When 12-year-old Taylor Smith wrote a special letter to herself last spring, to be read in 10 years' time, she didn't know it would be opened before even a year had passed— and that it wouldn't be her eyes reading the words.

  “She had told me that she had written a letter to herself, and that she was excited that she was going to open it when she was older,”said Taylor's  mother, Mary Ellen Smith.

    Instead, it was opened by Taylor's parents after she died last spring. They posted the letter to Facebook, hoping it would inspire others.

    It has. “We've gotten letters from lots of parents who have said it has encouraged them to love their kids and love each other,” said Mary Ellen Smith.

    In the letter, Taylor congratulated herself on graduating from high school and asked, “Are you in college?”

    She also wanted to know if she had been on a plane yet and if the show “Doctor Who” was still on the air.

    Taylor also had some words for her future kids. After considering the idea of selling her iPad and getting an iPadmini instead, she told her future self to mention to her kids that “We're older than the tablet.” She included a drawing of an iPad for them to see.

    Taylor died suddenly of pneumonia (肺炎), leaving behind both her parents and an older brother.

  “I just want people to know just what an awesome, awesome person she was,” her father, Tim Smith said.

    Her mother said, “I can't bring her back, but I'm so grateful people have been inspired by her story.”

    Taylor's father read the closing g words of her letter, which said, “It's been years since I wrote this. Stuff has happened, good and bad. That's just how life works, and you have to go with it.”

阅读下列短文：从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，将正确的选项涂在答题卡上。

A

       You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson.Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

 Jane Addams(1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addans helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community(社区)by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

  Rachel Carson(1907-1964)

If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)

When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator(参议员) and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

  Rosa Parks(1913-2005)

On December 1,1955,in Montgomery, Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgmery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

    Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.

    According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers' markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.

    After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.

    In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity — or  extreme overweight — among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.

    A young Los Angeles actor in need of a second job to pay his bills has come up with a brilliant way to supplement his income-people walking.

    Chuck McCarthy originally considered becoming a dog walker to earn some extra cash, but soon realized that the job required more than walking dogs on a leash. However, walking people didn't require much when they were out on walks. Chuck realized there was money to be made if he walked people around Los Angeles instead.

    It might sound like a joke, but The People Walker, as he calls himself, is very serious about his new job. For $7 per mile, he offers to walk with clients around L.A., listening to their problems or simply making conversations and offering them a sense of security. At 6-feet, 2-inches, and sporting a bulky figure and bushy beard, Chuck doesn't look like the kind of guy you'd want to mess with.

    Chuck's services are aimed at people who need a motivational boost to go walking, those who don't feel safe walking alone in some areas, and those who are afraid that people might see them walking by themselves and think that they have no friends. “I wear my The People Walker shirt upon request and on the first walk with a new client, so they can be 100% sure it's me,” McCarthy says. However, he admits some people are a bit uncomfortable with this policy, as they don't necessarily want everyone to know that they're being walked.

    So far, Chuck McCarthy has already had another five people walkers employed, covering various areas, like downtown L.A., Hollywood, Eagle Rock, or Fairfax. Once he posted signs around the city, his phone started ringing and clients began rolling in. And with all the free publicity he has been getting in the press lately, more requests are coming.

    While he hopes that his acting career will pick up soon, in the meantime Chuck is very happy with his people walking business. After all, it's literally a walk in the park and it pays the bills.

    Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?

    UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition (营养) “depending on who needs it”.

    Nitrogen (氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌) networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.

    Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the whole forest.

    “We didn't take any notice of it.” Simard says sadly. “Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

    My son Leon's passion for surfing began at the age of 13. After school each day, he put on his wet suit, paddled out beyond the surf line and waited to be challenged by his companions.

    One afternoon, the lifeguard reported over the phone to my husband Wilson that Leon's eye was badly injured by his board. Wilson rushed him to the emergency room. He received 26 stitches (缝针) from the corner of his eye to the bridge of his nose.

    I was on an airplane flying home. Wilson drove directly to the airport after they left the doctor's office. He greeted me at the gate and told me Leon was waiting in the car.

    "Leon?" I questioned. I remember thinking the waves must have been terrible that day.

    "He's been in an accident, but he's going to be fine."

    A traveling working mother's worst nightmare had come true. I ran to the car so fast that the heel of my shoe broke off. I swung open the door, and my son with the patched eye was leaning forward crying, "Oh, Ma, I'm so glad you're home."

    I cried in his arms telling him how awful I felt about not being with him.

    "It's okay, Mom," he comforted me. "You don't know how to surf anyway."

    "What?" I asked, confused by his logic.

    "I'll be fine. The doctor says I can go back in the water in eight days."

    I wanted to tell him he wasn't allowed to go near water again until he was 35, but instead I bit my tongue and prayed he would forget about surfing.

    For the next seven days he kept pressing me to let him surf again. One day after I had repeated "No" to him for the 100th time, he beat me at my own game.

    "Mom, you taught us never to give up what we love."

    I gave in.

    Back then Leon was just a boy with a passion for surfing. Now he ranks among the top 25 professional surfers in the world.