Amelia Earhart was born in America in 1897. As a little girl, she could climb trees and catch rats. When she was seven years old, she discovered she was interested in flying. In 1920, Amelia took a plane and knew she had to fly! Just days after that, she took her first flying lesson. Six months later, she bought her own plane!

    A Life-Changing Flight On June 18^th, 1928, Amelia became world-famous because she flew across the Atlantic with others as the first woman. And then she was called the “Queen of the Air”.

Making and Breaking Records Although Amelia was well-known in the flight, she never stopped practicing. In 1932, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic by herself, and later in 1935, she was the first person to fly over the Pacific from Hawaii to California by herself.

    The Last Flight When her 40th birthday was coming, Amelia prepared for her biggest challenge-an around-the-world flight. On June 1, 1937, she began her 46, 671-kilometer flight. Something unlucky happened on June 29. She never came back again.

    I was 8 years old when I found out my father was ill. It was 1993, but I can remember my mother's words as if it were yesterday. “Jessica, I don't want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.”

    AIDS wasn't something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 11, his condition worsened. My father's other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him.

    We couldn't afford all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work. I had no money for school supplies and often couldn't even buy food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher's words muffled as I was thinking how I was going to manage.

    I didn't share my burden (负担) with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside even though he was too weak to feed himself.

    I had known that he was going to die. But after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit (非营利的) National AIDS Support. That day, she kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life.

    I was 14 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn't want to call attention to AIDS. I do.

    What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on the average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively (相对地) short period of time, so we may suppose that man will continue to grow taller.

    Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity (容量.) As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and finally we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too. The head, especially the forehead, will grow larger.

    Nowadays our eyes are being used too much. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.                      

    On the other hand, we tend (有…的趋势) to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive (敏感的) because they are used a great deal in modern life.

    What about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both men and women are probably to be hairless!

    Perhaps, all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive (有吸引力的) person to look at! This may well be true. All the same, besides these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and feelings similar to our own.

    There is a new park near Andy's home. It's fine today. Andy and his family are in the park now. On their left, there is a café. On their right, there is a big lake. There are many flowers and trees around the lake. There's a small hill behind the lake. Near the lake, there are two signs. One says, “Don't swim in the lake!” The other says, “No fishing!” But you can go boating on the lake. There is a beautiful garden in the middle of the park. There are green grass and beautiful flowers in it. There are some small shops between the lake and the garden. The park is so beautiful. Andy and his family like it very much.

This summer, my family and I visited Bama in Guangxi, a place famously known as the"longevity village"(长寿村). Many elders there 1 to be over 100 years old. Knowing that the average human lifespan (寿命) in China is around 78 years,I was 2 about this amazing place and wanted to find out what makes it so special.

Upon arrival the first thing I noticed was the fresh and clean air. Local people say there is more oxygen there due to the 3 population and the richness of plants. Bama was cool and a bit humid 4 it was mid-August, making it perfect for a walk.

On the second day, we 5 Bama's famous"magnetic cave"(磁洞). It is believed that the strong magnetic field inside can help people live longer and treat various diseases. Although there is no scientific practice, I felt 6 after spending some time inside.

For meals, we had soup dishes that, according to the locals, could increase appetite(食欲) and make people 7 . The soup was just a mix of tofu, lettuce, and water, but I had two bowls. I didn't notice any increase in intelligence, but I did eat more than usual after having the soup. I also observed that the villagers 8 ate meat and mostly ate vegetables and tofu. Each dish was so delicious that I couldn't wait for it to 9 , and by the end of the meal, I was sweating.

After 10 Bama myself, I believe that the environment and eating habits are the key reasons why this village is so special and helps people live long lives.