The universe looks like a pretty quiet place to live. But the universe is filled with dangerous things, all struggling to be the one to wipe us off the planet. Happily for us, they're all pretty unlikely, but if you wait long enough, one of them is certain to get us. But which one?

1). Death by Asteroid (小行星)

    Of all the ways we might meet our untimely death, getting wiped out by an asteroid is the most likely. Why? Because we sit in a universal shooting gallery, with 100 tons of material hitting us every day. The problem, though, occurs every few centuries when something big this way comes. If you could ask a dinosaur, I'd imagine they would tell you to take this seriously.

2). Death by Exploding Star

    When a huge star ends its life, it does so with a bang, which sends death spreading across space in the form of high-energy radiation. Many studies show that the bang would have to be closer than about 75 light years to do us any harm. The good news: no stars so close are able to do the deed.

3). Death by Dying Sun

    The sun is important to us; without it, we'd freeze. But the sun is also middle-aged, already halfway to running out of fuel, expanding into a red giant, and cooking us to a fine crisp. Even long before then, it'll warm up enough to raise our average temperature and cause a runaway greenhouse effect, boiling our oceans. Happily, that's a long time from now.

4). Death by Black Hole

    Black holes are misunderstood. They don't wander the galaxy looking for tasty snacks in the form of planets and stars; they turn around the Milky Way just like the hundreds of billions of other stars do. But it's possible that one could wander too close to us. If it did, planetary paths would be disturbed, causing the Earth to drop into the sun or be thrown out into deep space.

    Given that it could be trillions of years or more before even that happens, we don't have to worry too much about black holes.

    My advice? Go outside, look up, enjoy the sun, the moon, and the stars. They may be there forever as far as any one of us is concerned...and forever is a long, long time.

    "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a kid?"My 7-year-old daughter once asked me.My initial reaction to her complaint was eye-rolling,along with thinking,“Being a kid is hard?Are you kidding me?”as I mentally ticked off（用记号勾出）all the hard things that her mama does.

    However,as I thought about it a bit more,I realized how silly my reaction had been.Yes,as we adults look back on our childhood,being a kid seems carefree and easy and full of fun.Coloring at school!Playing games!Riding bikes! How could that be hard?So I asked my daughter why being a kid was so hard.

    Her first answer didn't surprise me."Well,because you don't have your own phone,and you can't eat in the living room."

    I asked if anything else was hard about being a kid."Someone else is the boss of you,"she replied.

    I thought some more.What else is hard about being a kid?Well,sometimes,we don't really take kids seriously.

    There are times when I've responded to my children's tears with "It's not that bad,"or"You don't need to be upset about that."Because I believe that a cancelled playdate or a lost toy is no big deal.But for little ones,it is.

    We don't intentionally ignore these opportunities for connection,but sometimes,in busy moments of parenting, we respond unskillfully.We don't take our children's view,and we miss an opportunity to practice compassion（同情心）.

    Mom noticed that something was wrong when I started getting so thirsty. I'd have a lot to drink before bed, which was unusual for me. One time, I opened a big container of apple juice and kept refilling my glass. Before I knew it, I'd drunk the entire container! My mom called my doctor. I then had a few blood tests, and the results were certain — I had diabetes (糖尿病), which meant that the amount of sugar in my blood was very high. That can be dangerous, so I had to learn how to control my blood-sugar level.

    My eating habits had to change in a big way. With diabetes, I can't eat a lot of sugar or carbohydrates (碳水化合物). I have to figure out exactly how much sugar I plan to eat, and then I get an injection of insulin (注射胰岛素) before the meal to help my body process the food. Also, I test my blood-sugar level often. I'm always trying to keep my blood sugar at a healthy level. The level can drop when I exercise, but that doesn't keep me out of gym class or off the basketball court — I just keep some juice boxes around to boost my blood sugar if I need to.

    It's a lot of work and not a lot of fun to keep track of everything, but I've gotten used to my new habits. I was a little scared at first because I wasn't sure how my life would change. Once I knew what I needed to do, though, it wasn't a big deal. My life is different now from what it was before, but it has become completely regular to me.

    Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

    The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol (酒) in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.

    Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don't make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

    Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful！The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行横道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.

    My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place)．It is an offence (违法行为) to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin.

    Finally, as regards something, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco (烟草) if you are under 16 years of age.

    I'd like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.

    Now, are there any questions?

    There are many programs for high school students today that help lonely teenagers deal with loneliness. However, loneliness is not only an issue for teens but also an important and rarely acknowledged one in the elderly.

    In Britain, Tracey Crouch was appointed to be the first Minister of Loneliness in order to address the issues caused by loneliness. This is the first time such a position has been created.

    In Britain, there are around 9 million people who say they are lonely frequently. In Germany, a study conducted by Ruhr University Bochum found that 20 percent of people over the age of 85 felt lonely, and 14 percent of those between age 45 and 65 felt socially lonely. In the United States, more than 25 percent of the population lives alone, more than 50 percent are unmarried.

    Loneliness is generally associated with heart disease, overweight, and anxiety. Additionally, the stress from loneliness can cause your cells to change on a molecular(分子)level that reduces its abilities to defend your body against diseases. In fact, doctors believe having feelings of loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day in regard to its effect on health!

    In Britain, the new Minister of Loneliness will help introduce government policies on the issue and fund a charity—an organization for helping people in need, to devote their efforts towards aiding loneliness. There are charities that link lonely seniors to high school students in order to give them a line of communication whenever they feel lonely!

    The possibilities for the new Minister of Loneliness are endless. For example, she can provide education services to household businesses so that they can identify lonely customers if they see one. Loneliness fits into the category of being a social issue that must be monitored by the entire community in order to help those in need. Therefore, government involvement in medical services and care for seniors and others is vital for happy seniors.

    American and British people both speak English of course. But sometimes it does not seem like the same language. In fact, there are some important differences between British English and American English.

    First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don't say each word separately. They say several words together. Americans may say "I dunno" instead of "I don't know". Or they may say "Whaddaya say?" instead of "What do you say?" However, the British are more careful in their speech. They usually say all the words and keep them separate.

    Sound is not the only difference between British English and American English. Words sometimes have different meanings too. Some American words are never used in England. The same thing is true of some British words in America. For example, the vocabulary for cars and driving is very different. Americans drive trucks, but in England people drive lorries.

    Many expressions are also different in the two countries. In England，if you are going to telephone your friends, you "phone them up". In America, you "give them a call". When you are saying goodbye in England you might say "Cheerio!" In America you might say "See you later."

    There're also some differences in grammar. For example, Americans usually use the helping verb "do" when they ask a question. They say "Do you have a storybook?" But the British often leave out the helping verb. They say "Have you a storybook?"

    All these differences can be confusing if you are learning English. But most languages are like this. Languages change over time. When people live in separate places, the languages change in different ways. This is what has happened to English. It can also happen to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French, but their French is very different from the French of France.