I used to believe courtesy(礼貌) was a thing of the past. Very seldom have I encountered a courteous human being in this modem era of the so called Generation X.

    Recently, I had to change my thinking, when I came face to face with just such a human being. I had gone to a happening coffee place, with two of my grown up daughters. The place was crowded with the usual loud crowd and we had to climb a sleep flight of stairs in order to find an empty table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we were at the steep descent down the stairs, where the narrow space made climbing down only possible in a single file, with hardly any space for another person to either climb up or come down.

    Just as I was in the middle of my descent, a gentleman entered the main entrance of the restaurant which right in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed roughly by this man who will want to go up in a hurry. I kept coming down as fast as I could, holding on to the banister (栏杆), instead of my advanced years. My agile daughters were already down, looking up at me worriedly, hoping I would reach them before the stranger strange started up the stairs, knowing I was a nervous sort.

    Nearly reaching them, I noticed the man still standing near the door. I reached my daughters and passed the stranger at the entrance door which he kept holding open. I looked back thinking he was still at the door, deciding whether to go in or find another less crowded place. I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time. I told my daughters about it and all three of us felt had that we did not even thank the courteous gentleman who was actually holding the door open for us ladies to pass through before going up.

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    Most people know something about the greenhouse effect. Factories send gasses such as carbon dioxide, or CO₂, into the atmosphere, the air around the earth. In the past, this wasn't a problem because trees absorbed the CO₂. But now people in many countries are cutting down billions of trees all around the world. At the same time, factories are sending more CO₂ into the atmosphere. It's difficult to believe, but factories put billions of tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year. One ton is over 2000 pounds, so it is a lot of pollution. There is too much CO₂ and there aren't enough trees, so the world is getting warmer. In other words, we have a greenhouse effect. This is terrible for the environment.

    What can we do about this? Firsts we can stop using so much coal and oil. We can learn to use different kinds of energy: the sun, wind, steam from volcanoes，and heat from inside the earth. Second, instead of cutting down trees, we should plant more trees. One tree can absorb ten pounds of carbon dioxide every year.

    The trees are good for the earth's atmosphere and for Guatemala (拉丁美洲国家危地马拉).In small towns and villages in Guatemala, most women are poor and have hard lives. Trees help them in three ways. First, the Connecticut factories pay them to plant the trees. Their pay is com, not money. The com is good for their children. Second, these women know a lot about their environment. They know where to plant when to plant, and what kinds of trees to plant. For example，they plant many fruit trees. The fruit gives them vitamins for their families^, diets. Other trees are good for firewood. In a few years, the women won't spend so much time looking for firewood. Third, all these trees are good for the soil. Now rain can't wash the soil down from the mountains so easily.

    This plan isn't enough to stop the greenhouse effect. However, it's a start. The woman of Guatemala are helping themselves and helping their environment.

Hot Air Balloons

    The basis of how the balloon works is that warmer air rises in cooler air. This is because hot air is lighter than cool air as it has less mass per unit of volume. Mass can be defined by the measure of how much matter something contains. The actual balloon has to be large as it takes a large amount of heated air to lift it off the ground.

    The burner uses propane gas to heat up the air in the envelope to move the balloon off the ground and into the air. The pilot must keep firing the burner at regular intervals throughout the flight to ensure that the balloon continues to the stable. Naturally, the hot air will not escape from the hot at the very bottom of the envelop as firstly, hot air rises and secondly, the floating power keeps it moving up.

    To move the balloon upwards, the pilot opens up the propane value which lets the propane flow to the burner which in turn frees the flame up into the envelope. It works in much the same way as a gas grill: the more you open the valve, the bigger the flame to beat the air and the faster the balloon rises.

    The “Parachute Valve” at the very top of the balloon is what is used to bring the balloon down towards the ground. It is a circle of fabric cut out of the top of the envelop which is controlled by a rope which runs down through the middle of the envelope to the basket. If the pilot wants to bring the balloon down, he or she simply pulls on the rope which will open the valve, letting hot air escape, decreasing the inner air temperature. This cooling of air causes the balloon to slow its rise.

    The pilot can operate horizontally by changing the vertical position of the balloon because the wind blows in different directions at different altitudes. If the pilot wants to move in a particular direction, he or she simply arises and falls to the appropriate level and rides with the wind.

    I can proudly say that last year I broke the record for the oldest person in the world to ride a roller-coaster. I'm 105, but I feel younger. Even the doctor agrees I'm in good condition. I'm a bit deaf and my legs feel weak, but they are the only issue.

    I rode the Twistosaurus at Flamingo Land, which spins you round quite fast. I didn't choose to go on that. I'd have preferred a really fast one that went upside down. But I was told I couldn't ride something like that, because my blood pressure could drop and I might have some danger.

    I wasn't nervous — I don't get frightened of anything. I was securely fastened, so I knew I wouldn't fall out. The roller-coaster ride went on for three or four minutes, and it couldn't be a better experience. And I raised a lot of money for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance fund, which was fantastic.

    People were saying I'd got a place in the Guinness World Records. Later, someone came to present me with the certificate. I had it on the wall in my living room, with another one that got a year earlier.

    My record-breaking ways really began a couple of years ago, with the ice-bucket challenge. It turned out that I was probably the oldest person in the world to do it, and the video was very popular. After that, I started to think about what else I could do to raise money for different charities.

    I'm not sure if anyone admires all the fun I'm having. They just say I'm daft and that's about it. But I've had many good days and many exciting times. I've had a really good life. I don't think I've wasted any of it.

    More than 10 million Chinese cultural relics have been lost overseas, lost of which were stolen and illegally shipped out of China during the times of war before 1949. About 1.67million pieces are housed in more than 200 museums in 47 countries, which accounts for 10 percent of all lost Chinese cultural relics, and the rest are in the hands of private collectors.

    Most of these treasures are owned by museums or private collectors in the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. There are more than 23, 000 pieces in the British Museum, most of which were stolen or bought for pennies more than 100 years ago.

    The major method to recover these national treasures was to buy them back. In some cases, private collectors donated the relics to the government. Also the government can turn to official channels to demand the return of relics.

    In 2003, a priceless bronze pig's head dating from the Qing Dynasty was returned to its home in Beijing after it was removed by the Anglo-French Allied Army over 140 years ago. Macao entrepreneur (企业家) Stanley Ho donated 6 million yuan to buy it back from a US art collector and then donated it to the Poly Art Museum in Beijing. Although buying-back is the most feasible way to recover the lost treasures, limited funding is always a big headache.

    In recent years, the Chinese government has improved efforts to recover the precious cultural relics lost overseas. It has started a national project on the recovery of the treasures and has set up a database (数据库) collecting relevant information. It has signed several international agreements with many countries on this matter, and is also looking for international cooperation to recover the relics by working closely with several international organizations.

In February of 2005, Phil Belfiore was teaching one of Robert Frost's poems Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. He liked it so much that he 1 it on his home answering machine, which would lead to one of the most 2 friendships of his life. 

When Phil returned from his vacation, he listened to his voice

3 . One gentleman caller 4 for dialing the wrong number. But, he added, he'd really enjoyed the poem. Phil thought nothing more of it—until the phone rang a few days later. 

Phil 5 John's hollow voice immediately, who said sorry to

6 , but he was calling to hear the poem again. The two men talked. It turned out that he had 7 to phone his brother, but dialed the wrong number. Before hanging up, Phil told John to 8 anytime, whether to hear the poem or just to have a chat. 

That was 11 years ago. They've spoken on the phone a few times a month ever since. It is John who is still the starter of most calls. However, Phil will ring if a long while has passed. Not 9 , John has been in poor health. His special voice is just the 10 of some heart trouble. They seem to always 11 when there's been a big sports event. The men like to discuss football most. John will also 12 Phil on his life. Slowly, their conversations have grown much more 13 . They planned to meet twice, but circumstances went against them. Their friendship is based on the 14 act of picking up the phone. "My best friend is someone I've not yet met 15 ," says John.