In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies,“No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”

    The city planners decided to build an underground drainage(排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.

    An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.

    This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire bulidings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?

    That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews(螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stayed open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.

    Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.

    Like to watch TV or play with your phone while you eat your dinner?Watch out—it could make you pile on the pounds.Not paying attention to our food makes us tend to more snacking later.

    Over a series of experiments were carried out by researchers.For the first experiment,39 normal-weight young women were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a high-distraction group,a low-distraction group,and a no-distraction group.Each person was given the same 400-calorie lunch consisting of several food items presented in a fixed order,and instructed to eat all of the items.

    In the high-distraction group,the women were told to play a computer game while eating,and that they would win money if they did well.In the low-distraction group they were just told to play the game while eating; and in the third group they were just told to eat their lunch.Later in the afternoon,each participant had access to a variety of biscuits on a plate,and the amount each person ate was assessed by weighing the plate before and afterwards.

    There was a significant difference between the groups.Those in the high-distraction condition ate 69 per cent more snacks than the no-distraction group,and those in the low-distraction group eating 28 per cent more (than those in the no-distraction group) .

    A second experiment,involving a further 63 people,was similar,but involved watching TV (in the distraction condition) and eating soup and bread.This found that those who watched TV while eating their lunch ate 19 per cent more biscuits later on than those who had eaten their meal without any distractions.

    A third experiment was also carried out,in which 45 normal-weight people were allocated to three groups.The first listened to an audio clip instructing them to imagine they were watching themselves eat—making them extremely focused on their own food intake.The second listened to a clip instructing them to imagine they were watching a celebrity—specifically David Beckham—eat (making them still focused on the food,but to a lesser degree);the third,which was the control group,just ate their lunch in silence.When all participants were given access to biscuits later,those in the self-imagining group-i.e. those who had really paid attention to what they were eating—ate far fewer than the other groups.

    They say if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. We say if you travel for work, you'll never have a boring commute(上下班往返) a day in your life. If the typical 9-to-5 isn't working for you, here are some options that will pay you to travel. No matter your current skill set, you can probably do it somewhere else.

Represent abroad

    The State Department is actively hiring Foreign Service Officers, and it's probably easier than you think to become one. You'll have to a lot of tests, but if you pass, you'll spend the next years of your life working around the world. A Junior Foreign Service Officer starts at $71,000 a year.

    Teaching English as a Second Language abroad is one of the best ways to deepen understanding of another culture. There's no need to be a certified English teacher in order to go abroad. In this program in China, soon-to-be teachers go abroad to obtain their Teaching English as a Foreign Language(TEFL) certifications. A beginning teacher in China will earn $2,500 for working six months, plus room and board.

    A cruise ship is a floating village. Therefore, any job that you could have in a village you could have onboard a ship-even auctioneering(做拍卖师). Carnival is hiring an art auctioneer to work aboard a luxury cruise ship. The only qualifications necessary are a college degree and public speaking skills. Going…going…sold.

Write the rails

    Writers can reimagine themselves as rail-surfing Jack Kerouacs, crossing the country and writing from coast to coast on the Amtrak Writer's Residency. The application process consists of two questions, as well as the opportunity to provide up to a 20-page writing sample. Amtrak will select 24 writers to participate in the program with the help from a panel of judges. Although the project won't replace a full-time job, it's really a fun opportunity. The application period for 2016 has closed, but applications will reopen in the fall.

    A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in a garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.

    A biodegradable (生物所能分解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.

    Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and is able to change shape. Over time it can also break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it forms fertilizers. These feed the seed and help the flower grow.

    Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is throw n away. “We've only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time.” said one scientist.

    As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be throw n away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief for nature, according to the scientists.

    “The seed comes out and the flower grows in the pot so you don't have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.

    In the middle of the 19th century，a fever dream of riches beyond measure drew countless explorers west to the mountains of central California. Although the gold rush ended up being a bust for many who sought a fortune，some of those explorers discovered a natural treasure that would draw permanent settlers to Yosemite Valley in the following decade.

    Vast wilderness，beautiful mountains，countless waterfalls，and abundant wildlife drew Native Americans to Yosemite roughly 10，000 years ago. The first non-native tourists arrived in the mid-1850s after reports from gold seekers told of an area of breathtaking beauty that no words were able to describe.

    Fortunately，some of Yosemite's earliest settlers recognized that Yosemite's natural beauty and resources needed to be preserved for future generations. In the midst of the Civil War，President Abraham Lincoln signed a grant to protect Yosemite permanently，thus making it the nation's first land to be dedicated to recreation and setting the stage for what would become the national park system.

    One of Yosemite's earliest ambassadors was Scottish-American naturalist and writer John Muir. After living in Yosemite for a few years，he helped define its proposed boundaries. He also wrote articles that helped lead to its official title as a National Park in 1890.He later co-founded the Sierra Club in 1892 to advocate for its continued preservation and protection.

    Located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in central California，Yosemite National Park runs across nearly 748，000 acres，almost 95％of which is wilderness. Around four million visitors come to Yosemite each year to camp，hike its miles of trails，climb its rock formations，and photograph its impressive sights. Are you ready to visit Yosemite National Park? Which of Yosemite's sights would you most like to experience?

    Londoners are great readers. They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books-especially paperbacks, which are still comparatively cheap in spite of ever­increasing rises in the costs of printing. They still continue to buy "proper" books, too, printed on good paper and bound (装订) between hard covers.

    There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book­selling. Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London. Here bookshops of all sorts and sizes are to be found, from the celebrated one which boasts of being "the biggest bookshop in the world" to the tiny, dusty little places which seem to have been left over from Dickens' time. Some of these shops stock, or will obtain, any kind of books, but many of them specialize in second­hand books, in art books, in foreign books, in books on philosophy, politics or any other of the countless subjects about which books may be written. One shop in this area specializes only in books about ballet!

    Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books, Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest. For the really cheap second­hand books, the collector must venture off the beaten track, to Farringdon Road, for example, in the East Central district of London. Here there is nothing so impressive as bookshops. The booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small handcarts. And the collectors, some professionals and some amateurs, have been waiting for them. In places like this they can still, occasionally, pick up for a few pence an old one that may be worth many pounds.