B

    I am Peter Hodes, a volunteer stem courier. Since March 2012, I've done 89 trips of those, 51 have been abroad, I have 42 hours to carry stem cells(干细胞) in my little box because I've got two ice packs and that's how long they last, in all, from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor(捐献者) to the time they can be implanted in the patient, we've got 72 hours at most, So I am always conscious of time.

    I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America. I picked up the stem cells in Providence, Rhode Island, and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London. But when I arrived at the check-in desk at Providence, the lady on the desk said: “Well, I'm really sorry, I've got some bad news for you-there are no fights from Washington.” So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said: “In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient-please, please, you've got to get me back to the United Kingdom.” She just dropped everything. She arranged for a flight on a small plane to be held for mere-routed(改道) me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled.

    For this courier job, you're consciously aware than that box you're got something that is potentially going to save somebody's life.

Holidays

    While CCTV's educational show Animal World is well known, few big screen wildlife documentaries have been made by China's film industry.

    But Born in China, which came out on Aug 2, may be important for Chinese filmmakers who want to get into nature -themed films. The movie, directed by Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan, was shot in theQinghai-Tibet Plateau and shows the animals' lives during different seasons.

    Born in China not only brings to audiences the lives of animals that are rarely seen in the wild—giant pandas, snow leopards, and golden monkeys, but also shows Chinese traditional culture.

    A symbol of China, the giant panda is both black and white. Its body is thought to show yin and yang, which ancient Chinese ideas were based on. The panda's gentle nature shows how yin and yang lead to peace. It can be seen in the film when a panda mother guides her baby to look for independence and explore the world.

    Unlike the shy pandas, monkeys always have strong personalities. The Monkey King in China's most famous novel Journey to the West has many conflicting traits(特点). It stands for not only impatience but also cleverness and energy. Born in China follows a 2-year-old golden monkey who leaves his family, but then returns and understands the meaning of responsibility.

    Just as the golden monkey, a mother snow leopard also faces difficulty in raising her babies in the wild. The leopards, known for their rapid attacks and quick footwork(脚步), have inspired a form of pictographic(象形拳) in Shaolin martial arts(武术).

    "Born in China is a means to show off Chinese traditional culture," director Lu told the reporter. "Chinese people have learned a lot from wild animals since ancient times. This is why I shot this nature -themed documentary."

    Astronauts in the space stations for long missions often work very long days. Tasks are scheduled(安排) so tightly that break times are often used to finish the day's work. It's especially hard for long missions on the International Space Station (ISS). ISS crew members usually live in space for at least a quarter of a year. They work five days on and two days off to mimic the normal way they do things on Earth as much as possible. Weekends give the crew valuable time to rest and do a few hours of housework. They can communicate with family and friends by email, Internet phone and through private video meetings.

    While astronauts cannot go to a baseball game or a movie in space, there are many familiar activities that they can still enjoy. Before a mission, the family and friends of each ISS crew member put together a collection of family photos, messages, videos and reading materials for the astronauts to look at when they will be floating 370 kilometers above the Earth. During their mission, the crew also receives care packages with CDs, books, magazines, photos and letters. Today, the Internet can be used on the ISS, giving astronauts the chance to do some “web surfing” in their personal time. Besides relaxing with these more common entertainments, astronauts can simply enjoy the experience of living in space.

    Many astronauts say that one of the most relaxing things to do in space is to look out of the window and stare at the universe and the Earth's vast land mass and oceans.

    A new discovery may change how scientists think about prehistoric humans. Human history is more of a war movie than a romantic comedy, at least as far as other animals are concerned; we may be causing one of the planet's great extinction events at the moment. But a recent discovery means humans might not be as destructive as we thought.

    Large animals have a history of disappearing when humans move to their areas. Scientists have long believed that humans simply hunted big animals because people are really good at hunting. For example, scientists thought humans arrived in Madagascar around 4,000 years ago, but only two thousand years later, giant lemurs, giant tortoises and elephant birds disappeared from the island. Many scientists thought humans had something to do with that rapid drop in biodiversity(生物多样性).

    At least, that's what scientists thought until a group of researchers dug up a lot of bones in Madagascar recently. These bones belonged to the elephant bird, a kind of extinct bird that weighed up to 1,000 pounds. The huge bones were covered in cuts that clearly came from a human hunter. The researchers found that the humans had killed the birds 10,000 years ago...Thousands of years before scientists believed humans had come to the island.

    "Our research provides evidence of human activity in Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than suspected, which shows that a different extinction theory is required to understand the huge biodiversity loss that has happened on the island." explained James Hansford, one of the researchers. "Humans seem to have coexisted with elephant birds and other now-extinct species for over 8,000 years, clearly with limited negative influence on biodiversity for most of this period."

    If humans lived among large animals for thousands of years without wiping them out, then maybe our species can't wipe other species out. Rather, extinction is more of a habit we've learned. Perhaps we can unlearn it too.

    Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you've got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we're the apple of our parents' eyes, and that our Grandmas think we're great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics. But sometimes it's a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you should build a positive self-image and learn to love yourself.

    Self-image is your own mind's picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about US. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.

    The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don't allow doubts to occur in it.

    It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can't move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you're silly because you aren't good at math, find a tutor. If you think you're weak because you can't run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you're dull because you don't wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn't mean it's true.

    The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat (拍) yourself on the back, you'll know you're well on your way. Good luck!