I had worried myself sick over Simon's mother coming to see me.I was a new 1 ， and I gave an honest account of the students' work. In Simon's case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn't read his own handwriting.2 he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected his3.

       So when Simon's mother entered the room, my palms(手掌心) were sweating. I was completely 4 for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you，” she said, surprising me beyond speech.5 me, Simon had become a different person. He talked of how he6me, he had begun to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had7 spent an afternoon at a friend's house. She wanted to tell me how grateful she was for the 8 I had nurtured(培养) in her son. She kissed me again and left.

       I sat, stunned (惊呆),for about half an hour，9what had just happened. How did I make such a life-­changing difference to that boy without 10 knowing it? What I finally came to 11 was one day, several months before, when some students were 12 reports in the front of the class. Jeanne spoke  13 ， and to encourage her to raise her voice, I had said, “Speak up. Simon's the expert on this. He is the 14one you have to convince, and he can't hear you in the15 of the room.” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention, 16 more, and became happy. And it was all because he 17to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed  18 was the one who took the last seat that day.

       It taught me the most  19  lesson over the years of my teaching career,and I'm thankful that it came   20  and positively. A small kindness can indeed make a difference.

      MOST recently, my world has been shaken by the death of a teacher at my school.He was Dr.Allan Woolley and he was only 52.Suddenly he took his own life, which remains a mystery.

      That morning, everyone sensed that something wasn't right.During our lessons, an announcement was made that an assembly was scheduled for morning break, which was only done in emergencies.

      Once morning break came, the entire school gathered in the main hall.As our headmaster marched out to announce the “momentous news”， it felt like the air around us trembled.Many students broke down in tears, and the reaction afterward was intensely powerful and unifying.

    The headmaster said that students were allowed to miss lessons and have a free period to collect themselves if they found the news too distressing.Many students went outside and shared memories of Dr.Woolley to control themselves.

     Dr.Woolley taught me chemistry two years ago, but up until his death he still taught many of my close friends.Many of my friends were so shocked that they still couldn't believe the person that they had owed some homework to was now dead.

      It was heart­warming to spend time with teachers that morning and get to know more about them.Despite the time of sadness, I feel that every cloud has a silver lining.Although Dr.Woolley's death is something nobody wanted to see, we must move on．

Notes：

①assembly n ． 集会　②schedule vt.安排　③momentous adj.重大的　④unifying adj.统一的　⑤distressing adj.悲伤的

       Some parents think that once their children are at school, they can relax themselves.But this is not the case at all.As research shows, parents have an even greater influence on their children's academic results than the school does.Most of a child's ability is formed from home.

       The mass of parents don't realise how they can help their children at home.Things are as simple as baking a cake.An example of helping young children with their maths is simply planning a birthday party.They have to decide how many people to invite, how many invitations they will need, how many prizes, balloons need to be bought, and so on.Children often find that real life experiences help them to do their maths more easily.

       Another way that parents can help their children with their maths is to give them pocket money.This not only teaches them about the value of money, but they may need to use basic maths to work out how long they will have to save to buy the special toy that they want.

       Reading to children at an early age can give them a head start when they start school.But parents should not stop reading to children when they do start going to school.They still like to be read to, and it can help to increase their sight vocabulary as well.

      Providing children with the right equipment can help with their education.Giving them a quiet place where they can work, read and do homework, with a good reading light and a comfortable chair and desk, is just some of these things.Parents can also help their children by providing them with some reference books, and any other relevant learning materials they might need.

      Evidently, parents do need to take an active role in the education of their children.If parents want their children to do well at school, they must be prepared to help educate their children at home.

—________．

        Scientists have discovered that (stay) in the cold could help us lose weight. Researchers at the University of California found that exposure to the cold increases levels of a protein that helps form brown fat—the type of fat that produces heat and keeps us warm. Brown fat burns energy, helps us lose weight. White fat stores extra energy, which results weightgain. The researchers said  that because air conditioning and heating give us constant, (comfort) temperatures, our body's need for brown fat has decreased. They found that:“Outdoor workers in northern Finland who (expose) to cold temperature have significant amount of brown fat when(compare) to same­ aged indoor workers.”

        The research was conducted on two different control groups of mice. group was injected with the protein that helps create brown fat. This group later gained 30% less weight after both groups were fed high­ fat diets.The researchers say this could be good news in the fight against obesity. People who are obese have (low) levels of brown fat than thinnerpeople. Head researcher Hei Sook Sul said: “This protein could become an important target for research into the treatment and prevention of obesity and obesity­ related diseases.” She added：“If you can somehow increase levels of this protein, you could (possible) lose more weight even if eating the same amount of food.”