It is impossible to know when you might find yourself lost in a forest. If you know what to do, you can survive in a forest without much trouble; but if you are not prepared, survival can be much less likely.

Keep fear at bay

    It is completely natural to be afraid when you are faced with a survival situation. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The more your fear overcomes you, the lower your chances are of survival, as your mind is going to become clouded and panic may set in.

Stay warm

    Obviously, the low body temperature is one of the primary dangers you face when you must survive in the forest{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Never stop to sleep or quit moving around unless you have appropriate shelter.

Know how to make a fire

    Obviously , if you have a lighter or matches, this is not a problem. But if not, you can attempt to use a dry narrow pointed stick and a dry flat piece of wood. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This requires a great deal of work, but if done correctly, you will succeed.

Make some shelter

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The easiest way to provide protection is to find a fallen tree and cover it with other branches and brush so that you can stay in the natural pit underneath the tree trunk.This is a very important aspect of being able to survive in the forest.

Stay put unless you know exactly where you are

    If you can build a stable shelter and start a fire, you can survive in the forest for several days. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you know where you are, travel as far as possible during the day while making sure you stop long enough before dark so that you can build another shelter.

    “I like photography because it captures amazing things that you might not see again,” Timmy Walsh says. He takes pictures of flowers, sunsets and road signs. But those photos don't usually end up in a scrapbook(剪贴簿) or on his bedroom walls.

    When Timmy was five, he found out that his aunt Bev had lung cancer. He wanted to do something to help her. His first idea was to sell his photos from a lemonade--type stand in front of his house in Pennsylvania. “My mom said it wouldn't work because we were not on a busy street,” Timmy explains.

    His next idea was to have an art show. Timmy decorated his home with candles, flowers, and white lights. Then he arranged his photos. Timmy's mom, Sheila, remembers: “Our dining-room table was filled, the living room—everything was filled with photos.” Friends, family, and Timmy's teachers came to the show. He raised more than $300 for cancer research that night. Aunt Bev was “very happy and excited,” he says.

    After a local newspaper wrote a story about Timmy's photos, a volunteer offered to help him set up a website. As people learned about his cause, called Camera for a Cure, Timmy began receiving invitations to sell his pictures at art galleries and fund-raisers. Since then, his work has appeared in more than 20 shows.

    When Timmy is at a show, he greets each customer and talks about what he was thinking when he took his photos. And he always shares facts about lung cancer. Sometimes donations and sales are slow, but that doesn't bother him. “It doesn't matter how much money we made because we just raised awareness,” he says. Timmy knows that finding a cure for lung cancer will take time and effort. So Timmy will keep doing his part by shooting and selling photos of the things he sees.

    Today just as technology changed the face of industry, farms have undergone an "agricultural revolution". On the farm of today, machines provide almost all the power.

    One of the most important benefits will be the farm computer. The computers help them keep more accurate records so they can make better decisions on what crops to plant, how much livestock (家畜) to buy, when to sell their products, and how much profit they can expect. Many computer companies have been developing special computer programs just for farmers. In the future, farmers will be able to purchase computer programs made to their needs. Because of the growing importance of computers on the farm, students at agricultural colleges are required to take computer classes in addition to their normal agricultural courses. There can be no doubt that farmers will rely on computers even more in the future. While the old-time farm depended on horse power, and modern farms depend on machine power, farms of the future will depend on computer power.

    Another technological advance which is still in the experimental stage is the robot, a real "mechanized hired hand" that will be able to move and, in some ways, think like a human being. Agricultural engineers believe that computer-aided robots will make big changes in farming before the end of the century. Unlike farmers of the present, farmers of the future will find that many day-to-day tasks will be done for them. Scientists are now developing robots that will be able to drive tractors, and harvest fruit. Even complex jobs will be done by robots. For example, in order to milk their cows, farmers must first drive them into the barn, then connect them to the milking machines, watch the machines, and disconnect them when they are finished. In the future, this will all be done by robots. The complete mobilization (活动) of the farm is far in the future, but engineers expect that some robots will be used before long.

    Many independent Chinese women like to earn their own bread, even if their husbands are already bringing home the bacon. But a recent survey suggests that such women find more joy from relationships, rather than successful careers.

    About 73 percent of the 7,000 women surveyed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou said they would choose to work even if their husbands earned enough for the family. The survey also found that 77 percent define happiness as "enjoying a relationship".

    But striking a balance between career and family can bring challenges to the woman's career advancement.

    "In my company, women usually have an equal or even a higher starting salary than men," said Li Hua, general manager of Beijing Chuangjiashe Book Circulation Company. "However, as they begin to climb up the career ladder, women often meet problems along the way, while men can climb the ladder more easily."

    Both physical and emotional differences can prevent some women from taking tough positions, Li said. But family life is often the main difficulty for Chinese career women.

    Despite these challenges, however, some experts believe it's reasonable for some women to want to be breadwinners.

    "In this way, the roles of a family are decided by the parents' abilities rather than their gender（性别）," said Gu Donghui, a sociology professor at Fudan University.

    Gu says women should have the freedom to decide if they want to stay at home or work to support the family. "Everyone has a different interpretation（解释）of what it means to find self-worth".

    Wang Haibin, an economic expert from Renmin University shares that view: "Traditionally, we tend to regard the family as the cell unit of society. Some members have always been expected to make sacrifices for it. But, it really doesn't matter who earns more. Economic independence and personal choice is essential for both sexes in the family."

    Little Women is the best-known work of author Louisa May Alcott. Published after the end of the Civil War, the book is about the lives of the author and her sisters. Although it was her most successful work, it was not her first.

    Alcott began writing at the age of 20, when she published her poem “Sunlight”. Throughout her early career, she wrote many poems and short stories for magazines. At the age of 22, she began to write fairy tales, romantic thrillers, and other novels, mostly to earn money. At a time when few opportunities were open to women, Alcott supported women's right to work. With her small income, she had long provided for her family.

    When the Civil War broke out, Alcott, at the age of 30, joined the war effort to fight against slavery. She had originally wished to serve as a soldier. However, women were not allowed in battle at that time. As a result, she became a Civil War nurse. Alcott's work as a nurse served as a milestone (里程碑) in her writing career.

    In December of 1862, she left New England to work in the Union Hotel Hospital in Washington, DC. There were few supplies, and doctors performed operations without painkillers. The conditions for patients and doctors were terrible. Within a few weeks, Alcott herself became so ill that she nearly died. She returned home and recovered slowly over a period of months.

    As soon as her health improved, Alcott started a new project. The letters she had sent home became the basis of a newspaper series about her experience as a Civil War nurse. She wrote about her tasks, the wounded soldiers she looked after, and the difficulties they faced. The series, Hospital Sketches, was a success, which received praise from readers and critics (批评) at the same time. Although her best-known work was yet to come, the success of Hospital Sketches marked the achievement of her dream to become a popular author.

    Family sizes are shrinking around the world. In many countries, families are having fewer than two children. Smaller families mean many children now grow up with fewer cousins. This is hard to imagine, as I come from a large extended family with 23 first cousins on one side and 25 on the other.

    Sometimes when I can't sleep, I try to name all my relatives. Of course, almost all of those cousins have married and had children and now their children are having children. With extended families growing so large and spreading so far, get-togethers have nearly become a thing of the past.

    One of the last gatherings on my father's side was at the home of a cousin who has a place in the country on top of a hill. A tent was set up, holding long tables creaking(嘎吱作响) under the weight of fried chicken, potato salad and chocolate cake. A fishing hole waited nearby for the kids. Vehicles poured in from every direction, parking on the drive, the grass, wherever they could find a spot. There was talking and laughing and joking and food.

    While such gatherings had grown infrequent, we were all happy to be together. Although some of us had not seen one another since so-and-so's wedding or somebody's father's funeral, most people were still easy to recognize. Three sisters who sat together all had the same beautiful skin their mother had. The cousin with bright blue eyes who raced her horse as a teenager still had bright blue eyes. An older cousin who gave me piano lessons when I was young and naughty seemed to have forgiven me. We share a gene pool of people who work hard and laugh often.

    It was very dark when the last set of taillights disappeared into the night. As we gathered our things, said our goodbyes and prepared to leave, a cousin called to me saying, "Don't forget where you come from." I never could. And I'd never try.