The highest beef prices in almost three decades have arrived just before the start of the hot season, causing a great shock to both consumers and restaurant owners—and relief isn't likely anytime soon. A decreasing number of cattle and growing export demand from countries such as China and Japan have caused the average price of fresh beef to climb to $5.28 a pound in February, up almost a quarter from January and the highest price since 1987.

    Everything that's produced is being consumed, said Kevin Good, an analyst at CattleFax, a Colorado-based information group. Prices will likely stay high for a couple of years as cattle producers start to rebuild their cattle among big questions about whether the Southwest and parts of the Midwest will see enough rain to water the grass.

    "I quit buying steaks a while ago when the price went up," said 59-year-old Len Markham, who works at Texas Tech. She says she limits red meat purchases to hamburger, choosing chicken, pork and fish instead.

    Restaurant owners, too, must deal with the high prices. Mark Hutchens, owner of the 50 Yard Line Steakhouse in Lubbock, raised his menu prices for beef items by about 5 percent in November. Since then, the owner of the small eating house has tried to make cuts elsewhere to avoid passing it on to customers. "It really puts more pressure on the small guys," he said of non-chain restaurants. "I just think you have to stay competitive and keep your costs low."

    “White-tablecloth restaurants have adjusted the size of their steaks, making them thinner”, says Jim Robb, director of the Colorado-based Livestock Marketing Information Center. “And fast-food restaurants are cutting costs by reducing the number of menu items and are offering other meat options, including turkey burgers, Robb said. Chain restaurants also try to buy beef as much as they can, which essentially gives them a discount”, Iowa State University assistant economics professor Lee Schulz said.

    The high prices are welcome news for at least one group: ranchers(大农场经营者), especially those in Texas who for years have struggled amid drought（干旱） and high feed prices. But even as ranchers breathe a sigh of relief, some worry lasting high prices will cause consumers to permanently change their buying habits — switching to chicken or pork. Pete Bonds, a 62-year-old Texas rancher and president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, said that's a big concern. “But such fears may be unfounded, Robb said. “Three years ago, economists thought consumers would start finding substitutions for beef as the drought spread. We're surprised we haven't seen more of that," he said.

    South Dakota rancher Chuck O'Connor thinks that consumers won't abandon beef for good. "I'm sure some are maybe going to cut back some, but to say that people aren't going to buy it anymore, I don't think that's going to happen," he said, adding, "I hope not."

    For years I wanted a flower garden. But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was limited, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. I wasn't sure, though, I mean, gardens do cost money.

Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches.

    There was a money tree in my yard !It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. There was also a note attached: “IOU eight hours of digging time. Love. Marvin.”

    Marvin kept his promise, too. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me. And my other children bought me tools, ornaments, a trellis, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they are right there with me. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes every time.

I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

    The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.

    He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day.

    They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.

    He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets—nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.

    At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.

    While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along it, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding－Dong－Dong”,“Ding－Dong－Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.

    Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I'm going swimming, but you can't go, can you？”

    No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.

    Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you've got to work, hey？”

    Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it's you, Ben! I wasn't noticing.”

     “Say—I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could? But of course you'd rather work—wouldn't you? Of course you would.”

    Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said, “What do you call work？”

     “Why, isn't that work？”

    Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered carelessly.

     “Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”

     “Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it？”

    The brush continued to move.

     “Like it? Well, I don't see why I shouldn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day？”

    Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said，“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

    Tom thought for a moment, and was about to agree, but he changed his mind.

     “No—no—it won't do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don't think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”

     “No—is that so? Oh come, now—let me just try. Only just a little.”

“Ben, I'd like to, but if it isn't done right, I'm afraid Aunt Polly ”

     “Oh, I'll be careful. Now let me try. Say—I'll give you the core of my apple.”

     “Well, here—No, Ben, now don't. I'm afraid …”

     “I'll give you all of it.”

    Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought it for a dead rat—and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures.

    And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company, and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.

    He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.

    I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a total stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a noisy mall. I have always hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place or when I am rushing around.

    Yesterday, I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage because I just had the time to do it after many days of planning. After the purchase in one of the large shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot but my phone was dead.

    I then requested the shop assistant who had just sold me the luggage to ring the number of my driver for me and she replied that it was the shop policy that they cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop.

    I got out of the shop onto the busy street in front and approached a young mother with her two kids to make a request. As soon as I said “Excuse me, madam”, she grabbed both her kids and ran. I felt like a kidnapper.

    I stood there, wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the young mum. I stood there in the busy street with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if there was a sign of kindness on their faces.

    I saw a man pretty shabbily dressed. He seemed to have noticed me and I just stopped him expecting him to rush past. My request escaped the lips. He immediately called the number of my driver and waited till my car came to be sure I was picked up, and he turned around before I could thank him adequately and was gone. I was surprised by his kindness and hope I will do likewise to strangers who try to catch my attention from now on.

    The Healthy Habits Survey shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.

    ⒈How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?

Finding: A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.

Step: Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery-operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day.

    ⒉How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?

Finding: Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30% wash their hands only 4 times a day—half of the number doctors recommend.

Step: We touch our faces around 3,000 times a day—often inviting germs(病菌）to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes. Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with running water and soap for 20 seconds.

    ⒊How often do you think about fighting germs?

    Finding: Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.

    Step: Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge (海绵）that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds.

    A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women's shoes.

    Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.

    A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy's, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Rothy Martin is the company's co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for your feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press it through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers are then combined, or knit together. This is done by a three-dimensional knitting machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes.

    The knitted fabric and the inner part of the shoes are then attached to the shoes' outer part, called the sole. This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.

    Rothy's shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $125 or $145 per pair, depending on the design.

    After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew.

    Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. “We're not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have an infinite supply of material, and I think that bodes well for our future. ”

    When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled materials to make other products.

    For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.