For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages．Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet planes fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.

    Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured (忍受).  The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.

    Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.

    Man, however, is now a world traveler and cannot turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. speed controls people's lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.

    I now work 40 hours a week at a weather company and I love it Compared to when I became a mom, I don't feel bad about being away from my three kids. When I had my first child, I was a busy manager. My husband had a part-time job and cared for her the rest of the time. Once I became pregnant with my second kid, I quit my job to focus fully on writing.

    At first I felt like I was living the dream. I was a work-from-home mom who never had to be away from my children. But working from home can end up being more stressful than working full-time or being a stay-at-home mom.because you're frequently exhausted between work, keeping house and telling sweet faces you don't have time to play. Ever tried writing an article with a baby screaming? It was awful.

    I was so stressed that I eventually started taking my kids to 8 day care center a couple of days a week. The whole reason I worked so hard to be able to write for a living was to be at home with my kids and here I was taking them to a day care center.I thought I was a failure then.

    Over the past five years of being a freelancer(自由作家), I've realized a couple of things. As I wrote six months  ago, "I though I felt bad leaving my daughter for ten hours a day but now she is old enough to ask me to read her a story .Try telling your kid no, 20 times a day. It's cruel. You end up feeling worse for having to ignore them." I also realize not socializing with people weren't good for my mental well-being.

    Not only that, but I can now show my kids that Mom is important and has a job at a flashy office building, something they didn't realize when1 sat around in yoga pants typing on my computer all day long.

    The faces of the four U. S. presidents on Mount Rushmore will likely last for centuries. But at a newly opened exhibit in Japan, you can catch them only for about eight months. This year, the annual sand sculpture event at the Sand Museum in Tottori, Japan, is focused on another country. This is the 10^th anniversary of the event. Artists came from 19 countries to shape sand into different sculptures that represent events in U. S. history and American landmarks.

    Tottori is a remote city in western Japan. In the past, not many tourists traveled to it. To attract more visitors, Tottori officials decided to use a natural resource: sand. They decided to create a sand museum that would house a series of sand sculptures based on different geographic areas of the world. The sand from each year's exhibition is used again the next year. The project has been a success. About 500,000 people visit the museum during the eight months. Some return year after year to see the new sculptures.

    The city is now a popular spot for sand sculpture artists too. Sculptors from around the world come to Tottori each spring, spending a few weeks working on their masterpieces. They use special tools to smooth the sandy surfaces, cut angles and details. They use only sand and water to create the huge sculptures, some of which tower over their creators.

    Originally, the artists built their creations outside. But the works lasted less than two months outdoors. So the museum built a permanent structure 10 house the artworks, which extended their life to eight months. Now many more tourists get to see the sculptures. Still, the fact that this art is not permanent is part of the appeal. The temporary sculptures reflect the Japanese value of appreciating the fleeting（稍纵即逝）nature of the world.

    Tottori is not the only Japanese town that shows temporary art like this. Sapporo, in northern Japan, hosts a similar exhibit in the winter, using snow instead of sand. Thai will be just about the time that the U. S. sand sculpture exhibition is taken apart, and the sand is saved for next year's show.

    The pupils of Grangetown High have been busy getting to know their newest and tallest classmate — a 7-meter-tall giraffe outside their school.

    The giraffe is a huge sculpture (雕像). The school's headmaster noticed it in an artist's garden as he drove past one day, and thought it would be perfect for his school. “I knew everyone would love it," he said, "because our basketball team is known as the Grangetown Giraffes, and they wear giraffes on their shirts. So I asked them to write to the artist, asking how much it would cost to buy the giraffe. He was very kind and got it ready to deliver (递送) in six weeks — all for nothing! It was expected to arrive one Sunday morning, so that the pupils would see it when they got to school on Monday — at that time they had no idea that we were getting it."

    The artist, Tom Bennett was a university professor of chemistry before he retired in 2012 and only took up metalwork a couple of years ago. "I've always drawn pictures," he said. I can even remember doing it on my first day at school — I drew a horse. I wanted it to be the best horse picture ever, but I don't think I succeeded."Tom's first metalwork was a bicycle on which he and his wife could go cycling together, “It was the most uncomfortable bike ever created," he said, "so I gave up making bicycles and went into sculpture instead."

    Meanwhile the pupils at Grangetown High are very happy with their new classmate. "We're going to hold a competition to give it a proper name," said one girl. "Everyone likes the expression on its face, so perhaps that will give us some ideas."

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Those are the words of Thomas Alva Edison, one of the greatest {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (inventor) in the history of the United States.

Edison, who grew up in the Midwest, was {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (large) self-educated. He earned 1,093 patents in his lifetime, including the lightbulb. Being {#blank#}3{#/blank#} successful businessman, Edison often reworked existing technology, making it more practical for widespread use.

Edison was born on February 11, 1847, a day that {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (celebrate) as National Inventors' Day today. The Thomas Edison Center, which was created in memory of Edison, is at Menlo Park in New Jersey. It is said that the seven years Edison spent at the lab he created in New Jersey were the most {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (product).

"Menlo Park is the birthplace of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (record) sound. It was in Menlo Park {#blank#}7{#/blank#} Edison invented the phonograph （留声机） in 1877. The invention led to the 30-year-old Ohio native's international fame. From then on, he was known {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the "Wizard （奇才） of Menlo Park."

A phonograph was the first device that was used {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (reserve) sound. It was the precursor （先驱） to record albums and CDs. The original model had no volume knob （旋钮）, so listeners would have to control the sound by {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (place) a sock in the machine. That's where we get the expression "put a sock in it", which means "stop talking".

As a high school student {#blank#}1{#/blank#} loves literature, I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. But my view changed when I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (see) The Revenge of Prince Zidan—the Peking Opera version of Hamlet.

It started {#blank#}3{#/blank#} an orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments. I thought what I heard was a violin, but later I learned that it was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} instrument {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (call) jinghu. Then I saw the main {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (character) come on stage. The costumes and masks were {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (amaze). The music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the meanings across to the audience. And the stage was also very simple. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (use) such techniques, the opera transformed a small stage into the whole universe {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (magic). The performance was so wonderful that everyone clapped their hands. So, my friend, if you want to see a show with explosive effect in person, The Revenge of Prince Zidan {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (tick) all the right boxes!