Tonight, my piano recital(钢琴演奏会) was the most important thing in my family. My grandparents were coming by plane to hear me play. Even my busy Aunt Dianne, who is on TV every night reading the news, was coming.

    But one thing was for sure. I would never win an award for my piano playing. And that's just because the more I practiced, the more nervous I got. So there I was，on the stage， in my beautiful dress，and I sat down at the piano. But when I started to play，I hit a wrong note. I told myself to start over. But then I hit the wrong note again. It was as if I hadn't practiced at all.

    Finally the disaster was over. I ran off the stage. I couldn't understand why audience(观众) were clapping. But they were. My mom and dad had flowers for me and we were all supposed to go out for a nice dinner, but I couldn't. I just wanted to go home and cry and never go anywhere again. After we went back home, Aunt Dianne just came in and sat down on the side of my bed.

    “It was my first night on the air,” she said. “I had never been on television before and I made a mistake. I mispronounced my name and the name of the news show. And you know what? No one even noticed but me. Just like tonight, no one noticed—just you.” Aunt Dianne was right. I think we are harder on ourselves than anyone else is. Maybe I will leave my room. And maybe I'll play the piano again.

    Norway — Ten Chinese college students arrived at the country's Arctic（北极的） research base, the Yellow River Station, on Friday.

    On Saturday, the students are expected to witness the end of four months of darkness in the area, as the sun makes a rare appearance.

    During their four-day stay at the station, the students will meet and learn from some of China's leading polar researchers. They were welcomed at the station yesterday by its director, He Jianfeng, who is an expert on marine micro-ecosystems.

    The students will also visit the German and Norwegian stations and meet researchers there.

    As for entertainment, the visitors will get the chance to play ice hockey at the world's most northerly stadium.

    Among the visitors is Zheng Li, a student majoring in telecommunications at Dalian Marinetime University.

     “It is so exciting to see how the Chinese researchers work in the world's most northerly laboratory,” she said.

     “This opportunity is precious. Most people will never get the chance to travel so far from home and visit such an amazing place. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

    Wu Jinyou, head of the Polar Research Institute of China, and the group's leader, said, “I hope the students have not only a field trip to the Yellow River station, but are also touched by the devotion and spirit of the Chinese researchers here. I also expect in the future, some of them will choose to devote themselves to polar research and maybe even work with us.”

    The students have been in Norway since February 28, and were given Arctic training before moving to the station.

    The Arctic expedition is one of the several international cooperation and exchange activities forming the China Program for International Polar Year (2007- 2008). It was launched last March.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, March 8, 2008)

    Could a cave be the place of buried treasure in a small village in Marajgushu, near Navasha, Kenya? A rumor of treasure has some villagers dreaming of wealth, while ohters see it as a cheat. It's said that in the 1800s a white man left treasure inside the caves.

    This system of caves has become the center of excitement in the village. It is unclear where the rumor came from, but some local people believe white settlers hid gold and other precious metals in the cave before leavign the area, many years ago.

    Local villager Edward Maina says the rumors have brought a lot of treasure hunters flooding into town to dig in the caves. Villages say original treasure seekers entered the cave nearly two months ago before being arrested by police. Local governmetns closed up the entrance, but they broke back in.

    While neither gold nor silver has been found yet, the cave does guard another important resource: water. Many depend on a natural spring coming from the cave and local officials, among them Ward Councilor Gaka Mwaniki, worry the digging could affect or dirty the supply.

    “There's nothing. We've seen ourselves there's nothing in those caves. The cave is natural. It's the water table that they're affecting” says Mwaniki.

    Local resident James Mbugua Njenga wants the situation brought under control. “If at all there's treasure inside there, let the government come and dig and protect the water table,”says Njenga.

    It might be true. It might be a cheat. Whatever the case, treasure hunters continue to be attracted to the mystery of the caves.

    When I was a boy there were no smart phones, and our television only got one channel clearly. Still, I never felt bored. The fields, hills and woodlands around my home were the perfect playground whose adventures were only limited by my imagination. I can remember once hiking to nearby lake and walking slowly around it. At the back of it I was amazed to find an old dirt road that I had never seen before. It was full of muddy type tracks and deep woods bordered it on both sides, but exploring it still seemed like a fine adventure.

    I walked on and on for what seemed like hours. I was sure my guardian angel was whispering in my ears "turn around and head back home", but I was stubborn and walked on. There was still neither a car nor a house in sight I noticed that the sun was starting to go down and I grew scared I didn't want to end up trapped on this road, and I was worried that it would be dark before I could make my way back to the lake again.

    I continued to walk on with something growing inside of me. My heart was pounding and my legs were aching. I was almost in tears when I saw something in the distance. It was a house that I recognized. I jumped up and down and laughed out loud. It was still over a mile away, but my legs felt like feathers and I hurried back to my house in no time. I walked in with a big smile on my face just in time for dinner. Then I ended my adventure with a good night's sleep.

    I often thought of that experience recently. Actually, in our life, all roads, no matter how they twist and turn, can lead us home again. They can lead us to our homes in our hearts. May you always walk your path with love! May you always help your fellow travelers along the way! And may your roads always lead you home again!

    Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.

    In 1849, after graduation from medical school. She decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.

    Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.

    Next month, I'm traveling to a remote area of Central Africa and my aim is to know enough Lingala — one of the local languages — to have a conversation. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage this — until I discovered a way to learn all the vocabulary I'm going to need. Thanks to Memrise, the app I'm using. It feels just like a game.

    "People often stop learning things because they feel they're not making progress or because it all feels like too much hard work," says Ed Cooke, one of the people who created Memrise. "We're trying to create a form of learning experience that is fun and is something you'd want to do instead of watching TV."

    Memrise gives you a few new words to learn and these are "seeds" which you plant in your "greenhouse". When you practice the words, you "water your plants". When the app believes that you have really remembered a word, it moves the word to your "garden". And if you forget to log on (登录)，the app sends you emails that remind you to "water your plants".

    The app uses two principles about learning. The first is that people remember things better when they link them to a picture in their mind. Memrise translates words into your own language, but it also encourages you to use "mems". For example, I memorized motele, the Lingala word for "engine", using a mem I created — I imagined an old engine in a motel (汽车旅馆) room.

    The second principle is that we need to stop after studying words and then repeat them again later, leaving time between study sessions. Memrise helps you with this, because it's the kind of app you only use for five or ten minutes a day.

    I've learnt hundreds of Lingala words with Memrise. I know this won't make me a fluent speaker, but I hope I'll be able to do more than just smile when I meet people in Congo. Now, I need to go and water my Vocabulary!