C

    Every year, hundreds of millions of Monarch Butterflies(黑脉金斑蝶) from Canada and the United States journey as far as 2, 500 miles to the forests of Michoacan, Mexico, a place which has the world's largest insect migration(迁移). It's such a breathtaking sight, but as always, human greed is threatening to destroy it.

    The Monarch Butterflies start to arrive in Michoacan in late October to make their winter home in the trees high up in the mountains of the natural reserve. Once there, they gather together in large masses. These masses often become so heavy that they cause tree branches to bend or even break. But there's a purpose of all these massing — it allows the butterflies to survive in the low nighttime temperatures at these high altitudes.

    The Michoacan Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary is most impressive during the months of February and March, just before the winged insects begin their long journey home.

    Mexico's Butterfly Forest is a shelter protected by law, and one of the country's most popular sights, but that hasn't stopped people from slowly but steadily destroying it.

    Illegal woodcutting in the heart of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve has been a longstanding problem, but criminals are rarely brought to justice. They are often set free after paying some money.

    Just last month, an even greater threat rose in Michoacan's butterfly home.  The country's largest mining corporation gained the right to reopen an old mine in the heart of the monarch reserve. Experts believe that if the mine is reopened, it will likely spell the end of this magical place.

    And as if all this wasn't bad enough, the increasing use of herbicides（除草剂） in the American corn belt has led to the decrease of  a plant which is essential to the monarchs' development from egg into butterfly.

To whom it may concern,

    My husband Jim and I got married in 1965. For the first ten years of our marriage, I was very happy to stay home and raise our three children. Then about four years ago, our youngest child went to school, and I thought I might go back to work.

    Jim was very supportive and helped me to make my decision. He started to do all the things I used to do around the house, and said he thought I could be a great success in business.

After several weeks of job hunting, I found my present job, which is working for a small public relation firm. At first, my husband was proud of me and would tell his friends, "My clever little wife can run that company she's working for."

    But, as his joking words were becoming reality, Jim stopped talking to me about my job. I have received several promotions and pay increases, and I am now making more money than he is. I can buy my own clothes and a new car. Because of our combined incomes, Jim can do things that we had always dreamed of doing, but we don't do these things because he is unhappy.

    We fought about little things, and Jim is very critical of me in front of our friends. For the first time in our marriage, I think there is a possibility that our marriage may come to an end.

    I love Jim very much, and I don't want him to feel inferior(较差的), but I also love my job. I think I can be a good wife and a working woman, but I don't know how. Can you give me some advice? Will I have to choose one or the other or can I keep both my husband and my new career?

    Please help.

Yours,

Mary

    Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity?Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives?A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.

    The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing,more active and less neurotic (神经质的) than other people.Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span.These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.

    Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer.Those who were more self-disciplined,for instance,were no more likely to live to be very old.Also,being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life,which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.

    Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate.But the new paper suggests that if you want long life,you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.

    Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mother's personality may also help determine your longevity.That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets.Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we're adults,which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.

    Personality isn't destiny(命运),and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change.But both studies show that long life isn't just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health.

    When you are travelling, whether on business or for pleasure, you often need to stay in a hotel. The kind of hotel you choose probably is decided above all according to how much money you want to spend. There are small hotels with very few services, where the prices are low, or there are large hotels with all the very latest comforts, where you could spend all the money you have in the bank for one very comfortable night.

    There are several different kinds of people who go to hotels. Some want to live, rather than just stay, in a hotel; the hotels which are designed to meet their needs are called residential hotels. However, most people who stay in hotels are either business people or tourists on holiday.

    In most hotels, there are two kinds of rooms: single rooms, for the use of one person, and double rooms, for the use of two people. In addition, in large hotels, there are also suites(套房), which include two or more rooms connected together—perhaps a bed-room and a living room. They are for people who are very rich or very important.

    One of the features of a successful business is its ability to employ creativity to constantly push into new territory. Without growth and innovation, businesses eventually fade away. Those with staying power, however, have mastered an often-overlooked factor that allows them to focus on the future clearly: empathy (共情). While that may surprise many, I am certain that the ability to connect with and relate to others—empathy in its purest form—is the force that moves businesses forward.

    Though the concept of empathy might go against the modern concept of a traditional workplace competitive, the reality is that for business leaders to experience success, they need to not just see or hear the activity around them, but also relate to the people they serve.

    Some may think they want the results from doggedly (顽强地) pursuing their goals without much thought for other people. This attitude works for some, but at some point often sooner rather than later everyone needs to rely on their relationships and established personal and professional connections. These relationships are the product of taking an honest and dedicated interest in others and their businesses. Successful people do not operate alone; each of us needs the support of others to achieve positive results that push us toward our goals. True empathy combines understanding both the emotional and the logical rationale(根据) that goes into every decision.

    Effectively understanding empathy involves viewing it as each person's connection to the people and marketplace that surround them. A biological principle known as co-evolution explains that the adaptation of an organism is caused by the change of a related object. Similarly, businesses and their leaders participate in co-evolution-type relationships. Business success depends on empathetic leaders who are able to adapt, build on the strengths around them, and relate to their environment. When businesses fail, it is often because leaders have stopped focusing on understanding their environment and instead stay separated in their own operations. Successful business leaders are receptive to disturbance and aware of what is going on in their organizations both internally and externally.

    To develop an effective workforce, we must be willing to give in and meet people where they are. This can be frustrating and uncomfortable, particularly when you feel like your position makes more sense or offers a better solution. A critical part of developing empathy, however, is learning to understand, respect and implement another individual's point of view rather than forcing your own.