It was a hot, humid day, and my brother Walt and I had decided that the only way to survive it would be to go swimming in a deep swimming hole across Mr. Blickez's pasture(牧场) and through some woods.

    The only problem with our plan was that this pasture was guarded by a huge, mean Hereford bull. Mr. Blickez had told us that Elsie was them eanest bull in the township, maybe even the county, and we believed him. But the hotter it got, the more we thought there was something doubtful about his claim. For one thing, we remembered Mr. Blickez liked telling tall tales; for another, Elsie seemed like an odd name for a bull.

    Finally, I talked Mom into asking permission for us to walk through the pasture, but then another problem surfaced. Mom said she would talk to Mr. Blickez if we would take our cousin Joanie along with us. Joanie was almost two years older than me and a head taller. If her teasing ever got around my grade school, it would be all over for me. In fact, I still had a headache from a quarrel with her that morning. “I'm not going swimming with that dumb girl cousin.” I told my mom.

  “Either Joanie goes with, or you stay home alone,” Mom said inher serious tone. I gave in and we set out. On our way across the pasture, Walt yelled suddenly. Elsie had approached him quietly and was licking(舔) his back. Joanie and I dove under the wire fence, but while I was on the ground I looked up and saw that Elsie wasn't a big mean bull after all. She was going to keep licking my brother's back as long as he stood still.

    We had many good days growing up and visiting our secret swimming hole guarded by the so-called “big mean bull”. And as it turned out, fora girl cousin, Joanie hasn't been too bad. She's been one of my best friendsover the years.

    Since 2008, hunters have illegally killed more than 3000 rhinos in South Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that rhinos may die out by 2026. People who hunt and kill illegally are called poachers. The most effective way to watch for and prevent illegal hunting is from the air. However, piloted flights are too costly. Fortunately, some Spanish college students have invented a drone (无人机) that can observe more places than a plane.

    Arnau Garcia is an aeronautical (航空学的) engineering student at the Polytechnic Institute of Catalonia, in Spain. He says observers from the air have trouble finding poachers when they hide under the trees. Mr. Garcia and other students have worked with the drone manufacturer HEMAV to help find the hidden poachers. They make it by using the thermal camera, which is especially sensitive to body heat. Even when the poachers keep still, it can also keep track of them.

    The drone can fly in the wind up to 55 kilometers per hour. It has an autopilot system, so it memorizes the flight path. The drone also has a microphone, a video camera and a GPS system. These permit it to report accurately where a picture is taken. After each flight, the drone can bring back detailed information about where rhinos are found, the conditions of water and plants in the area, and the positions of suspected poachers.

    Experts say the drone can fly as far as 70 kilometers from the base. It means that it could quickly observe large areas for poachers. However, the same search operation would take days for human observers. Thanks to the drone, many poachers have been caught and the number of rhinos is on the increase. In addition, HEMAV has received an increasing number of orders for the drone. Even South African national park officials attempt to fill the air with drones.

    Teenagers around the world can be happy with the news that the brain will ignore parents' order when they tap on their smartphones. A new scientific study from the University College London has shown that humans may temporarily go deaf when they're focusing on something visual at the same time.

    The researchers played the normal-volume sounds in the background. And 13 volunteers experienced inattentional deafness as their visual tasks became increasingly difficult. “We found that when volunteers were performing the demanding visual task, they were unable to hear sounds that they would normally hear,” Maria Chait said in a statement. “The brain scans showed that people didn't filter out the sounds on purpose. They were not actually hearing them in the first place.”

    The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that the centre of sights and the center of sounds share limited resources. Inattentional deafness is a common everyday experience and the study explains why, according to UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Professor Nili Lavie.

    If you try to talk to someone focusing on a book, game, or television program and don't receive a response, they aren't necessarily ignoring you. They simply might not hear you at all. This could also explain why you might not hear your bus or train stop being announced if you're absorbed in your phone, book or newspaper. However, some loud sounds will still be able to break through.

    Some situations could become potentially dangerous when the quieter ones go unheard. As you can imagine, in the operating room, when a doctor concentrates on his work, he might not hear the equipment beeping. It also applies to drivers who concentrate on complex directions. Fortunately, experts have given us some useful tips on preventing such situations.

    One early morning, I went into the living room to find my mother reading a thick book called Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again. My interest was aroused only by the fact that the word "Poems" appeared in big, hot pink letters.

    "Is it good?" I asked her. "Yeah," she answered. "There's one I really like and you'll like it, too." I leaned forward." 'Patty Poem,'" she read the title. Who is Patty? I wondered. The poem began:

    She never puts her toys away,

    Just leaves them scattered ⁽散乱的)where they lay,...

    The poem was just three short sections. The final one came quickly:

    When she grows and gathers(稳重的)poise,

    I'll miss her harum-scarum(莽撞的) noise,

    And look in vain for scattered(徒劳地)toys.

    And I'll be sad.

    A terrible sorrow washed over me. Whoever Patty was, she was a mean girl. Then, the shock.

    "It's you, honey," My mother said sadly.

    To my mother, the poem conveyed a parent's affection when her child grows up and leaves. To me, the "she" in the poem was horror. It was my mama who would be sad. It was so terrible. I burst out crying.

    "What's wrong?" my mother asked.

    "Oh Mama," I cried. "I don't want to grow up ever!"

She smiled. "Honey, it's okay. You're not growing up anytime soon. And when you do, I'll still love you, okay?"

    I calmed down. But I could not help thinking about that silly poem. After several years, I read the poem again and was confused. It all fit so well together, like a simple puzzle easy to understand, yet it was still beautiful. I was now attracted by the idea of poetry, words that had the power to make or break a person's world.

    I have since fallen in love with other poems, but "Patty Poem" remains my poem. After all, "Patty Poem" gave me my love for poetry.

    The movie The Wizard of Oz has thousands of fans around the world. But back in 1939 when the film opened, audiences were not particularly fond of it. It was only a modest box office success. It was nominated for Best Picture at that year's Academy Awards, but so were nine other great films. It lost out to Gone with the Wind.

    The Wizard of Oz really gained an audience when it was broadcast regularly on TV. That began in the 1950s. The film's plot follows young Dorothy who is knocked unconscious during a tornado. She dreams about following a Yellow Brick Road through the Land of Oz to the Emerald City. She wants to meet the Wizard of Oz who lives there. He's the only one who can help her to return home to Kansas. Along the way she makes friends with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. They help her and her dog Toto overcome the Wicked Witch of the West!

    According to the Library of Congress, The Wizard of Oz is the most watched movie of all time. What is it about the film that appeals to people? It includes themes that people can relate to. Through most of the movie Dorothy is trying to get home to Kansas. When she finally gets to go, she speaks the words, "there's no place like home." People identify with that thought. Home is the welcoming place where they feel secure.

    At the beginning of the film, Dorothy sings of a place "over the rainbow." There, the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. So while home is a great place, dreaming about something different is all right too.

    The Wizard of Oz also deals with courage. Dorothy learns that true courage isn't being unafraid. It's facing danger when you are afraid. Her friends face plenty of danger to rescue her.

    As one of the true classics of American literature, The Wizard of Oz has stirred the imagination of young and old alike for over four generations. Celebrate the 80th year of this fabulous film by watching it again.

    Helen Keller was one of America's best-known women. She was admired for her courage and achievements although she couldn't see or hear. She was also known throughout the world for herself-sacrificing work to improve the condition of the blind, the deaf and the speechless. When she died on June 1, 1968, the newspaper Washington Post wrote: "Her life was truly one of the most remark able phenomena of our time and her death just short of the age of 88 leaves the whole world poorer."

    Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. For the first 19 months of her life, she was a pretty and happy baby, normal in every way. Then a sudden illness destroyed her sight and her hearing. Because she could not hear sounds to imitate(模仿), she could not speak. Helen used to say that her real birthday was not June 27th, 1880, but March 3rd, 1887—the day when Anne Sullivan entered her life. It was Anne Sullivan who taught Helen to spell certain words by a special system, Braille, and even to talk.

    Anne Sullivan could not teach Helen Keller to speak until some other important things had been learned. The little girl had to learn to control her actions and feelings. She had to learn that she could not always do what she wanted to do. She had always been able to get what she wanted by using force. The teacher had to change such habits without breaking the child's spirit.

    Miss Sullivan's battle began. Sometimes, there was real fighting between the wild child and the strong young teacher. At last, however, the battle was won by Miss Sullivan, who succeeded in showing Helen that she loved her and wanted to help her. The child and her teacher became friends. They continued to be friends until the teacher's death, fifty years later.

    The day on which Helen finally accepted Miss Sullivan as her friend and teacher was a great day in Helen's life. After that, the teacher could begin to teach the child language.