Written in the first chapter of the book Pride and Prejudice is an extraordinary sentence of which even a person who has had only a brief look upon the book will not fail to receive a deep impression — It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. In terms of Sherlock Holmes, we'd better alter the sentence into “It is a fact universally accepted by readers throughout the world that an excellent book in possession of our famous detective Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly a masterpiece of all times.” Perhaps this is one of the most obvious explanations for the unrivaled popularity of “Holmes series” in the field of detective stories. Overwhelmed by the recommendations provided by my friends, I decided to take a look on this Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son originally published by Oxford University Press.

    As a whole, this book is about a case concerning the Duke's missing son. Arthur, the Duke's son, was found out in a certain morning to have disappeared, accompanied with which was also the disappearance of the German teacher. The school master Dr. Huxtable then turned to the famous detective of the time Sherlock Holmes for help. Realizing how tough and important the case is, Holmes immediately made up his mind to accept the case and followed Dr. Huxtable back to Mackleton by train. Having formed a rough idea about the whole matter, Holmes probed into the case immediately and had a careful investigation of the entire area shortly after the arrival, during the process of which he discovered the body of the German teacher Heidegger. Finally, primarily due to his prominent ability as a detective, he managed to unravel the mystery.

    Having once started reading this fiction, I was completely immersed in the mysterious story. At the beginning, unlike other detective stories, this story first delineates the client's strange behavior at length to indicate the severity of the incident in order to attract the readers to continue reading it. As is known to all, vivid depiction is essential to detective stories as it makes the story more authentic and attractive. Therefore, trying to present a “real world” to his readership, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the original “Holmes series”, has skillfully arranged the plots of the whole story from the perspective of Dr. Watson, a friend of Homes'. In this way, he elaborately (精心)depicted every scene and character in the book. Apart from the special start, the ending of the whole story, being dramatic but reasonable, is certainly an outstanding one. After all, except the author himself, who knows that the Duke's seemingly ordinary secretary is in fact the Duke's bastard(私生子)? In addition, who knows that the Duke actually has already been acquainted with the whole thing before Holmes solves this complicated problem? Yet, surprising as it is, this ending seems so natural that it fits all the plots of the story perfectly well. Closing my eyes, I can even “see” the story happening just like watching a film.

    As far as I am concerned, nothing is more admirable and surprising in the hero Sherlock Homes than his profound knowledge which has certainly assisted him a lot when he was studying the case. Take the bicycle tyres for instance, Holmes is capable of recognizing 42 different varieties of bicycle tyres. Except for his illimitable knowledge, Holmes also specializes in arranging the facts in order and then finding the fact leading him to a great discovery or even the truth itself. In this case, after getting rid of unrelated facts, Sherlock Homes eventually grasped the clue and discovered the amazing fact.

    Needless to say, as a world-renowned masterpiece, Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son has attracted and is still charming numerous readers from all corners of the world and people from all walks of life. The “Holmes series” has already set up a standard against which all the following detective fictions are measured. Sherlock Holmes, beyond all doubt, has been a name firmly rooted in people's memories. Although Dr. Watson's closing The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes in 1927 was a great pity to the readers, the discontinuance of the entire “Holmes series” may have actually added to the legendary stature of Sherlock Holmes.

    The female dog, who Leonard appropriately named Gobi, joined Leonard on the second day of the annual 4 Deserts Race Series and ran side-by-side with him for 77 miles. Leonard noticed Gobi running with 101 runners during the first day, but on the second day, Gobi was on the start line, looking up at him. "This was the first contact I had with her and as I ran off the line I noticed her by my side," he said. "I didn't speak much to her that day, but at the finish line she followed me into the tent and we slept next to each other. That was it then."

    Leonard shared his sleeping space, water and food with his small companion during the race. He even lent her a hand when needed. "I carried her across rivers that she could not cross on her own," he wrote on his Crowdfunder page.

    After the race, it was clear to Leonard that he had developed a special bond with the pup and started researching ways to get Gobi to the UK. He learned that it would take four months for Gobi to be medically checked and cleared for entry, all of which will cost $6,560 USD, an amount that has been surpassed(超过) due to a successful Crowdfunder campaign that raised $13,330 USD.

    Some of the world's most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music, its significance, and its potential as a unifying(联合) voice across cultures.

    Despite the celebrations, though, in the U.S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

    It's Jason Moran's job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center's artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.

    ＂Jazz seems like it's not really a part of the American appetite,＂ Moran tells National Public Radio's reporter Neal Conan. ＂What I'm hoping to accomplish is that my generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and write anymore. It's actually color, and it's actually digital.＂

    Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the entertainment aspect of the music has been lost. ＂The music can't be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same,＂ says Moran.

    Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller's music for a dance party, ＂just to kind of put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music,＂ says Moran. ＂For me, it's the recontextualization. In music, where does the emotion(情感) lie? Are we, as humans, gaining any insight(感悟) on how talk about ourselves and how something as abstract as a Charlie Parker record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts? Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context,＂ says Moran, ＂so I want to continue those dialogues. Those are the things I want to foster.＂

    Nowadays it's believed that the largest contributors to air pollution are gasoline vehicles. They not only give off harmful gases but also dangerous and heavy metal particles（微粒） that can result in environmental dangers. We can't stop using vehicles and thus stop air pollution right away. However, at least we can look for better replacements so that air pollution can be reduced. According to studies, hydrogen （氢）cars prove to be a better replacement for traditional cars.

    A hydrogen car is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as fuel for its engine to work. There are two types of hydrogen cars. The first one is to use hydrogen as a fuel, and the second one is to use hydrogen fuel cells（电池） to provide power for the car. Hydrogen and oxygen react chemically with each other to produce electricity, thus starting the car.

    There are many advantages of hydrogen cars. For example, hydrogen is available in plenty. Therefore, you needn't worry about a lack of hydrogen. More importantly, no harmful gases are released as by-products .The only by-products are water and a little amount of heat so air pollution is prevented up to a large extent.

    However, there are also some problems with hydrogen cars. For instance, in case of damage, the cost of repairing and replacing fuel cells is high. Worse still, hydrogen is a material which can burn easily, so it can result in a huge explosion of the car.

    The concept of hydrogen cars is relatively new for most people. Research is still in progress to reduce disadvantages and increase advantages. Therefore, hydrogen cars are expected to contribute their bit towards making this planet better and healthier!

    Everyone can try his best to achieve something. We don't need to be the best, but to challenge the limits of what we are capable of. I gained this belief from my third grade teacher, the most special, honored, trustworthy, and beloved person in my life.

    Mr. Myrus was always perfectly dressed and spoke with the belief that talking to an eight－year－old child didn't mean he had to sacrifice proper statements or grammar. And he was demanding, but he wasn't unreasonable or cruel. He simply felt that no matter what your best was, you should achieve it.

    Luckily enough, I met him again as my eighth grade math teacher. I was not, nor ever will be, gifted in math. I remember my struggles in class. “I don't know the answer,” I would say. "I can't do it!" “Perhaps you don't know the answer,” he would say quietly. “Do you think we might figure it out together? How do you know what you can do if you don't have a try？”

    Mr. Myrus lived around the corner, and I would often stop by to talk while he worked in his garden. I knew there was someone who let me know that if I had really tried, that was enough. “Don't be so hard on yourself,”he'd say.“ Stop blaming yourself. Did you try your best? Well, then you're not a failure,” he often told me these words.

    Mr. Myrus died in 1978. I had never thought about his death. He was too young. I felt sorry. But when I think about him now, I don't feel so sorry. He taught me to be kind, not only to others, but to myself. He taught me my own value. He taught me about honor, about truth, and about doing my best and he also taught me that all feelings and beliefs have dignity and deserve respect. And of all the things I know, I believe that we can't all be “the best”, but we can, each of us, be our best. And I know that's true because Mr. Myrus told me that.

Every day for a week, a strange, happy visitor would drop to play with Vanessa Prior's pet dog Bobby. She thought Bobby had made a new dog friend. It seemed very friendly and got well along with Bobby. They would run after each other, play on the pool cover, gently wrestle or nap side by side.

At first she thought it was a wild dog. But when she posted a photo of the two playing on her Facebook, a pet rescue center called her. The group told her the Atlanta Wolf Project had been trying to catch the wolf for months, but they failed. Prior gave them new hope.

Because of the wolf's friendship with her pet dog, it was likely to come back to her backyard. Researchers hoped Prior could help them. When they put some traps (陷阱) in the back of her yard, Prior got a very complicated feeling. She couldn't describe what it was, but she was closely surrounded by it. The wolf would be in a safe place, but she would do something that harmed Bobby's feelings.

Researchers told Prior that they would take the rare, black wolf to the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary where it would live with another wolf. They didn't think it a fulfilling situation for a wild animal like a wolf to be connecting with humans' life. They need to keep a natural awareness to humans and pets and keep to themselves.

Wolf experts added they would look into the genetics (遗传学) of the animal to try to learn why it liked to get close to people and tried to play with their pets. Some experts believe it could have a history with well-meaning humans. Prior had not expected that they should meet such a special and lovely wolf. She and Bobby just hoped the dear friend all the best.