4 . The Adams family home has been taken over by origami (折纸) in all sizes and shapes. No one seems to _________ though. Those paper creations are _________ clean water projects around the world and saving lives. A messy home is a small price to pay _________.

In 2011, Isabelle Adams and her sister Katherine learned that every five seconds a child died from _________ of clean water and that girls of their age couldn’t go to school _________ they were fetching water all day for their families. They _________ to do something.

“So we took something that we loved doing — folding origami, with the _________ goal to help fund a well in Ethiopia,” explains Katherine. _________, they ended up selling out and raising far more than that to fully _________ the cost of the well.

Katherine, now 13, adds, “It just snowballed, ____________ the founding of the project Paper for Water.” In eight years, this project has ____________ more than 2 million dollars for over 200 water projects in 20 different countries.

Now, the rest of the Adams family are also ____________ it. But at the heart of it, beneath countless paper decorations sit two bold sisters hoping to ____________ other girls and boys. “Kids have an incredible ability to make a real ____________ to the world if they’re just given the chance,” Isabelle says, “and if people ____________ them in their efforts.”

5 . If you’re still confused about which are the best charities to donate to, then continue reading further. These charities have a respectable track record, meaning you can be assured that the money you donate is used for the cause that you support.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)   

It is a branch that operates under the United Nation. UNICEF is engaged in various charitable activities around the world. They fund educational programs for children in remote areas of poor countries, provide meals and health care services, and help prevent child abuse (虐待儿童) while assisting kids in conflict and disaster zones.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

If you’re a wildlife lover and would like to prevent extinction of rare animal species while helping conservation of precious plants and animals, donate to WWF. In fact, WWF has various creative ways to donate. You can “adopt” an endangered elephant or tiger or another animal that WWF is trying to prevent from extinction. Or you can donate a small amount of money every month or annually to WWF.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Anyone who watches or reads news is aware of countless conflicts going on around the world and a large number of refugees (难民). Generally, these refugees are children, women and men who are living in areas now troubled by wars. You can help relieve some of the sufferings of these persons by donating to UNHCR. They help refugees by providing food, clothing, shelter, heath care and other basic necessities.

World Food Programme (WFP)

WFP is a global charity that operates under the United Nations. Every day, WFP delivers food to famine-stricken (闹饥荒的) areas in over 80 countries. They have 5,600 trucks, 30 ships and 92 planes that deliver the food they buy with your donations to hungry people in these countries.

6 . There’s that old saying: How you do one thing is how you do everything.     1    , it shows in everything that you do, even when playing music.

I recently went to a concert with some other musicians in town (many of whom I was meeting for the first time).     2    , I spent more time in my head thinking about my drumming instead of actually paying attention to what was going on. This time though, I found that I was more attentive and was able to support the other musicians more through my playing.

    3    . And I could feel the audience was enjoying the music more too, because the music was no longer about me, it was about all of us connecting through the universal language of music.

Afterwards, the musicians I played with told me they felt like our hearts were connected while playing, and that we were able to achieve a new level of playing together thanks to our collected approach. When playing, we didn’t consider how to show ourselves off.     4    .

I believe that the best musicians in the world have this in common; which is to see past their own values, and to listen to/connect with their audience and fellow musicians. I’ve realized all of this thanks to my practice of being a more compassionate and caring person.

So, I would like to thank everyone on this website for opening your hearts and showing me how to be a more caring person.     5    , but also through my music, and to those who listen.

9 . Pieter Bruegel’s iconic 1565 painting The Harvesters hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work showed people harvesting wheat nearly as tall as they were.“nowadays, however, if you walk through a wheat field, you basically see that wheat is about knee-height. The reduced height is essentially a consequence of breeding (培育)along with genes for increasing production to feed a growing population,” biologist De Smet explained.

De Smet says wheat is just one example of how historical artwork can allow us to track the transformation of food crops over time. He teamed up with art historian Vergauwen, a friend since childhood, to document such artwork around the world. They have been mainly looking at things where they can spot changes in shape, color and size.

Their interest in plants in artwork began with a visit to the Hermitage Museum, where they noticed an odd-looking watermelon in an early-17th-century painting. It appeared to be pale and white on the inside. Biologist De Smet assumed the painter had done a poor job. But art historian Vergauwen had a different idea. “No, this is one of the best painters ever from that era. So if he painted it like that, that’s the way it must have looked like,” he explained.

Other paintings revealed that both red and white watermelons were grown during the 17th century.“With all the genetic knowledge we now have, we can look in more detail how something comes about,”De Smet said. “For example, until the 18th century, European strawberries appeared tiny in paintings-they then grew in size as they were crossbred with North American varieties.”

Ultimately, the team hopes to create an online research database of historical plant artwork. They seek the contributions of art enthusiasts around the world via the social media. “However,” Vergauwen reminds, “if you’re going to use, for example, Picasso to try and understand how a pear looked in the early 20th century, you might be misled.”

Yoghurt

It was a rough week. The price of oil skyrocketed as the temperature dropped sharply in Maine. We were looking at a high of eight degrees that week, and I had missed three days of work so my paycheck was going to be lower than normal. I was stressed, to say the least. I shopped strategically, looking for every possible way to cut pennies so I could buy groceries and keep the house warm.

My eight-year-old son didn't understand when I told him we were struggling that week. He wanted a special kind of yoghurt, but I didn't have the extra three dollars to buy it for him. It was the kind of yoghurt with a cartoon kid riding a skateboard on the front of the box, and a mere two spoonfuls in each cup. It was the kind of product that wastes a parent's money and makes me hate advertising.

I felt guilty as a parent when those big eyes looked at me with confusion, as if to say, “It's just yoghurt. What's the big deal?” So I found a way. I put something back as single mothers often do. He got his yoghurt.

On the way driving back from the grocery store, I noticed a homeless man holding a sign by the side of the road. My heart hurt, and I tried not to look at him. I watched people stay away from him on the street and walk by without even meeting his eyes. My son didn't seem to care much, either. I looked at the man closely then — bare hands grasping a piece of cardboard, snot frozen to his face, a worn-out jacket. And there I was struggling because I had to buy oil and groceries. But I decided to help. I pulled over to the man and handed him a five-dollar bill.

Seeing this, my son became confused and surprised.

On that day, my son performed an act that most adults wouldn’t have done.