It could happen anywhere at any time. It’s often unexpected, but almost never unappreciated. Most people have been on the receiving a random act of kindness—the moment when a complete stranger stops to offer aid, generosity or compassion. In a sometimes cold world where people can be so focused on what they’re doing, a random act of kindness can make all the difference.

They can be relatively insignificant. Hannah Bailey from London, for example, told the Metro newspaper about how she was given her fruit and vegetable shopping for free. The seller did her a kindness when it emerged she didn’t have any change to pay. She was happy about it all day.

The city of Naples has long had a tradition called “caffe sospeso”. When buying coffee, a person who has recently been lucky would purchase two cups but only drink one, leaving the second one out of the goodness of their heart, for a poor person to claim for free. This tradition is now more common worldwide.

However, in some cases, these little acts can be a matter of life and death. Take, for example, the unnamed commuter, who in June 2018 fell off a station platform onto an electric railway track in Toronto, Canada. A quick-thinking, but even now unknown, bystander selflessly leapt down to pull him to safety.

Or Jonny Benjamin, who in London in 2008 was persuaded not to commit suicide by a passer-by. He had been considering jumping from a bridge. He later found the Good Samaritan and thanked him. He may one day find a way to pay him back in kind—though that’s not the point.

So, why do it? Often, the acts aren’t paid back. The people never meet again. According to UK charity The Mental Health Foundation, acts like these can “give our lives new purpose, show us other perspectives on our own problems and even make us feel euphoric. ”

So give it a try. Hold open a door for someone, deliver a compliment even give up your seat on a bus. Help someone who is in need. It takes all kinds. It needn’t be anything huge. One day, whether you need it or not, someone might help you in your hour of need.

Poaching (偷猎) and habitat loss have threatened Africa’s two species of elephants, taking them closer toward the edge of disappearance, according to a new report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) .

Before this update, Africa’s elephants were grouped together and were evaluated as vulnerable (易受伤害的) by the IUCN. This is the first time the two species have been sorted separately. In the past, elephants were mostly considered as either Asian elephants or African elephants. Forest and savanna elephants (稀树草原象) were typically classified as subspecies of African elephants.

The African forest elephant is now listed as critically endangered and the African savanna elephant as endangered. The number of African forest elephants fell by more than 86% over a 31-year assessment period. The population of African savanna elephants dropped by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the IUCN, which tracks the assessment risk of the world’s animals. Africa currently has an estimated 415, 000 elephants, counting the two species together.

Both elephant species experienced significant population decreases because of poaching. Although it peaked in 2011, illegal hunting still happens and continues to threaten elephant populations. African elephants also face continued habitat loss as their land is transformed for agriculture or other uses.

There is some good conservation news, the IUCN points out. Anti-poaching measures, combined with better land use planning to support better human-wildlife relationships, have helped conservation efforts. Some forest elephant population figures have stabilized in well-managed areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo and savanna population figures have remained stable or have been growing, particularly in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in southern Africa.

But with constant demand for ivory and increasing human pressures on Africa’s wild lands concern for Africa’s elephants is high, and the need to creatively conserve and wisely manage these animals and their habitats is more severe than ever.

Whom should you marry? Where should you live? How should you spend your time? For centuries, people have relied on their gut instincts (直觉) to figure out the answers to these life-changing questions. Now, though, there is a better way. We are living through a data explosion, as vast amounts of information about all aspects of human behavior have become more and more accessible. We can use this big data to help determine the best course to chart.

There has long been overwhelming—and often surprising—evidence that algorithms (算法) can be much better than people at making difficult decisions. Researchers have collected data on various kinds of choices people make, the information they base those choices on, and how things turn out. They have found, for example, that a simple data-driven algorithm would have been better than judges at deciding whether a defendant should stay in prison or be released; better than doctors at deciding whether a patient should undergo surgery; and better than school principals at deciding which teachers should be promoted.

The power of data analysis has been proved in the sports and business worlds, too. As made famous by the book and movie Moneyball, baseball teams found that algorithms were better than scouts (星探) at picking players, and better than managers at picking strategies. In finance, the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies dramatically defeated competitors by seeking out patterns in stock market data and using them to inform its investment strategy. Tech firms in Silicon Valley have found that data from experiments provides better insights into how to design their websites than designers could.

These are the early days of the data revolution in decision-making. I am not claiming that we can completely count on algorithms to make our lifestyle choices, though we might get to that point in the future. I am claiming instead that we can all dramatically improve our decision-making by consulting evidence mined from thousands or millions of people who faced dilemmas similar to ours. And we can do that now.

Caring for plants is a fantastic skill for kids to have. There are so many benefits of gardening for kids, yet the importance of gardening in early childhood is often undervalued. Here are some reasons why to teach your kids to garden.

Gardening makes kids stronger.     1     The simple act of digging in the ground and moving things around helps build muscles and improve hand-eye coordination (协调能力).

Gardening is good for kids’ well-being. Studies find that kids who garden have reduced large amounts of anxiety, stress and tend to be in a better mood.     2     We love to see the positive and life-changing experiences plants and gardening bring to kids.

    3     Interacting with nature encourages the learning process. In addition to being able to touch the soil and seeds (种子), children can also spot the differences between plants, in terms of size and color, smell different things, and hear sounds of different insects.

Gardening is beneficial for picky eaters.     4     Planting seeds, caring for and growing produce and then harvesting it excites a kid’s interest. It’s exciting to introduce a new or disliked food in another way, and over time they will learn to try new foods.

Gardening strengthens connection. Through gardening activities, kids grow closer to their parents and make many new friends.     5    

In 2019, Tomas Quinones undertook a 7-day bike trip, covering some remote desert in Oregon. His trip was _________ with the usual difficulties. He lost his shoes and was only relying on a pair of sandals (凉鞋). His water supply was sometimes _________ . But there were also moments of unexpected _________: A couple offered to share their lunch; a guy in the truck asked if he needed any help.

On the last day of his trip, he was riding down a dusty track when he met a man lying unconscious in the desert.   _________ , he was dehydrated (脱水的). Quinones tried to give him some water with little _________. Luckily, he called the emergency rescue team and an ambulance soon arrived. The man he _________ was an explorer who had been lost in the desert for 5 days. “I never had any _________ about what I would do,” said Quinones. He had received some gestures of help on the trip, so he _________.

It’s likely that if you’ve spent any time in the wild, you’ll have _________ these gestures of kindness from strangers or given them yourself too even if they are nothing so __________ as the aid given by Quinones.

What is it about being outside in nature that makes people want to help others?One opinion is that in the wild, there may not be any other __________ , so according to the “bystander effect”, the more people who are in the presence of someone needing help, the less likely any of those are to actually provide it. Another opinion is that exposure to nature can make people look beyond themselves, __________ a sense of connection to others and to the world as a whole.

When we risk going into the wild, we become weak. And being in that position usually makes us __________ the world differently. So, in the wild, where we’re taken away from our normal possessions, surroundings and identities, we seem more __________ to go the extra mile for someone. It’s in nature that bonds of humanity are__________ .

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