Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly,flies like a fat chicken,eats green leaves,has the stomach of a cow and has claws（爪）on its wings when young.They build their homes about 4.6m above the river,an important feature（特征）for the safety of the young.It is called the hoatzin.

    In appearance,the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside.The head is small,with a large set of feathers on the top,bright red eyes,and blue skin.Its nearest relatives are the common birds,cuckoos.Its most striking feature,though,is only found in the young.

    Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip.Using these four claws,together with the beak（喙）,they can climb about in the bushes,looking very much like primitive birds must have done.When the young hoatzins have learned to fly,they lose their claws.

    During the drier months between December and March,hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April,when the rainy season begins,they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.

    Guide to four of the most exciting new adventure trips for 2017:

    Sahara

    Attractions: International Expeditions   Length: 18 days   Price: $13,998

Details: Remember the movie Ishtar? Now you, too, can spend days wandering in the desert, just like warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. Designed for rugged travelers, the camping expedition crosses1,500 miles of Niger's Sahara in four—wheel—drive vehicles.

    Departure Time: May 12     Information: 800-633-4731;  ietravel.com

    Across Patagonia: From the Andes to the Ocean

    Attractions: Boundless Journeys   Length: 10 days    Price: $8,995

    Details: The newest route across Patagonia starts high in the Argentine Andes and follows the Futaleufu River into Chile all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Travelers start by trekking along the river, changing to rafts before taking up kayaks for the final leg.

    Departure Time: March 5    Information: 800-941-8010; boundless, com.

Tribal(部落的)India

    Attractions: Myths and Mountains      Length: 17 days        Price: $17,530

    Details: For the travelers who have already visited the best-known India sites, this new trip visits a relatively unexplored state in central India ruled by the Vindhyachal Range and known for its wildlife, waterfalls, ancient sites and tribal culture.

    Departure Time(出发时间): Feb 17   Information: 800-670-6984; myths.com

    Dalmatian Coast Biking

    Attractions: Backroads            Length: 7 days           Price: $7,298

    Details: The company's first foray into Croatia follow scenic roadways across four islands between Dubrovnik and Spht.

    Departure Time: May 7    Information: 800-462-2848; backroads.com

    Finding a winter job is often a proof(证明)that you're growing up, and it's also a method for earning money to pay for what you dream of. It's never too early to start considering the future. Now, here are some good choices for you!

    Retail (零售) Sales

    Retail offers plenty of opportunity for teens who are looking for a job. This type of work can pay from $10 to $15 an hour depending upon the duty you are expected to take on. It can also be great for teens who are friendly and enjoy talking to other people. For more information, call us at 4005075.

    Food Service

    A job in the food service industry is a natural fit for sociable teens who enjoy communicating with the public. It allows employees to work as part of a team while learning about following instructions. It also comes with the opportunity to earn between $8 and $10 per hour. Just call 4005077 for more information.

    Babysitter

    This job requires someone who is highly responsible. Though it pays generally between $6 and $8 hourly, it also requires a lot of patience. This is a great choice for teens who wish to make a career in teaching, child care, social work or any other field that makes use of social skills or requires interaction with kids. Got a question? Just call 4005076.

    Housekeeping

    This type of work can bring in about $5 an hour and it will allow teens to learn the tourism industry, so hotels are often looking for more housekeeping staff, and parks often need more people to assist with keeping public areas clean and organized as well. Telephone: 4005079

    Since the sex of a sea turtle(海龟)is determined by the heat of sand hatching the eggs, scientists had suspected they might see slightly more females. Climate change, after all, has driven sea temperatures higher, which, in these creatures, favors female children. They found female sea turtles from Raine Island, the Pacific Ocean's largest and most important green sea turtle living area, now outnumber males by at least 116 to 1. "This is extreme," says turtle scientist Camryn Allen.

    Biologist Michael Jensen wanted to know if climate change had already changed turtles' sexes. By using genetic(基因的) tests, he'd figured out that he could follow turtles of all ages. Still, his research data would lack an important detail: sex. Only after a turtle matures is it possible to tell its sex from the outside -- mature males have slightly longer tails. By then turtles can be decades old, so scientists often use Iaparoscopy(腹腔镜检查)，sending a thin tube into each animal, but that's not so practical if you're hoping to examine hundreds of creatures. Fortunately, at a turtle conference, he met Allen, and all she needed was a little blood.

    They compared their results with temperature data for nesting beaches. What worries them is that Raine Island has been producing almost female turtles for at least 20 years. This is no small thing. More than 200,000 turtles come to nest there. During high season, 18,000 turtles may settle in at once. "But what happens in 20 years when there are no more males coming up as adults? Are there enough to maintain the population?" says Allen. They also found cooler beaches in the south are still producing males, but that in the north, it's almost entirely females hatching. These findings clearly point to the fact that climate change is changing many aspects of wildlife biology.

    But how widespread is this phenomenon -- and what is the consequence?

    Alan Naiman was known for being very careful about how he spent his money. But even those closest to him had no knowledge of the fortune he quietly gathered and the last act he had planned.

    Naiman died of cancer at age 63 last January. The man from the American state of Washington gave most of his money to groups that help the poor, sick, disabled and abandoned children.

    He gave them $11 million. The large amount of his fortune shocked the groups that received his gifts and even his best friends. That is because Naiman had been known to repair his own shoes with duct tape. He had sought deals to buy food from grocery stores at closing time and taken friends out to lunch at low cost restaurants.

    Naiman died unmarried and childless. He loved children but also was intensely private. He saved, invested and worked extra jobs to gather money. He rarely spent the money on himself after seeing how unfair life could be for children who suffer most.

    Naiman was a former banker who worked for the past 20 years at the state Department of Social and Health Services. He earned $67,234 a year and also took on side jobs. Sometimes, he worked as many as three at a time. He saved and invested enough to make several millions of dollars. He also received millions more from his parents after they died.

    He left $2.5 million to the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Washington. The center is a private organization that cares for babies born to mothers who abused drugs and children with drug dependency. The center used the money to pay off its mortgage (按揭) and buy a new vehicle to transport the children.

    Naiman gave $900, 000 to the Treehouse, where children without parents can choose toys and necessities for free. Treehouse is using Naiman's money to expand its college and career support services Statewide.

English businessman Richard Branson made history on July 11, 2021 as he and three other crewmates became the world's first space tourists. The flight was made by a spacecraft named VSS Unity that was built by Branson's company, Virgin Galactic. The flight lasted slightly more than an hour, and took Branson and crew to an altitude（海拔） of 53. 5 miles above the Earth, just a little above the boundary（边界） of space which lies 50 miles above the Earth.

At that height, the atmosphere turns into the black of outer space and the Earth becomes a bent ball of blue. Travelers also exhibit weightlessness as there is no gravity, the force that keeps our bodies walking on the Earth's surface. Therefore, Branson and his fellows were able to float around in VSS Unity while enjoying the views. They were able to do that for three minutes before the spacecraft began its downward journey. It landed back at Virgin Galactic's space port in New Mexico, United States, which is the same place from where it took off 90 minutes ago.

On landing back, Branson said, "I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid but honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of the Earth from space. It was just magical. I'm just taking it all in, and it's unreal."

July 11's flight is the start of space tourism for one and all. In early 2022, customers who could afford a ticket for a quarter of a million dollars could line up for a seat on a trip to space. And guess what—they will have a choice of spacecraft. Jeff Bezos, who owns a famous company, is all set to launch himself into space on July 20 on board a spacecraft built by his new branch company Blue Origin. Blue Origin will also carry tourists to space.