Larry was on another of his underwater expeditions(探险)but this time, it was different. He decided to take his daughter along with him. She was only ten years old. This would be her first trip with her father on what he had always been famous for.

    Larry first began diving when he was his daughter's age. Similarly, his father had taken him along on one of his expeditions. Since then, he had never looked back. Larry started out by renting diving suits from the small diving shop just along the shore. He had hated them. They were either too big or too small. Then, there was the instructor. He gave him a short lesson before allowing him into the water with his father. He had made an exception. Larry would never have been able to go down without at least five hours of theory and another similar number of hours on practical lessons with a guide. Children his age were not even allowed to dive.

    After the first expedition, Larry's later diving adventures only got better and better. There was never a dull moment. In his black and blue suit and with an oxygen tank fastened on his back, Larry dived from boats into the middle of the ocean. Dangerous areas did not prevent him from continuing his search. Sometimes, he was limited to a cage underwater but that did not bother him. At least, he was still able to take photographs of the underwater creatures.

    Larry's first expedition without his father was in the Cayman Islands. There were numerous diving spots in the area and Larry was determined to visit all of them. Fortunately for him, a man offered to take him around the different Spots for free. Larry didn't even know what the time was, how many spots he dived into or how many photographs he had taken. The diving spots afforded such a wide array of fish and sea creatures that Larry saw more than thirty varieties of creatures.

    Larry looked at his daughter. She looked as excited as he had been when he was her age. He hoped she would be able to continue the family tradition. Already, she looked like she was much braver than had been then. This was the key to a successful underwater expedition.

    There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. The origins of most of the days are unknown. They were certainly not created by individual people. Other days, however, especially those celebrated in western countries often owe their origins to a particular person. One of the most popular of these, even though it is fairly recent, is Mother's Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria, during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However, over the years this custom was gradually forgotten, and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.

    Born in 1864 in Virginia, US, Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude(感激) to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people—politicians, churchmen, doctors, city officials and asked them to support her idea：a special day of the year for thanking mothers.

    In 1910 the Governor of Western Virginia introduced Mother's Day in the state. The date chosen was May 10 — the second Sunday in May, which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis's mother died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother's Day throughout the United States.

    Soon there was a Mother's Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.

    Anna Jarvis, a sad and disillusioned (幻想破灭的) woman died in 1948.The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi­million dollar industry.

    New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern of Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main lands—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Maui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu, and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometers east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometers south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. The country's varied topography（地形）and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while the city that has the largest population is Auckland.

    Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand somewhere between 1250 and 1300 AD, and developed a unique Maori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer became the first European to sight New Zealand In 1840, representatives of the British Crown（王室） and Maori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent(血统), and the indigenous(土著的) Maori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly originated from Maori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant(主要的).

    New Zealand is a developed country with a market economy that mainly consists of the exports of dairy products, meat and wine, along with tourism. New Zealand is a high-income economy and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life.

    Once an old man rose early to read each morning. His grandson wanted to be just like his grandfather, so tried to emulate him every way he could.

    One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read just like you do, but I don't understand most of it, and I forget whatever I do understand immediately I close the book. So what good is it for me to read?”

    The grandfather, who was putting coal on the fire, said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

    The boy did as told to, but the water leaked out before he could get the basket home.

    The grandfather laughed, saying, “You'll have to move a little faster.” This time he ran faster, but again the basket emptied. Out of breath, he decided it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket (桶). But the grandfather said, “I want a basket of water instead of a bucket of water. You're just not trying hard enough.”

    The boy knew what he was trying to accomplish was impossible. However, he decided to show his grandfather a third time.

    The boy dipped the basket into the river and ran as hard as he could. With the empty basket, he gasped (喘气说), “See Grandpa? It's useless!”

    “So you think it useless?” the old man asked. ''Then look at the basket.” To his surprise, the boy found it washed clean of the dirty coal stains and now clean inside and out.

    “My child, that's what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but the words will change you inside and out. That is the work of reading in our lives.”

    Finding a friend doesn't seem like a difficult job. However, bad friends are easier to find than good friends these days. If you're sitting there and wondering if you have a bad friend, let me define it for you.

    A bad friend is someone whose jealousies and insecurities outweigh their love for someone. They might want to be a good friend but they're too messed up in their own head to ever actually do it. They wonder if their friends are going out without them or if they're being forgotten and left behind. People who are violently insecure don't have what it takes to be the quality of a friend.

    Bad friends are narcissistic(自恋的). They look for any opportunity to bring the conversation back to them. Worse, they might not even be aware that they're doing it. In their mind, they might think they are the best friend ever, which is truly frightening.

    Bad friends are quick-change. They're by your side when you're fun and you have something to give them but as soon as you're going through a difficult time, they will become indifferent quickly. They won't bring you cold medicine. They won't give you a ride to the doctor, everything they do is self-serving.

    If you find a friend who has these same characteristics, send them to your bad friend list immediately. Your friends are supposed to be the solution to your problems, not the source.

    I believe your twenties are a time when you need positive and helpful friends. In such a time, friendships aren't easy to maintain like they once were in school. Now we actually have to put work into it, we have to make a conscious effort to keep the friendship going. You need to ask yourself, "Is this person worth it? Do they treat me like a fool or what?" if you have doubts, try to make them clear by considering the past experiences. Toxic(有毒的) friendships do nothing but drag you down. My point is that you have to take care of yourself and stop getting in touch with your bad friends. Only surround yourself with people who bring out the best qualities in you. It may sound cruel but it's true.

A Norwegian company has created what it calls the world's first zero-emission(排放), autonomous cargo ship(货船). Developed by chemical company Yara International, the ship was designed to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and move goods away from roads to the sea.

The shipping industry accounts for between 2.5% and 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization. Nearly all of Norway's electricity is generated by hydroelectric power, which is generally considered to have much lower carbon emissions than burning fossil fuels, despite the fact that it still produces greenhouse gases.

Capable of carrying 103 containers and with a top speed of 13 knots, it will use a 7 MWh battery, with about a thousand times the capacity of one electrical car. The ship will be charged near the port before sailing to container harbors along the coast and then back again, replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year.

As well as providing a greener option compared to conventional cargo ships, there is no crewman, which means it will be more cost-effective to operate. Initially, loading and unloading the ship will require humans, but gradually, all loading, discharging, and some other operations will also be eventually operated using autonomous technology. That will involve developing autonomous cranes(起重机) and carriers, which are the vehicles that place containers onto ships.

According to researchers, fully autonomous ships are the future. But there are many challenges to overcome before autonomous ships can be used for commercial long sea journeys. Navigating traffic in large ports could be a major barrier.

Without a crew aboard to carry out maintenance checks, autonomous ships would need built-in self-diagnosing systems with the ability to detect and fix problems, or call for human assistance.

Although Yara International has no plans to add more autonomous ships to its operations, we may see more elements of AI technology used on commercial ships in the future. Elements are already being used in shipping today when it comes to the voyage and we'll see more partly autonomous elements added.