Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be a simple fact? Do you argue whether it's cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit (限速)?

    If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant's trunk (象鼻) said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant's side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear( 矛 ) as he touched the animal's tusk. The fourth, who took hold of the elephant's tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked liked a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant's legs. The last, who was tall and got hold of the elephant's ears, said it was like a huge fan.

    Each man's idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a “simple fact”, it's often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.

    To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a “simple fact”, try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water (温水)in the third. Now put your left hand in the hot water. Put your right hand in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it is hot.

    English is an excellent language to learn, whether it's for business, travel or personal reasons. Here are some important ways to improve your spoken English.

    When you have time to speak, just try your best to practice. Don't wait until you “feel more comfortable” speaking in English, so start speaking English today. You'll be surprised at how quickly your language skills improve. Find a native English speaker who is willing to spend some time speaking English with you—you may be able to offer them a language exchange, where they spend 30 minutes speaking English with you and you spend 30 minutes speaking your native language with them.

    Even if you have a good knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary, native English speakers may find it's very difficult to understand if you don't work on your pronunciation. Correct , clear pronunciation is necessary if you really want to improve your English. Listen closely to how native English speakers pronounce certain words and sounds and do your best to copy them.

    The wider your vocabulary and the more English phrases you learn, the easier speaking English will become. Once you have learned a new word or phrase, you should make an effort to use it in a sentence—this is the best way to keep it in mind. You should also start a notebook of phrases that English speakers use all the time.

    Another great way to add some more English conversation into your weekly practice is to sign up for a class of discussion group. Attending an English class is a great way to pay attention to some of the more formal aspects of speaking English. A class will teach you the correct way of speaking. Attending a discussion group is a more informal and relaxed way of learning English, where the emphasis(重点) is more on communication and relationship building than on speaking “correct” English.

    It is popular to travel by bike in China. China has a huge population. And it is said that there is at least one bike for every two people. Of course, many people in China ride bikes for sport or exercise, but it is also a much more commonly accepted means of everyday transportation, as compared to countries such as the United States.

    If you are living for a long time in China, chances are that you will want to buy your own bike so that you can use it whenever you want. Even if you don't use a bike for everyday transportation, owning one can be a great way to enjoy the sights in the countryside. However, if you are just visiting China, renting a bike can be a more convenient choice.

    It is important to choose the correct bike for your use. You will find that in China, the one-speed style of bike is popular. These bikes are great if you want to ride around in the city to see the sights. They are quite comfortable and easy to ride. You can often rent a bike for a day for about 15 dollars.

    However, if you wish to ride on some of the rural paths, a mountain bike style would be a better choice. They are great for different kinds of road surfaces, providing for a safer ride. If you are planning to have a wish to tour and still be able to carry packages with you, then a touring bike would be the best choice. These are the most expensive to rent, but are very suitable for carrying packages and even some of your luggage along with you.

    Saber Miresmailli was on vacation in London when, caught in a bit of traffic on London Bridge, he decided to take a photo of Tower Bridge.

    “I noticed the couple,” he said. “At that moment, I did not see anyone from the wedding party or a photographer with the couple, so I took several pictures. Usually, my pictures are not very good given the fact that I don't use flash and I don't stop to compose (构图)-so when we get back after two weeks, I was very surprised to find this one turned out so well.”

    Miresmailli said, “I thought to myself, if it was me getting married, I would have wanted the picture.” So he posted the photo on Facebook and attached a few friends with the hope of finding the couple and passing them the picture. What happened next, he said, “was crazy”. “I received more than 2,000 requests from perfect strangers and lots of positive and negative emails.” Until this afternoon, almost 230,000 people had shared his Facebook post on the photo.

There's also been an uncertain identification of the couple. It's likely that their names are Laura and James. “If it's the right couple,” Miresmailli said, “they are on their honeymoon in Bali and have no idea about the photo. I believe they will be shocked to find out about their fame.”

    Miresmailli said he's been drowned by the interest in the photo. “I just want to give them their picture and go back to work and tend my tomatoes,” he said.

    Science is finaly beginning to embrace animals who were, for a long time, considered second-class citizens.

    As Annie Potts of Canterbury University has noted, chickens distinguish among one hundred chicken faces and recognize familiar individuals even after months of separation. When given problems to solve, they reason: hens trained to pick colored buttons sometimes choose to give up an immediate food reward for a slightly later (and better) one. Healthy hens may aid friends, and mourn when those friend die.

    Pigs respond meaningful to human symbols. When a research team led by Candace Croney at Penn State University carried wooden blocks marked with X and O symbols around pigs, only the O carriers offered food to the animals. The pigs soon ignored the X carriers in favor of the O's. Then the team switched from real-life objects to T-shirts printed with X or O symbols. Still, the pigs walked only toward the O-shirted people: they had transferred their knowledge to a two-dimensional format, a not inconsiderable feat of reasoning.

    I've been guilty of prejudiced expectations, myself. At the start of my career almost four decades ago, I was firmly convinced that monkeys and apes out-think and out-feel other animals. They're other primates(灵长目动物), after all, animals from our own mammalian(哺乳动物的) class. Fairly soon, I came to see that along with our closest living relatives, whales too are masters of cultural learning, and elephants express profound joy and mourning with their social companions. Long-term studies in the wild on these mammals helped to fuel a viewpoint shift in our society: the public no longer so easily accepts monkeys made to undergo painful procedure kin laboratories, elephants forced to perform in circuses, and dolphins kept in small tanks at theme parks.

    Over time, though, as I began to broaden out even further and explore the inner lives of fish, chickens, pigs, goats, and cows, I started to wonder: Will the new science of "food animals" bring an ethical (伦理的) revolution in terms of who we eat? In other words, will our ethics start to catch up with the development of our science?

    Animal activists are already there, of course, committed to not eating these animals. But what about the rest of us? Can paying attention to the thinking and feeling of these animals lead us to make changes in who we eat?