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　　Parents are a child's first teachers．But some parents never learned from good examples．In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents．

　　The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week．The class is called Mommy and Me．Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother．She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season．

　　She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby．The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding．Delores Clemens says,“that's not true．You have to hold your baby!He is crying for a reason．If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying．Pick your baby up．Cuddle your baby．Hug him!And she started to do that．They just want a little cuddling and a little love．And it works!”

　　Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered．Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year．

　　In class, with her baby son is Natasha．She lived on the streets．She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House．As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life．

　　The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen．That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones．By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two．

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　　Earlier this month, the Obama Administration called for increased protection of the world's most southern continent, Antarctica．Scientists say climate change and human activity have increasingly led to the melting of massive pieces of Antarctic ice．The disappearance of ice will not only affect wildlife in the area such as seals and penguins．The melting will also cause oceans and seas around the world to rise．

　　This represents a major threat, especially to coastal areas．For example, the ancient city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened by rising sea levels．The situation is made worse by the fact that its ancient buildings, built on a body of water called a lagoon(淡水湖), are slowly sinking．When the city was founded about 1,600 years ago, the level of the Adriatic Sea was almost two meters lower than it is today．

　　Rising sea levels are not the only threat．The salty water is also destroying Venice's famous buildings and artworks．The Italian government is trying to fix the problem with the construction of a seven-billion-dollar system of moving flood barriers．

　　Climate change is also leading to the melting of ice in other areas, such as Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania．It is the highest point in Africa, measuring almost 6,000 meters．The mountain supports five vegetation zones and many kinds of animals．

　　The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly．This will have a bad effect on the mountain's ecosystems and on Tanzania's travel industry．Also, a valuable record of thousands of years of weather history will also be lost if the ice melts．Scientists study pieces of glacier to understand weather patterns from thousands of years ago．

　　In the United States, the icy masses in Glacier National Park in Montana may soon completely disappear because of climate change．In 1850, there were an estimated 150 glaciers in the more than 400,000 hectare park．

　　There are 26 glaciers remaining today．Scientists estimate that the glaciers will be gone by 2030．Warming temperatures are also threatening the many kinds of plants and animals that live in this mountain ecosystem．

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　　Imagine yourself on a boat looking out at the horizon and all you can see is the water meeting the sky with no land in sight and you are sailing straight ahead to meet the world．Jesse Martin does not have to imagine：he is living in it．

　　On Dec．7, 1998, at 17 years old, Jesse set sail from Melbourne, Australia on his boat, attempting to become the youngest person to sail alone and nonstop around the world．He sailed south of New Zealand, through the South Pacific, around South America, north on the Atlantic, back south past Africa, through the Indian Ocean and back to Melbourne．

　　Even as a young child, Jesse had been an adventurer who traveled all over Europe and Asia with his parents．Born in Munich, Germany in 1981, he moved to Australia with his family when he was only two years old．They moved close to a rainforest in Cow Bay, about 3500kms north of Melbourne, where they built a small house with no electricity or running water．Jesse grew up at the beach enjoying the outdoors to its fullest．

　　At 14, he sailed for the first time with his father and brother, Beau．It was after this trip that he began to dream about sailing around the world．

　　Jesse's family played an important role．“I was made to believe I could do anything．”he says．Although, he says, there were others that were not so encouraging or supportive,“People that I looked up to, respected and trusted told me I couldn't．Thankfully, I trusted myself．There were people that said that the boat couldn't be ready by the time I had to leave．”However, through perseverance and belief in himself he was able to do what many told him was impossible．

　　On Oct．31, 1999, more than 10 months after he set sail, Jesse Martin went down in history as the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted．

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　　Years after throwing a bottle-up note into a lake for a class project and just one year after his death, a man's childhood message was found and returned to his mother．

　　Eleven years ago, a then 10-year-old boy, Joshua Baker, wrote the message, folded and put it in an empty container, his mother, Maggie Holbrook said．He died last February in a motor vehicle accident in California．He had recently returned after a serving in the Middle East as a US marine．“I think he was just letting us know he was OK and keep doing what we are doing．”Holbrook said．

　　The message surfaced in White Lake in late April, just days after the 11^th anniversary of its being thrown into the lake．It was found by one of Baker's closest friends, Steve Lieder, she said．Lieder and two friends were chatting near the lake when Lieder looked down and saw the bottle．He broke it open and found the note inside．

　　“My name is Joshua Baker．I am 10．If you find this, put it on the news．The date is 4/16/98．”They immediately took it to Holbrook, who said she is now having the note preserved and will display it in her home．

　　She can remember when her son wrote the message for the school project．She said she always wondered why he didn't put it in the nearby Wolf River, which has a much stronger current．

　　“I still remember the day he wrote it,”Holbrook said．“I couldn't understand why he threw I in the lake．No one would never see it again．Now I know．”

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　　A patient came to see me about the stress in her life．She described all the things she had to do－one was to make her bed－from the moment she woke up until she flew out of the door for work．I suggested she experiment by not making her bed for two weeks．She was shocked, probably thinking I'd been raised by wolves in a forest．However, she went along with my idea．

　　Two weeks later she went into my office beaming．She had left her bed unmade for the first time in 42 years－and nothing bad had happened．“And you know what?”she said．“I don't dry my dishes anymore, either．”

　　This woman had made two major breakthroughs(突破)．One was discovering that she had choices in her life that she had never seen before．The other was giving herself permission to be less that perfect．This story shows an important principle(原理)about managing time：No one can do it all．Each of us has to make choices and accept trade-offs．The problem is, many people choose in ways that put themselves and their health last．They take better care of their houses and cars than they do of themselves．They put everyone else's needs ahead of their own．

　　So what is the solution?There's an easy way．Decide what you want in your life, and put that first．On a daily basis, that should include regular meals, enough sleep and time with your family．Exercise, leisure, friendships and hobbies should also be regular aspects of life．The point is to do something for yourself every day．The choice is yours：whatever makes you feel good about yourself and your life．Take a nap．Take a walk．Take time to play the piano．Stop bringing your briefcase home from the office．Stop keeping your house as clean as your mother kept hers．Fill more of your time with want-to-dos instead of have-to-dos．

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　　BEIJING, Feb 13－Never has China's economic growth attracted so much global attention．The shock waves from the financial crisis(危机)that started in the United States have spread across the entire world, sending developed nations, including Japan and those of Europe, into serious recession(衰退)．The world is now holding out hope that China, with its massive potential, will serve as the engine to fuel global economic growth．

　　But China's real economic growth slowed sharply to 6.8 percent in the October-December quarter．For China, this rate of economic expansion must be as disappointing as negative growth is for Japan．Beijing has set an official goal of achieving a minimum annual growth rate of 8 percent－a pace it regards as important to ensuring job security．

　　The Chinese government is apparently confident the nation will achieve the minimum growth target of 8 percent in 2009．At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stressed the Chinese economy began to show signs of recovery late last year．

　　Last week, however, the International Monetary Fund predicted that China's economic growth in 2009 will be 6.7 percent．China's economic outlook is likely to keep both hope and anxiety for the time being．

　　China's impressive economic growth has been fueled by swelling exports and massive investment(投资)in equipment to produce goods for overseas．But the US, Japanese and European economies, which have absorbed the bulk(数量)of China's exports, are expected to shrink simultaneous(同时)in 2009, for the first time since the end of World War II．For the first time since it started serious efforts to turn itself into a market economy in the 1990s, China is facing the challenge of maintaining healthy economic growth without depending on external demand．

　　Expansion of domestic(国内的)demand holds a key to China's success in tackling this challenge．Consumer spending accounts for only 35 percent of China's gross(总的))domestic product．The ratio(比率)is considerably lower than the 70 percent for the United States and the nearly 60 percent for Japan．That is because the middle class-the group that should lead consumer spending-is still relatively small in China, where the benefits of the nation's strong economic growth in recent years have mostly eluded rural villages and low-income earners．

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　　CHICAGO(Reuters)－Smoking not only can wrinkle(起皱纹)the face and tarn it yellow－it can do the same to the whole body, researchers reported on Monday．

　　The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, shows that smoking affects the skin all over the body－even skin protected from the sun．

　　“We examined non-facial skin that was protected from the sun, and found that the total number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person experienced,”Dr．Yolanda Helfrich of the University of Michigan, who led the study, said in a statement．

　　“In participants older than 65 years, smokers had significantly more fine wrinkling than nonsmokers．Similar findings were seen in participants aged 45 to 65 years,”Helfrich's team added in their report．

　　The researchers tested 82 people, smokers and nonsmokers, taking pictures of the inner right arms．They ranged, in age from 22 to 91 and half were smokers．Independent judges decided how wrinkled each person's skin was．

　　When skin is exposed to sunlight, notably the face, it becomes coarse, wrinkled and discolored with a pale yellow tint, Helfrich's team wrote．

　　Several previous studies have found that cigarette smoking contributes to premature(过早的)skin aging as measured by facial wrinkles, the study said, but little has been done to measure the aging of skin not exposed to light．

　　The report did not discuss die mechanism involved but previous research has found that cigarette smoke, among other things, causes blood vessels(血管)beneath the skin to constrict(紧缩), reducing blood supply to the skin．

　　Smoking can also damage the connective tissue that supports both die skin and the internal organs,．

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　　I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on“two-hour business plans”．I separated them into six groups and gave them an example：a restaurant chain．The more original their idea, the better, I said．Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains．The sixth proposed a catering(餐饮)service．Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment．

　　My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state-owned enterprises and global companies．They were not without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness．The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years' teaching at the school．Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review．Case study debates were written up and just memorized．Students frequently said that copying is a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating．

　　In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold．But so few well-developed marketing and management minds have been raised that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand．

　　With this problem in mind, partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established．And then there's the“thousand-talent scheme”：this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization by attracting top foreign-trained scientists to the mainland with big money．But there are worries about China's research environment．It's hardly known for producing independent thinking and openness, and even big salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this．

　　At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about setting up partnerships with top Western universities．Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively．It's about establishing a rich learning environment for young minds．It's not that simple．

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　　Health, Wellness and the Politics of Food

　　9∶00－9∶45 a.m.Blue Tent

　　Panelists(成员)：Jami Bernard, David Kamp, Marion Nestle and Peter Singer．

　　Hosted by Denise Grady, science writer for The New York Times．

　　How does what we eat not only affect our bodies, but also the world？The food and nutrition experts debate the role that the diet plays in both personal and global health, and present a look at food politics．

　　Sports Writing：For the Love of the Game

　　9∶50－10∶35 a.m.Blue Tent

　　Panelists：Christine Brennan, Ira Rosen, Joe Wallace and Joe Drape．

　　Hosted by William C．Rhoden, sports writer for The New York Times．

　　Whether catching that key moment of victory or defeat, or covering breaking news, sports writers are anything but audience．Listen as some professionals discuss the special experience in reporting of sports news．

　　The Art of the Review

　　11∶15－12∶00 a.m.Green Tent

　　Panelists：John Freeman, Barry Gewen, David Orr, Celia McGee and Jennifer Schuessler．

　　Hosted by Sam Tanenhaus, editor for The New York Times Book Review．How much of an effect does the book review have on book sales？Join this group of critics(评论家)as they discuss the reality of book review and bestseller lists, and how they choose books for review．

　　New York Writers, New York Stories

　　3∶00－3∶45 p.m.Green Tent

　　Panelists：Cindy Adams, Richard Cohen, Ric Klass and Lauren Redniss．

　　Hosted by Clyde Haberman, columnist(专栏作家)for the City Section of The New York Times．

　　Join this inspiring group of New York－centric writers as they talk about why New York is a gold mine of ideas for their work．