I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I searched in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those. I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him “Have you got a light?” He looked at me, shrugged and came over to light my cigarette. As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently（不经意地）locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.

    "I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension too. “Do you have kids?” he asked. “Yes, here, here.” I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. "Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.

    “My life was saved by a smile.” Yes, the smile― the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear!

    Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously(下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering me on."

    Energy goes from one plant or animal to another. A food chain shows how this energy moves. Each time an animal gets eaten, its energy is passed onto the animal that eats it. The food chain is very important because it keeps the balance of nature. If one part of the food chain disappears, it can affect all the other plants and animals. Any threat to the food chain is a threat to the environment's biodiversit(生物多样性). The food chain helps keep animal populations in balance. However, if something happens to increase or decrease one of the links in the food chain, that balance is broken. If one animal becomes endangered, it puts all the animals above it at risk.

    Some of the threats are natural, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, floods and so on. But the biggest threats to the food chain come from you and me. These threats include overhunting, overfishing, logging, farming, development, pollution, etc. The food chain is endangered anywhere humans have had an effect on the natural environment.

    A recent study shows that the overfishing of large sharks is damaging the food chain along the US Atlantic coast. Canadian and American scientists say sharks are being killed in great numbers for their meat and fins(鳍). Now, not enough sharks are around to eat the cownose(牛鼻) ray. The ray's population has increased and they have eaten up the shellfish to the point where it has hurt commercial(商业的) fishing.

    Many of us disturb the natural environment in our own backyards. It's up to us to take care of the environment and try not to disrupt the natural food chain. If we don't act responsibly, animals will start disappearing.

    Most Americans are worried about new technology. They are concerned that machines, including robots, will take over work now done by humans. These findings come from a new report by the Pew Research Center of Washington D. C.

    About 75 percent of Americans questioned by Pew said automation will increase income inequality between the rich and the middle class and poor. And 64 percent of people expect automation to be so common in America that people will face difficulty finding things to do with their lives.

    Some of the concerns about technology come from a distrust about whether machines will always make the right decision. Many Americans believe humans have better judgement in dealing with. complex matters. One example is selecting a person for a job. Three-quarters of Americans said they would not want to apply for a job that uses a computer program to choose the most qualified person.

    “Most Americans want the government to limit automation. For example, 87 percent support a requirement that all driverless vehicles have a human in the driver's seat who can take control when an emergency occurs. And 85 percent want to limit machines to mostly doing jobs that are dangerous or unhealthy for humans. And only 25 percent expect more jobs to come from automation,” Pew said.

    Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, spoke last May to graduating seniors from Harvard University in Massachusetts. His talk centered on the uncertain future facing young people. “Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks.” Zuckerherg told the graduates.

    Zuckerberg said young people had better launch(发起)projects that will bring both jobs and direct benefits to the people of the world. He said in his speech that 30000 people worked to put a man on the moon, and millions of people built the Hoover Dam as well as other great projects over the last 100 years.

    Does this situation seem familiar to you? Your English is progressing well, the grammar is now familiar, the reading comprehension is no problem, you are communicating quite fluently, but: Listening is STILL a problem! First of all, remember that you are not alone. Listening comprehension is probably the most difficult job for almost all learners of English as a foreign language. The most important thing is to listen as often as possible. The first step is to find listening resources. The Internet is really a useful tool for English students. You can download The RealPlayer from RealMedia.com. The RealPlayer allows you to use the Internet like a radio station.

Once you have begun to listen on a regular basis, you might still be frustrated (懊恼) by limited understanding. What should you do?

    Here is some of the advice I give my students:

    Accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything.

    Stay relaxed when you do not understand — even if you continue not to understand for a long time.

    Do not translate what you hear into your native language.

    Listen for the general idea of the conversation. Don't concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas.

    I remember the problems I had in understanding spoken German when I first went to Germany. In the beginning, when I didn't understand a word, I insisted on translating it in my mind. This method usually resulted in confusion. Then, after the first six months, I discovered two very important facts. Firstly, translating creates a wall between the listener and the speaker. Secondly, most people repeat themselves constantly. By remaining calm, I noticed that — even if I didn't pay much attention, I could usually understand what the speaker had said.

In 2019, after retiring from her career as a social worker, Ane Freed-Kernis decided to build a home workshop and devote all of her free time to stone carving. "I might be covered head to toe in dust but I'm happy—it was something I needed more of in my life when I hit 60," she says.

This appeal has its origins in Freed-Kernis' childhood. Growing up on her father's farm in Denmark, she used to wander through the fields with her eyes fixed on the ground, looking for stones to add to her collection. "I've always been drawn to the shapes and textures（质地）of stones," she says.

After moving to England in 1977 and training as a social worker, Freed-Kernis soon became occupied with her busy career and the demands of raising her son. Stones were the last thing on her mind, until her father died in 2005. "He took a stone carving course in his retirement, and I always thought stone seemed so fun but never had the time to look into it myself," she says. "After he died, I became determined to learn in his honour."

Signing up for a week-long stone carving course at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Freed-Kernis began to learn how to turn a block of rock into well-designed shapes. "It was really scary at the start because you would spend hours just hammering（锤打）."

Now 65, Freed-Kernis has a thriving small business built largely through word of mouth. She creates 12 to 15 pieces a year that can take anywhere from a few days to three weeks to complete, while her prices range from £200 to £3, 000. "I'm making smaller ones," she says. "I don't have to depend on the money much, so I want to keep prices in the range that people can afford, mainly just covering costs and labour（劳动力）."