Going green seems to be fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days.Whether that is good or bad，we can't really say, but for the two of us，going green is not a fad but a lifestyle．

    On April22nd，2011，We decided to go green every single day for an entire year．This meant doing 365 different green things，and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond easy things．Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green  things to do and this was no easy task．

    With the idea of going green every single day for a year .Our Green Year started．My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment．We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps．

    Over the course of our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyle．We now shop at organic(有机的) stores．We consume less meat, choosing green food．We have greatly reduced our buying we don't need．We have away half of what we owned through websites．Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made flesh bread .In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished．

    Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year．We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others .We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet．

    ①What is a place where you could find old pictures of camels carrying people to Mecca, Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯麦加),and also books about ancient Aztecs(阿芝 特克人) in Mexico ? It is all found in the World Digital Library (WDL). Its collection is available on the Internet.

    ②The librarian of the United States Congress, James Billington, established the WDL in 2009. And John Van Oudenaren is the director. They want it to include items that are both interesting and important, which encourages them to look for things from each country, each culture and each civilization. There are 170 partners in 79 countries sending material to it, including national or university libraries, museums and other cultural organizations.

    ③The library has 8,000 items, including whole books, ancient writings, music and photographs. Every item is annotated (注解)in the 6 official languages of the United Nations: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian plus Portuguese (葡萄牙语).

    ④Anyone may search the World Digital Library by subject, time period, kind of document or area of the world, whose website is www.wdl.org. Since 2009, 25 million people have visited the website from 250 places. The greatest number is from Spanish-speaking countries. The users include schools, researchers and anyone interested. A teacher from New York City said happily, “It is really wonderful to have a site where every kid in the class, no matter which country he/she is from or where his/her parents were from could search and find something about that country.”

    ⑤Mussa Maravl is a researcher for the WDL from Sudan, who works with all the materials that are in Arabic. He recently published rare photographs of Mecca from 1885. “These camels are, you know, lying their heads on the ground, which is very unusual for a camel. It means these camels have traveled so long, so far and half of those are very thin, too, meaning they have exhausted all the fat they have stored.”

    ⑥Mussa Maravl believes the library provides tools for understanding, especially among Arabs, Muslims and the United States. He says the WDL is posting many items about important developments in Arabic and Islamic science.

    When Lina was awoken by the sound of thunder, she was alone on the island. The air was cool and bullfrogs croaked. It was that brief moment when the summer sun had set but the stars hadn't yet appeared. Lina rubbed her eyes and looked around.

    "Hello?" she called. "Celia? Marie?"

    There was no response.

    The moon was rising now, shedding light on the island. They had always called it "Forgotten Island" because no one but they seemed to remember its existence. It wasn't on any of the maps they could find, and even the forest rangers didn't know about it. Lina loved that the island, hidden in a heavily-wooded side stream of the river, was a secret between the three friends -her, Celia, and Marie.

    But now Lina was here alone, and it was night. Worse still, it was her own fault.

    "Come on, Lina, let Marie row the boat." Celia had said. Marie was two years older than Lina, but she was a hopeless rower. That's why Lina refused and rowed the boat to the island. The argument that followed the refusal took the usual form. Celia took Marie's side, as she always did. Lina had exploded and yelled at them to just leave. So they got back in the boat and left.

    A bolt of lightning crossed the darkened sky, accompanied by a deafening thunder clap. The storm was here. As the first cold raindrop slid down her neck, Lina's mind returned to her current problem. She was stuck here by herself. She just hoped she didn't become as forgotten as the island. The thought of it sent a chill（寒意）down her back.

    Suddenly, Lina spotted something in the water. It was a boat, and inside it were Marie, Celia, and Marie's dad, who was steering through the fast flowing waters. As the boat approached, they saw Lina waving and the worried expressions on their faces turned to relief.

    In her excitement Lina jumped into the river. Only once she was in the icy water did she remember how fast the water was moving. Luckily a strong arm reached into the water and pulled her out. She smiled weakly at Marie's dad and, without a word, hugged Celia and Marie. They didn't seem to mind becoming wet.

    We have encountered a crisis around the corner. You mean global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Who's responsible?

Actually, it's more like, what is responsible? The Internet, of course, and everything that comes with it – Facebook, Twitter. You can write your own list.

    There's been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movies, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more literate than ever before – there are more and more readers, and more and more books.

    The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example.

    Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.

    As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures, and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.

    On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long "digests" of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration.

    In such a fast-changing world, in which reality seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.

    In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg's invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditional culture.

Luxury symbols of China, all-inclusive cruise and Mount Fuji adventure

From the architectural riches of China to the awe-inspiring beauty of Mount Fuji, discover wonders of the world during this epic adventure, paired with hotel stays in interesting cities and an all-inclusive cruise on board Silver Muse.

Days 1-3 Beijing—Hotel Stay and Tour

Discover China's greatest treasures during a fully accompanied tour, wonder at the weaving Great Wall of China, admire the Temple of Heaven and uncover history in the Forbidden City.

Days 4-5 Xi'an—Hotel Stay and Tour

Travel by fast train to Xi'an, one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Here you'll visit the Terracotta Army, one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world.

Day 6 Shanghai—Embark Silver Muse

Today you'll embark Silver Muse for your cruise to Osaka. Settle into your surroundings and choose from a wealth of dining experiences, personalise your suite to the finest detail— including your choice of perfume, toiletries and pillow—and get to know your personal butler who will keep your fridge stocked with your favourite drinks. Cruising with Silversea is simply impressive.

Days 7-9 Osaka—Disembark Silver Muse, Tokyo Hotel Stay and Tour

You'll disembark in Osaka and transfer to the airport for your flight to Tokyo. Japan's capital boasts an incredible combination of both modern and tradition as soaring neon skyscrapers gather next to ancient temples. During your three-night stay you'll embark on a fully accompanied tour of sacred Mount Fuji. Witness its splendid appearance during a ride on the Hakone Ropeway cable car, admire its quietness during a cruise trip across Lake Ashi and experience the speed of the bullet train as it whisks you back to Tokyo.

Days 10 Tokyo—Fly Home

  A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic

Genre: Fantasy

Number of Pages: 320

What's the basic story line?

Kai and Leila have never met, but their seemingly dull lives will be drawn together in unbelievable ways. Each girl is vacationing—Kai in Texas and Leila in Pakistan. Each girl finds a copy of a book called The Exquisite Corpse. Each book is blank, but when Kai writes a sentence, the book magically begins a story. When either girl writes another phrase, the book shows more. Whatever the girls are doing when they write—getting attacked by a dog, hunting for a rare species, accidentally buying a goat—helps to develop the plot of The Exquisite Corpse. It also makes reading A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic even more enjoyable.

Are the characters believable? Many aspects of the characters are realistic. Readers see that the characters, like all of us, can sometimes fail. Also, both characters have some unflattering (不讨人喜欢的) qualities, even though they're represented as "the good guys" in the story.

Who would like this book? Any lover of fantasy and stories about magic would enjoy this book. Readers who enjoy knowing things the characters don't, or who like being shocked by a huge plot twist (曲折的情节),will like this book.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this book? I would rate A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic a perfect 10, because of the creative story idea and the crazy plot twists that keep the reader turning page after page. I, for one, did not want the story to end.