Tomato Festival

    Started in 2005, the Tomato Festival has grown into a local tradition in Malta． In recent years, the festival has added amusement park-style rides and a yearly Creature Feature, which screens old horrible movies．There are also dance competitions, parades and pancake breakfast．Third weekend in August．

    Address: 833 Tinkham Rd, Fountain Park, Wilbra-ham, Massachusetts 01095

Phone: （413）599-0010

                                                                                                           Brat Days

Don't mistake this festival for a day filled with poorly behaved children． Begun in 1953, the gathering is the biggest festival in the city each year and features more than 50 stands selling the sausage, as well as a contest to see who can quickly eat the most bratwurst in ten minutes．Early August．

    Address: 17th and New Jersey sts, Kiwanis Park, She boygan, Wisconsin 53081

Phone: （920）457-9491

                                                                                               Hope Watermelon Festival

    The festival dates back to the 1920s, when many trains went through this small town and local watermelon growers would sell their watermelon to parched travelers．These days, the festival sees a Watermelon Queen crowned（加冠的） and sometimes a world-record watermelon grown．There are also more than 300 stands selling arts and crafts from a six-state area, as well as a car show and the Watermelon Olympics．Early August．

    Address: 108 W 3rd St, Hope, Arkansas 71801

Phone: （870） 777-3640

                                                                                                     Oyster Festival （牡蛎节）

Featuring appearances from tall ships and oyster boats, this festival has regularly drawn 60,000 visitors a year since it began in 1978．More than 3,000 volunteers make the festival possible each year．Norwalk is less than a two-hour drive from many of New England's larger cities, making it easy to attend the festival during a trip to New York or Hartford．Weekend after Labor Day．

    Address: Sea view Ave, Veteran's Park, East Nor-walk, Connecticut 06855

Phone: （800） 866-7925

    New research has found that even if you give up smoking,the damage it has done to your genes（基因）will stay there for a much longer time.

    In the research,a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people.Among them,some were smokers,some used to smoke,and the rest were non-smokers.Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed-a number that is one-third of known human genes.

    According to NBC News,both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes.Some people may have had the changes when they were born,but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like  smoking.

When you stop smoking,a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.This means your body is trying to heal（治愈）itself of the harmful effects of smoking.But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer.They can stay for as long as 30 years.It's almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement（水泥）一it will always be there, even when you've walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

    Although the study results may make people unhappy,there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer ricks.

    I've been in the taxicab business for thirty-five years, and I know there is a lot about it that is not so good. Taxicab drivers have to be tough fellows to be able to work in New York. You've got to fight the New York traffic eight hours a day these days, so people get the wrong impression that they are bad.

    Actually, taxi drivers are just like other people. Most of them will behave as honest fellows. You read in the papers almost every week that a taxi driver turns in money or jewels that people leave in their cabs. If they weren't honest, you wouldn't be reading those stories in the papers.

    One time in Brooklyn, I found a diamond ring in my cab. I remembered helping a lady with a lot of packages that day, so I went back to where I had dropped her. It took me almost two days to trace her down in order to return her ring to her. I didn't get as much as “thank you”. Still I felt good because I had done what was right. I think I felt better than she did.

    I was born and raised in Ireland and lived there until I was nineteen years old. Then I came to this country where I had a family and bought my own cab. Life hasn't been too easy at times, but my wife takes care of our money and we have a good bit put away for a rainy day.

    When I started driving a cab, Park Avenue was mostly a bunch of coal yards. Hoofer's Brewery was right next to where the Waldorf-Astoria is now. I did pretty well, even in those days. In all my years of driving a taxicab, I have never had any trouble with the public, not even with drunks.

    I believe honesty is one of the greatest gifts. I know they call it a lot of fancy names these days, like integrity（正直）, etc. But it doesn't make any difference what they call it; it's still what makes a man a good citizen. This is my code, and I try to live by.

    When Wu Jia, then aged 23, returned from Canada to work for her father's Hangzhou-based Zoland Animation (动画) in 2007, she found Chinese animation productions were just-so-so. Back then, Chinese animation shown at overseas events, received a poor response.

    But things soon changed following a boom in China's movie and television industries. By 2011, China developed into one of the world's largest animation producers, with animation and cartoon products reaching a record of 260,000 minutes.

    However, that figure has witnessed a fall in recent years. The latest statistics show that China made only 244 animated productions totaling 83,600 minutes in 2017. But Wu says: “Chinese animators are changing from quantity to quality and Chinese animators are now producing more quality works” at the 14th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

    Wu, now the chairman of Zoland Animation, is among those who are part of China's rapidly growing animation industry. She says the company has so far displayed more than 8,000 hours of animated content to 93 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, South Korea and Russia.

    Magic Eye, one of Zoland's most popular animated works, which was sold to just Singapore in 2006, is now reaching the screens of nearly 80 countries and regions worldwide. The 500-episode animated series about an alien boy's adventures on Earth also has a sequel (续集) series Magic Eye is Back, which has 104 episodes. Thanks to Magic Eye's popularity, the sequel quickly arouses interest in overseas markets and is being displayed in 38 countries and regions.

    Speaking about how to succeed abroad, Wu says: “First, the works should be good. And, you need an experienced team who knows international markets.”

    The words “protect animals” appear everywhere in books and on screens because some animals are in danger of dying out. But sometimes the reality can be a little different from what people read or watch.

    Florida, US, has held its first bear hunt since 1994. The local government gave people nearly 4,000 permits to kill black bears. And more than 200 were killed on Oct 24.

    Animal protection groups protested this decision. But local officials explained that the black bear population had grown to 3,500 and become a menace to local people. In the past two years, bears have hurt at least four people in Florida.

    This brings an old question back into the spotlight – which is more important, protecting animals or protecting people's interests?

    This question is asked in other countries too. In Switzerland, a wolf was sentenced to death by the Swiss government months ago. This is because the wolf killed 38 sheep and local people lost a lot of money. Days ago in China, three old men were arrested for killing a serow(鬣羚), a protected species. But they insisted they didn't know about this and killed the animal because it ruined their crops.

    However, these stories don't always mean that animal protection stops due to human interests, especially involving economic development. A man named Zhou Weisen set up a wild animal base in Guilin, Guangxi. He saved over 170 tigers and 300 bears. But his base also offered jobs to local people.

    “There may never be a standard answer to the question of whether we should give more attention to the environment or human development,” said Robert May, a British biologist at Oxford University. “But we shouldn't push either one to the side, as the future is hanging in the balance.

    At first, Michael Surrell didn't see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors' home. He and his wife had just parked around the corner from their own house, when they got a call from one of his daughters: "The house next door is on fire!" He went to investigate. That's when he saw two women and a girl panic-stricken on their doorway.

    "The baby's in there!" one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, instinctively ran inside. "The baby" was 8-year-old Tiara, the woman's granddaughter.

    Entering the burning house was like "running into a bucket of black paint," Surrell says. The thick smoke caused him to struggle blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions would have been risky for anyone, but for Surrell, who has lung disease, they were life-threatening. After a few minutes in the smoke-filled house, he withdrew outside to catch his breath.

    "Where is Tiara?" he asked desperately. "The second floor," The woman shouted back. Taking a deep breath, he went in a second time. The darkness was overwhelming. Yet because the house had a similar design to his, Surrell found the stairs and made it to the second floor. He was already out of breath. Then a soft but distinct moan appeared. He crawled toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the girl. Finally, he touched something. A shoe, then an ankle. He pulled Tiara into his arms. Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the blackness. The next thing he knew, he was at the front door, then outside.

    Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later, having suffered severe burns. Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days. "It's a small price to pay," Surrell says. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Wouldn't give it a second thought."