You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another hard. At the start they only fight with their fists. But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below. He is dead!

    Of course he isn't really dead. With any luck he isn't even hurt. Why? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast-moving trains, who crash cars or even catch fire, are professionals. They do this for a living. These men are called stuntmen. That is to say, they perform tricks.

    There are two sides to their work. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress. Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar!

    But although their work depends on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training. Often a stuntman's success depends on careful timing. For example, when he is “blown up” in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment.

    Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed. A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high. His parachute(降落伞) failed to open, and he was killed.

    In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only. Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous actions. For nowadays there are stuntwomen, too!

    In Alaska, the US, the grizzly bears are not alone because of Timothy Treadwell. Everyone knows that grizzly bears can be very dangerous to people. However, people can be perilous to grizzly bears, too, because their fur and food are beneficial for some people. In fact, half of the grizzly bears die before they are five years old, even though they can live for about 30 years.

    Grizzly bears hibernate every winter. They sleep for several months. During this period, they don't wake up or eat anything. When they wake up in the spring, the grizzlies are in danger. But Timothy can protect them. He sleeps in a tent near the bears and bathes in a river with them. People do not hurt the bears when Timothy is with them.

    Timothy went to Alaska for the first time about 17 years ago. He was attracted by the beauty of the land and the prettiness of the animals. When he learned that people kill many grizzly bears every year, Timothy determined to protect the grizzly bears and to keep the bears safe from danger, so he lives with the bears for four to five months every year. At the beginning, Timothy's parents didn't agree, but later, they firmly supported him to do so, because they also wanted to protect bears as him.

    Timothy has lived with the grizzlies every spring for about 17 years. Some bears are now his friends. He gave them names. His friend Booble sometimes gives him fish which he likes. His friend Lazy sleeps near his tent every night. Every winter, when the bears hibernate, Timothy returns to his home in California. Then he teaches children and adults about his friends in Alaska.

Whistler World ski Snowboard Festival

    There are many reasons why the World Ski& Snowboard Festival has been so popular for the past 22 years. Known to locals as WSSF, the festival combines spring energy with Whistlers unique mountain culture. It is being held from 10th April to 15th April, at the Whistler Conference Centre in Whistler. Canada. There are photography, filmmaking, ski and snowboard competitions.

    WSSF Schedule

    Below are some of the events.

    Tuesday, April 10

    Eight famous adventurers give visual stories to the audience. The eight people include mountain bikers Darren Berrecloth and Hans Rey, climber John Long, diver Jill Heinerth, snow boarder Alex Warburton, skier Johnny Thrash, and adventurers Casey Brown and Ted Baird.

    Wednesday, April 11

    This free exhibit gives you a deeper look at mountain culture. It goes further than simply landscapes and wildlife. The exhibit will be open to everyone from April 1l to April 13.

    Teams have 72 hours to shoot, edit and produce a short film taken within 100 kilometres of Whistler Village. Judges will choose just one winner for "Best of show".

    Thursday, April 12

    Six photographers compete to amaze the judges and the audience with pictures that record sports, culture and the human spirit.

    Friday, April 13

    Whistler Blackcomb is the fourth stop in British Columbia, Canada, for this snowboard contest. The contest is free to enter and the two champions (man and woman) will share C $50, 000.

    Saturday, April 14

    Competitors include a mix of racing legends. The audience can view the ski race for free. The ski race depends on the weather and is scheduled for Saturday, April 14 but may be moved to Friday, April 13-check wssf.com for up-to-date information.

    College students may find a greener campus when they return to classes this fall. Some schools arc repairing older buildings and constructing new ones that arc better for the environment. Other steps include adding wind and solar energy systems and planting vegetable gardens.

    George Washington University（GW）is a private school with 200.000 students. The university has two gardens where students volunteer their time.

    Over the last ten years GW has developed projects in three main areas-climate, water and eco-systems. They have begun to create projects on the ground to address climate change, They are planning on becoming carbon-neutral（平衡的）and, in fact, reducing the footprint by forty percent by 2025, from creating solar hot-water systems on our rooftops to making our buildings much more energy efficient. The school also offers 140 different classes in sustainability （可持续性发展）and the environment.

    Mark Orlouski said. "We see numbers like less than 20% of school having a green building policy five years ago, and now upwards of 80% of schools having a policy, which states that their new buildings will be built in a green fashion.

    GW is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington. Some neighbors say that while GW is laying to be Friendlier to the environment, it could also be a better friend to the neighborhood. The school has expanded quickly and there have been tensions between students and local residents

    I was on my way home from work, cutting through the Bryant Park. On that day, the sun seemed to set faster than usual, and suddenly I found myself walking in the dark. I was less than half a mile from my apartment, but the path would lead me over a bridge, across train tracks, and through an unlit underpass.

    Then I heard him – a stranger running alongside me, partly obscured(遮掩) by the bushes. My mouth went dry; my legs felt like water. But I didn't pick up my pace – instead, I stopped, turned, and faced him. He came out of the bushes and said he'd been watching me "for a long time".

    As he walked beside me, I guided us towards the edge of the park. When we reached the bridge, a train rumbled(轰鸣着缓慢行进) past, and he seized the moment, attacking me with a knife around my throat. The self-defense skills I had learned years before kicked in, and I pushed my finger into his eye, hard. And then came the shock: That didn't frighten him away. My mind flashed back to a tip from an old guitar teacher: "Press the strings like you're squeezing a flea(跳蚤)." I put all my strength into that finger, and finally he let go.

    I was shaking with fear, but I looked him straight in the eye and began to back away. I turned to run the hell out of there, but then I remembered another self-defense lesson: Never run, because then you're a target. So I walked away alone – through the dark tunnel as I dialed 911 with trembling fingers. If you ever find yourself in this situation, use these self-defense skills that you already know. They can really make all the difference to you.