The Greatest Navigational Journey

    In 1787 Captain Bligh was given command of “The Bounty”, a three-year-old merchant ship. His mission was to transport breadfruit plants from the island of Tahiti to the West Indies. We know the popular story of this voyage and the rebellion, in which Bligh has been presented as hard, violent and thoroughly unpleasant captain. However, there is quite a lot of evidence to suggest that this picture is far from being true. He seems to have been unusually thoughtful about the health and welfare of his men. For example he made sure that his crew got exercise, insisted on cleanliness on his ship, and adopted the practice of giving them a drink which prevented scurvy every day.

    When Captain Bligh arrived in Tahiti, it became clear that it would be some months before the breadfruit trees were ready to be taken to the West Indies. Instead of going off right away, he gave his crew extended shore leave. This may have been a mistake as many were unhappy about leaving when the time came. Finally, on the return journey the rebellion took place. The ship was under the command of the rebels and Captain Bligh had to leave in a small boat.

    Captain Bligh's achievement was to get to dry land successfully. It is one of the supreme examples of seamanship. Apart from Bligh there were 18 members of his crew sailing in an open boat about 23 feet long and 7 feet wide. They took with them 25 gallons of water, 150 pounds of bread and 30 pounds of pork. They had no guns or other weapons. The boat was so low in the water that it seemed likely to sink at any time. On one occasion Captain Bligh tried to land on an island to get more water. He and his men were attacked by hostile natives and one of the crew was killed. At this point Bligh decided to sail directly to the Dutch settlement on the island of Timor without stopping. The distance was about 4,000 miles. The voyage took about 42 days and he had no advanced navigational equipment. However, his skill and commitment proved equal to the task and amazingly no one else died. It was truly a remarkable achievement.

    If you can speak English，you know a lot of English words. You can read，speak and understand. But there is another kind of language you need to know——the language of the body，a part of what is called non-verbal communication. All over the world，people “talk” with their eyes. When Japanese people meet，they put their hands together. What do American and British do?

    Americans are more informal than the British. They like to be friendly. They use first name，they ask questions and they talk easily about themselves. When they sit down，they like to relax in their chairs and make themselves comfortable.

    British people are more quiet. They take more time to make friends. They like to know you before they ask you home.

    When British and American people meet someone for the first time，they shake hands. They do not usually shake hands with people they know well. Women sometimes kiss their women friends，and men kiss women friends （on one cheek only）.When a man meets a man friend，he just smiles，and says “Hello”. Men do not kiss each other. Even fathers and sons do not often kiss each other.

    Audrey Hepburn won an Academy Award as Best Actress for her first major American movie，Roman Holiday，which was released in 1953．But she is remembered as much for her aid work as for her acting．

    Born in Belgium in 1929，Audrey's father was British and her mother was Dutch．Audrey was sent to live at a British school for part of her childhood．During World War II，she lived and studied in the Netherlands. Her mother thought it would be safe from German attacks．Audrey studied dance as a teenager and during college when she returned to London after the war．But she realized she wasn't going to be a ballerina （芭蕾舞女演员）．So she began taking acting parts in stage shows．Later she began to get small parts in movies．

    But it was Audrey Hepburn's move to America that brought her true fame．In 1951 she played the character"Gigi"in the Broadway play of the same name to great critical praise．Two years later，Roman Holiday made her a star at the age of 24．

    Audrey made more than 25movies．Among her most popular roles was Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tifany's in 1961．Three years later she played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady．

    She was married two times and had one son by each husband．In 1989，the UN Children's Fund named Audrey a goodwill ambassador．She travelled all over the world in support of UNICEF （联合国儿童基金会） projects．The UN agency said she was a tireless worker．She often gave 15interviews a day to gain money and support for UNICEF projects．

    Audrey Hepburn often said her loyalty to UNICEF was the result of her experiences as a child during World War II．She said she knew what it was like to be starving and to be saved by international aid．She was a goodwill ambassador until her death in 1993from colon cancer．

    In England, some food companies across the whole country have been told to carry out urgent (紧急的) tests on all beef products. Do you know why? That's because some food companies used horse meat to make beef products.

    There are some examples about the horse meat matter. In January, 2013, in a number of UK supermarkets, frozen hamburgers were found to have traces of horse meat in them. Some frozen beef products made by food company FINDUS were found to contain horse meat. All of the beef products made by this company have been removed from sale.

    The government said that there's nothing to suggest any health risk from the products. Food minister David Heath said people should not throw away frozen meat products and carry on eating meat. The government will tell people not to eat meat if the meat is not safe.

    Food safety has been an important matter all over the world. More and more countries plan to take some useful measures to ensure the safety of food.

    A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.

    The Robot Activity Support System or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

"RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected," said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

    Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.

    RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.

    "While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising," Minor said. "The next step in the research will be to test RAS' performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot."

    Better known by his stage name KUN, Cai Xukun is a phenomenon, opening up the music industry in China.

    Last year, after participating in the reality TV show Idol Producer, receiving the most votes from fans, the singer-songwriter rose to fame overnight. At just 21 years old, Cai has topped Chinese music charts with multiple singles.

    On July 26, KUN released his newest single Young. Within just 20 seconds, it reached a million sales.

    KUN wrote the song to share his understanding of youth. He mixed R&B and electronic beats (节拍) to make it more cheerful. A reviewer wrote on QQ Music, "When you listen to the song, you just seem to go back to youth again."

    The song was an early birthday present to himself which he celebrated on Aug 2. KUN also hopes that he always has the courage to pursue (追求) his love of music, no matter what people think. "My works are like my children and I have put my best effort into them." he told the Global Times.

    Indeed, KUN has written and produced most of his songs on his own. "I want every piece of my work to have my own spirit in it," he told music website Soundigest, "I feel more enjoyment when I'm performing my own work."

    Although KUN loves performing onstage, when the lights go down, he prefers to fall back into his own world and darkness at night. "I always get inspired when it's quiet, late at night/' he told I-D magazine, "It's a great moment for me to create new things. Sometimes, I can write songs with a melody (旋律) I heard in a dream."

    To develop his introspection (反思) and find new inspiration, KUN attends different kinds of musical performances — from festivals to opera houses. "I just like to do everything, all for my music, all for my art," he told I-D.

    With such talent and dedication to music, it seems that KUN will continue to make his mark in the competitive Chinese music industry.