It was with heavy hearts that my son and I worked to prepare his car for a milestone journey—the day he moved across the country after twenty years of living under my roof．

    Our work went slowly into the afternoon．The Sunday baseball game came on．Our hometown Cardinals were playing the Atlanta Braves．I overheard bits of the TV broadcast—Atlanta took a two-run lead as we were packing the trunk．After that I became absorbed in glum thoughts about his departure and forgot about the game．Suddenly I heard the door open．“Dad，”he said，“let's watch the game．They're only down by a run．”

    His red-colored eyes instantly told me that he，too，found this to be difficult and wanted to share one last father-son moment．Without hesitation I led the way to the TV set．There，we found the Cards losing 3—1．“Oh，”he said，“they're down two runs．”His voice cracked with doubt．“I thought they were coming back．”“That's fine，”I said，wanting so much to string this moment．“Let's watch anyway．”

    The Cards got to bat last．First a single，and then another．Suddenly the game became very interesting．When David Eckstein parked the third pitch(投球)into the seats，we were transformed，jumping up and down．That's when the magic moment came．The sadness of that day was replaced by the exciting baseball game，something we had done many times together before．

    Then he left．It was a sad day when I helped my son pack and get ready to move away to college．But this moment of joy mixed with sadness made the day，the trip and our life seem so right．

    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(惊慌). He thought about all 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 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 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 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.

    For centuries, mankind and dogs have suffered from a communication failure. We can tell dogs what we want them to do and sometimes they comply, but we've always struggled when it comes to understanding the true meaning of their barks and whimpers. There is exciting news now – a dog translator has been invented to help you communicate with your furry friend.

    Researchers at North Carolina State University have fashioned some kind of miracle dog translator body harness(束腰带). What's special about it is that it doesn't just rely on the dog's vocalizations to interpret what Fido is banging on about.

    Oh no – this miracle harness reads and interprets the ordinary dogs' body language as well, giving us a full two-way dog communication experience.

    Researcher David Roberts says: "Dogs communicate primarily through body language, and one of our challenges was to develop sensors that tell us about their behavior by observing their posture remotely."

    Sensors on the harness monitor the dog's heart rate and body temperature and software builds up a vocabulary, letting the human know what the dog is feeling.

    What would dogs say if they could talk to us? The human can even communicate back through the harness thanks to vibration motors, supposedly by tapping into the dog's senses so that it can understand what you're trying to say to it.

    The dog harness is designed for dogs involved in search and rescue and other front-line work, but it's got us dreaming of a beautiful future, one where humans and dogs can co-exist as equals, with the dog able to fully express itself at all times.

    Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit(联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech, independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.

    Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalization and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.

    At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have fewer languages spoken by many people while hot, wet zones have more, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 Languages: the Americas about 1,000, Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that.

    Now over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. None of these seems to have chances of survival.

    The annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland, in Jan. 23-26, 2018. What did Chinese entrepreneurs(企业家)speak in the forum? Are there some quotable quotes for you?

    ★Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group

    "I think globalization cannot be stopped — no one can stop globalization, no one can stop trade. If trade stops, the world stops. Trade is the way to dissolve (结束) the war not cause the war," said Ma in Davos, "Google, Facebook, Amazon and Alibaba — we are the luckiest companies of this century. But we have the responsibility to have a good heart, and do something good."

    ★Richard Liu, founder and chief executive officer of JD

    "Business is not only a way to make money but also a way to contribute yourself, to help people," Liu said in a speech in Davos. "How can we face the fractured (分化的) world? That's the topics of the Davos this year. I think a very important thing in business is cooperation. If we can unite, work together, if we work very closely, I think we can bring more hope to the people and we can build more trust between the people, countries and companies and partners," he said.

    ★Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip

    "Tourism is a sunrise industry. Since I entered Ctrip, every year there are new comers, which, first of all, shows that tourism is booming." Sun told Sina.com in Davos. "We invested heavily in ABC.A refers to AI, B is big data, and C is cloud computing. As we continue to expand overseas, these three will be very good weapons for us. So we think those mean opportunity," she said.

    ★Hu Xiaoming, president of Aliyun

    "In 2018, people will see the development in various countries more closely connected with cloud computing. More manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions will start to use 'cloud', and cloud computing will increase the efficiency of technology and finance," Hu told Xinhua in Davos.

    Need a fall fix? Try one from these great places.

    ⒈Mackinac Island, Michigan

    The only way to reach this famed car-free island is by boat and ferry, and once visitors arrive, they are attracted by the history, scenery and fall colors. "It's a throwback to years past, a little town, and there's a big state park as well," Blackwell says. "You're allowed to have boats all around the island."

    ⒉Tellico Lake, Tennessee

    With nearly 400 miles of shoreline, this waterway flowing out of the Great Smoky Mountains is largely unexploited, well-protected in its natural state. Fall visitors find a range of colors reflecting in the clean waters, says Blackwell, who vacationed in the area with his family as a child. "The thick forest there just allows you to see more greenery and wildlife."

    ⒊Dillon Reservoir, Colorado

    With an hour from Denver, this lake is home to what claims to be the nation's highest sailing club, at an altitude of more than 9,000 feet. Marinas in the towns of Dillon and Frisco make it easy to get out on the water and to see the bright yellows and golds of fall leaves. "People are surprised that there's boating in Colorado, and you can see the mountains just before the snowball," Blackwell says.

    ⒋Lake Monroe, Indiana

    The state's largest lake is surrounded by more than 13,000 acres of protected forest and three recreation areas, making it an ideal place to see fall colors, particularly from oaks and the tulip poplar, the state tree. " It's a gem (宝石) in southern Indiana," says Blackwell, who grew up in the area. "There are lots of different activities: canoeing, kayaking and fishing."