In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.

    Beginning this fall, a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.

    MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain online courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.

    The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.

    MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.

     “Fasten your seatbelts,” Hockfield said.

    Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie-Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.

    The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit（非盈利的）organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful.

    Soft winds blew throughout the Windy City today. We welcomed the winds, as it was another hot day in Chicago. The wind blew, bringing us some coolness—and making the weather not that hot. But it was a beautiful summer day with a blue sky.

Chicago is a great city for eating, and we have enjoyed tasting the different foods. Last night, we tried one of the city's most famous foods: deep-dish pizza. Chicago claims credit for the rich and cheesy thick-crust pizza, covered with a sweet tomato sauce. We topped it with olives and green peppers.

       We were touring the city, mainly looking for delicious local foods. Today, we enjoyed a Polish specialty at lunch: Pierogis, an Eastern European dumpling-like dish, filled with foods like potatoes, cheese, mushrooms, cabbage and meat. Polish immigrants started settling in Chicago in the 1850s, and the city has one of the largest Polish communities in the U.S.

    We took a break from exploring the city to talk with some of you! Ashley and Caty logged onto the Internet for an on-the -road version of TALK2US. We spoke to an English teacher in Tokyo, Japan, and a graduate student in India.

Meanwhile, Adam searched for some locations around the city to shoot some video. He chose a spectacular spot: Navy Pier, Chicago's most-visited attraction. The winds from Lake Michigan keep visitors cool, and the view of the Chicago skyline never fails to impress. In fact, the view made all of us head over heels!

    Our time in Chicago has come to an end. Tomorrow, the true journey begins, as we pass through Illinois and into Missouri via Route 66. Springfield, the home of Abe Lincoln, and St. Louis, the “gateway to the West,” wait for us.

    Until recently, scientists had mapped only about 20 percent of the sea floor. But our knowledge of the deep seas is changing because of information from satellites. Scientists have produced a new map that provides a detailed picture of the oceans. The map is expected to help oceanographers (海洋学家), industry and governments.

    The new map is twice as detailed as the map made 20 years ago. David Sandwell is a geophysics professor at the University of California. He and other scientists worked on the mapping project. He says they turned to space to look deeper into the ocean.

    The scientists collected and studied information from two satellites. Some of the data came from the European Space Agency's Cryo-2 satellite. It was placed in Earth's orbit to watch sea ice. The other satellite is the American space agency's Jason-1. It is studying the surface of the oceans. Scientists combined the satellite data with images gathered by sonar (声波定位仪) equipment on ships. Sonar works by sending sound waves through the water. When the sound waves hit an object, its presence is confirmed.

    The new map shows the sea floor as it has never been seen before. It shows thousands of underwater mountains and places where continents pulled apart. It shows where earthquakes were active many years ago. They all are buried deep underneath the ocean floor.

    David Sandwell says the map is a powerful tool for fisheries, those interested in protecting the environment and for oil exploration.

    “The petrol exploration industry is interested in how to reconnect the continents, bring them back together tectonically so you can map the basins （盆地）on one continental edge—say, Africa—and use that to establish where the similar basin would be on the other continental edge in South America.”

    If scientists know that information, they may be able to find oil fields. The new data also will help scientists improve their estimates of ocean depths. This information can help ships travel safely and improve military operations and scientific projects worldwide.

    Mr. Sandwell thinks scientists will make many more discoveries as they examine the new map and the information it provides.

    Two things changed my life: my mother and a white, plastic, daisy bike basket. I would be a different person if my mom hadn't turned a silly bicycle accessory(配件) into a life lesson I carry with me today.

    It was summer and, one day, my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed — and there it was in the window. White, shiny, plastic and decorated with daisies, the basket seemed so appealing and I knew I had to have it.

    "Mom, please can I get it? I'll do extra chores for as long as you say. I'll do anything, but I need that basket. I love that basket. Please, Mom. Please?"

    "You know," she said, gently rubbing my back while we both stared at what I believed was the coolest thing ever, "If you save up, you could buy this yourself."

    "By the time I make enough it'll be gone!"

    "Maybe Roger here could hold it for you," she smiled at Roger, the bike guy.

    "For that long? He can't hold it for that long, Mom. Someone else will buy it. Please, Mom, please?"

    "There might be another choice," she said. My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely out of reach in some hiding place I couldn't find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing nest egg earned by extra work here and there (washing the car, helping my mother make dinner, delivering milk around the neighborhood). And then, weeks later maybe, I counted, re-counted and jumped for joy. Oh, I made it! I finally had the exact amount we'd agreed upon.

    Days later, the unthinkable happened. A neighborhood girl I'd played with appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny, new bike. I rode my bike fast home to tell my mother about this disaster, this horrible turn of events.

    And then came the lesson I've taken with me through my life: "Honey, your basket is extra-special," Mom said, gently wiping away my hot tears. "Your basket is special because you paid for it yourself."

    A Hobby is a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure(闲暇的) time. By continually taking part in a particular hobby, one can acquire practical skill and knowledge in that area. Is travel a good hobby? Travel, in the youngest sort, is a part of education and, in the elder, a part of experience. Some may think otherwise. To them, visiting churches, castles, libraries, etc. is an absolute wastage of time. They may further say that one can read the account of these or see the films of the important places of the world. They forget that touch of actuality gives a different type of sensation and satisfaction.

    Travelling may be an expensive hobby but it makes up for the financial loss. If a traveller has interest in life and its manifestations(表现), one can find much to keep oneself absorbed and happy. A student of any stream can definitely find something of his own interest and studies. One can definitely find everything that satisfies his cravings for knowledge and feelings.

    As a hobby, travelling keeps us busy during leisure time; it is the best method to make use of time. Till a person breaks from dull routine, physically and mentally, one cannot find satisfaction. Travelling helps us to achieve this break. At a new place, one is curious to know and eager to gather all the unknown information about the place which he has neither read nor heard before and he gets thrills and surprises which keep the interest and enthusiasm alive and encourage us to keep our journey on.

    While travelling, one comes across a number of people from varied backgrounds and places. By interacting with them, he comes to know about their traditions also. In case one has psychological bent of mind, one increases one's experience and power to understand others. Understanding human nature is, perhaps, the best part of education. Travelling satisfies all demands of a good hobby-it is absorbing education and refreshment to the mind, body and soul.

    A Latin phrase beloved by every old-fashioned British schoolmaster was mens sana in corpora sano—a healthy mind in a healthy body. Greater physical activity is associated with better mental, as well as physical health. And it might also be linked to greater worker productivity, and thus faster economic growth. That is the conclusion of a new report from a European think tank — RAND.

    The RAND study looks at different measures: absenteeism (when workers take time off for illness) and presenteeism (when they turn up for work but are less productive because of sickness). The latter measure was self-reported by employees, who were asked whether their work was negatively affected by health issues. The survey suggests that between 3 and 4.5 working days each year are lost as a consequence of workers being physically inactive. This is between 1.3% and 2% of annual working time. Most of this was down to presenteeism.

    Another potential gain from improved fitness is reduced health-care costs. In America, where health care is often provided through employment-based systems, firms could benefit. RAND estimates that total American health savings could be $6bn a year by 2025. But the study's authors conclude that if people met certain exercise targets, global GDP could be around 0.17-0.24% higher by 2050. Nothing to laugh at in a world of slowing growth.

    How to encourage workers to become more active? Rewards are useful but only if they have conditions; giving all employees free gym membership does not seem to work. Another RAND Europe study examined an experiment in which workers were each given an Apple watch, payable in instalments (分期付款) at a discounted price—but only to those who agreed to have their physical activity monitored. Monthly repayments depended on how much exercise they took.

    The problem is that many people are too optimistic about their health, ignoring the risks they face. This means that participation in workplace exercise plans tends to be low, around 7% in the sample studied by RAND. Firms are not the only ones that can encourage a healthier lifestyle; friends and families are likely to be more important. But businesses can play a bigger role.

    If RAND is right, this may bring them financial benefits. Company taskmasters may yet grow fond of an adapted saying: mens sana in corporate sano.