Probably no other musical instrument is as popular as the guitar around the world. Musicians use the guitar for almost all kinds of music. Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument.

    Music experts do not agree about where the guitar was first played. Most agree it is ancient. Some experts say an instrument very much like a guitar was played in Egypt more than 1,000 years ago. Most experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the 12^th century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the 1700s it became similar to the instrument we know today.

    Many famous musicians played the instrument. The famous Italian violins Niccole Paganism played and wrote music for the guitar in the early 1800s. Franz Schubert used the guitar to write some of his famous works. In modern times Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia helped make the instrument extremely popular.

    In the 1930s, Les Paul began experimenting to make an electric guitar. He invented the solid-bodied electric guitar in 1946. The Gibson Guitar Company began producing its famous Les Paul Guitar in 1952. It became a powerful influence on popular music. The instrument has the same shape and the same six strings (弦) as the traditional guitar, but it sounds very different. Les Paul produced a series of extremely popular recordings that introduced the public to this music. Listen to this Les Paul recording. It was the fifth most popular song in the United States in 1952. It is called “Meet Mister Callaghan.”

    My heroes are the Singapore Women's Everest Team．In 2009，they became the first all-women team to climb Mount Everest．The team of six young women trained for seven years before they climbed the mountain．It was difficult for them to train because Singapore doesn't have any snow or any mountains．But they didn't stop，and in the end they made it．They Worked hard every day for their dream so I really admire them．

——Lance Reed, 16, from Britain

    My mum，Mary Evans，is a real hero．I have a very big family, with two brothers and three sisters．My mum works very hard every day to look after us, and she is very busy．She always makes time for everyone and she always listens to me if I have a problem．I really respect my mum because she always looks after my family and makes sure we have everything we need．

——Mark Sterling，l7，from America

    I admire the Salwen family from Atlanta，USA．In 2006, they made a very unusual choice．They decided to sell their house and give half of the money to charity(慈善)．They moved into a smaller house and gave $800,000 to charities in Ghana. I really respect them because they gave their money to people in need．

——William Kloster, 17, from Canada

    I really admire Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple．He invented a new kind of technology．Apple technology is very intelligent(智能的)．The products that he made are also really beautiful．Steve Jobs created a successful business in IT．I was very sad when he died in October 2011．I respect him because he changed the way people use technology all over the world．

——Richard Hale, 18，from Australia

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    For anyone still doubting the belief that our emotions influence our physical health, a new study from New Zealand should be able to settle the matter. It reports that the physical wounds of healthy seniors healed more quickly if they wrote about their most upsetting experiences.

    This confirms the results of a 2010 study, and extends those findings to cover older adults—a group that is likely to suffer wounds (as from surgery), and one with less access to other ways of lowering tension (such as exercise).

    Reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, a research team led by the University of Auckland's Elizabeth Broadbent made a study featuring 50 healthy adults ranging in age from 64 to 97. They were asked to write for 20 minutes per day for three consecutive (连续的) days.

    Half were asked to write about the most upsetting experience in their life, describing their deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the events, ideally not previously shared with others. The others were asked to write about their daily activities without mentioning emotions, opinions or beliefs.

    Two weeks after the third day of writing, all participants received a standard 4mm skin biopsy (皮下活体组织检查) on their inner arm. The very tiny wounds caused by the biopsy were photographed regularly over the following days to determine the rate at which they healed.

    On the 11th day after the biopsy, the wounds completely healed on 76.2 percent of those who had done the expressive writing. That was true of only 42.1 percent of those who had written about everyday activities.

    “The biological and psychological mechanisms (机体) behind this effect remain unclear,” the researchers wrote, noting that those who had done the expressive writing did not report lower stress levels or fewer depressive symptoms than the others in the control group. Even if they weren't consciously aware of feeling more relaxed or positive, the expressive writing appeared to have caused some sort of bodily reaction—probably involving their immune systems—that hastened their recovery.

    Fireworks are exciting, but also hard to control. The Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang, though, has developed a way to harness the visual and physical power of fireworks to make art He recently used them to create a burning sculpture that stretched high into the sky. Guoqiang fittingly named the work Sky Ladder.

    Guoqiang built Sky Ladder by making a frame out of metal. He coated the frame with gunpowder, the main chemical material in fireworks.

    The artist tried one end of the frame to the ground and attached a large weather balloon to the other end. The balloon was filled with helium — a gas that is lighter than air. When released, the balloon floated upward, pulling the top of the ladder 500 meters into the sky. That's higher than the top of the Empire State Building.

    Guoqiang set fire to the bottom of the ladder, and the crackling（啪啪作响） flames raced skyward up the frame. The sculpture burned for two-and-a-half minutes before its flames began to die out from the bottom up.

    Dealing with explosive (炸药）is challenging, and conditions had to be perfect for Guoqiang to achieve his desired effect. He first attempted Sky Ladder in 1994, but bad weather prevented him from successfully completing the work. Guoqiang put Sky Ladder aside so that he could work on other projects, perhaps most famously the fireworks display that opened the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

    Finally, after two more failed attempts, Guoqiang successfully sent his flaming ladder skyward last year. He presented Sky Ladder in his hometown, a quiet fishing village near Huiyu Island, Quanzhou. He offered the work as a gift to his 100-year-old grandmother, other family members, his friends and his town.

    “Behind Sky Ladder lies a clear childhood dream of mine, "Guoqiang explains. “Despite all life's twists and turns, I have always been determined to realize it. The ladder rose toward the morning sun, carrying hope. For me, this not only means a return, but also the start of a new journey."

    Can I talk about salary at work? In a word: yes. As HR company Insperity put it in a recent blog post: Can your employees discuss their salaries or wages with their co-workers? Yes. Even if you have a company policy against it? Yes.

    The freedom to discuss your salary at work is a protected right under federal labor law. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 protects your right to discuss the conditions of your employment, including issues related to safety and pay, even when you're not protected by a union.

    Talking about salary with colleagues can be uncomfortable, since there's such a taboo about discussing money matters, but it's an important step towards achieving equal pay for equal work. One barrier, however, stems from how we think of our own financial worth. Too many people I talk to wrongly consider their salary a reflection of their worthiness, a statement about their skills, experience, or value. At the end of the day, if we can all separate our self-worth from our salaries a bit more, it'll become easier to talk frankly with our colleagues.

    Asking about money outright can be tough, so one trick I've picked up along the way is to ask for your colleagues to confirm or deny. For instance, you might volunteer your salary first and ask "Does that sound about right to you?" by way of comparison. Or, let's say you're interviewing for a promotion to become a manager. You might ask a fellow manager about the kind of salary you should expect by saying, “I'm seeing salaries for this kind of position ranging from $65, 000 to$70, 000—does that seem accurate to you?" This way, even if your colleague isn't comfortable sharing their salary outright, they can help you identify if your expectations are on point or way off.

    It is true that summer is hot. But here is something to make your day easier. Are you prepared? Meet the new AirFreez— an alternative to traditional Air Conditioners that cools you just the same!

    How does it work?

    It is surprisingly easy to set up! You just need to plug it into a socket(插座)OR any USB port (it uses so little energy that it can even run off of a phone or laptop battery).

    Once you have done that, simply fill it with 20oz/0. 6L of cold tap water.

    Now just press the power button and the instant cool air is here!

    What is so special about this little box?

    It is no larger than a lunchbox. It can be powered by a pocket solar panel（电池板）or battery pack and you probably have the world's first and most portable AC unit.

    Bad sleepers are putting the AirFreez next to their beds at night. The relaxing blow of cool, clean air, the comforting soft night light and the quiet create the perfect sleeping conditions!

    The price is just amazing. Most AC units cost at least $ 300+ AND you have to pay more to cover the expensive electricity bills each month. AirFreez costs less than $ 100 (actually $ 53 if you buy more than one here).

    Top Tips:

    To make your air even cooler—add a bottle of cold tap water from your refrigerator or even ice!

    For a beautiful relaxing atmosphere—add a few drops of fragrant oils to the water!