Students in many countries are learning English. Some of these students are little children. Others are teenagers. Many are adults. Some learn at school, others learn by themselves. A few learn English over the radio, on TV, or in films. One must work hard to learn another language.

    Why do all these people want to learn English? It's difficult to answer this question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects for study. They study their own language, math, English, and so on. Some people learn it because it is useful for their work. Many people learn English for their work and higher studies, because at colleges or universities some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspapers or magazines in English.

    On April 8th, 2013, the world felt sorry because of the death of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who died at the age of 87. Besides being the country's longest leader (1979-1990) in the 20th century, she was the first woman to lead Britain. She worked hard and did well in her work, so she was called" Iron Lady".

    Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher, the thing everyone does agree on is that she was a woman with great decisions. When she took over Britain in 1979, she led a country that was in economic trouble. She faced a lot of problems because of the poor economic position.

    In order to make the country become strong again, Ms. Thatcher had to make some hard and special decisions like raising interest rates and even taxes at a time when most British people were living a hard life. In this way she led Britain to run out of economic troubles.

    Early in her second term, just as things were looking a little better, she faced another problem — a strike by the British Miners Union. Once again, the Iron Lady stood her ground to stop the longest strike in the country's history.

    In 1982, Argentina said that they had owned the Falkland Islands since the 19th century. Britain, however, considered the islands to be one of their overseas dependent territories (领土). Margaret Thatcher tried to talk about the problem with Argentines. But Argentines didn't agree with her ideas, so Ms. Thatcher did what any strong leader would do — send in the British Army. It took 74 days, and on 14th June 1982, the Argentine army finally failed and Britain controlled the Falkland Islands again.

    When Ms. Thatcher resigned in 1990, she left behind a country that was very strong. Unluckily, during the last few years of her life, something was wrong with her mind. She hardly remembered anything that was happening around her and even what she had done during her wonderful lifetime.

    During my third year of university, I spent six months studying in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Many are worried about travelling to Rio but I promise, it is worth a visit. Now I want to share my top recommendations (推荐) for experiencing Rio less as a tourist but more like a native Brazilian.

    Pedra Bonita

    Rio is full of hiking routes, and some Brazilians love to spend an afternoon hiking. My favorite route of all has to be Pedra Bonita. Pedra Bonita involves a steep climb of about an hour through tall trees, and I admit it is difficult in Rio's heat, but you are rewarded at the top with a wonderful view of the city, standing high above the green landscape and blue sea below.

    Mureta da Urca

    One thing you are sure to find in Rio is an amazing sunset, but a lot of the best spots tend to be full of tourists. In my opinion, Mureta da Urca is the most relaxing place to watch the sun set over the silver sea, with the figure of Christ the Redeemer standing tall in the background.

    Pedra do Sal

    Pedra do Sal is a historical area in the city centre and on Monday nights it is brought to life by the sound of samba. Hundreds of people gather in the street, food and drink stalls are set up and it becomes a giant street party with everyone enjoying the happy sound of live samba!

    Picanha

    If there were one Brazilian food I could bring back to the UK, it would be picanha. It is the tastiest cut of steak I have ever tasted, served alongside rice and beans.

High-Wire Act

    Mickey Wilson had been on the mountain only a few seconds when he heard the scream. Wilson, 28 years old, had just gotten off the cable car (索道缆车) at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area in Keystone, Colorado, along with his friends Billy Simmons and Hans Mueller. Their friend Richard had been on the cable car ahead of them, but when the men reached the top of the lift, he had disappeared. The men walked toward the source of the scream and found skiers stopped on the slope, pointing to the cable car. And then the friends screamed too.

    "Oh, Richard!" yelled Mueller.

    When Richard had tried to jump off the cable car, his backpack had been caught in the chair, which then dragged him back down the hill. In the process, the backpack belt twisted around his neck, making him breathless. Now Richard's body was swinging four feet above the snow. The cable car operator had quickly stopped it, and the friends kicked off their skis and ran toward the scene. They made a human pyramid to try to reach Richard, but the unconscious man was too far off the ground. With the clock ticking, Wilson ran to the ladder of a nearby lift tower. Scared skiers watched as he struggled the 25 feet. After he reached the top, Wilson's first challenge was to climb onto the two-inch steel cable that held the chairs. He handled the balance and height bravely, but he knew he could not walk on the cable. Therefore, he calmed down and sat over it and then used his hands to pull himself to Richard quickly. Wilson's greatest fear wasn't that he'd fall, but that he wouldn't reach Richard. "This was life or death," he said.

    When he reached Richard's chair, Wilson swung a leg over the cable and attempted to drop down onto it. But as he did that, his jacket caught on the movable footrest, which was in the up position. The footrest began to slide down, with Wilson attached. But before that could happen, he managed to free himself and reached Richard.

    Fortunately, the ski patrol (巡查) had gathered below and performed emergency treatment on Richard, who had been hanging for about five minutes, then skied him down to an ambulance.

    That night, Richard called from the hospital to express his thanks to Wilson, his other friends and the workers at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

    Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you've completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we've accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of aging as wrinkles and gray hair. But now a new book suggests that we've got it all wrong.

    According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s — much later than previously thought.

    Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we keep them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years it's been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

    This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive (认知的) tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving. Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed — how fast you can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.

    Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with aging. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we're younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we've learned our lessons and are aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.

Every day for a week, a strange, happy visitor would drop to play with Vanessa Prior's pet dog Bobby. She thought Bobby had made a new dog friend. It seemed very friendly and got well along with Bobby. They would run after each other, play on the pool cover, gently wrestle or nap side by side.

At first she thought it was a wild dog. But when she posted a photo of the two playing on her Facebook, a pet rescue center called her. The group told her the Atlanta Wolf Project had been trying to catch the wolf for months, but they failed. Prior gave them new hope.

Because of the wolf's friendship with her pet dog, it was likely to come back to her backyard. Researchers hoped Prior could help them. When they put some traps (陷阱) in the back of her yard, Prior got a very complicated feeling. She couldn't describe what it was, but she was closely surrounded by it. The wolf would be in a safe place, but she would do something that harmed Bobby's feelings.

Researchers told Prior that they would take the rare, black wolf to the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary where it would live with another wolf. They didn't think it a fulfilling situation for a wild animal like a wolf to be connecting with humans' life. They need to keep a natural awareness to humans and pets and keep to themselves.

Wolf experts added they would look into the genetics (遗传学) of the animal to try to learn why it liked to get close to people and tried to play with their pets. Some experts believe it could have a history with well-meaning humans. Prior had not expected that they should meet such a special and lovely wolf. She and Bobby just hoped the dear friend all the best.