On 18th October 2009, Australian schoolgirl Jessica Watson set off from Sydney Harbor on an unusual journey. At just sixteen years old, she was trying to become one of the youngest people ever to sail (航行) around the world all by herself. Her journey on the yacht (帆船) took 210 days and she completed it without making any stops or receiving any help.

    Jessica's journey covered nearly 23,000 nautical miles (海里). It wasn't always smooth—passing through the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, she had to deal with strong winds, heavy rain and big waves, as well as loneliness and boredom. Sometimes her yacht got damaged and she had to make the repairs herself.

    When Jessica sailed back into Sydney Harbor, she was greeted by her family and a crowd of about 75,000 people. Even the Prime Minister of Australia was there to welcome and congratulate her.

    Jessica's achievement has won her the admiration of many. However, when questioned by reporters she said, "I don't consider myself a hero. I'm an ordinary girl who believed in a dream."

    Over the years, the number of whales has dropped rapidly. From 1946 to 1986, about 340,000 whales were killed. People worry that children in the future can only see whales in pictures, They believe all kinds of whale hunting (捕猎) should be stopped before it is too late.

    Some people are trying to stop whale hunting all over the world. But they fail to notice one fact. Whale hunting was going on for a long time before the number of whales went down and became a problem.

    Whale hunting started as early as 1,500 years ago. This was how tribes people (部落成员) fed their families. They hunted whales for meat because almost nothing could grow on their land. They also made whale fat into oil and used it to make candles or oil lamps. Over the years, whale hunting became their way of living, and even part of who they are.

    Tribe whale hunting is not the thing we should worry about. Of all the whales that were killed over the past forty years, only 10%were hunted by tribes people. The other 90%died at the hands of the money-making hunting business. When we try to stop all kinds of whale hunting, we should think what we are asking tribes people to give up and whether this is the best answer to the problem of whale hunting.

    More and more people are using crowdfunding to pay for their projects and create new products. Usually, the way to do this is to use the Internet. Instead of trying to get a few people to give thousands of dollars, you get hundreds of people, maybe thousands, to give a few dollars. But this is still not easy. You want people to see the value of your idea. How will you get them to give the dollars they earn to you?

    There are websites that make this possible. Kickerstarter and GoGetFunding are popular. What you have to do is to create a short video to explain your project. Many people begin by explaining what the product is and then telling why people need it. For example, one of the most popular crowdfunded products is a watch. The Pebble watch connects with information on a smart phone that will send information to the watch. More than 65,000 people gave money for this product. And finally, Crowdfunding raised $10.3 million for it. However, it's not just products that people use crowdfunding for. People use it for their music, film, art or writing projects.

    Projects usually get from 25 to 40 percent of their money from crowdfunding sites. Who is giving all the money? When people need money, they often ask their friends and family. Crowdfunding often works the same way, but once you create your video and message, your friends share it with their friends Why do these people give? First, there is the "feel good" factor. Giving money makes people feel good. Second, many small businesses offer rewards to people. Third, sometimes the reward is simply getting to use the product. And this is part of the success of crowdfunding. You could make a difference.

    When George Dennehy was a young boy, he never dreamed he would serve others as a motivational (励志的) speaker and musician. But the armless teenager has spent the last couple of years sharing his story and1others.

    Born with no2in Romania, Dennehy's condition was terrible, so his parents turned him over to a3in America.

    Early on, he says his American parents4his musical abilities. When he was 8 years old, his mom took him to violin5and he started playing. However, he didn't really enjoy it at first. His first teacher, Shelley, helped him6with his feet.

    Shelley actually learned to play the violin with her feet and made up some foot7. She wanted to see if it was8to do it. "I am really moved by what she has done for me." Dennehy says.

    At the beginning of high school, when the violin became not so cool to play, Dennehy9playing the guitar and picked it up pretty fast.

"It was necessary, though, to learn the violin first,10it's the hardest of all to play," he says. "The only11in the guitar is that I'm playing the cords (弦). But I play in the same tune (曲调) as everyone else does," he notes.

    Learning to play music hasn't been an easy road. He was shy at first. But every time he got on stage to12or play music, he could see how the audience13him for his abilities and that gave him confidence to realize his dream.

    No matter what situation we're in,14is possible. It is so easy to give up sometimes. But we shouldn't do that. There's more that is meant for15.

    Twenty years ago, recycling was something you only did if you were really interested in being "green". Today, recycling is a normal activity for families all around the UK. Local governments makeeasier for families to recycle by collecting materials from their（house）. They even give them two different bins, so families can separate their recyclingtheir rubbish.

    Recently, some local governments have decided to do even more. They are putting computer chips（芯片）inside the rubbish binsthey give to families in their area. The chips are used（give）information about the kind of materials in the bin: paper, glass, metal, etc. In other words, if these materials（throw）away instead of being recycled, the government finds out. And when this（happen）, they write a letter to the family asking them to be much （careful）about recycling.

    The governments say their main aim is education. "If you often have problems putting the wrong things in your bins, we will simply provide guidance and（possible）come out to visit you," they say.many people think that putting computer chips in bins is like having bin police, and they are not happy about it!

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