Though there are about 400 languages from all over the world that are in danger of disappearing completely，Zoque-Ayapaneco，a native Mexican language is considered the most likely to become extinct，because the only two people in the world that speak it fluently do not talk to each other!

    And，it's not because they live in different countries，states or even villages. In fact，Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez，both in their 70s，live within 500 yards of each other，in the village of Ayapa in the Southern Mexican State of Tabasco. They，however，refuse to communicate because they simply don't have much in common. Segovia is apparently a little frank in nature while Velazquez is described as shy.

    Segovia was at least able to talk in Zoque-Ayapanece with his brother until he passed away about 12 years ago，and still manages to practice it with his family，especially his son Manuel，who for the last five years has been trying to learn it and hopes to become fluent enough to teach it to the next generation. Velazquez on the other hand，has not been heard speaking in the language with anybody.

    The two men say the language used to be widely spoken in the village，but the younger generation refused to learn it for fear of being laughed at，and it therefore began to die a slow death，as the elders passed away.

    Unless the two men get their acts together，the only way to hear the language will be to either listen to Manuel's not-so-fluent statement or see them talk in a documentary entitled “Lengua Muerta” (Dead Language) that is being filmed to capture Zoque Ayapaneco and 364 other native Mexican languages that are in a similar state.

    We sure hope Segovia and Velazquez soon find something common to talk about. Maybe the fact is that the language is dying and that they should start encouraging and teaching the next generation together.

    We interviewed two people, one who went from the country to the city and one who did the opposite.

    Janet Lincoln is a salesgirl who moved to St. Louis five years ago. Here's what Janet told us:

    "Five years ago I used to live in a small town called Lemon Falls. I grew up and went to high school there. After I graduated I worked in a supermarket. Lemon Falls had a population of about 800 people, and I knew every single one of them. They all knew everything about me, too. You couldn't do anything without everyone in town knowing about it. The first chance I got I moved to St. Louis and I love it. I don't know as many people now as I used to, but that's OK.I have a few good friends, and I see them when I want to. I kind of like being anonymous. I'd never go back to Lemon Falls."

    Troy Henson had the opposite experience. He and his wife, Darla, and their two children moved from St. Louis to Bloomfield three years ago. Here's what Troy told us:

    "The best thing we ever did was get out of St. Louis. Don't get me wrong; St. Louis is as good a place as any other city, I suppose—if you like cities, that is. We don't. Both Darla and I grew up in St. Louis. We met at college and got married. Then the kids came along and life got difficult. We didn't know any of our neighbors. We both had good jobs, but it always seemed like there was never enough money. That all changed when we moved to Bloomfield. I don't make as much money as I used to, but then we don't have as many expenses as we did. We know our neighbors. Life is good. We'd never leave Bloomfield."

    MacArthur's love for sailing dates back to when she was just four years of age, when she first got the opportunity to have a try. "I'll never forget that feeling as a kid of setting foot on a boat for the first time," MacArthur said. "It's kind of struck me that this boat had everything we needed to take us anywhere in the world. And as a child, that opened up everything," she explained how it felt like the "greatest sense of freedom".

    This experience lighted a passion within MacArthur. She knew then that she wanted to sail around the world. She had no idea how to achieve it — growing up in the countryside, it wasn't the most obvious career path — but she knew that was what she wanted to do at some stage. So, she acquired knowledge and saved up for years to seek a career in sailing. She would have potato and beans every day for eight years so that she could save up to buy the right equipment. By reaching certain financial goals and asking technical questions about sailing, MacArthur felt as though she was getting closer to her ambitions.

    "When you know where you're going, you can actually get there — even if it seems impossible. The impossible could be possible and aiming high is not necessarily such a crazy thing to do." And it seems that MacArthur's drive to become a sailor went beyond her expectations. At the age of 24, she started to receive media attention after participating in the Vendee Globe, a single-handed non-stop yacht (游艇) race that goes around the world. She came in second place. Some three to four years later, MacArthur chose to sail for 71 days and 14 hours, covering more than 26,000 miles during the course of her journey. This led to MacArthur scoring a new world record in 2005, as the fastest person to sail around the globe single-handedly. While this record has since been surpassed, MacArthur is still considered as Britain's most successful off shore racer.

    From the earliest times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world's art treasures.

    Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre(卢浮宫)in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries.

    The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort(炮台). In 1190, it was the king's castle with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat to keep out his enemies.

    Over the years, the number of buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle was no longer needed as a fort. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.

    During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.

    When Francis Ⅰ became the king of France in 1515, he brought in artists from many countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is the best known painting in the museum today.

    In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures have been saved for everyone to enjoy.

Not long after Tony Berlin began working at the state driver's license facility in Niles in 1985, he noticed that some truck drivers who should have failed their exams mysteriously passed them. For six years, starting in 1992, he collected evidence to show why: He believed truck drivers were bribing state workers to get licenses. In another turn of the screw, the workers were using those bribes to buy tickets to the then secretary of state George Ryan's fundraisers, including for his successful bid for governor. Berlin tried to expose the corruption (腐败)-he went to the FBI and the upper ranks of the secretary of state's office - but was repeatedly met with indifference. Then he began to suspect that the truck driver in a 1994 accident that killed six children, all from the same family, got his license through the scheme. In a moment that changed everything, Berlin reached out to the Reverend Scott Willis, the children's father.

It was his call to Willis that connected the crash to what would become known as the licenses — for — bribes scandal (丑闻), "Berlin's the one who started it says the Willises' lawyer. A few months after that phone call, the U.S. attorney's office initiated Operation Safe Road, an ongoing federal investigation that by the end of November had disclosed 34 offenses.

The investigation ultimately netted 75 offenses, including that of Dean Bauer, Ryan's inspector general. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to obstructing (妨碍)justice and was sentenced to 12 months in. prison. Bui the biggest catch was Ryan himself, who was sentenced in 2006 to six and a half years tor fraud and blackmailing. As for Berlin, he continued to work a stale license facilities, in Streator and Pontiac, choosing to stay out of the public eye.

Let's face it. You're likely reading this article in an effort to avoid some other tasks you're procrastinating (拖延) to learn how to stop procrastination, but the clock is ticking. So why can't you seem to get rid of that?

Though the psychological causes are still debated, there's a human tendency to over or underestimate the value of a reward based on its temporal proximity (时间接近). This is often referred to as temporal discounting. For example, if I offered you $100 today or 110 in a month, most would take the hundred and run. But what if instead I offered you 100 dollars in a year or 110 in a year and one month, you might say to yourself if I can wait a year, I can wait the extra month.

But the time and value difference are the exact same in each example. It turns out that human motivation is highly influenced by how near the reward is meaning. The further away the reward is, the more you discount its value. So being online is more appealing than preparing for your test. The problem is surfing the Internet provides many small quick and continuous rewards unlike your test scores which are a future one.

So how do you overcome the urge to put off so many tasks?

Unfortunately, there is no definite answer, but try rewarding yourself with a timely snack or other enjoyable activities. The Pomodoro Technique makes use of a timer to work for 25 minutes straight and when you've done, this gives yourself the reward with a 5-minute break. Then start the working clock again. Gradually increasing the amount of work time you put in will improve your time management skills.

It's been shown that creating a costly deadline is also an effective way to manage your working habits. And try to enjoy the process of achieving something instead of thinking only our minutes of suffering.