A mother's love

    I'm a New York City firefighter. Every day, I see terror— sometimes even death. But the day I found Scarlett was different. That day I saw life. And love.

    We were responding to a call about a burning garage. Outside, I heard the sound of cats crying. I couldn't stop — I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

    It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control, but we did it. No one inside was hurt.

    At that point I was free to investigate the cat noises. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing(猫叫) to a spot on the sidewalk near the front of the garage. There, crying and huddled(挤作一团) together, were five terrified kittens. They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly singed(烫烧).

    I left the five kittens in a box on a neighbor's porch(门廊).

    I wanted to find the mother. It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one —unbelievable.

    We finally found her. She was badly burnt: her eyes were blistered (起水泡), her paws(爪子) were blackened, and her fur was singed all over. You could even see her reddened skin beneath the burned fur. She could barely move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. Sensing her trust, I shed a tear. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.

    The vet told me they would observe the kittens and their mother overnight, but they weren't optimistic about the mother's changes.

    About a week later, I found out she was going to live. One of the technicians suggested we name her Scarlett, because of her reddened skin.

    Knowing what Scarlett endured(忍受) for her kittens, it melted my heart to see her reunited with them. She touched each of them again, nose to nose, to make sure they were all safe. She had risked her life five separate times — and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

    As a firefighter, I see heroism(英雄事迹) every day. But what Scarlett showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother's love.

    Welcome to the Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), one of London's most famous landmarks. It is open daily and is a wonderful place to visit — whether you have an hour or a day.

    The buildings and grounds of the ORNC were originally designed as a refuge(避难所)for old and injured sailors in the 1690s. Later the site became a training college for officers in the Royal Navy. Today they are free to visit and host an exciting range of events all year round.

Painted Hall

    View the impressive Painted Hall, known as the greatest piece of decorative painting in England. Sir James Thornhill spent 19 years painting it celebrating the royal family and maritime(海上的) power. Discover more interesting history through our daily talks and family activities.

Chapel(小教堂)

    Redecorated by James“Athenian”Stuart after a fire in 1779, the Chapel reflects Stuart's Greek influences, and is still an active place to show respect and love for God. Besides, it is a perfect place for concerts and recitals(演奏会).

Discover Greenwich

    Explore over 500 years of history and architecture at the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre. There is an impressive central model of Maritime Greenwich World Heritage (遗产)Site.

Opening times

    Painted Hall, Chapel and Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre open from 10:00 to 17:00, Mon to Sun. (Chapel opens at 12:00 on Sun following service).

Grounds open daily 08:00-18:00.

    What is a big dream? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} or, is a big dream something that provides only entertainment? Children dream big dreams, but there are three barriers(障碍) to realizing dreams. They often kill them before they ever have a chance to grow.

The Self

    Immediately following the birth of a big dream, a negative self-talk takes over and gives all the reasons why it can't happen. This inside voice is the ego (自我). It is there for protecting and should be listened to. Sometimes it is right, but more often it is wrong. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    That's why only a handful of people make their dream come true.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Family and friends are a lot like the ego. They want to protect those they love, so they will often list all the reasons why the big dreams won't come true. Sometimes, family and friends destroy dreams of those they love most, out of their own fear of being left behind.

The World

    If one gets past the first two barriers, one has to face the world. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In the past, big dreamers were locked up and sometimes even killed when they were shown to the world. Fortunately, in most of the world today, big dreamers just get laughed at.

    The way to realize a big dream is with confidence and action. When children have confidence and then take action, they will be ready to accept any failure. The truth is that every great dreamer whose dreams have never seen the light of success knows failure well. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. How Big Dreams Die

B. Family and Friends

C. They simply fail until they succeed.

D. Does a big dream show one's future?

E. Most people are influenced by the inside voice.

F. It is the last and the most terrible barrier.

G. And their big dream is to be a rock star or a famous artist.

    Let me tell you, Johnson, this is going to be the biggest development in animal-imitative cybernetics (动物模仿控制学) since Hayes pioneered the field way back in 2014. Everybody's going to want a piece of my discovery! Everyone! Even United States of Earth Defense! I'm going to be the richest man alive!

    I can see you don't share my excitement yet. Just wait, old friend. Accompany me to my lab, and we will see who has the last laugh. You'll be begging me to take you on as a lab assistant after I...Oh, here we are. You first, my good man. You see, I had already come up with the perfect cybernetic engine, able to copy any life form. The question was, which creature would be the best show of my discovery? I've used a life form nobody's considered for cybernetics. It is powerful, graceful, intelligent, and best of all people love it. I chose the tiger!

    Go on, have a glance! Ha! Don't look so shocked, Johnson. I leave it powered down when I'm not testing it. It is rather great, though. Yes, all the latest technology, including claws (爪) I had made from vanadium alloy (合金). It cuts through steel like its wet cardboard. The process that I used to get its mind in the computer will be enough to ensure me fame and fortune.

    Huh? It did move, didn't it? I guess I left it on yesterday. No, don't look so nervous; I can shut off its main power with this remote (遥控器) right here. Nothing to worry about. I really don't think it's regarding you as a meal. Be reasonable, old...Oh, God! Johnson! The remote, where is it? Where?!

    Ah, there we go! Too late to save Johnson, though. What a pity. Better safe than sorry. There! God, what a mess. Even worse, I can't call the police now; the bad publicity would overshadow my breakthrough, and certainly frighten the investors. I've got to get rid of the body secretly, somehow. I could bury it, but I might be seen. I could burn it, but the smoke would be very doubtful. What to do?

    What to...

    I wonder...How fast can this cat eat?

    Against the supposition that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia warm the climate, scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.

    This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions. Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade. Scientists predict that with climate warming, fires may occur more frequently over next several centuries as a result of a longer fire season. Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming, while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.

    This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate. Earlier studies by other scientists have suggested that fire in northern regions speed up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants are released into the atmosphere and thus trap heat.

    Scientists found that right after the fire, large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming. Ozone (臭氧) levels increased, and ash from the fire fell on far-off sea ice, darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in. The following spring, however, the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire, because fewer trees covered the ground. Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space, leading to cooling.

    "We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." Scientists tracked the change in amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire, and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature. Typically, fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years. Scientists, however, found that when fire occurs more frequently, more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results. Specifically, they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicated, 0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked up by the earth from greenhouse gases, but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space. The net effect is cooling. Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.

    Scientists recently discovered three tyrannosaur (霸王龙) trackways in Canada. The trackways suggest the meat eaters traveled and hunted in groups. The 70-million-year- old footprints are the first tyrannosaur trackways ever found.

    Tyrannosaurs were a type of meat-eating dinosaur that included the strong Tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus. “Groups of tyrannosaurs may have stuck together as a group to increase their chances of bringing down animals and individually surviving,” study coauthor Richard McCrea says. He works for Canada's Peace Region Paleontology Research Centre. It's believed that tyrannosaurs were solitary creatures. The newly discovered trackways could change the way scientists look at these frightening beasts.

    Trackways can uncover a lot about the social behavior of a species. Unfortunately, very few tyrannosaur footprints have ever been found, and until recently, the only ones known were single prints discovered in Mongolia, the western U.S., and western Canada. But in October 2011, a hunting guide named Aaron Fredlund found two tyrannosaur track marks near Tumbler Ridge, an area in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Over the next year, McCrea and his team searched the site and found the remaining trackways.

    The footprints are at about the same depth, which suggests the tyrannosaurs moved through the area at the same time. Impressions of the dinosaurs' rough skin are even visible in the prints. The prints are also in near-perfect condition. That's because the ground had a high clay (黏土 ) content when the dinosaurs walked through the area. The land was later covered by a thick layer of volcanic ash, which kept the marks intact (完整). "This is the most ideal situation you could ask for," McCrea says.

    Researchers aren't sure of the exact species of tyrannosaur that left the prints. But the historic findings show a great deal about how the beasts moved and behaved. “We have extremely convincing evidence that tyrannosaurs traveled in groups,” says McCrea. "This is probably the most important evidence to come out to date on that topic."