It’s great fun to explore new places, and it may be like an adventure, even when you know you’re not the first to have been there. But to make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles, the following tips may be helpful.

• Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere. It’ll be easier if you keep the map following the direction you’re traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn or you’ll have to move to the back seat.

• Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You’ll need a good map, a compass, a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of cash for emergencies. Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let him know what time you expect to be back. The purpose of the activity is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.

• See if your school or a club organizes orienteering (越野识途比赛), in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B (and B to C, etc.) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. It enables you to be familiar with the use of maps and compasses and gain some practical skills. In some way, it’s not only good fun, but also a great way to keep fit.

No matter which way you choose, it’s not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit.

Empathy（同情），the Key to Being Kind

In science class，your teacher tells everyone to find a partner for a project. Out of the corner of your eye，you notice one girl sitting alone and not making eye contact with anyone. You think about asking her to be your partner，but you're afraid people will think you're uncool. You don't reach out. 【小题1】

Empathy is being able to understand and actually feel what someone else is feeling. For some people, this comes naturally; for others, it takes a bit more work. 【小题2】When you practice being empathetic, it gets easier to make kindness a part of your everyday life. If you can understand why people are feeling down, you'll want to help them. Here are some ideas that can help you.

【小题3】Someone not being able to find a group in class might not seem like a big deal--but part of being kind is noticing when someone seems sad, hurt or uncomfortable. After all, you have to notice how people feel in order to feel empathy and want to help them!

When you're trying to make kindness second nature, really getting other people's feelings is important. Whenever you find someone might be feeling lonely or sad, put yourself in his shoes. 【小题4】 Didn't you wish someone would reach out to you? If someone had offered you a few words of comfort, wouldn't it have made you feel so much happier?

So, when you find people around you who are feeling down next time, do not hesitate to put yourself in their shoes and reach out to them with a kind gesture. 【小题5】 There is always a time when you expect others to relate to you and feel what you feel.

   So let’s say that you’re sitting at a restaurant and when your food arrives, you take one bite and decide that something is preventing you from taking a second bite. No matter what the reason is, this dish is going back to the kitchen, and now it’s up to you to find a way to send it back politely.

First of all, the single most important thing to do when you’re sending something back is to do it immediately. If you eat half the dish before sending it back, the server and kitchen will believe that you really don’t need to send it back.

If a dish is too salty that it cannot be eaten, you should first let the server know what the situation is, and they’ll take it back to the kitchen and bring you a new one. Remember that it is not the server’s fault, so don’t take it out on them. Also, don’t be afraid that they’ll get angry at you, or someone will spit (吐) in your food. It’s their job to make sure that you’re satisfied, and if the kitchen clearly makes a mistake the server will be frustrated with the kitchen, not with the diner who has been served an inedible meal. A new dish will be cooked, and nobody’s going to spit in it.

There is, however, one example when you are sending back a dish which will really annoy both the server and the kitchen. If you order a pasta dish that contains pancetta but then send it back to the kitchen because you’re a vegetarian (素食者) and don’t know what pancetta is, and then congratulations because you’re one of the most unbearable types of customers a restaurant can have. A perfectly good plate of food is just thrown out because you don’t ask what pancetta is before ordering.

So the bottom line: Use common sense if you think that you need to send your dish back. If the kitchen do something wrong, then they’re on the hook for a new plate of food. If you do something wrong, then hopefully you’ve learned a lesson.

   For some people, the warmest memories from childhood come from being read a great story. 【小题1】 It develops children’s language skills and increases their ability to succeed in school and, later, work.

Experts say parents should read books that are not too long and on the right age level so that children will not lose interest. They say parents should also point to and talk about pictures in books for infants (幼儿). 【小题2】

Elizabeth Lyttleton has three daughters. They are at age ten, eight and two. 【小题3】 She says, "I watch my two-year-old, who is now getting a big language explosion. So much of it comes from the books that she reads. With my eight-year-old, it’s now the broadening horizons (眼界). The oldest now truly reads for pleasure and can get lost in young adult books. "

【小题4】 The company Scholastic is a major publisher of children’s books. Every two years, Scholastic publishes a report on American reading attitudes and habits. The 2015 report says only 31 percent of children in the U. S. read a book for fun almost every day. Four years ago that number was more than double.

Scholastic also suggests some ways to develop a love of reading in a child. 【小题5】 Another way to develop a reading habit in children is to read to them. The Scholastic report also suggests permitting children to choose their own books. Of all the 6 - to 17-year-olds in the Scholastic study, more than 90% said their favorite books are the ones they choose for themselves.

【小题3】