A German fisherman named Konrad Fischer found the brown bottle near Kiel, Germany. He said he nearly threw the bottle back into the water after pulling it out of a fishing net. Then he noticed something inside.

    The bottle in good condition contained a Danish postcard with two German stamps, dated May 17, 1913. Although dampness had made most of the writing illegible（字迹模糊的）, the readable part of the message asked whoever found it to return it to an address in Berlin. It even contained two stamps to pay for postage.

    From the address, researchers found that the postcard was written by a man named Richard Platz, who was 20 years old when he wrote the message. While he was hiking on the Baltic coast with a nature appreciation group. he threw the bottle into the sea. Then the researchers began a search for any living relatives of his. Sure enough, they were able to find his 62-year-old granddaughter, Angela Erdmann, who still lives in Berlin.

  “It was almost unbelievable,”Erdmann said upon being presented with her grandfather's bottle and message.“That was a pretty moving moment. Tears rolled down my face."

    Erdmann never knew her grandfather，who died in 1946，but says that the discovery of the bottle has made her want to learn more about him.

    The bottle remained on display at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg until May 1st. After that, the researchers examined the postcard and tried to figure out the meaning of the rest of the message.

    Previously, the oldest message found in a bottle spent nearly 98 years at sea and was discovered in April 2012, according to Guinness World Records.

    Papa's jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams—not to succeed but to fail. “It's unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

    “Yes, she has,” said Mama. “But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.”

    “Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”

    “Of course she didn't,” said Mama. “She was afraid you'd blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun.”

    “Oh, my god!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it.”

    “It's like anything else, dear,” said Mama. “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore.”

    Papa put his head in his hands.

    “She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should say sorry to her.”

    Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

    “Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to.”

    Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.

    “And,” added Papa, “there's no need for any more drills. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”

    Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. “I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said. “See you later!”

    From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.

    “It's good to see her happy again,” said Mama.

    “It sure is,” Papa agreed. “As for the swimming team, there's always next year.”

    “If?” Mama prompted him.

    “Oh, right,” said Papa. “If she wants to.”

    Mama smiled. “At least you're learning, dear,” she said. She kissed him.

    “Well, you know what they say,” Papa said. “Better late than never.”

    Information Overload

    In modern society，if we're trying to make a decision，we often have so much information that we get confused，and we don't know what to do．This state is known as information overload．{#blank#}1{#/blank#} It can cause stress，frustration and reduced productivity．But what can we do in the face of information overload？

•Plan for only one time each day to check e-mail，social messaging sites，Wechat，etc．Don't allow yourself to check multiple times，unless you truly are waiting for an important e-mail．{#blank#}2{#/blank#}And that eats up your valuable time before getting away．

    If you are suffering from too many electronic interruptions during the weekday，ask people to call or text you during work hours only if it's really an emergency．{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Remind yourself that it's okay to not know everything．In fact，it's impossible to keep up with the pace of the information superhighway．The sooner you accept that，the happier you'll be．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is good to fall behind on the information that really isn't worth your attention．

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Set aside a regular time each week where you and other family members do not use any kind of electronic media technologies，including television．It could be something you do every weekend，or perhaps an hour or two every evening．

A．Just catch up with the happiest moment．

B．Know what's worth knowing and what isn't．

C．Each time you go online，you run the risk of being addicted to it．

D．Spend time with your family free from electronic products．

E．We need to find some effective ways to process the information．

F． Almost everyone suffers from it to some degree．

G．Otherwise they and you end up stealing time from your employer．

    People have been acting like people-in other words, they've been making tools, creating ceremonies, and sharing food—for a long time. That's the conclusion of a recent study from South Africa's southern coast.

    There, in a cave lying above the sea, researchers from Arizona State University have found evidence that humans were behaving in surprisingly complex ways as early as 164,000 years ago. Our species. Homo sapiens, appeared an estimated 200,000 years ago.

    The cave held three important evidences about the behavior of these Stone Age people.

    First, the researchers found the remains of all kinds of shellfish. The people who lived in the cave probably collected these creatures from rocky shores and tide pools and brought them to the cave to eat.

    The researchers consider the early Africans move to the South African coast between 195,000 and 130,000 years ago. Around that time, the climate inland turned relatively cold and dry. Therefore, there were fewer plants and animals to eat away from the coast.

    When these ancient people moved to the coast, they probably experienced a major cultural shift, the researchers suspect. That's because observations of modem hunter-gatherer societies suggest that men are more likely to hunt for big animals when people live inland. On the coast, women play a more important role in providing food by gathering plants and shellfish.

    As for the second clue, the researchers unearthed 57 pieces of reddish pigment (颜料). The researchers think that the cave habitants used the paint for coloring their bodies or for other ceremonies. Symbolic behavior is a clearly human feature.

    Finally, the search discovered over 1,800 stone tools, including well crafted blades (刀片). These blades came in various sizes. The smallest were just less than a half inch wide. Ancient people may have attached these blades to the end of a stick to make spears or other tools.

    One afternoon I toured an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting.I was looking forward to a quiet view of the art works.

    A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted nonstop between themselves.I watched them a moment and decided the wife was doing all the talk.I admired the husband's patience for putting up with her continuous talk.Distracted by their noise,I moved on.

    I met with them several times as I moved through the different rooms of art.Each time I heard her constant burst of words,I moved away quickly.

    I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop making a purchase when the couple came near to the exit.Before they left,the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a white object.He extended it into a long stick and then tapped his way into the coatroom to get his wife's jacket.

    “He's a brave man.”The clerk at the counter said,”Most of us would give up if wewere blinded at such a young age.During his recovery he made a promise that his life wouldn't change. So, as before,he and his wife come in whenever there's a new art show.”

    “But what does he get out of the art?”I asked,“He can't see.”

    “Can't see?You're wrong.He sees a lot.More than you or I do.”The clerk said,“His wife describes each painting so he can see it in his head.”

    I learned something about patience,courage and love that day.I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without sight and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life.And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away hand in hand.

    Recently a movement was launched by Charity Cycling UK to raise awareness of dooring after discovering that many people don't know what it is. Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens the door into another road user—typically a cyclist—without looking for other road users.

    Cycling UK Chief Executive Paul Tuohy told Gloucestershire Live: "Some people seem to see car dooring as a bit of a joke, but it's not and can have serious consequences. Cycling UK wants to see great awareness made about the dangers of opening your car door carelessly，and people to be encouraged to look before they open."

    The charity says 2,009 of the 3,000 injuries happened to cyclists, resulting in five deaths but says this might not be the full extent of the danger.

    Cycling UK says not all car dooring incidents will be attended by police, so the charity has written to transport minister Jesse Norman calling for a public awareness campaign urging all car occupants, not just drivers, to look before opening vehicle doors. One of the ways the charity suggests is the "Dutch reach", where people leaving a vehicle reach over and use the non-door side hand to open the door.

    Cycling UK also suggests harsher laws and advice on safer road positioning for people who cycle.

    Mr Tuohy said: "In the Netherlands they are known for practising a method，known sometimes as the 'Dutch reach', which we think could be successfully encouraged in the UK."

    "Cycling UK has written to the Department for Transport asking them to look into this, and highlight the dangers of "car dooring" through a public awareness THINK style campaign."

    If you're really concerned about opening a door into the path of a cyclist coming behind you, consider using what's known as the "Dutch reach" to open the door. That will naturally turn you in your seat and give you a much better view of what's coming up alongside the car.