Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.

    “I'll be the first millionaire in Clifford!” Richard Pike used to say.

    “And you'll sorry you knew me,” George would reply “because I'll be the best lawyer in town!”

    George never did become a lawyer and Richard Pike never made any money. Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Clifford High Street. It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse.

    Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow, old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his former rival(竞争对手). Perhaps he missed him?

    George was very interested in old dictionaries. He had recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was surprised—the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading.

    “Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rivals Dylan. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia.”

    When her five daughters were young. Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity（团结）. To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

    Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However. Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

    Eventually（最终）the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elizabeth explains. “Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business.”

    Their expanding business became a large corporation（企业） in 1996, with three generations of An working together. Now the An' corporation makes more than ＄20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

    The noise of chattering mouths subsided（平息）as the teacher entered classroom. “Good morning class. I am Riffat Monaf, and I will be your geography teacher.” Riffat Monaf, an interesting name and an even more interesting person. Her introduction took place about six years ago, and since then I have never met a more influential person in my life.

    Mrs Monaf not only conquered me with her vast knowledge of geography, but also won me over with her smile and warm eyes. It was in her class that I traveled to the highest mountains and to the deepest seas from the comfort of the classroom. I learned about the vast oceans, the erupting volcanoes, the snow-capped mountains and the green valleys. She would often relate her adventures about traveling to different parts of the world.

    Never can I forget the glory of her face when she talks about how truly beautiful this world is. If I search back my love for the environment and geography, I find her to be the source of my love for preserving nature. If one day I became an environmentalist, I know that I'll thank her for it. Apart from this, she has always greeted me with open arms and she calls her students “my children”. Mrs Monaf's morals and values rubbed off me deeply and I have always taken her advice into consideration. She has been one of the most consistently good things in my life.

    Currently, she is fighting a battle against breast cancer, and it pains me to know that after all she has done for me; I can do nothing for her except pray. Whenever I see her in school, she still keeps that kind smile and an expression so soft that it trembles my heart. Mrs Monaf still talks enthusiastically about geography, and I know that I can never see what a truly great person she has been in my life. .

    One February afternoon, Jesus Delgado was on break behind T2 Tacos, where he works as a cook, when he heard a commotion(骚动). He ran to the front of the Los Angeles Taco stand and saw a man and a woman arguing. She was screaming for help and had two young boys at her side. All of a sudden, the man hit her in the mouth, seized the smaller boy, and ran down the street.

    "I followed my judgement and chased him." Jesus, 35, told the Argonaut newspaper. The older boy ran in the other direction to get help. A group of teenagers who had witnessed the attack assisted the woman, Lauren Kornacki, and called 911. She told them that she was the boys' babysitter.

    Within a few blocks, Jesus caught up to the man, Andron Gazarov, 33. They fought, and Jesus wrestled (抢夺) the young boy from Gazarov's arms. Then Gazarov threw himself onto the sidewalk. "He was yelling at me that the kid didn't belong to me. I was telling him the kid didn't belong to him," Jesus told the Argonaut.

    Minutes later, Los Angeles police officers arrived and arrested Gazarov, who was charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, and attack. He faces up to 12 years in prison, if convicted (定罪). The kids, Brendan O'Brien, 6, and Grady O' Brien, 4, were unharmed.

    The next night, the boys' father, Tom O'Brien, went to the Taco stand to thank Jesus for his actions. He also started an online fund to help Jesus pay the medical expenses for his special-needs daughter. By May, more than $27,000 had been raised.

    Have you ever been into a cave? If not, please follow us and explore some of the most beautiful caves from around the world!

    Marble Caves

    Located in the center of Lake General Carrera, the Marble Caves in Chico, Chile, are only accessible by boat. The surrounding crystal clear waters allow visitors to see the rock formations beneath them while the rock ceilings above change color (depending on the writer levels and the season). The best time to visit: during sunrise and sunset, when the sun's rays light up the cave walls, making it an experience to remember.

    Reed Flute Cave

    Reed F1ute Cave known as "the Palace of Natural Arts" is located in the northwest of Guilin in southern China. The limestone cave offers a grand fairyland of stalactites (钟乳石), stone pillars, stone curtains, birds, plants and animals in fantastic shapes and colors.

    Fingal's Cave

    This incredible sea cave is located on the uninhabited island of Staffa in Scotland. The cave's size, shape, and naturally—arched (拱形的) roof combine with the waves to create strange sounds that enhance its cathedral—like atmosphere.

    The Blue Grotto

    The Blue Grotto is the symbol of Capri. It is a sea cave found on the coast of the island and is a well-known spot to all who visit the area. This cave is unique for its brilliant blue light which comes from two sources: the entrance to the cave and a bigger hole beneath the entrance. When viewed from inside the cave, the entrance appears as a brilliant white light just above the waterline, while the underwater hole, which is the larger source of light, provides a blue light.

More than 100 scientists traveled to faraway places to collect wild crop seeds in an effort to help battle climate change. The scientists have been likened to the hero of the Indiana Jones movies. Like him, they had to face blood-sucking creatures and fierce tigers. Some-times, they had to use elephants for transportation because they couldn't find any other means of transportation.

A report on the project was published last week. It described the results of a six-year search to collect thousands of wild seeds. The seeds could be important in feeding a growing human population at a time when rising temperatures are affecting crop production in some areas.

The scientists traveled on foot, by four-wheeled vehicles, boat and riding horses and they even rode elephants to reach faraway areas. They collected 4,644 seed samples of 371 wild relatives of 28 crops. Many of those wild relatives are said to be endangered.

The Crop Trust, a nonprofit organization that works to save different kinds of crops, was directing the project. The group was working in partnership with Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens and Millennium Seed Bank. Additional financial support came from Norway. The project is believed to be the largest organized international effort yet to collect and protect crops' wild relatives.

Some relatives of widely grown crops have developed so they can survive usual and severe conditions such as low rainfall, flooding, extreme temperatures and poor soils. Scientists say the wild crops offer a largely unused source of diversity for protecting crops against climate change.

Some crops are threatened because of destruction of forests, conflict and expanded cities. Experts say losing this diversity could endanger food security around the world. A United Nations report says that food supplies are under severe threat. The report notes that the number of animal and plant species are quickly disappearing as the world deals with how to feed a rising population.