Some people shy away from traveling alone while a few welcome it. So, what is it that makes traveling alone an attractive choice?

    First of all, the travel plan and all the decisions you make are yours alone. You don't need to worry about any other person or group. In other words, there are no arguments. Actually, you can be completely selfish.

    Traveling alone is also a great confidence builder. Yes, at times it can feel a bit lonely, but that is just one of many problems you will have to solve yourself, along with making your own preparations and setting your own goals.

    Besides, have you noticed that when you're on your own, people are more willing to start a conversation with you? Interestingly, people tend to keep a distance from couples and groups. However, the lone (独自的) traveler looks ready to connect with their fellow human beings and more likely to get into pleasant conversation about their trips.

    Here are two more exciting reasons why you should consider traveling alone. You will find you learn the language faster when you don't have someone else talking to you in your own language all the time. You are forced to communicate in the foreign language when you travel alone in a country that doesn't speak your native language. In addition, when you're on your own, you're free to meet someone who might turn out to be very important in your life.

    Of course, there may be things stopping you: You fear the unknown, or you have friends who may be upset by your decision to take off by yourself. You will have to make them believe the value of traveling done and allay any fears they might have, but with the technology at our fingertips, you can include them in the adventure.

    Friendships are easy when you're in high school. Most of the time, you make (friend) with someone only because you like each other. But when you get to college, you'll (probable) find that maintaining (维持) friendships not only (require) mutual (相互的) appreciation, also money ── you'll have to spend money (eat) out with your classmates, dorm mates and co-workers in school associations so you don't feel (leave) out.

    But according a survey, this financial pressure has become a burden on many young people, have to stay away from certain social events because they're short of money.

    (solve) that problem, you may want to prioritize (划分优先顺序) your social life, only choosing events that are the most important. Or, maybe you'll just have to face the reality: you can't have it all.

 —Well, I recommend _____ a taxi.

How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments－mostly for entertainment purposes－is fair and respectful?

Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain "collections" of interesting "things" rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes.

Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals' natural behavior, intelligence, or beauty. Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species' name, diet, and natural range(分布区). The animals' normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don't usually take care of the animals' natural needs.

The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusually self-destructive behavior called zoochosis. A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.

Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding(圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven't we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?

Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals' natural habitats.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa no longer leans quite so much after a ￡20 million project to save it was hailed a complete success yesterday. The tower, which was on the verge of collapse, has been straightened by 18 inches returning it to its 1838 position.

The tower, which has been leaning almost since building work first began in 1173, was closed to the public in 1990 because of safety fears. The 183-foot tower was nearly 15 feet off vertical(垂直线) and its structure was found to have been weakened by centuries of strain.

The last attempt at straightening the tower was carried out under orders from Benito Mussolini, who wanted it to be perfectly vertical.

Concrete was poured into the foundations, but the result was that the tower sank further into the soil.

The straightening work involved the extraction of around 70 tons of earth from the northern side of the tower, causing it to sink on that side. Before the digging started, the tower was anchored with steel cables and 600 tons of lead weights.

However, halfway through the project, concerns at the ugliness of the weights led to their removal and the tower lurched(倾斜) dramatically. "In one night, the tower moved more than it had averaged in an entire year, " said Prof. Borland. The weights were hastily reattached.

The tower's stonework has also been restored and tourists can clearly see the difference between its levels of limestone and marble.

"If we had not stepped in, the tower would have collapsed between 2030 and 2040, " said Salvatore Settees, the president of the rescue committee. "This is crucial for the tower's stability and it was a totally Italian success."

The Italian government stepped in after a tower collapsed in Pavia in 1989, killing four people.

Freshmen at Central Valley High in Ceres had a busy week of good deeds, tied to Pay It Forward Day, April 30, and an urge to show the world that teens can be awesome.

Kids in Success 101 spent first period making sandwiches for the homeless. The classes, taught by Natalie Rowell and Becky Lynch, got to hand 200 bagged sandwiches to the charity giving out the food. "They got to really see what an impact they had. It was inspiring and heartwarming," Rowell said. Besides, students also made blankets to send to soldiers, and created 45 flower arrangements for senior people at the Hale Aloha Home in Ceres. "They were nervous going into it. But when they saw how happy the elderly were, the reality of what they did really surfaced," Rowell said.

Rowell said she liked working with children. get to see how they learn. "It's different from how we learn, but we're kind of the same because they struggle in some of the subjects that we find hard as well."

Success 101 was tailor-made for students with that kind of insight. The first-period class includes study help, speakers on teen subjects and an overall focus on looking past high school, figuring out the steps to create their future. "Some kids need that little push. In this class, that's what we do, we give them that little push," Lynch added. "Success would be beneficial for all ninth-grade students. Since the start of the year, I really see a change in them."

Raquel Alfaro, a teen participant who worked with the younger kids, likes the Pay It Forward idea. "This helps us show adults, and also kids, that we're doing something different and that we're not as mean and selfish as they think we are," Alfaro said.

You signed up for soccer, and played every game of the season. Sure, you're not the best player on the team, but most days you gave it your all. Do you deserve a trophy(奖杯)?

If the decision is up to Carol Dweck, the answer would likely be no. She's a psychology professor at Stanford University, California. She says a player doesn't have to be the best to get a trophy. But those who receive an award should have to work for it. She suggests trophies go to the most improved player, or the one who contribute most to the team spirit, as well as to those who play the best.

"The trophy has to stand for something," Dweck told TFK. "If we give a trophy to everyone, then the award has no value." Dweck argues that giving kids trophies for particular reasons, such as improving in a sport, teaches kids that adults value hard work.

Others say that there's no harm in giving awards to all kids who play a sport, regardless of how they played or whether or not they improved.

"I think we should encourage kids' participation in sports," says Kenneth Barish, a psychology professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York City. "A trophy is one way to encourage kids' efforts. "

Barish argues that when we single out only the best or even the most improved players with a trophy, we are teaching kids the wrong lesson. We are sending the message that winning is everything." Winning is only part of the equation (等式), " Barish told TFK. "Playing sports also teaches kids about teamwork and the importance of exercise."

There will be plenty of opportunities for kids to learn about competition as they get older, says Barish. They'll soon realize that only one soccer team wins the World Cup and only one football team wins the Super Bowl. For now, he thinks there's nothing wrong with letting all kids who play a sport feel like winners. That means trophies for everyone.