On Nov.18th,1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Augusta Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.

    Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to change its weight. It was for use over the sea. They were also carrying some bags of sand.

    After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 metres, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand; but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.

    At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 metres! Everything became icy. They were so cold that they decided to land. They came down in Poland heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometers from London!

    People around the world are superstitious about numbers; even those ancient Greeks believed that all numbers and their multiples had some mystical significance.

    Those numbers between 1 and 13 were in particular to have a powerful influence over the affairs of men.

    For example, it is commonly said that luck, good or bad, comes in threes; if an accident happens, two more of the same kind may be expected soon afterwards. The arrival of a letter will be followed by two others within a certain period.

    Another belief involving the number three has it that it is unlucky to light three cigarettes from the one match. If this happens, the bad luck that goes with the deed falls upon the person whose cigarette was the last to be lit. The ill-men linked to the lighting of three things from one match or candle goes back to at least the 17th century and probably earlier. It was believed that three candles alight at the same time would be sure to bring bad luck; one, two, or four, were permissible, but never just three.

    Seven was another significant number, usually regarded as a bringer of good luck. The ancient astrologers believed that the universe was governed by seven planets; students of Shakespeare will recall that the life of man was divided into seven ages. Seven horseshoes nailed to a house will protect it from all evil.

    Nine is usually thought of as a lucky number because it is the product of three times three. It was much used by the Anglo Saxons in their charms for healing.

    Another belief was that great changes occurred every 7th and 9th of a man's life. Consequently, the age of 63 (the product of nine and seven) was thought to be a very perilous time for him. If he survived his 63rd year he might hope to live to a ripe old age.

    Thirteen, as we well know, is regarded with great awe and fear. The common belief is that this derives from the fact that there were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper. This being the eve of his betrayal, it is not difficult to understand the significance given to the number by the early Christians.

    In more modern times 13 is an especially unlucky number of a dinner party, for example. Hotels will avoid numbering a floor the 13th; the progression is from 12 to 14, and no room is given the number 13. Many home owners will use 12 1/2 instead of 13 as their house number.

    Yet oddly enough, to be born on the 13th of the month is not regarded with any fear at all, which just shows how irrational we are in our superstitious beliefs.

    The Boy Made It!  One Sunday, Nicholas,a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine．In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area．Unable to see far,he accidentally turned off the path．Before he knew it,Nicholas was lost,all alone!He didn't have food,water,a phone,or other supplies．He was getting colder by the minute．

    Nicholas had no idea where he was．He tried not to panic．He thought about all of the survival shows he had watched on TV．It was time to put the tips he had learned to use．

    He decided to stop skiing．There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put．The first thing he did was to find shelter from the freezing wind and snow．If he didn't,his body temperature would get very low,which could quickly kill him．

    Using his skis,Nicholas built a snow cave．He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle．Then he piled branches on top of himself,like a blanket,to stay as warm as he could．

    By that evening,Nicholas was really hungry．He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn't lose too much water．Not knowing how much longer he could last,Nicholas did the only thing he could—he huddled(蜷缩)in his cave and slept．

    The next day,Nicholas went out to look for help,but he couldn't find anyone．He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave,because without shelter,he could die that night．On Tuesday,Nicholas went out again to find help．He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him．After two days stuck in the snow,Nicholas was saved．

Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV．He had often watched Grylls' survival show —-Man vs．Wild． That's where he learned the tips that saved his life．In each episode(一期节目) of Man vs．Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out．

    When Grylls heard about Nicholas' amazing deeds,he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive．

    Experts say there are about 6, 500 languages spoken throughout the world. But the United Nations estimates that about half of these languages are in danger of disappearing.

    One non-profit organization seeking to save world languages is a New York-based group called Wikitongues. Officials from Wikitongues say the organization has a simple goal: to provide the tools and support that people need to save their languages.

    Udell is the co-founder of Wikitongues. He said when a language disappears, many other things can go away as well. For example, parts of a community's culture, knowledge and identity can also be lost. Because of this. Udell believes the process of bringing languages back must be done by community members themselves, “from the ground up,” he said.

    “There is no way an outside organization can save someone's language for them.”

    Wikitongues was launched in 2016 as an open internet collection of world languages. The self-described “community” is operated by volunteers from around the world. The collection is in the form of language videos that people add to the Wikitongues website.

    There are currently more than 400 languages and dialects represented on Wikitongues' YouTube channel. Udell says more than 1,500 people from 70 different countries have added videos to the system.

    “We have people from India who record dozens of languages, which is beyond their own.” he said.

    One of Wikitongues'volunteers is Kolokwe, who lives in Namibia. His native language is Subiya, however, he does not get the chance to speak his native language every day. Like many other educated people from his area, he speaks a lot of English and Afrikaans.

    Kolokwe is hoping his involvement with Wikitongues call help keep Subiya and other African languages from going extinct. He wants the world to know about his language. But his goal goes beyond just sharing his language with others through video. He is also working to create a dictionary and language teaching materials that can be used in schools.

    A few months after Wu Xingu was congratulated by teachers for graduating from the university, the 23-year-old has been making his dream of relieving tens of thousands of teachers in China from drowning in marking papers(改卷) a reality.

    Yitiku, an online software system based on Wu's idea, eases the workload of teachers by doing many of the functions that they did, such as selecting the test questions, forming an exam paper, and preparing exercises for the students.

    The features of Yitiku may sound quite simple, but this idea won his company millions of dollars from China's Internet giant Tencent in January. The unexpectedly successful fund raising story became a popular conversation starter among the people in the education business.

    "I can say it's quite an achievement for me and our company. As far as I know, I'm the first CEO born after 1990s that Tencent has invested (投资) in, and we are the first online education company they have invested in." Wu Xingyu told China Daily.

Different from other online companies that treat students as clients (客户), Yitiku has chosen teachers as their focus. "We make the work of teachers easy. Usually it takes two to three hours for them to prepare a new exam paper. Now it's just three clicks." said Wu. He is quite satisfied with the major feature of the software.

    Sitting in his 10-square-meter office in Zhonguancun, a hub of innovation (创新) in Beijing, Wu looks confident and chatty when talking about his business. His fast-speed answers give people an impression that he has years of experience in the online education sector. The fact is that he had been putting most of attention in directing courses at an art college until about a year ago.

    Happy birthday! Do birthdays really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthdays celebrate the day we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity (成熟)— or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we're getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the miracle(奇迹) of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process(过程). But growing old? That's a different story.

    Growing old is not exactly pleasant for people in youth-oriented(以年轻人为中心) American culture. Most Americans like to look young,act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, "You're as young as you feel." Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old. People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom. But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least "young at heart."

    Many older Americans find the "golden years" to be anything but golden. Economically, "senior citizens" often struggle just to get by. Retirement(退休) at age 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income. Social security(安全) benefits usually cannot make up the difference. Older people may suffer from poor nutrition(营养), medical care and housing. Some even experience age discrimination. In 1987, American sociologist Pat Moore dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets. She was often treated rudely — even cheated and robbed. However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect.

    Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast. Why? People are living longer. Fewer babies are being born. And middle-aged "baby boomers" are rapidly entering the groups of the elderly. America may soon be a place where wrinkles(皱纹) are "in". Marketing experts are already noticing this growing group of consumers.