When I walked into the house after school, I found my dad at home.

    "What are you doing home already?" I asked casually.

    "Andrew, I was laid off today," he answered quietly.

    I was sure he was joking. "No, you weren't. Why are you really home?"

    Then I noticed his expression and realized he was telling the truth. My father has always been a hard worker and prided himself on his career. My father's unemployment created many changes in our lives. He was home all day, which meant my bed had to be made, my room cleaned up, and my homework done right after school. I would come home every day to find him at the computer searching for jobs. I began to notice how down he seemed, and how losing his job had affected his self-esteem, though he tried to be optimistic. He asked my brother and me to spend less money. I gave up my allowance, which even though it wasn't much, felt like the right thing to do. I also found a part-time job.

    After several difficult months of searching, my dad decided to go in a totally different direction. He explained that he never wanted to be laid off again, so he was going to start his own business. Day by day, I watched him build it, and I admired how much time and energy he devoted to it.

    One evening I asked if he needed help. "Only if it doesn't interfere（打扰，妨碍） with school," he said, which sounded like a yes.

    I showed up at his office the next afternoon, and most afternoons after that for two months. I always knew he was a hard worker, but watching him in action really influenced me. Although this was one of the worst experiences for our family, it taught me a lot about dealing with adversity. Now I know that through creative problem-solving, I can always find Plans, ask for help, and take risks.

    One day an out-of-work mime(哑剧演员)is visiting a zoo and attempts to earn some money as a performer. As soon as he starts to draw the crowd, a zoo keeper grabs him and drags him into his office. The zoo keeper explains to the mime that the zoo's most popular attraction, a gorilla, died suddenly and the keeper fears that the attendance at the zoo will fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla until they can get another one. The mime accepts.

    So the next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes. He discovers that it's a great job. He can sleep when he wants to, play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mime. However, eventually the crowds get tired of him and he doesn't like just swinging on wires any longer. He begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his.

    Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage, crawls across a partition(隔开物), and dangles(悬荡) from the top of the lion's cage. Of course, this makes the lion furious, but the crowd loves it. At the end of the day the zoo keeper comes and gives the mime a raise for being such a good attraction. Well, this goes on for some time, the mime keeps laughing at the lion, the crowds grow larger, and his salary keeps going up.

    Then one terrible day when he is dangling over the furious lion he slips and falls. The mime is terrified. The lion gathers its strength and prepares to pounce(猛扑). The mime is so scared that he begins to run round and round in the cage with the lion close behind. Finally, the mime starts screaming and yelling, "Help me! Help me!", but the lion is quick and pounces. The mime soon finds himself lying on his back looking up at the angry lion and the lion says, "Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?"

    Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity (湿度).

In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia, which is a life-threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0℃. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6℃ higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4℃. Below 29.4℃, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9-15.6℃. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7℃.

In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life-threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6-41.7℃. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.

    He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 100th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).

    Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.

    However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up (掩饰) the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.

    In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile (流亡) made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

    Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. "I need the sea because it teaches me," he wrote. "I move in the university of the waves." He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed in his work.

    For many people, the Transformers movies are the greatest Hollywood blockbusters (大片). And among the Transformers themselves, the yellow Autobot named Bumblebee is certainly the favorite. He may be one of the smallest and weakest of the alien machines, but he is always loyal to his friends and shows great bravery in battle.

    In the new film, Bumblebee is found in a junkyard (废车场) and is full of honeybees. He always finds himself in awkward (尴尬的) situations, but people like his cute and naive looks. In addition to his blue eyes, Bumblebee's body language and movements are adorable. At one point, he sits with his legs straight out, with his huge feet making him look like a 5-year old trying on his dad's shoes.

    Bumblcbee is the Transformer who has the greatest affinity (亲和力) with humans. He starts journey with Watson, who is at a loss about her future and wants a friend. As a result of their adventure together. Watson grows up and starts to work toward her life goal of becoming a musician. As for Bumblebee, as we know, is a robot from outer space, he now has a better understanding of his task to protect the Earth. Every adventure has a beginning, as the movie poster puts it. More importantly, every adventure needs a good partner. The considerate, positive and warm Bumblebee is definitely a good choice according to US actress I Hailee Stcinfeld, who plays Watson in the film.

Sichuanese is China's most thrilling regional cuisine. Although it's most famous for {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(it) electrifying use of chilies (辣椒) and lip-tingling Sichuan Peppercorns (花椒)，the heart of the local style of cooking {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(lie) in the artful mixing of flavors.

Sichuanese {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(cook) specialize in combining hot, numbing, sweet, sour, savory and nutty seasonings {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(create) an astonishing variety of flavors. Some of these are {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(incredible) hot, some dishes are mildly spicy and some are not hot at all. 

While Sichuan pepper is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} ancient Chinese spice, the chili is a relatively recent import from the Americas. It wasn't widely cultivated in Sichuan {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the 19th century but went on to become one of its most indispensable local seasonings.

In Sichuanese dialect, chilies {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(know) as "sea pepper"(hai jiao) too, a reference to their foreign origins. Locals explain their preference for chilies comes from traditional Chinese medicine, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} people are advised to eat plenty of "heating foods" to counter the damp of the local climate. People {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(visit) Sichuan are often asked, "ni pa bu pa la"— "Are you afraid of Chili heat？"