number of lynx has increased greatly,” says Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, regional coordinator of the Iberian lynx recovery plan.

But the cat’s not out of danger just yet. Its thousand-square-mile territory is a collection of five — soon to be seven — isolated ( 孤   立   的) groups. For Iberian lynx to fully recover, they must be able to travel from one group to another, ensuring the species’s long-term health by diversifying gene pools. That’s why the next stage of the LIFE project will focus on creating at least 10 6-square-mile areas of rabbit-rich habitat, which act as passageways among the existing lynx groups. Scientists selected these habitats based on predictions of where lynx are most likely to travel. For instance, lynx prefer to take the shortest paths through undeveloped habitats, and avoid broken-up areas of farmland.

The cat is popular, even among farmers and landowners, but a few view lynx as pests and occasionally will poison them for supposedly harming domestic animals. Illegal killings make up nearly 25 percent of annual lynx deaths on the peninsula, the second highest cause of non-natural death, after vehicle strikes. That’s why education is the “best tool to improve the lynx population,” says Maribel García Tardío, lead technician for Andalusia’s Iberian lynx recovery plan. She and her colleagues regularly meet with landowners and hunters, explaining how lynx rarely kill larger domestic animals.

The Iberian lynx is one of 33 small-cat species, many of which are endangered or threatened. These animals have long been eclipsed by their bigger cousins such as lions and tigers, but lately people have begun to recognize the world’s little-known cats.

3 . Accents are a sign of belonging and something that separates communities. Yet we can probably think of people who seem to have lost their accent and of others whose accent stays firmly in place. Given the personal and social importance of how someone speaks, why would anyone’s accent change?

A conscious or subconscious desire to fit in can influence the way you speak. If someone moves from Australia to America to work, for example, they will probably at least change their accent in order to get a better sense of belonging. This may be out of a need or desire to be more clearly understood and to be accepted in a new community. They might also want to avoid ridicule for the way they speak.

For people whose accents do shift, the way they speak may be less important to their sense of identity, or their identity with a social or professional group may be more pressing. Even before we are born, we are exposed to the speech patterns of those around us. We progress through various stages of speech development that result in us having speech patterns similar to those around us.

For others whose accent does not seem to change, it could be because they feel safe in their identity, and their accent is much part of that identity — or that keeping the difference is valuable to them.

Meanwhile, brain damage may result in foreign accent syndrome (FAS), which results from physical changes that are not under the speaker’s control. Suffering from FAS, speakers may lose the ability to speak at all or experience strange changes in the way they pronounce. In some cases, listeners might look down upon a person with FAS as they believe them to be foreigners. It’s no wonder many people unconsciously protect themselves by adapting their speech to those around them.

4 . “Why?” It’s a simple question that people ask Angela Madeline frequently. After all, she began a journey that very few people would ever attempt: walk around the world alone.

The thought of Madeline’s journey did not start from a place of loss or personal crisis. She said, “I was searching for a deeper interaction with nature and people.” Walking would minimize her carbon footprint, plus the slow pace meant that she could fully immerse herself in nature, and gain insights into other cultures in a unique way.

She left her hometown of Bend, Oregon, on 2 May 2016 and headed into an adventure. Along the way, Madeline would suffer from heatstroke (中暑)in the Australian desert and hear gunshots while camping in Turkey. “Still,” she said, “I didn’t stop because I was more afraid of not following my heart than I was of losing everything I owned and loved.”

Apart from that, her slow pace allowed her to be drawn deeply into other cultures. She wandered the tiny seaside villages along Italy Tyrrhenian Sea, enjoying the lively atmosphere. In Vietnam, she was invited and offered food by an elderly woman to rest in her wooden shack at the peak for the night. She chose an experience of uncertainty and curiosity, in search of something she could never be certain to find: a sense of fulfillment and a deeper connection.

On 16 December 2022, Madeline’s pilgrimage (朝圣之旅)ended right where it started. For now, she’s working on a book, planning future journeys and creating more effective ways for women to find and express courage in their lives.

Whether a walk leads halfway around the world or just down the road, Madeline has shown the true worth of slowing down and giving more than we receive along the way.

5 . The following jobs are expected to be in high demand in 2023. Clicking on the “Find jobs” link will take you to the list of current job postings and help you make career choices.

Nurse Practitioner

Average hourly wage: $56. 00

Nurse practitioners can perform many of the tasks that doctors do, such as creating treatment plans for patients and managing medical records. The big difference is that nurse practitioners cannot prescribe medications in most states. To become a nurse practitioner, you will need a graduate degree in nursing along with the appropriate licenses for the states in which you work.

Data Scientist

Average hourly wage: $52. 00

From car rental companies to telecommunication businesses, data scientists analyze the information to figure out the best ways for their businesses to be more successful. The job duties include identifying what types of business and customer data are worth gathering, then checking whether the information is accurate. It’s a big job that generally requires eight working hours a day and professional skills in mathematics.

Web Developer

Average hourly wage: $38. 00

Most people rely on the Internet to stay informed and connected with our communities. Web developers make sure those sites function properly while also updating them to include new functions that make them easier to use. Most of the work can be done remotely, which is favored by young people.

Choreographer(编舞师)

Average hourly wage: $20. 00

Maybe it’s the popularity of viral dance videos on TikTok that brings about the increasing demand in recent years. In addition to instructing trainees and performing on the stage and in the film, they work on smaller events such as weddings and other family gatherings. No degree is necessary to work in this field, but you will need some training and rhythm.

6 . So far this winter, a theater in the Alps has staged more than 60 unique concerts. Winter temperatures in the remote mountain village can drop high below zero. Performers wear down jackets and play ice instruments. In fact, almost everything from drums and guitars to horns and harps at the music festival is carved from ice even the stage the musicians play on. The audience sits on ice chairs and benches and claps their hands to listen, both to praise the performers and to keep themselves warm when the air flows through.

The musical instruments used were almost entirely made by an American ice artist, Tim Linhart. Since he created his first musical instrument out of ice more than a decade ago, he has already carved various ice instruments, including violins, violas, timber drum sets, xylophone, double bass, mandolin and cello. He also created his own large wind instrument, which uses the vibration of an ice tube to produce sound when the air flows through.

Linhart makes the different parts of the ice instrument and then uses a liquid mixed with snow to glue them together, with a metal support placed where the strings need to be. A violin can usually be made in two or three weeks, while larger instruments can take more time and efforts, sometimes taking months to make.

An ice instrument has a clearer sound than a wooden instrument. However, ice instruments are more easily broken or damaged than ordinary instruments. The temperature in the ice theater changes depending on the number of people in the audience. This also changes the temperature of the ice instruments, which in turn affects the 1 sound they produce. Musicians need to tune their instruments frequently during performances.

Although playing an ice instrument is not easy, Linhart believes that ice and snow are good materials for making instruments. The only downside is melting when the temperature is above freezing.

7 . Most teens can’t wait to become adults, free to make their own decisions. But with freedom comes responsibility, and this applies especially to your finances. The earlier you begin developing good financial habits, the more secure your future will be.     1    

Educate Yourself

To take charge of your financial future, read a few basic books on personal finance.     2     And you will find it easier to say “no” to a friend who encourages you to waste money or classmates who plan expensive trips that you can’t afford.

Plan Your Spending

    3     First, never spend more money than you can get, and second, watch where your money goes. The best way to do this is by creating a personal spending plan to track the money coming in and going out.

Postpone Satisfaction

    4     However, you’d better prevent yourself from doing so. With more money saved, you can buy something even better. So whether you received money from a part-time job or special occasions like Chinese New Year, it is wise to hang on to your money so that you can enjoy a greater satisfaction later on.

Start an Emergency Fund

To get ready for independence, you’d better save money for emergencies. So why not stick to a wise spending plan and put some money into this fund every month?     5     It will also give you a sense of safety and enable you to sleep better at night.

Managing money is a skill that takes time to develop. If you can form the habits of self-educating, planning and saving, you’ll be on your way to a solid financial future.