A couple near Pittsburgh finally removed an alarm clock from inside their walls. It had been stuck there for more than ten years.

    Every night between 6:50 and 7:50, the alarm clock stuck in the living room wall rang. Sylvia and Jerry Lynn heard the alarm ring at the same time every evening for 13 years. And they finally had the clock removed after their story gained national attention.

    Keith Andreen and Dawn Michelucci work for Low-Cost Heating and Air Conditioning. They came to get the clock out of the wall through the couple's garage.

    “This is the first time that I had to remove a clock from inside a wall,” Andreen told CBS Pittsburgh.

    Jerry accidentally dropped the clock down an air vent (通风口) while making home repairs in 2004. The couple expected the clock to die after a few months. However, its battery remained undamaged even as it was pulled from the wall. Jerry said they finally got used to the nightly alarm and even considered it “kind of cute”. So he chose to leave it in the wall as a conversation starter. “You're sitting around playing cards and it goes off,” he told Inside Edition. “Is that an alarm clock? Why is the alarm clock going off? It's in the wall.”

    After 13 years, Jerry said the clock looked almost exactly how he remembered it when he dropped it in the wall. “It is a travel alarm clock,” he said. The couple plans to keep their nightly routine going by placing the clock in their room and keeping the alarm set for 7:50 p.m.

    A new report shows that there are just 7,100 cheetahs now left in the wild. Cheetahs are in trouble now.

    According to the study, more than half of the world's surviving cheetahs live in one zone that covers six countries in southern Africa. Cheetahs in Asia have nearly died out. It's thought that only fewer than 50 cheetahs live in Iran.

    The cheetah runs across lands far outside protected areas. Some 77% of their habitat falls outside these protected areas. As a result, the cheetah struggles because these lands are increasingly being developed by farmers and the cheetah's food is decreasing because of human hunting.

    In Zimbabwe, the cheetah population has fallen from around 1,200 to just 170 in 16 years, with the main cause being major changes in land ownership.

    Researchers say that the threats cheetahs are facing have gone unnoticed for far too long. “Given the nature of the cheetah, it has been difficult to gather information on them,” said Dr Sarah Durant, the report's lead author. “Our findings show that the large space requirements for cheetahs and various threats faced by them in the wild mean that they are likely to be in danger of dying out.”

    Another big concern about cheetahs has been the illegal trafficking (非法交易) of young cheetahs. The young cats can fetch up to $10,000 on the black market. Some 1,200 young cheetahs are known to have been trafficked out of Africa over the past 10 years but around 85% of them died during the journey.

    If the cheetahs are to survive, then immediate efforts must be made.

    The Opening of a new bookstore, the Book Green Hook Sunday, September 5, 9a.m. to 9 p.m

    You will not want to miss the opening of your new neighbourhood bookstore! Located at 289 Main Street, the Book Green Hook is within walking distance of schools, homes and businesses. Come and check out the Book Green Hook on Sunday!

    There are various activities, including:

    Live music by local musicians

    One Book-of-Reading Club membership giveaway

    Wide Selection

    The Book Green Hook has five floors with books of all kinds—whatever you want. If we do not have the book you are looking for, we can specially order it for you. You will have it in your hands within two days!

    Reading Corners

    We are proud of our children's reading area on the first floor, as well as our teenagers' Corner on the second floor. Come for the activities and stay a while! Settle in one of these inviting reading areas; take a seat with a good book and a free cup of hot chocolate. You will discover the perfect way to spend a few hours.

    Book Events

    The Book Green Hook will be featuring monthly book signings by different authors, giving you a chance to meet and speak with well-known writers. Don't miss the experience of hearing these authors read aloud their own books!

    The Book-of-Reading Club

    Our Book-of -Reading Club will feature 12 books each year. As a member, you will be able to select one new book each month. The membership fee is only $10.00 per month. That is a great price for 12 books each year!

    So please join us on Sunday and learn about all that the Book Green Hook has to offer. You can come anytime between 9 a.m and 9 p.m—our activities last all day long!

    UK-based swimming pool manufacturer (制造商) Compass Pools has announced plans for the world's first 360-degree infinity (无限) pool. Titled Infinity London, the pool would contain 600,000 liters of water, and would sit at the top of a 55-story hotel.

    According to Compass Pools' plan, the pool would feature transparent (透明的) walls and floor, offering views across London's skyline and down into the hotel below. These walls would be made of cast acrylic, a material chosen to make sure that the material is completely clear.

    The main problem with designing the pool was how to make sure entry or exit from the pool without affecting the view. Speaking about this design, Compass Pools' technical director and designer Alex Kemsley explained，"Normally a simple ladder would suffice, but we didn't want stairs on the outside of the building or in the pool as it would spoil the view – and obviously you don't want 600,000 litres of water running down through the building either. The solution is based on the door of a submarine, coupled with a rotating spiral (螺旋的) staircase which rises from the pool floor when someone wants to get in or out."

    Take a look at early models of how the pool might look in the gallery above. At present, no contract has been made but building work could begin as early as 2020.

Rosie, a first-year university student in Beijing, entered a classroom for her oral English exam and slid her topic across the table to Joe, a foreign teacher. My Story, it read. "In middle school, my classmates laughed at me for having deaf-mute parents," she began softly. "From that moment on, I decided not to tell anybody. But today…"

It's widely considered taboo(忌讳) in Chinese to discuss the details of an unhappy family life with anyone other than very close friends. However, as Joe has noticed, many Chinese students appear surprisingly comfortable discussing emotional moments from their lives when they speak with foreign teachers in a language different from their own.

"Speaking English," one of his Chinese students told him, "I feel like another person." When speaking Chinese, he is kind of reserved; in English class, he is more open. English, to the Chinese speaker, may be like a mask, creating a buffer(缓冲物)between speaking the truth and the listener's reaction. Students focus on how to speak rather than what is being said. If there's a misunderstanding, English can take the blame.

Another reason why Chinese students are more comfortable sharing their secrets during English class may be the distinct approach to teaching used by their foreign teachers. "I always try to come to each student, make eye contact, have a 20-second conversation and see how they are doing," Joe said. Classes taught by Chinese teachers, in contrast, are more formal. Many students said they had never been asked their opinion in class.

Rosie's English vocabulary is now extensive, but she still can't find the words to describe her feelings towards the English language. "English makes me feel I am different," she said. "English is beautiful."