My great-grandmother, Ethel, came from England to the United States in 1921. She brought almost nothing with her-just a few clothes and trinkets(小饰物). But she did bring some customs from "the old country" that she had learned as she grew up.

    One custom was that if you dropped a glass or a cup and it broke, you would throw a little salt over your left shoulder. It was funny that she did that-she wasn't superstitious(迷信的) in other ways. I think that she grew up doing that, so she continued to do it as a connection to her childhood.

    Ethel also taught us a New Year's Day custom that our family continues to follow today. To celebrate the new year, we would travel to a friend's house for a quick visit. My great-grandmother always took a pound of butter with her on our visits. We would enter the friend's house through the back door. The butter we brought was to give our friend a "gift of gold" to symbolize hope for prosperity in the new year.

    After my great-grandmother died, we still visited people on the first day of January, but eventually we stopped bringing the butter. We never did throw salt over our shoulders after breaking a glass or a cup. Some customs are continued when they cross from one country to another, but some customs fade away.

    Thanks to the hybrid rice that was discovered by Yuan Longping, the hunger problem of thousands of Chinese people was mostly fixed in the 1980s.

    On Sept 8^th, Yuan, together with two other scientists, won China's 2018 Future Science Prize, for his continuous research on rice. Even on his 88th birthday on Sept 7^th, he took part in the International Development Forum of Rice Production in Hunan province. Although he was recovering from an illness at the time, he was happy to talk to reporters about his latest work on seawater rice.

    Yuan has been researching on rice since he was at college. In 1964, he discovered a natural hybrid rice plant in Hainan. Since then, he has focused on developing high﹣yield, hybrid rice varieties(多样性). In 1973. he became the first to successfully cultivate(培育) a type of hybrid rice species in the world. With the hard work of Yuan's group for about ten years, the production of the rice was increased.(From 150 kg per mu (亩) to 500 kg per mu and more. )These varieties now take up about two thirds of China's rice crop, according to China News. So, it's no wonder that he's known as the "Father of Hybrid Rice".

    And because of China's Belt and Road (一带一路)initiative. Yuan's hybrid rice is helping to solve food problems around the world. Indeed, according to Xinhua News Agency, hybrid rice plants in Kenya produce four to five times more rice than the country's usual nice plants.

    With a rising fame all over the world, Yuan gave a speech in English at the 9th Shandong High﹣Level Talents Forum in Qingdao last year. His speech made him an internet sensation. Beginning with" I speak broken English", his 20﹣minute speech turned out to be a huge success, with barely any pauses or mistakes. The humble Yuan was simply being modest during his speech. According to an article in 1999 by CNN, the scientist speaks both English and Russian fluently. "I never need an interpreter when I go overseas," he told the US news network.

    But in spite of his great knowledge, Yuan understands that even the wisest people should still be open to learn new things. "The farmers of our country possess rich experience in planting rice," he told Xinhua." We should learn from them."

    Jeff Corwin is a scientist and author. He does these jobs with one life goal: to help save animals and their habitats. His latest book, 100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth's Most Endangered Species, is a collection of stories about animals on the edge(边缘) of extinction. Corwin recently talked to TFK kid reporter Sarah Horbacewicz.

Reporter: How would you describe your job?

Corwin: My job is to travel around, look at animals and tell their stories.

Reporter: When did you know this is what you wanted to do?

Corwin: I knew that when I was 6 years old. My dad was a police officer, and we lived in the city. I really enjoyed the time when I could go to the quiet countryside. The day that I saw my very first wild snake, I knew that's what I would do for the rest of my life. I didn't know if I would be a teacher or a zookeeper, but I know I would have a life connected with (与……有关) nature.

Reporter: Why did you write the book?

Corwin: We're losing species(物种) very fast. I wanted to show people that while we are in a very serious situation, we are not at the point of no return. If we make big changes, we may have the chance to save what remains.

Reporter: Is it true that humans are the reason that many of these animals are in danger?

Corwin: Human beings have a powerful effect on every other living thing. The challenge is to make that effect a positive one.

My name is Tony. I' m a Canadian boy. I' m thirteen. I' m a high school student. I' m in Class Two, Grade Seven. Edna and Max are my good friends. They are from the USA. We'  re in the same class. They are twelve. Edna has big eyes, a big nose and a wide mouth. She has blond hair. And Max has black hair and a big nose.