Campers Gene and Marie Marsden took pride in being good citizens when in the wild. While driving miles to the Green River Lakes area, they taught their children what they had learned in the bear safety handbook put out by the Bridger-Teton Forest Service.

    Mr. and Mrs. Marsden did their best to keep a tidy camp. As the handbook had said to hang all food at least ten feet off the ground and four feet out from the trees, they did that and locked their food in their trailer(拖车) at night. It was already dark when they went to bed, but they perused the campsite with flashlights, making sure nothing was left out. Following the bear book's advice, they slept a hundred yards from where they cooked their food, and kept the car near their tents, separated from the trailer, which they left up at the other camp.

    The Marsdens liked having their dog Spike on guard. But on the first night, Spike would not stop barking. When Marie Marsden pulled the tent open and shone her flashlight, she saw a young bear.

    They all piled into the car and drove quickly down the path, calling out of the window to Spike and abandoning the trailer. They drove to a pay phone and called a Fish and Game Department guard, who identified the bear by the white ring of the fur the Marsdens had seen around his neck. The authorities informed the Marsdens that the bear was a young male that they'd been keeping an eye on.

    The next morning, the Marsdens heard helicopters circling over the mountain and wondered if it might have something to do with the bear.

    After spending the night in the public campground, they drove back to their site. Wandering the area in search of clues, Marie came to a stop below a tall tree. She slapped her head and shouted, “Oh no!”

    “What is it?” Gene asked.

    Marie pointed at the ground where Spike's dog food bowl lay upside down. A week after their return home, the Marsdens read the headline in their local paper. “Bear Killed in Wind Rivers.” According to the article, the Fish and Game Department had shot the young bear because, having been rewarded for invading(侵入) a human campsite, it would likely to do so again.

    The Marsdens knew they had been lucky in the encounter, yet much to their shame and sadness, they also knew that the bear had not.

    A shopping center is a place where many different shops and stores are collected under one roof. You can buy everything there and there are also banks, restaurants and, sometimes, a post office.

    There are other places in the United States which are called five-and–ten-cent stores because they used to sell things for 5 to 10 cents. Today they sell almost anything and some of the things cost several dollars. Supermarkets are found in all the cities. They sell food and many other goods. You walk around the supermarket, choose the things you want, put them into a special basket prepared by the store and pay for them all together at the door. Supermarkets often stay open later than other stores.

    Stores are usually open every day of the week except on Sunday. Some close on Saturdays in July and August.

    Jimmy is an automotive mechanic, but he lost his job a few months ago. He has good heart, but always feared applying for a new job.

    One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job interview. His appointment was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an elderly man wildly kicking the tyre of his car. Obviously there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished working on the car, the old man asked him how much he should pay for the service. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him: he just helped someone in need, and he had to rush for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It's the least I could do. Please. I insist.” Jimmy agreed.

    Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of applications waiting to be interviewed Jimmy still had some grease on him after the car repair, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer's office with disappointed look on their face. Finally his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked. “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy's heart sank. “With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

    Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy's surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It turned out he was the General Manager of the company

    “Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into the office. I just know you'd be a trustworthy worker. “Congratulations!” Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee as he landed himself a new job.

    The tough economy is bringing new shoppers to the secondhand market.Plato's Closet in Charlotte,NC is a private company,which mainly buys and sells used clothes.While Charlotte has outstanding secondhand stores offering high-end and graceful brands for women,most of their stock applies to adults.Plato's closet targets teens and those in their 20s.

    Plato's Closet,with stores in Matthews and the university area,sells clothes and accessories（装饰品）that are currently popular at about one third the retail（零售）prices.

    The two hottest brands,for buying and selling,are Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch.Even though the offerings tend to be suitable for young people,there are a variety of shoppers at Plato's Closet of varying ages.Women in their 30s,40s,and older could easily find a purse,jacket or piece of jewelry they like.

    If you are selling

    Unlike higher-end resale stores which usually work on consignment（寄售）,Plato's Closet buys on the spot.

    Items can be gently used,but must be in very good condition.

    Clothes should be less than two years old and styles should be the same as those still being sold at the shopping center.

    There is no negotiation;prices are set company-wide.If what you sell amounts to $30 or less,they'll give you cash.More than that,you'll get a Visa cash card.

    Secondhand success

    Don't get discouraged if you can't find something on your first trip.Resale shops are always getting new lists of goods and change their styles with each season.

    Be sure to check each piece carefully before buying.

    Price comparison

    Jackets: New York & Company black blazer,$12; retail: $37.

    Pants: Express Editor-style pants,$12; retail: $69.90.

    Shoes: Nine West black peep-toe pumps,$12; retail: $89.

    Jewelry: Necklaces,$3-$5; retail: $18-$30.

    A week ago at Compton Elementary School, Georgia, something wonderful happened. Band students from Hillgrove High School arrived to hang out with and talk to the little guys. They wanted to make sure the school's youngest had food in their homes that week.

    The thing that thrilled people was that this generous idea came from 17-year-old Nathan Jones, not an adult. Jones is a good trumpet (小号) player with the Hillgrove Hawks band. The idea, he said, came to him two years ago during a discussion about community service in a freshman leadership class. Serving the community was nothing new to Jones. For years, he and his family, who recently moved from Orlando, Florida, had been active community volunteers.

    Last year, Jones thought it was a good idea to get the school band involved in community service, only for the young kids in the school. Band director Patrick

    Erwin agreed but decided they had neither the time nor the resources to do it. "It got put on the back burner," Jones said. "This year, I decided to try again." This time, Erwin encouraged Jones to take charge and he did.

    Back in August, Jones challenged the band to raise $5, 000 to help with the cost of packing the meals. Within two weeks, they'd collected $6, 000 in donations, enough to provide 2,500 family meals, including bags of rice, soy protein, vitamins and vegetables. By the end of the month, when poor families are struggling, a bag of food can mean the difference between a full stomach and an empty one for many of those students.

    But HiHgrove's effort isn't just about feeding the body. It's about feeding souls, too.

    Early on, the band's goal was to direct students' focus from getting "likes" on social media to building relationships with the people around them. So the band decided on the message, "What the world needs now is love, not likes" for its half-time show.

    "That means actually going into the community and actually showing love," Jones said. "We're going out and doing what we're telling people to do."

English businessman Richard Branson made history on July 11, 2021 as he and three other crewmates became the world's first space tourists. The flight was made by a spacecraft named VSS Unity that was built by Branson's company, Virgin Galactic. The flight lasted slightly more than an hour, and took Branson and crew to an altitude（海拔）of 53.5miles above the Earth, just a little above the boundary（边界）of space which lies 50 miles above the Earth.

At that height, the atmosphere turns into the black of outer space and the Earth becomes a bent ball of blue. Travelers also exhibit weightlessness as there is no gravity, the force that keeps our bodies walking on the Earth's surface. Therefore, Branson and his fellows were able to float around in VSS Unity while enjoying the views. They were able to do that for three minutes before the spacecraft began its downward journey. It landed back at Virgin Galactic's space port in New Mexico, United States, which is the same place from where it had taken off 90 minutes before.

On landing back, Branson said, "I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid but honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of the Earth from space. It was just magical. I'm just taking it all in, and it's unreal."

July 11's flight is the start of space tourism for one and all. In early 2022, customers who can afford a ticket for a quarter of a million dollars can line up for a seat on a trip to space. And guess what—they will have a choice of spacecraft. Jeff Bezos, who owns a famous company, is all set to launch himself into space on July 20 on board a spacecraft built by his new branch company Blue Origin. Blue Origin will also carry tourists to space.