My friend Kathy and I were going to Colorado Springs for holiday. The only problem was, I didn't have any luggage to pack my belongings in.

    My friend Debbie offered to lend me a suitcase that belonged to her father, who had passed away long ago. “I don't know if you'll want to use it,” she said so gently, “it's very old, worn out, and such an ugly yellow color." I was so touched by her offer to lend something that belonged to her father, but I was also concerned about the possibility of it being damaged or lost. She insisted that I take it. So with the suitcase safely in hand, I boarded the train with Kathy.

    We spent two days and one night on the train, sleeping in our seats. As we slept, we were awakened at times, by the noises of the train pulling in and out of the stations.

    The next morning we eagerly awaited the announcement: Next stop, Colorado Springs. But suddenly, there came another announcement over the loud speaker. “During one of the overnight stops, many pieces of luggage were mistakenly removed from the train and left at the wrong location.”

    Kathy and I just looked at each other, as I felt the disappointment swell. Could my worst fear be coming true, was Debbie's suitcase lost?

    Just then two train conductors passed our seats. One of them jokingly said to the other, “Did you ever see such an old, ugly, brighter yellow, piece of luggage in all of your life?”

    Before the other conductor could answer, I screamed, “YES, MY SUITCASE MADE IT!”

    The two conductors stopped in their tracks! and, very red in the face, couldn't seem to apologize enough for having insulted my suitcase.

    When I returned it, I couldn't wait to get the suitcase back into Debbie's safe hands. She asked, “Did everything go well on the trip?” Somehow. I just couldn't resist telling her what had happened. She laughed heartily.

    When I recall the golden suitcase, Fm reminded, that like the suitcase, we can see ourselves as too old, useless, worn out, and of little value. Or, we can take a closer look and realize that we are one of God's most valued creations -- unique, and holding inside our most valuable possessions -- that of love, faith, hope, and wisdom.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid—we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.

    However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard (蜥蜴)native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we，d need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate w hitting. ''

    But fortunately there is an alternative : cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a “non-Newtonian” liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子）in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick Liquid of cornflour.

    Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink--and take a shower afterward!

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Queensland is one of the most amazing states in Australia. It has some of the most beautiful natural scenery on the planet, with the Great Barrier Reef, rainforests and impressive beaches.

The Great Barrier Reef

It is one of the world's largest natural features. It stretches more that 2,300 km along the north eastern coast of Australia from the northern tip of Queensland to just north of Bundaberg. The things that most surprise visitors to the reef are the colors.

Without doubt, the best way to see the Great Barrier Reef is by diving. If you have a little extra money and you are feeling a bit lazy, you can fly over the reef in a plane.

Fraser Island

Another area of natural beauty is Fraser Island. This is the world's largest sand island. It's best visited from Hervey Bay on the mainland, where there are a number of places offering trips around the island. To fully appreciate Fraser Island you should go for three or four days. Attractions include some beautiful fresh-water lakes, particularly Lake Wabby and Lake Mckenzie. You can walk around these on white sands untouched by human footprints. Indian Head also has some beautiful views. Braver travelers can go and watch sharks circling the water hundreds of meters below.

The Whitsunday Islands

    It would be a pity to travel around Queensland without taking a trip around the Whitsunday Islands. They were named by Captain Cook in 1770, after the day on which he arrived. Here are some of the great things you can do there.

●Cruise around them on a relaxing trip.

●Take a sailing course.

●Look at the aboriginal (土著的) paintings in caves on Hook Island.

●Have fun in the water doing lots of water sports.

    So, will you be going to Queensland?

    Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site baidu. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”.

    But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.

    Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy. “Cool” relates to ideas of grace under pressure.

    “In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life.”

    The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War II. “Post-war ‘cool' was in part an expression of war-weariness (厌战情绪), ... it went against the strict social rules of the time,” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude.

    But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities. He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies. In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.

    Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.

    But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.

    “Call it the Harry Potterization of America—a time when being smart is the new cool,” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.

    It's 5:00 in the morning when the alarm(闹钟)rings in my ears. I roll out of bed and walk blindly through the dark into the bathroom. I turn on the light and put on my glasses. The house is still as I walk downstairs while my husband and three kids sleep peacefully. Usually I go for a long run, but today I choose my favorite exercise DVD, Insanity. Sweat pours down my face and into my eyes. My heart races as I force my body to finish each movement. As I near the end of the exercise, I feel extremely tired, but a smile is on my face. It's not a smile because the DVD is over, but a smile of success from pushing my body to its extreme limit.

    Some people enjoy shopping, smoking, food, work, or even chocolate. But I need exercise to get through each day. Some shake heads when they see me run through the town. Others get hurt when I refuse to try just one bite of their grandmother's chocolate cake. They raise their eyebrows, surprised by my "no thank you", or by my choice to have a salad. Over the years, I have learned it's okay to just say "no". I shouldn't feel sorry for refusing food that I don't want to eat.

    So what drives me to roll out of bed at 5:00 a.m.? What gives me the reason to just say no to ice cream? Commitment. A commitment to change my life with a way that reduces daily anxiety, increases self-confidence and energy, extends life and above all improves my body shape. This is the point where a smile appears on my face as I look at myself in the mirror or try on my favorite pair of jeans that now fit just right. It's through commitment and sweat that I can make a difference within myself inside and out.

Yesterday morning I was having breakfast in the 37th floor club lounge(休息室) at the InterContinental Bangkok, quite enjoying my conversation with Julia. She is a lovely Bavarian lady who works in the club lounge. Suddenly I felt really dizzy(晕眩的). I hadn't drunk anything the night before and had got a great night of sleep, so I found that a bit strange. But it continued. After a few moments I realized what was going on -- I wasn't dizzy, but it was an earthquake. For over 20 seconds the club floor was shaking.

Julia tried to remain calm and asked us to go down the stairs. When I walked past the rooftop pool, I saw water rushing out of it, which terrified me even more. I skipped down the 37 flights of stairs as if I were taking part in the Olympics.

However, as I was trying to get to the ground floor, I found it strange that nobody else was escaping. Eventually I made it to the ground floor. Again, I had never been in an earthquake before, so I had no sense of what it was like during an earthquake. I was kind of expecting disorder on the streets, a thousand people in the hall, and a general Armageddon style setting.

Sure enough I hurriedly got through the doors on the first floor and went straight to the reception desk, thinking the girl at the desk knew what was going on. But she looked quite confused, not knowing what I was talking about. Then I asked another one but I got the same response. I believed the world was coming to an end, while everyone looked at me as if nothing had happened.

Well, as it turned out, nothing did happen to them. Clearly there was an earthquake in Myanmar, and it was only felt at the top of some of the taller buildings in Bangkok.

Julia kept the club lounge closed for safety for some time, while I was happy just to be on the ground level.