Settled by the Celts, invaded by the Romans and the Normans, and ruled by the English, Wales' population has regularly changed over the ages. Wales, particularly South Wales, became a melting pot (熔炉) of European nationalities and cultures. At first workers from England, Ireland and the rural areas of Wales rushed into the coal mines of South Wales. By 1911, workers from Ireland, Italy and Spain had joined the industrial workforce (劳动大军) there. Many of these newcomers were prepared to work for less pay.

    But during this period, workers, dissatisfied with regular pay cuts, poor safety, returned to the land. In 1891, the rural population of Wales was about 616,000 and by 1911 just over 649,000 people lived and worked in these areas.

       The rural population continues to grow slowly even today. People from richer parts of the UK, particularly southern England, are buying holiday homes in Wales. In some areas this has led to a lack of housing for local people. This, combined with the lack of employment in rural Welsh communities, has started a new movement of people in search of jobs and homes into the towns and cities of Wales and to other parts of the UK and Europe.

    As so many Welsh people have moved to other countries over the last 200 years, it's really no surprise that many visitors come to see friends and relatives. These visitors strengthen their links to their land of origin and continue to support the Welsh's development. During the hot summer days, about 28% of the visitors visit the countryside and nearly 70% visit the seaside.

    One day an old woman was traveling alone in the mountains. Suddenly she saw something shining in the stream. When she came close, she found it was a precious （珍贵的） stone. She put the stone into her bag and went on with her trip.

    The next day the old woman met a young man, who was also a traveler in the mountains. The young man looked very hungry, so the old woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked carefully, “The stone is beautiful. Would you like to give it to me?”

    “Sure. Why not?” the woman said, and handed the stone to him.

    The young man left happily with the stone. He knew it was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman.

    “I've been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back and hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within your bag.”

    The woman opened her bag. It was almost empty. She looked at the young man and smiled, “I have nothing special in my bag, but I do have something precious — the joy of giving!”

    The young man felt ashamed and left silently.

    Teens don't understand the big fuss (小题大做). As the first generation to grow up in a wired world they hardly know a time when computers weren't around, and they eagerly catch the chance to spend hours online, chatting with friends, so what?

    But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated, less skillful at person-to-per son relationships, and perhaps numb to the cheatings that are so much a part of the e-mail world. "And a teen's sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless," said Shetty Turkle.

    Another researcher, Robert Kraut, said he's worried about the "opportunity costs" of so much online time for youths. He found that teens who used computers, even just a few hours a week, showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation. "Chatting online may be better than watching television, but it's worse than hanging out with real friends," he said.

    Today's teens, however, don't see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives. "School is busy and full of pressure. There's almost no time to just hang out," said Parker Rice, 17 "Talking online is just to catch time."

    Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the lime to think about a reply. Some teens admit that asking someone for a date, or breaking up, can be easier in message form, though they don't want to do so. But they insist there's no harm.

    You may hear about some people who have walked on the moon. Of the outstanding astronauts listed below, who do you think was the most influential in human's history?

Pete Conrad (Apollo 12)

    Because of his dyslexia（阅读障碍）, Pete always failed in his study and had to leave school. Then his father sent him to Darrow School, where he performed so well that he won a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship. He took the NASA's test, but his dyslexia ruined the opportunity.

    It was because of Alan Shepard's persuasion that Pete decided to apply again for NASA. He was chosen as the commander of Apollo 12. He landed on the moon on Nov 19, 1969 and spent 31 hours there.

Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11)

    Armstrong's biggest moment came in 1969, when he was chosen for NASA's first manned lunar mission (登月任务), along with Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. On July 21, 1969, he set foot on the surface of the moon. which made him the first human to do so. He stayed on the moon for 21 hours. After returning, Armstrong became an international star and was honored worldwide.

John Young (Apollo 16)

    Young was made the commander of Apollo 16, which landed on the moon on April 16, 1972. He spent two days and 23 hours on the moon. Young retired from NASA after serving for around 42 years, which made him the man ever to work for NASA for the longest time.

Edgar Mitchell(Apollo 14)

    Edgar was selected by NASA in 1966, and was later made the lunar pilot of Apollo 14. He followed his commander Alan Shepard onto the moon, staying there for 1 day and 9 hours. Edgar has expressed his firm belief that UFOS belong to other planets. He also firmly believes that American government is in possession of some “recovered alien bodies.”

    Recently whenever I turned on my computer or my mobile phone, news about the great effect of Hurricane Harvey on thousands of people caught my eyes. We saw many unfortunate events. However, there were also the bright news that confirmed the goodness of mankind. As a journalist, I wrote many human interesting stories during my career. That's why the story about the guys in the bakery caught my eyes.

    When the staff at a Mexican bakery chain in Houston were trapped inside the building for two days, they didn't sit there feeling sorry for themselves. They used their time wisely after flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. While they were waiting for the eventual rescue that came on Monday morning, four decided to make as many loaves of bread as possible for their community.

    The flood water rose in the street outside. They took advantage of their emergency power supply to bake bread. They used more than 4,200 pounds of flour to create hundreds of loaves and sheets of sweet bread. Although the water kept rising, they continued baking to help more people. By the time the owner managed to get to them, they had made so much bread that we took the loaves to loads of emergency centers across the city for people affected by the floods.

    The store manager, Brian Alvarado, told The Independent, "Whenever a disaster occurs, nobody should just feel forlorn. Instead，we should take positive action to save ourselves and help others. Our acts of kindness will make a big difference."

    An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.

    The father asked his son, "What is that?"

    The son replied, "That is a crow."

    After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, "What is this?"

    The son said, "Father, I told you just now. It's a crow."

    After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, "What is this?"

    This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, "It's a crow, a crow."

    After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, "What is this?"

    This time his son shouted at his father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?"

    A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.

    Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn't at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.

    If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, "I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they behave."