The poaching（偷猎）, or illegal killing, of rhinos(犀牛) in South Africa is growing worse each year．The government recently reported that a record number of rhinos were poached in 2015，a year which had more rhino killings in South Africa than ever before.

    The World Wildlife Fund，or WWF，says about 20, 000 rhinos live in South Africa．That is more than 80 percent of the rhinos in the world．Edna Molewa，South Africa's Environment Minister，says, “During 2015，we are sad to say this，1,215 rhinos were killed．This is a rise in the number of poached rhinos from 1,004 in 2014 and indeed very worrying.”

    The animals are hunted for their horns(角)．Many people in Asia believe the horn has curing power，which drives poachers， at all costs，mad for more horns． But there is no scientific evidence for this belief．The horn is made of keratin(角蛋白)．That is the same thing as human hair，fingernails and toenails.

    Ms．Molewa said 386 suspected poachers were arrested last year，an increase from the year before．But rhino protection workers say poachers often go unpunished after arrest． South Africa's legal system is ineffective． Ms． Mo1ewa said more needs to be done and South Africa is taking strong measures to protect rhinos．The efforts include moving some of the animals to secret places in neighboring countries. “Now approximately 100 rhinos have been moved to neighboring states in the SADC region during 2015 and 200 more rhinos will be moved this year,” Molewa said.

    Jo Shaw，the rhino program manager at the WWF，said， “We're talking about a loss of a hundred rhinos a month，or more than three a day．We really need to see effective action not just at a national level but internationally．” She says officials should find the criminal groups responsible for the poaching and punish them. Government officials are to meet in Botswana in March at the Inter-governmental Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade.

    It was the day after Halloween when my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with the worst headache she'd ever had. While posing in our costumes the night before, we knew something was wrong, just not how wrong.

    Grandma's house was the central gathering place of my family. Sunday lunches, birthday dinners, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas — all were our traditions, with her as hostess. While my parents were busy running their small business, there were many nights when Grandma fed me and put me to bed in her spare room, until they came to get me. I spent my summers at Grandma's and I went everywhere with her. I couldn't imagine a time when she wouldn't be around me.

    Then November 1,1991 began her month-long stay in the hospital—she suffered from a rare infection (感染)called nocardia asteroides. After being born in the year of the Great Depression, living through World War II, raising three kids, and being widowed at the age of 48, Grandma never expected to live into her seventies. The infection in her brain seemed to confirm that she wasn't long for this world. But that's not the end of her story. A team of doctors successfully removed the abscess(脓肿), and Grandma even made it into a local medical journal. Her doctor called her “the brain lady”.

    Grandma celebrated her 85^th birthday in March this year. In the almost 23 years since her recovery, she's seen two of her four grandchildren get married and welcomed three great-grandsons. Although they damage something in her house, she loves it when my two boys come over. And while I know they make her day, seeing her love blossom for another generation makes my day too. Happy Grandparents' Day to my amazing grandmother!

C

    The idea of spending a year away from home is something that attracts nearly everyone. So why is taking a gap year still considered the wild card（百搭牌）?

    Choosing to take a year out can help you gain valuable experience as well as give you the opportunity to save up some funds to help you with accommodations when you go to university.

    For a teenage student, the prospect of providing for yourself, miles away from home, can be discouraging. But with an increasing number of gap year companies providing travel and trips abroad to suit any need, it is becoming easier to tailor a dream trip.

    You can also find gap year companies that cover everything from internships（实习）abroad to paid work and volunteering. Such companies offer ideas and inspiration to kick-start your travelling dream.

    But gap years don't have to be all about travel. You can have a beneficial year out of education and stay right where you are. Stephanie Wood wants to be a mental health nurse, but with related health courses being some of the most exclusive and competitive around, she is taking a year off from education in order to gain an edge through work experience: “My plan is to get a job that directly relates to my course for the next few months. Working there over a stretch of time will both give me an impression and insight into the working world of nursing—knowledge to help me through university when I choose to go.”

    Gap years aren't for everyone. Readjusting to an academic timetable after spending time abroad can be a shock. You also need to consider the practicalities, from financing your gap year to surviving without home comforts.

    Five million people visit Grand Canyon in the US every year. For the purpose of helping project Grand Canyon for your fellow visitors and future generations, please follow the guidelines below.

   Camping

    To project the park, camping is allowed only within permitted campgrounds. Permits are required for overnight camping at the North Rim. Advance booking can be received by mail. Please write: Information Center, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023

    Fires

    Because of the extreme fire danger, campfires are not allowed except at Mather and Desert View campgrounds. Collection of firewood is not allowed either.

    Hiking

    Please stay on permitted paths. Otherwise you may destroy desert plants. Pack out what you pack in, so you leave no signs of your visit. It is important to keep in mind that you are in a national park where wildlife exists.

    Weather

    The weather at Grand Canyon can change very quickly. With so much rock, lightning causes a particular danger during sudden summer storms. These storms also frequently bring floods inside valleys, a danger to hikers. Watch the skies and check daily weather reports.

    Wildlife

    Do not feed park wildlife. There have been a few cases at Grand Canyon National Park where deer were purposely shot because they ate plastic bags that left them sick and weak. Hungry deer can be danger and have kicked and bitten visitors at Grand Canyon. Some other animals will also beg and bite. For your own safety and the well-being of the animals, please do not feed wildlife, no matter how gentle they may appear.

    Measles (麻疹) is only found in human beings. There is a highly effective and safe vaccine (疫苗) for the disease. So, in theory, measles could be destroyed.

    Yet the number of measles cases is on the rise.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that, in the first three months of 2019, the number of cases is three times higher than it was last year. Africa alone has had a 700 percent increase compared to last year.

    The Democratic Republic of Congo reported 67,000 measles cases and 901 measles-related deaths in 2018. This year, WHO officials have noted more than 40, 000 suspected measles cases in the country. That number includes 284 measles-related deaths in the first weeks of 2019. Between September 2018 and February 2019, Madagascar reported over 67, 000 measles cases, including 828 deaths.

    Dr. Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in the USA, said that one in 10 children who get infected with measles will get an ear infection that could cause deafness. One in 20 would get pneumonia. One in a thousand would get brain swelling, and one to three per thousand would die. To say that measles is a slight disease is completely incorrect.

    Walter Orenstein is with the Emory University Vaccine Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has spent his life working to end measles. Orenstein says possible effects of the disease are worse in poor countries. In those countries children are already at greater risk. They may be malnourished (营养不良的). They may have damaged immune systems. They may be underweight and may have no access to health care so measles is a big killer, he said.

    You have a 90 percent chance of getting measles if you have not been vaccinated and you come in contact with someone who has it. Dr. Rebecca Martin is the Director of the Center for Global Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. She is working to remove measles from Africa completely. It is very infectious. It will find nearly everybody who is not protected against measles, Martin said.

    Health experts advise patients to get two treatments of the measles vaccine. U.S. health officials say educating parents about both the disease and the vaccine is an important step in stopping the spread. Equally important is making vaccination a top goal of health systems worldwide.

What makes preschoolers eat their vegetables? Raise their hand? Wait their turn? "Because I say so" is a comment that parents often repeat. But when it comes to getting kids to behave, a recent study by Duke University researchers suggests that the voice of adult authority isn't the only thing that matters. Around age three, fitting in with the group starts to count big too.

To understand what cause preschoolers to fall    in    line, the researchers conducted a test in a lab, where they invited 3.5-year-olds to help set up for a pretend tea party. Each of the 104 children was given a blue sticker (贴纸) to wear at the start of the study, and told that the people with that color sticker were part of the same team. Next the researchers watched as the children decided among different kinds of teas, snacks, cups and plates for the tea party, first on their own and then after listening to the choices of other team members.

Sometimes the other team members considered their choice as a matter of personal preference ("For my tea party today, I feel like using this snack.") Other times they presented it as a need shared by the whole group. ("For our tea parties today, we always use this kind of snack.")

After listening to the choices of others, most of the time the children stuck with their first choice. In other words, children who had said they felt like using, say, the cookie finally picked the cookie no matter what the other person said they were using. But 23% of the time the children changed their choice to accept someone else's. And when they did, they were more likely to go along with the other person when a choice was presented as a group need rather than just a personal preference. The finding held up even when the other person was another child, not an adult.