When the evening is coming, my dear son and I are preparing for the tape time. “Shoes on,” I remind 9-year-old Sam. “Snakes are always waiting for the chance to kiss you. But with our feet stepped into my car, we are safe.” We take blankets and cups of milk and head out to the shelter that serves as our garage. This has become our bedtime habit.

    I press “play.” A motherly voice fills the car. My mother and my aunt send us books on tape obtained from secondhand shops or rescued from the back of drawer. Maybe no one in England lays cassettes anymore, but I still love them.

    Sam rests on his seat. He's sitting in the front seat. I am listening to the cassette. But I am also thinking. In a month's time, my boy will be 10. Next year, he will be 11. And so it will go on, until he leaves me and his father and his sister to live out his own stories— as it is only right and proper he should.

    Will he think back to the times when he sat in the dark in a car in Africa, listening to tales of Wales in World War Ⅱ, the finest lady detective of Botswana, or a country he has visited, and tells me he finds them “very interesting”? Will he think , when he is grown-up, the poor mum always makes the ancient tape player which is out of date work?

    I like to believe that he will recall those wonderful moments. By then, perhaps, my child will realize a deep love of sharing and understanding by listening to the old tape player. I hope Sam will think that these evenings we spend in the car are a story themselves. It is his own first chapter. In time my boy will ease off the hand brake and roll out into the world. Until then, I'll keep pressing “play”.

    Every man dreams of having agood car. With luxury cars, like Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, going intothe world of SUVs, if you have deep pockets, you will be spoilt for choice.

    ◆Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

    Using a new aerodynamic system allows it toset a car lap record of 6: 44 97 at Nurburgring, one of the longest and most challengingcircuits in the world. Plus, carbon fiber can be seen everywhere, which makes thecar strong and lightweight. There're only 900 being built and you'llneed to coughup $517, 770 to buy one.

    ◆Aston Martin DBX

    The DBX is Aston Martin's maiden SUVproduct. It features a choice of two gas engines—a 4.0-liter V8 from Mercedes anda 5.2-liter V12 from its own. The price is predicted to be around $250, 000.

    ◆Audi E-tron

    Being an eco-friendly motoring, it is an all-electricSUV that makes up for its rather ordinary appearance with design, luxury and technology.At the front and back are electric motors which insure progress is rapid. In additionto plenty of storage space, the Audi E-tron provides side cameras instead of sidemirrors and air suspension that adapts to the terrain (地形). Hand over $74, 800 and it's yours.

    ◆Tesla Roadster

    Tesla Roadster will turn most heads, Zero to60 in 1.9 seconds means it will leave most cars for dust. The top speed is 250 mph,which is also unheard of for most cars—let alone an all-electric one. Having advancedautonomous driving systems and a huge touchscreen for surfing the Internet, it won'tmake you regret for paying $200, 000.

    In early November of 1942, my geology (地质学)class was supposed to go on a field trip to see the mica mine (云母矿). Although it rained, everyone showed up on time. I was the only girl in the class. We all fit into two cars.

    Near Deary, Mr. Tier, our teacher, went into a store to ask about the direction, while townsmen looked at us with curiosity. On the store owner's advice, we drove out into the hills for a few miles. Then we left the cars. We were afraid they would get stuck in the mud.

    Eventually, we located the mine near the top of the mountain. There was a very small hole, running about two or three hundred feet into the mountainside. The passage (通道) was so narrow that we could touch both sides with our hands, and not tall enough to allow us to stand up straight. The first boy held the torch; we took hold of the backs of each other's coats, in a line, and followed him in, ducking our heads. After getting in, we were disappointed because it was not the mine our teacher was looking for.

    The rain was coming down hard as we started back to the cars to go home. Back at Deary, we went into a drugstore and stood around its big heating stove to dry out. The clerk was a middle­aged lady. Seeing our entirely wet hair and clothes, she handed each of us a cup of hot water immediately and asked if there was anything wrong with any of us.

    Hiking eight miles in the rain had not reduced our interest at all. We all felt we had had a wonderful time, even if we didn't find the mine.

    As I stuck in the mud (泥), with my bike on top of me, I wondered what had forced me to come here. Madagascar is not a good place for a cycling holiday: one of the world's poorest countries, only 11 percent of roadway is paved (铺). South of the town of Antalaha, where I started, the road was in worse condition.

    I appeared from a week in the wilderness and reached the start of the Route National 5 at Maroantsetra, but my dream of a smooth road and speed was suddenly destroyed by mud. The "worst road in the country" changed my bicycle into a burden (负担) for days. Finally, I was claimed by the road. Tired. Alone.

    As I wiped (擦) the mud from my face and looked upwards, I was greeted by a Malagasy man. He helped me stand up and smiled playfully while he pointed to my bike, which sat next to his. I started again. But I fell again in the mud. Angrily, I told him to go on, but if he understood he showed no sign of it. His smile forced me back onto the bike. We continued like this for hours. But I fell less. Studying my quick guide, slowly I learned. As we passed through a village, a group of children saw me and shouted loudly. His only words were: "Their parents tell them while people steal and eat them. Funny, no?"

    I tried to ask why, but he had already set off. I tried to catch up; as I got closer, he took it as a challenge and sped up. We raced along the road. I rode a little faster and I was just behind, about to catch up with him. With a smile, he sped up and was away, leaving me breathless.

    I've always felt a need to be prepared for whatever situation I've found myself in.

    My mother once took me to a store when I was seven years old. She and I got to the checkout counter, and she realized she had forgotten a couple of things on her shopping list. She left me with the cart and ran off to get what she needed.

    "I'll be right back." she said.

    She was gone just a few minutes, but at that time, I had loaded all the things on the belt and everything was rung up. I was left staring at the cashier, who was staring at me. "Do you have money for me, son?" she said. "I'll need to be paid."

    I didn't realize she was just trying to please herself. So I stood there, ashamed and embarrassed.

    By the time my mom returned, I was angry. "You left me here with no money! This lady asked me for the money, and I had nothing to give her."

    Now that I'm an adult, you'll never catch me with less than $200 in my wallet. I want to be prepared in case I need it.

    I've always admired people who are over-prepared. In college, I had a classmate named Norman. One day he was giving a speech on an overhead projector(投影仪) and in the middle of his talk, the light bulb（灯泡）on the projector blew out. We would have to wait ten minutes until someone found a new projector.

    "It's Okay." he said. "There's nothing to worry about."

    We watched him walk over to his bag and pull something out. He had brought along a spare(备用) bulb for the overhead projector. Who could even think of that?

    I often told my students, "When you go into the wilderness, the only thing you can depend on is what you take with you." And essentially, the wilderness is anywhere but your home or office. So take money. Pack a light bulb. Be prepared.

A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence (AI) and created apps to address polluted drinking water, drug addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine's first-ever "Kid of the Year". 

Rao told The Associated Press in an interview from her home that the prize is nothing that I could have ever imagined. And I'm so grateful and just so excited that we're really taking a look at the upcoming generation and our generation, since the future is in our hands. 

Time said Rao stood out for creating a global community of young innovators and inspiring them to pursue their goals. Rao insisted that starting out small doesn't matter, as long as you're passionate about it. 

She told Time contributing editor Angelina Jolie in an interview that her science pursuits started early as a way to improve social conditions. The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, inspired her work to develop a way to detect pollutants and send those results to a mobile phone, she said. 

"I was like 10 when I told my parents that I wanted to research carbon nanotube sensor technology at the Denver Water quality research lab, and my mum was like, A what?" Rao told Jolie. She said that work is going to be in our generation's hands pretty soon. "So if no one else is gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. "

In a world where science is increasingly questioned or challenged, Rao insisted that its pursuit is an act of kindness, the best way that a younger generation can better the world. 

"We have science in everything we're involved in, and I think that's the biggest thing to put out there, that science is cool, innovating is cool, and anybody can be an innovator. " Rao said, "Anybody can do science. "