The Asian elephant has been respected for centuries and is still used today for ceremonies and religious purposes. It is respected, not only because it plays a role in Asian culture and religion, but also because it is a key biological species in the tropical forests of Asia.

    The Asian elephant is the largest land mammal in Asian. It is smaller than the African elephant, with relatively smaller ears. Asian elephants have a single “finger” on the upper lip of the long trunk, while African elephants have a second on the lower tip. A number of adult male Asian elephants have no tooth, and the percentage of males carrying ivory(象牙）is different from only about 5% in Sri Lanka to 90% in south India. Asian elephants keep their ears in constant motion in order to free the heat they produce. The species is reported to have well-developed hearing, vision, and smell , and they are also fine swimmers.

    Asian elephants prefer to convey something to form groups surrounding 6 to 7 related females that are led by the oldest female. Like African elephants, these groups occasionally join others to form herds, although these associations are relatively temporary.

    More than two thirds of the day may be spent feeding on grasses, but large amounts of tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems are also eaten. Crops such as bananas, rice and sugar plants are favored foods. Besides, they need to drink at least twice a day so the source of water is quite important.

    The Asian elephant used to live from modern Irap and Syria to the Yellow River in China at first, but it is now found only from India to Vietnam, with a tiny population in the extreme southwest of China's Yunnan Province. More than 100,000 Asian elephants may have existed at the start of the 20^th century. The population is estimated to have fallen by at least 50% over the last 60-75 years.

    Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive (欺骗) ? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.

    For example , some might say, "I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery (彩票) . It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars! "

    This guy's a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He's really a big loser!

    He didn't say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That's called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.

    Some politicians often use this trick. Let's say that during Governor Smith's last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents says, "During Governor Smith's term, the state lost one million jobs!" That's true. However, an honest statement would have been, " During Governor Smith's term , the state had a net gain of two million jobs. "

    Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It's against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, "Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache. " It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.

    This kind of deception happens too often. It's a sad fact of life: Lies are lies , and sometimes the truth can lie as well.

    Nearly 19 percent of teachers of color (有色人种教师) left their jobs after the 2014-2015 school year. Some left for personal reasons like taking care of their families. But 50 percent said they left because they were dissatisfied with their employment situation, such as poor working conditions, student discipline problems and large class sizes. Thus, taking immediate measures to improve it is our top priority.

    For years, researchers have proved the benefits of increasing the share of minority teachers in schools, especially as our public school system has turned to one that is made up mostly of minority students. Teachers of color, who are more likely than their white counterparts to choose to work in racially diverse (多种多样的) schools, offer particular benefits to their students. Graduation rates increase among minority students when they are taught by racially similar educators, research shows. They can also serve as positive role models, and their presence reduces the chance of racial discrimination at school.

    The Shanker Institute report suggests that the rate of minority teacher hiring is not the whole problem. The problem is what happens after these teachers enter the classroom. These teachers often work in high-poverty rural schools. They are more likely to have less-desirable working conditions.

    Diversity is a key component to equality and opportunity. Where there's a diverse teaching workforce, all kids thrive. So solutions must be found at once to turn this trend around. Firstly, schools should develop mentorship programs that support minority teachers once they are in the classroom. Secondly, more money should be spent in improving working conditions in these schools. Of course, school headmasters should also be evaluated on their ability to retain teachers of color.

    Wolves are important animals in the traditions and stories of most Native American tribes. To Native Americans, wolves often represent bravery. The animals also are signs of strength, loyalty, and success at hunting. Other cultures--such as the ancient Celtic and Nordic peoples-also placed high value on wolves.

    However, from the wolves in horror films to the wolves in children's stories, wolves get a bum rap(不公正的惩罚) in both literature and English expressions.

    To begin with, there is the term lone wolf. The lone wolf isn't a bad person. But they like to do things on their own. However, the term can mean something less than desirable. Lone wolf makes you think the person doesn't want to be around people because he or she dislikes them.

    Now, let's move on to the home.

    Parents might criticize their children for wolfing down their food. In other words, the child eats very quickly and without care. And if someone says a child was raised by wolves, that child has bad manners and is behaving like a wild animal. A wolf at the door means someone to whom you owe money is waiting just outside your door.

By the way, there are two popular wolf-related expressions that come from Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller.

    The first is a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf in sheep's clothing describes someone who acts and looks nice on the outside but is bad on the inside.

    Aesop's other wolf fable also involves a shepherd, but not a hardworking one. He is known as the boy who cried wolf. People who cry wolf are not trusted. People are so familiar with this story, you simply have to say cry wolf for them to know what you mean.

    It's fun to dream about vacationing in Europe, but international flights are not always particularly affordable. If you're looking to experience a taste of European culture, however, there are many places in the US with a European heritage (传统).

    Founded by Spanish settlers in 1565, St. Augustine is full of Spanish-inspired architecture, historical sites and other attractions. The Colonial Quarter is a popular tourist area, and there are many places to grab traditional Spanish food.

    Holland, Michigan

    Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, under the leadership of Dr Albertus van Raalte. Terrible economic conditions in the Netherlands forced them to emigrate (移居国外), while their desires for religious freedom led them to unite and settle together as a group. Much of the original architecture was destroyed in an 1871 fire, but the city still has many windmills, eateries, art and even an annual tulip festival and holiday market.

    New Glarus, Wisconsin

    More than 160 years after it was founded, New Glarus has maintained much of its Swiss heritage and old world traditions. New Glarus' Swiss immigrant roots are proudly on display with its Alpine architecture, Swiss Historical Village Museum and Yodel Club. The Wisconsin village also puts on cultural events like the Heidi Folk Festival and Swiss Volksfest.

    Solvang, California

    Located near Santa Barbara, Solang is a charming California city with Danish roots.  A group of immigrates from Denmark founded Solvang just over 100 years ago to create a Danish home away from home. As such, the city is full of Danish architecture, restaurants, shops and even a copy of Copenhagen's famous Little Mermaid statue.

    On May 29, 1973, Thomas Bradley, a black man, was elected mayor of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the third largest city in the United States, with a population of three million. About sixteen percent of the city's population are black.

    News of this election appeared on the front pages of newspapers everywhere in the United States. Here is how one major newspaper reported the event.

    LOS ANGELES ELECTS BRADLEY MAYOR UNSEATING YORTY

    BLACK WINS 56% OF VOTES

    Bradley called his victory over Yorty "the fulfillment of a dream". During his childhood and youth, people had kept telling him, "You can't do this, you can't go there, because you are a Negro." Nevertheless he had won a decisive victory over a man who had been won 43.7 percent.

    Los Angeles voters have had many opportunities to judge. Thomas Bradley had to form an opinion of him. The son of a poor farmer Texas, he joined the Los Angeles police force in 1940. During his twenty-one years on the police force he earned a law degree by attending school at night. He was elected to the city council years ago.

    At the time of the Los Angeles election, three other American cities already had black mayors, but none of these cities had as large a population as Los Angeles. Besides, the percentage of blacks in those other cities was much larger. Cleveland, Ohio, had thirty-six percent black when Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. In the same year Richard Hatcher was elected mayor of Cary. In Newark, New Jersey, sixty percent of the population were black when Kenneth Gibson was elected in 1970. Thus election of a black mayor in those cities was not very surprising.

    In Los Angeles, thousands of white citizens voted for Thomas Bradley because they believed he would be a better mayor than the white candidate. Bradley had spent forty-eight of his fifty-five years in Los Angeles. Four years ago, Bradley lost mayoral election to Yorty. This time Bradley won.