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　　Recreational tree climbing is taking root in the ecotourism industry, and it's sending guys like Tim Kovar to far off reaches of the globe．Kovar, a tree-climbing instructor, recently returned to the U．S．from Brazil, where he spent time developing a tree-climbing operation thanks to the "slow travel" movement．

　　Slow travel, is like the slow food movement, the practice of giving fast food in favor of homegrown cooking－the kind that takes hours to prepare and enjoy．Likewise, slow travel urges visitors to experience a place's natural surroundings and learn about the ecology in a way not afforded by extreme games．

　　"Tree climbing is a slow activity," says Kovar．"It's not something you do quickly and then you're on to the next thing or event．" There is no such thing as a quick climb, especially for beginners．This wasn't a race against the clock or the fellow climbers．In fact, tree climbing is unlikely to ever become a feature of the extreme games．Many climbers refuse competition．There has already been so much competition in the world．

　　"When you stand below the tree, it can be amazing," Rusel DeMaria says, looking affectionately up at Michael's Triumph, a 150-foot-tall tree．But reaching the treetop, he adds, is an entirely different feeling．Likewise, his wife, Viola Brumbaugh, kneels on the ground and asks Michael's Triumph for permission to climb．"It goes a lot smoother that way, "She says．

　　And climbing has been included into many educational programs．New Tribe offers guided climbs through its school, Tree Climbing Northwest, where "we teach enough tree biology and forest ecology to raise awareness in our students," says New Tribe present Sophis Sparks．"We know that the tree climbing experience deepens personal appreciation for trees．After climbing, people value trees more and are motivated to support preservation．This is not just to preserve their playground．"

　　Perhaps that is why he struggles with the term "recreational tree climbing," saying, "I prefer to call it inspirational tree climbing．"

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　　The morning for our snowmobiling(雪上汽车)adventure finally arrived, and we set off on the hour-and-a-half drive to the resort．A fresh powder had fallen the night before, and everything was frosted white．We couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions．The sun sparkled(闪光)on the snow, and the trails(路线)were completely empty－not another person or snowmobile in sight．We were thrilled at being the only people for miles around … until we got going．

　　As we drove through the deserted wilderness(荒野), my excitement became stone-cold fear．I had no idea what I was afraid of, or why I was afraid, but suddenly every turn, every hill, every steep(陡峭的)side of the mountain scared me to death．I kept picturing us crashing headlong into a tree or falling off the side of a drop．?

　　But after lunch things changed．We were the only humans who had been there since the snowfall．The peaceful place, the incredible beauty of the landscape, and the almost sacred experience of sharing a mountain with the wildlife touched my very core(核心)．My mind cleared and quieted and my muscles relaxed．

　　As we drove the last leg of the run, I began to resent being afraid to drive．Deep down, I wanted to be in charge of the thing that scared me．It made me angry that fear was keeping me from something I really wanted to do．The day was coming to an end, and the resort was only a few miles away．I knew that if I didn’t take my chance now, I would regret it．

　　I signaled for my husband to pull over．I wanted to drive, although my heart pounded(重击)．I stared off slowly and felt the wind in my face．I smiled and sped up a little．I let out a “Yee-haw!” and went full out, taking my husband on the best ride of the day．

　　We ended the day on that breathless, carefree, and I felt proud of myself – proud of overcoming my fear．

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　　He has vowed that he will not stop building his business until it is worth ￡100 million．But hard-working Owens can stop for at least a moment's celebration after making his first ￡1 million at the age of 16．Owens, who has used a computer since the age of seven, began teaching himself basic web design at the age of ten when he was given his first Mac computer．He used his pocket money to fund his first business project, website Mac Box Bundle at just 14 which has made ￡700,000 since its establishment in 2008．Mac Box Bundle sells a combination of popular Mac applications which are worth up to ＄400 together for under just ＄100 and donates 10 percent of the money to charities．

　　He then established an advertising company Branchr a year later and worked on the business after school and at weekends．Branchr made a surprising ￡500,000 in its first year．Branchr works as a platform for website owners to sell advertising．

　　Owens, from Northampton, currently employs eight staff---all adults---around the UK and America as sales and technical assistants．The young man lives with his parents．His mother who is a company secretary said he was inspired to go into business after observing the huge success achieved by Apple's chief executive officers(首席执行官)Steve Jobs．

　　Owens said, "I think everyone has business sense in them, and they just need to gain experience and be determined to make it．There is no magical formula(法则)for business, It takes hard work, determination and the drive to do something great．My aim is to become a leading name in the world of Internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the top of the game．

　　The teenager insists his professional success has not affected his personal life, and says his interests include photography and playing the guitar．"My friends and I don't really talk about my success．To them I'm just a normal teenager and it doesn't change anything between us．"

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　　How to improve my life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them．They'll say, "This is my fate, my destiny．I cannot change it．"

　　Of course not! You don't have to suffer needlessly．Your destiny depends on you, not on any other external factors．

　　I know someone who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it．Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, then goes to sleep．Next day, the same routine cycle follows．

　　Huh! Is this what she calls "doing her best"? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that God has intended for her to live; that her luck can only change if God wills it．Of course God wants us to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of exerting(运用)the effort to live the life of our dreams．

　　Remember that you reap what you sow．You just don't sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky．You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone．Don’t expect your luck to change unless you do something about it．If something goes wrong, don't just regard it as a temporary setback; but use it as feedback．Learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem．It's not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively．

　　If someone's life is in the trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person．So it is with your own life．It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best．In other words, don't just stand(or sit)there, do something to improve your life．

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　　It is men’s nature to live together in families and tribes(部落), and cities and nations, and therefore men have learned to prize those qualities in each other which make social life the happiest and best．

　　Of these qualities one of the most important is sympathy－fellow-feeling．If a man had no fellow-feeling, we should call him “inhuman”; he would be no true man．We think so much of this quality that we call a kind man “human”－that is, man-like in his conduct, first to other men, and afterwards to all living things．

　　If you are cruel to animals, you are not likely to be kind or thoughtfull to men; and if you are thoughtful towards men, you are not likely to be cruel and thoughtful towards animals．This is why the wise man of old wrote, “The merciful man is merciful to his beast．”

　　What a pleasure it is also to be loved by our pets or domestic animals; and to feel that we are caring for them and are deserving of their love; or to watch the ways of wild creatures, and gradually to make friends with them!

　　Treating animals kindly does not mean that we must never inflict any pain on them．We ourselves are trained by pains as well as by pleasures; so too, punishment is sometimes needed to train our dogs and horses to obey us．We endure pains at the hands of the surgeon, to cure some wound or to heal some disease; so too, animals must submit to being doctored．

　　We send out our bravest men to face wounds, sickness and death, for the good of the nation; so too, we let our horses share the risk of battle．For similar reasons, we cannot hesitate to destroy dangerous creatures like wolves and show senseless ferocity(残忍)．It is no excuse to say that these animals deserve to be treated cruelly on account of their own cruelty．They are not really cruel, for they tear and kill not from love of unkindness, but because they must do so in order to live．

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　　Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out．90％ of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting．But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it．One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting．Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for 10 ?15 minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for 60 to 70 minutes a day－which really for handwriting is pretty much．

　　Many adults remember learning that way－by copying letters over and over again．Today’ s thinking is that short periods of practice are better．Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself．Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas．After all, that is why we write．

　　Handwriting involves two skills．One is legibility, ________ which means forming the letters so they can be read．The other is fluency－writing without having to think about it．Fluency continues to develop up until high school．

But not everyone masters these skills．Teachers commonly report that about one?fourth of their kids have poor handwriting．Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs．

　　But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years．American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters．But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test．More than 75 percent of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive．

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　　Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age．

　　Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists．In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力)of some people, using pictures of some orange circles．The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people．The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25．

　　The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background．One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one．Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time．Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time．

　　Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles．Here’s where the trick lies in．In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles－making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one．And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles－so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle．

　　When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled－they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before．Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well．Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time．

　　As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context．In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once：the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle．As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick．

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　　Can you imagine traveling to work in a one－man submarine? Some scientists believe that some day one－man submarines will be as many as automobiles are today．A famous French driver says, “One day soon, men will walk on the ocean floor as they do on the street!” Perhaps during your lifetime people will travel, and live in the sea．

　　If human beings want to live in the ocean, many human problems will need to be studied first．

　　Some of these problems, similar to those of living in outer space, are pressure, lack of oxygen and weightlessness．Many questions are still unanswered．For example, can our blood make itself fit for underwater surroundings? What will happen to our muscle if we live in the water very long? Scientists are looking for answers．

　　Perhaps in the future man will live in the sea, away from the crowded and noisy cities on land．Then sea has plenty of space, not only for floating living buildings and parks, but also for storing supplies and for underwater travel．

　　Some scientists believe that ocean living will benefit man in more than physical ways．In the freedom and beauty of the deep sea, man may find new sources of joy．

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　　After moving to the United States, immigrant groups trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American, a new study finds．That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America．

　　The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respondents' food choices．After being questioned about their ability to speak English, 75 percent of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite．Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same．

　　When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes, such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches．In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant．Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study．Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories, including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat(饱和脂肪)．

　　"People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in, "said Sauna Cheryan, an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington．" If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives, this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health．" Cheryan added．

　　Social pressures, the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem．"In American society today, being American is associated with being white．Americans, who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English, feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan．

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　　I am a strong believer that if a child is raised with approval, he learns to love himself and will be successful in his own way．

　　Several weeks ago, I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair to go over the math lines．I kept asking him to sit down, telling him that he would concentrate better．He sat but seconds later, as if he didn't even notice he was doing it, he got up again．I was getting frustrated, but then it hit me．I started noticing his answers were much quicker and accurate when he stood up．Could he be more intent while standing up?

　　This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe．I was raised to believe that a quiet, calm child was a sure way to success．This child would have the discipline to study hard, get good grades and become someone important in life．

　　Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality traits，and all you can do is loving and accepting them．As parents，throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids' best cheerleaders，guiding them and helping them find their way．

　　I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate．Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine．We need to learn to accept our kids' ways of doing things．Some way may have worked for me but doesn't mean we need to carry it through generations．There is nothing sweeter than being individual and unique．It makes us free and happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live their own life．