My transportation was unexpectedly smooth and I arrived at the meeting half an hour earlier. I kept my eyes on the restaurant door. Several customers entered, but not my friend. At 6:00 pm, she sent me a text message:“Urgent work to finish. Will be 20 minutes late.”

I had left my book in the office, so I spent the time thinking of my experiences of being late in China. On my first visit in 1985, punctuality was deeply rooted in the Chinese hearts. There were no traffic jams then.

    As a teacher in Canada, I always insisted on punctuality. I would open the classroom door to a late student for the first time and the second, but not the third. During the six years I worked for CCTV, I had a Chinese friend whom I often saw at lunch time, or after work. We used to meet at the subway station nearby. He was always late by 10-20 minutes. To myquestion, “You were busy?” he would surprisingly answer, “ No.” Once I asked him to check the clock in his office, he smiled.

    In March 2015, I got permanent residence (居住权) in China.The ceremony was scheduled for 9:00 am at the Public Security Bureau on the Second Ring Road. I told my driver I had to get there by 8: 40 am. “No problem,”he replied. But he thought he had time to drop someone off at the airport before picking me up. I desperately waited for him. Then, to rub salt into my wound, he had to stop at the exit of a gas station. Finally, I entered the room at 9:07 am ── the last guest to arrive!

    At 27, after serving in World War II, I dreamed of owning a piece of land. So I moved from central Illinois to Shelbina, Missouri, and bought 236 acres for $6,000. The land was situated on a dirt road and was half farmland and half trees, with an old house that had no running water or electricity. Obviously, it was not what you'd call a perfect farm. But it was mine.

    I was alone for the first time in my life, and I found it liberating. My days were filled from dawn until dusk with plowing and planting corn. Dinnertime came and went, and I barely remembered to eat.

    I wouldn't say I was a great success at farming in Missouri. However, when I went to the store to buy some tools, I met a nice woman named Claudette working behind the counter. I also ran into her at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shelbina each week. I found out later that her manager kept asking her about “that tall boy from Illinois living out in the country in an old house with no water, no electricity and no housekeeper.”

    Claudette and her sister soon visited my farm and put up some curtains. To show my appreciation, I took Claudette out for a ride in my truck. We married in 1954 and have now been together for more than 62 years!

    I later sold the Missouri farm for a $3,500 profit and bought 40 acres in Illinois. For many reasons, buying the Missouri farm was a good idea. I will always cherish memories of owning the farm and meeting my beloved.

    Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bumblebees(大黄蜂) to pull strings to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony(群体)—showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.

    Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said the experiments, often used to test the intelligence of apes (猿) and birds, showed for the first time that some insects are up to the task, and can also pass skills on through several generations.

    The findings add to the evidence suggesting the ability for “culture spread” — the ability to learn and pass on knowledge and skills — may not be exclusive to humans.

    In the research, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Tuesday, the scientists were able to train 23 out of a group of 40 bees to pull strings with their legs and feet.

    The strings were attached to discs — or artificial “flowers” — containing food at their center but placed under a transparent screen. The bees, spotting the food beneath the screen, learned to pull the “flowers” out by pulling the string with their legs and feet to be able to get to it.

    From another group of bees given the chance to solve the task without any training, only two of 110 were successful.

    Another group of bees was then allowed to observe the trained bees pulling the strings, and 60 percent of them successfully learned the skill. Finally, trained bees were put in colonies, and the scientists found the technique spread successfully to a majority of the colony's worker bees.

    Lars Chittka, a Queen Mary University professor who guided the project, said the team is interested in figuring out the brain processes behind the bees' learning and teaching skills.

                                                      Four Wild Animal Species Were Endangered

    Maybe you can still see them at the zoo. But that doesn't mean they're doing alright in the wild.

    Tigers

    All six tiger species are endangered, with Suatran tigers and South China tigers at a seriously endangered status. The main reasons for their population decline are illegal hunting and destroyed habitats, as humans clear forests to gather timber and build roadways. Only about 3890 tigers presently live in the wild.

    Ground squirrels

    That's right, even squirrels are endangered, specifically the San Joaquin ground squirrel. Native to California, USA, these guys have been disappearing since 1979 on account of the construction and human developments going through their habitat. Their total population is unknown, but it could be anywhere between 124000 and 4130000.

    Giraffes

    The International Union for the Conservation of Nature recently put giraffes at a vulnerable status, the level just before endangered. The giraffe population has declined 40 percent in the last 30 years, primarily due to loss of habitat and illegal hunting. Some giraffes are killed just for their tails, which are considered status symbols in Africa.

    Asian elephants

    The main threat to Asian elephants, one of the most intelligent animals, is their shrinking habitat. As the human population grows, people invade their land to build roads and railway tracks. Elephants in Myanmar are at an especially high risk for being captured and traded or used illegally in the tourist industry. Fewer than 50000 are left on the entire continent.

    Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls, UK.

    A hundred years ago, women had very few opportunities. Their role was to marry and raise children. Sally Nicholls, new novel is set in that time. Her main characters are three young London women. Evelyn is from a wealthy family, May is from a religious background, and Nell is a woman from a much poorer community. Though they are from, different backgrounds, they all become involved in the women's suffrage(选举权)movement during World War 1(1914-1918).

    Far From the Tree by Robin Benway, US

    The New York Times reviewer called the book a “brilliant exercise in empathy (感同身受) It's an unusual novel. It begins with a troubling event for the main character, Grace, a 16-year-old who loves chemistry and cross-country running. But when she finds that she has become pregnant, she chooses to give up her baby for adoption and has to deal with the pain that this causes her.

    The situation is __________for her because Grace was once an orphan(孤儿)herself. She feels that she cannot turn to her adoptive parents for comfort and advice. Instead, she turns to her blood siblings (兄弟姐妹). But Grace soon finds that they are as troubled as she is, and that they are also keeping things to themselves that hurt too much to speak about.

    Readers can expect to be moved by the characters and their situations, but also gain insight (理解)into modem family life in America.

    Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, US

    This novel has two principal teenage characters. Aza Holmes has a mental illness, which is a condition where a person does the same thing over and over, without being able to stop. Aza narrates (叙述)the novel, so we learn all about her from the inside out.

    The second main character is Daisy, Aza's friend. The two start an adventure to find a billionaire who has gone missing.

    “This is my first attempt to write directly about the kind of mental illness that has affected my life since childhood, so while the story is fictional (虚构的)，it is also quite personal, ” said Green in a statement.

    China's box office numbers continue to grow rapidly. It is estimated that the revenues(收入) may pass the U. S. market's as soon as this year. However, this cinematic party could be over just as it's getting started. Some companies are working to convince consumers that the ultimate viewing experience is not on the big screen.

    Instead, it's on the small ones that are already in their pockets-thanks to the technology of virtual reality.

    Already, VR experience centers are popping up in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. They give customers the opportunity to watch VR movies or play VR games for about the same price as a discount movie ticket. Online video sites, meanwhile, are also moving into the VR field. Some of them, like Youku, have launched(推出) their own VR apps and channels.

    China has more than 700 million smartphone users. A large percentage of them are already more than willing to download and watch TV shows and even full-length movies on their handsets. This potentially makes them more likely to embrace VR content than Americans and Europeans.

    But in fact, it's not just Chinese companies and video websites that believe VR will pull viewers away from movie theaters. International production companies that, for years, have made block busters (大片) for cinema audiences are also warning that disruptive change is around the corner.

    Maureen Fan, chief executive of the Silicon Valley VR start-up Baobab Studios, after bringing her company's animated VR short Invasion to the Shanghai International Film Festival last year, concluded that the field had been evolving much more rapidly than she expected. "What I thought would take ten years has happened in one or two," she said. However, she also noted that the industry needs more people who can create great stories to move VR beyond a niche product(小众产品 ) and into the mass market. "The technology is already there. What continues to be lacking is good content," Fan said. "There's a certain amount, but we would love to see more."