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.

    A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.

    A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn't it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond”.

    Soon all the town have heard about the man's answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.

    However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieve.

    When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It's just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”

    Books at Amazon: Best sellers of the month—Feb, 2018

    Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi—February 6, 2018

    Hardcover: $15.91Audio CD: $29.99

    An extraordinary novel. Freshwater explores the amazing experience of having another self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” Freshwater is a sharp call of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that shows how we all construct our identities.

    Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur—February 16, 2018

    Hardcover: $ 18. 00 Paperback: $ 8.99 Audio CD: $8.99

    A collection of poetry and prose (散文)about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse(虐待), love, loss, and femininity (女性). It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere; if you are just willing to look.

    Educated by Tara Westover—February 13, 2018

    Hardcover: $ 16.80 Paperback: $ 28.00 Audio book: $6.00 Audio CD: $8.99

    An unforgettable biography about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the sadness that comes from severing one's closest ties.

    Force of Nature by Jane Harper—February 20, 2018

    Hardcover: $17.10 Paperback: $ 23.41 Audio book: Free Audio CD: $ 34. 15

    An attractive novel from the author of the Sunday Times top 10 best seller. Five women go on a hike. Only four return. When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path. But one of the women doesn't come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

    “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Similarly, if we drink a little more water every day, we may find that we need to go to the doctor a lot less often. A healthy diet is made up of water and a great many different kinds of foods. We know that healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and fish, are important as they provide us with energy and fiber, without giving us too much fat and sugar. But why is water important?

    The human body needs water to survive. Water is important as it carries poisons and waste out of our bodies. However, doctors advise us to drink plenty of water, much more than the small amount we need to stay alive.

    Some doctors believe that water is important for our health in all kinds of ways. They believe that a great many illnesses and health problems start as a result of dehydration(脱水)—a lack of water in the body. Most people are dehydrated at least some of time, although they probably don't know it. It is surprising to learn that if we feel thirsty, we are already in the first stage of dehydration. In fact, we are advised to drink water before we feel thirsty.

    These doctors think that health problems such as headaches, high blood pressure and asthma(哮喘) could be helped if people drink more water. They also believe that drinking more water can help people who are overweight. Water contains no calories so it will not make us put on weight. If we drink water, we will probably drink less sugary soft drinks such as Coca-cola. Doctors also believe that drinking more water may stop people from overeating. They say that many people think that they are hungry when they are, in fact, thirsty. Doctors suggest, therefore, that we eat less food and drink more water. There are still many health problems that cannot be solved by drinking water, so we should not stop going to seeing the doctor completely. However, if we make a decision to drink water every day, we may find that we need to go to the doctor a lot less often.

    Feeding birds is a popular way to watch wildlife. But experts say it might put wild birds at risk.

    Feeding birds is not necessary for their survival except in extreme weather conditions. Feeders(喂食器)can definitely help birds get through that kind of weather. But most birds eat insects and show little interest in bird feeders. For those birds, we can grow native plants in a natural environment. Birds which are fond of eating seeds will be more likely to come to feeders if there is some cover nearby. This lets them feed and then fly to protective areas, such as in trees.

    The most common mistake people make with their bird feeders is that they put feeders in places where birds are easily frightened by passers-by, risk being hurt by cats, or risk flying into windows.

    So set up a bird feeder at least one meter away from a window. That way, if a bird gets frightened, it won't get killed when it hits the glass. Owners of cats should keep them inside home so they can't hurt the birds.

    Some birds are more aggressive at feeders. They eat a lot and do not leave much food for other birds. A solution is to put the food in more than one place by using different kinds of seeds or fruits. This can also increase the number and diversity of birds in your neighborhood. But don't feed wild birds anything salty, like potato chips, or food that could choke them, like bread.

    Pay attention to food quality and freshness. Unprotected food left too long in feeders will turn moldy(发霉), which can kill wildlife.

    Another word of advice: Always provide a supply of clean water for birds, but use care when looking for the right birdbath. If the birdbaths are too deep for birds, putting a few large stones in the water can give the birds a place to sit.

    Any foreigner who has tried to learn Chinese can tell how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges.

    Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese. Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience，researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on the same parts of the brain that help people discover changes in pitch(音调).

    One of the study's authors，Nina Kraus，said the findings suggested that studying music "actually tunes our sensory system" .This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs，Dr. Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.

    Mandarin(普通话)speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding(编码) of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is because in Mandarin and other Asian languages，pitch plays a central role. A single­syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.

    For this study，the researchers looked at 20 non­Chinese speaking volunteers，half with no musical background and half who have studied an instrument for at least six years.

    As they were shown a movie，the volunteers also heard an audio tape of the Mandarin word “mi” in three of its meanings: squint，bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activities in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds. Those with a music background showed much more brain activities in response to the Chinese sounds.

    The lead author of the study，Patrick C.M. Wong，said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments.