I still clearly remember that day. I was on the side of the road for about four hours with my big jeep. I put signs in the windows that said,“Need a jack (千斤顶）.”

    As I was about to give up, a truck stopped and a man got off. He looked at the situation, made a judgment and went back to take a jack. After about two hours, we finished the job with sweats. We were both dirty. His wife took a large bottle of water for us to wash our hands.

    I tried to put $20 in the man's hand, but he wouldn't take it, so I went to give it to his wife quietly. I asked their little girl where they lived. She said they lived in Mexico. They were in Oregon now, so Mommy and Daddy could pick cherries for the next few weeks. After that, they were going to pick peaches and then go home.

    After I said goodbye and started going back to my jeep, the girl ran to me and handed me a tamale(玉米粽子)for lunch. I thanked them again and walked back to my jeep. When I opened the tamale, what did I find inside? My $20! I ran to the truck and the guy rolled down his window. He started shaking his head, smiled and  said in English“Today you, tomorrow me. ” Then he drove away, with his daughter waving to me from the back.

    This family, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took a couple of hours to help a stranger while others passed by quietly.

    Since then I've helped many people like the Mexican family. I didn't accept their money. Every time I was able to help, I felt as if I was putting something in the bank.

    All languages change over time, but some change at a faster rate than others. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The most important factors are the number of people who speak a language, where they live and whether they move around, the importance of the language for world trade and communication, and changes in technology.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} However, today English is the most widely used language in the world. English is spoken by about 350 million people as a first language in countries such as Great Britain, the United States. In addition, about a billion more people speak English as a second language.

    English started to take over French as an international language during the period of British colonialism (殖民主义) when the English ruled many countries in Africa and Asia. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The colonial period came to an end at the same time that several other changes occurred. For example, the U.S. started to play a greater part in global affairs and the international economy. New means of communication technology such as television and the Internet spread English worldwide. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In addition, they could use the Internet for information, business, or e-mail communication, all in English. Just as the use of English spread, other languages changed English by contact or by new inventions and technology.

    In contrast, Icelandic is a language that has changed very slowly. Icelandic speakers today can understand poetry written in a slightly different dialect over 1,000 years ago! Why has Icelandic changed so slowly? The main reason is the isolated (孤立的) location of the island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Compared to England, Iceland had no history of colonialism. Iceland's small population has not played a major role in international trade or communication. Today, most Icelanders speak English in addition to their native language. With outside influences, Icelandic is changing more rapidly now.

A. People everywhere could watch the news or sports events in English.

B. These changes have a great influence on the development of society.

C. Isolation meant that for hundreds of years, Icelanders had little contact with speakers of other languages.

D. What are some of the factors that influence how quickly a language changes?

E. The language communication brings about the communication of technology.

F. In the past, other languages such as Latin or French were more important than English.

G. English was the primary means of communication in these colonies.

    When thinking about quitting（停止）smoking...

    List all the reasons why you want to quit.Every night before going to bed,repeat one of the reasons 10 times.

    Decide positively that you want to quit.Try to avoid negative thoughts about how difficult it might be.Develop strong personal reasons as well as your health and responsibility to others.For example,think of all the time you waste taking cigarette breaks,rushing out to buy a pack,hunting a light,etc.Set a date for quitting—perhaps a special day like your birthday,a holiday.If you smoke heavily at work,quit during your vacation.Make the date holy seriously, and don't let anything change it.Begin to condition yourself physically;start a modest（适当的）exercise;drink more water;get plenty of rest.

    Immediately after quitting...

    The first few days after you quit,spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking is prohibited,e.g. libraries,museums,theatres,department stores,etc.

    Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice.Try to avoid wine,coffee,and other drinks which remind you of cigarette smoking.

    Strike up a conversation with someone instead of a match fora cigarette.

    If you miss the feeling of having a cigarette in your hand,play with something else—a pencil,a pen,a ruler.If you miss having something in your mouth,try a fake（仿制的）cigarette.

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    So what is rewilding?

    Imagine our natural homes growing instead of shrinking. Imagine species (物种) diversifying instead of declining. That's rewilding. Rewilding is ecological restoration. Rewilding offers hope for wildlife, humans and the planet.

    Why is rewilding important and necessary?

    Our natural ecology is broken. The places where you would expect wildlife to exist have been reduced to wet deserts. The seabed has been destroyed and there have been no living creatures any more.

    Our wildlife is disappearing. Many wonderful species have declined over the past century. We've lost more of our large animals than any European country.

    We need keystone species. These vital species, including top predators (食肉动物), drive ecological processes. Their loss has worsened our living systems.

    Nature looks after us. Good natural ecology can provide us with clean air and water, prevent flooding and store carbon. Rewilding can leave the world in a better state than it is today.

    What are challenges?

    As a long-term project, our "rewilding britain" has its challenges. Many people are not interested, because we have got used to the lack of native forests. Many farmers oppose the idea. They thought it a crazy idea to bring back predators because they would start killing farm animals. It takes time to educate them. Above all, we need money! So we need your help!

    Make a donation.

    Help us bring back living systems and restore wild nature!

With your help we can…

    Open up new chances for rewilding and push for change.

    Develop tools to educate, influence and spread the word.

    Thanks for your support.

    You probably know that frogs hop (双足跳). But did you know that there's a small frog in the Pacific Northwest that belly flops (肚子先着水)? It's called a tailed frog.

    Dr. Rick Eisner, who has been studying tailed frogs for the past few years, says, "I've looked at thousands of jumps and have never seen them land on their feet like other frogs." Most of the time, tailed frogs land on their stomachs and then bring their back legs in to prepare for another jump.

    Eisner first noticed these frogs because of the way they swim. Other frogs kick both of their back legs at the same time. But when a tailed frog swims, it pushes first with one leg and then the other.

    To try to find out why tailed frogs bellyflop, Eisner and other scientists collected and filmed different kinds of frogs. They found that all of the frogs start their jumps the same way: They hold out their legs. The change comes in the landing. Tailed frogs can't move their back legs as quickly as other frogs do. Maybe they don't need to. Tailed frogs live around water and quickly jump into the water to escape danger.

    Early frogs developed around watery areas and could jump quickly into the water to escape danger. Scientists think those frogs blended in with (与…融合在一起) the green plants on the side of the rocky rivers, just like today's tailed frogs. "I would guess that other animals would have problems detecting them," explains Eisner. When other animals find those early frogs, the frogs could jump into the river. They didn't need to continue hopping.

    Tailed frogs and other kinds of frogs went their own ways about 200 million years ago. Tailed frogs stayed by rivers. Other kinds of frogs moved to places where new hopping skills allowed them to survive.