Jane Goodall is a famous scientist. For more than 40 years, Goodall lived mostly in Tanzania in East Africa, studying chimpanzees(黑猩猩).

    As a young child, Jane Goodall was interested in animals. She grew up in the English countryside and was always climbing trees or riding horses.

    When Jane was 23, she got a chance to go to Africa. Even though she had never been to college, she got a job with a famous scientist named Louis Leakey.

    One day Louis Leakey said he needed a volunteer. He needed someone to go to a lake in Tanzania to study a kind of chimpanzees. Jane was excited.

    On July 16, 1960, she began her exploration(探索).At first, the chimpanzees ran away from Jane. But with the passing of time, they got used to her being around.

    Every day, Jane would follow the chimpanzees, taking notes on their behaviour. She learned many new things about chimpanzees. She watched how a chimpanzee made a tool. She learned how some chimpanzees became good leaders. She watched animals get angry and get upset. She wrote everything down so others would understand animals as she did. She learned that if you pay really close attention to animals, you will understand what they are "saying".

    Dr. Lynn Moorman was a young doctor. She had a strange experience in June when she was spending Saturday night at her parents' house. Whenever she stayed with them, she slept on the long sofa in the sitting room. The sofa was set against a wall under a large picture window (整块玻璃做的景观窗).

    Around three o'clock that morning, Dr. Moorman opened her eyes and noticed a flashing light outside the house. She thought that it was a firefly (萤火虫). A moment later, as the light continued to flash, she realized that it was too bright to be a firefly.

    Then the light moved towards the window and unbelievably through the window into the room. It passed in front of her, perhaps as close as three feet. Then Dr. Moorman noticed that it appeared to have two sets of wires coming from the top and bottom. Each time the object flashed, Dr. Moorman saw it clearly. But when the light turned off, the object was no longer seen.

    Dr. Moorman was quite scared. She thought about shouting, but couldn't open her mouth. When the light moved into the kitchen, she ran to her sister's bedroom. "Move over," she said, "I saw something, maybe an alien, that scared me and I'm coming into bed with you." The next morning at breakfast she told her family what had happened, but no one else had noticed anything. Her experience remains a puzzle.

    Did Dr. Moorman meet an alien? Did she imagine the object? Or did she see a small UFO that had come visiting that night?

    Growing up in the US, I always wanted to know about another culture. The chance came when I was 15. After a few months of planning and preparing, I was ready to spend the second term of my first year of high school as an exchange student in Australia.

    The city I stayed in was Perth, Australia, and it is the fourth largest city of Australia. When I arrived at the airport, the family I would live with were already waiting for me there, and the new school term would start in only five days. The school I attended was very different from my school in the US. In the school we had to wear the uniform, and we were not allowed to wear bracelets (手链) or necklaces(项链). I was quite uncomfortable at first, because I had never been to a new school— even in the US. Everything went smoothly, though. The teachers were welcoming and the students were friendly.

    The most memorable time of my term abroad was with other international exchange students. We traveled around Australia during the breaks. The few weeks we spent together were filled with amazing activities. At the end of our stay in Australia, we had three weeks to share our stories and help each other. Our last day together was filled with tears. We packed our things, exchanged e-mail addresses, and got together to say goodbye.

    I really have learned a lot from my exchange experience.

Dancing is popular all over the world. People dance in theaters, in parks or in their own living room. But Yang Liu, a woman in Guizhou, dances in an unusual place. Her stage is a single bamboo pole. 

Yang is a performer of bamboo drifting (独竹漂). It is a traditional skill in the girl's hometown. In ancient times, the local people crossed the rivers by riding on a bamboo pole. Now, bamboo drifting has developed into a folk sport.

Yang started to learn bamboo drifting at the age of seven. The bamboo pole is very slippery and it never completely stops moving. Yang fell into the water again and again. But the girl didn't want to give up. She always got back up on the pole and tried again. She practiced hard every day for three years. Finally, she was able to keep her balance on the pole. 

But Yang didn't just stop there. She wanted to live out her dream of becoming a dancer on a bamboo pole. The girl practiced many difficult movements on the pole. She failed countless times, but she never stopped trying. 

Her hard work finally paid off. Now 26, Yang has made a name for herself as a dancer on a bamboo pole. People can't believe their eyes whenever they watch her performances. Through Yang's dances, many people now know about bamboo drifting. They have discovered the beauty of this traditional skill.