This is a true story of a mother’s sacrifice (牺牲) in an earthquake.

When the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. Her pose was somehow strange---she knelt (跪) on the ground like a person who was worshiping (祷告)；her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supported by an object. However, the cold and stiff body told them that she had passed away for sure.

The rescuers left this house and were going to search the next collapsed (倒塌的) building. For some reason, the team leader was driven by a strange force to go back to the ruined house. Again, he knelt down to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement, “ A child! There is a child!”

The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3-month-old little boy wrapped in a blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made great sacrifice in order to save her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.

A doctor came quickly to examine the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cellphone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said, “ If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Everybody that read the message cried.

If youˈre traveling with kids in London, many London hotels have special services and features to help the family holiday, offering services to kids as well as games, bike hire and free ice cream!

Athenaeum

The five-star Athenaeum is a fantastic family hotel，particularly with the addition of its kidsˈ services. Even before you arrive, theyˈll be in touch to make sure your kids have their favorite DVDs, treats and anything else to keep them happy. And they can arrange your perfect family activities, from bike hire to theater tickets.

Novotel

Novotelˈs family rooms are designed to accommodate two adults and two children. Accommodation and breakfast are free for under-16s(up to two staying in their parentsˈ room)．You can also enjoy a late check-out at 5 p. m. on a Sunday, and while you lie in, the kids can entertain themselves with the Cartoon Network.

Chessington Safari Hotel

At Chessington Safari Hotel, kids will love staying in an African adventure-themed room, having breakfast, overlooking the animals of the Wanyama Reserve, watching family-friendly movies and getting into the theme park before it opens.

The Ritz

Kids at The Ritz are treated just as well as their parents, if not better! Children can enjoy computer games and DVDs, free ice cream and their own bathrobes and slippers. Under-16s can stay for free in their parentsˈ bedroom, depending on the room type.

Marlin Apartments

Marlin Apartments operate more than 700 serviced apartments in London. Apartments are all within five minutesˈ walk of the Tube(Good for tired little legs！) with flat screen TVs, fully equipped kitchens and free Wi-Fi. One or two bedroom family apartments have extra room for folding beds in the living area.

Pacific Science Center Guide

◆Visit Pacific Science Center’s Store

Don’t forget to stop by Pacific Science Center’s Store while you are here to pick up a wonderful science activity or souvenir to remember your visit. The store is located upstairs in Building 3 right next to the Laster Dome.

◆Hungry

      Our exhibits will feed your mind but what about your body? Our café offers a complete menu of lunch and snack options, in addition to seasonal specials. The café is located upstairs in Building 1 and is open daily until one hour before Pacific Science Center closes.

◆Rental Information

      Lockers are available to store your belongings during your visit. The lockers are located in Building 1 near the Information Desk and in Building 3 Pushchairs and wheelchairs are available to rent at the Information Desk and Denny Way entrance. ID required.

◆Support Pacific Science Center

      Since 1962 Pacific Science Center has been inspiring a passion for discovery and lifelong learning in science, math and technology. Today Pacific Science Center serves more than 1.3 million people a year and brings inquiry-based science education to classrooms and community events all over Washington State. It’s an amazing accomplishment and one we cannot achieve without generous support from individuals, corporations, and other social organizations. Wish pacificorganizer.org to find various ways you can support Pacific Science Center.

My Year Abroad                                                           

This month in Travelers Corner there are three teenagers’ experiences in year-abroad programmes.

Mariko Okada – Tokyo

My year abroad in the United States was a fantastic experience. I’m not a shy person, and I was very comfortable speaking to everyone. So I got lots of speaking practice. I also learned lots of interesting things about American culture. When I got home, my friends all said that I had improved so much! I hope to go back again in the future.

Carla Fonseca – Rio de Janeiro

I spent last year studying English in London. I’m from a small town, and London is a very big city. Sometimes I felt it was too big. There were so many people to talk to, but I always felt bad about my English. I missed my family, and I really missed my two cats. My roommate was always using our telephone, so I hardly had the chance for a nice long talk with my parents. I think it was a good experience for me, but I’m glad to be home!

Alvin Chen – Hong Kong

Studying in New Zealand was an interesting experience for me, but it was also lots of hard work! I had English classes six hours a day, five days a week——with lots of homework. I also kept a diary of my experience. I like to write, and I wrote two or three pages in my diary every day. On Saturdays, my home stay family took me to lots of interesting places and showed me so many wonderful things about the culture. I’m really glad I went!

A couple, John and Mary, had two lovely children. John had just been asked to go on a business trip for several days. Mary would go along too, so they hired a   (1)    woman to care for their children.

 They made the trip, returning home a little earlier than they had planned. As they drove into their home town, they noticed   (2)   . They drove to see what it was and they found a   (3)   in flames.

  John drove closer and cried, “That house belongs to Fred Jones, who is working at the plant. He can’t be   (4)    work yet, and maybe there is something we would do.” “It has   (5)   to do with us,” protested（抗议） Mary.

  But John drove up and stopped. A woman on the lawn was   (6)   , “The children! Get the children!” John grabbed her by the shoulder, saying, “Tell us   (7)   the children are!” “In the basement,” sobbed the woman, “down the hall and to the left.”

    (8)   Mary’s protests, John rushed into the   (9)   which was full of smoke and extremely hot. He   (10)   the door and two children. As he left he   (11)   hear some more crying. He delivered the two   (12)   frightened and nearly suffocated(窒息的) children into the waiting arms of the woman. He   (13)    how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary  (14)   his arm and screamed, “John! Don’t go back! It’s   (15)   ! That house will fall down in any second.”

But he   (16)   the house again. At last he found   (17)    children. As he walked up the endless steps, the thought went through his mind that there was something   (18)   about the little babies, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and   (19)   air, he found that he had just   (20)   his own children.

The babysitter had left them at Fred’s home while she did some shopping...

How many things can you see in the night sky? A lot! On a clear night you might see the Moon, some planets, and thousands of stars.

But scientists believe there are some things in the sky that we will never see. We won’t see them with the biggest telescope in the world, on the clearest night of the year. That’s because they are invisible. They’re the mysterious dead stars called black holes.

 You might find it hard to imagine that stars die. After all, our Sun is a star. Year after year we see it up in the sky, burning brightly, giving us heat and light. The Sun certainly doesn’t seem to be getting old or weak. But stars do burn out and die after billions of years.

 As a star gases burn, they give off light and heat. But when the gases run out, the star stops burning and begins to die. 

As the star cools, the outer layers of the star pull in towards the center. The star squashes(挤压) into a smaller and smaller ball. If the star was very small, the stars ends up as a cold, dark ball. If the star was very big, it keeps squashing inward until it’s packed together tighter than anything in the universe.  

Imagine if the Earth were crushed(挤压) until it was the size of a tiny marble. That’s how tightly this dead star, a black hole, is packed. What pulls the star in toward its center with such power? It’s the same force that pulls you down when you jump--- the force called gravity. A black hole is so tightly packed that its gravity sucks(卷入) in everything---even light. The light from a black hole can never come back to your eyes. That’s why you see nothing but blackness.  

So the next time you stare up at the night sky, remember: there’s more in the sky than meets the eye! Scattered(散落) in the silent darkness are black holes--- the great mystery of space.

You may think, salt is just a simple cooking element we shake on our food for a little extra taste. But salt is much more than that. Without salt our muscles would not move. Our nervous systems would not operate. Our hearts would not beat.

But do not think rubbing salt into a wound will help. Doing that would be painful and not heal the wound. “To rub salt into a wound” is an idiom that means to purposefully make a bad situation worse.

Early humans got the salt they needed to stay alive from the animals they killed. But advances in agriculture led to a diet low in salt. So, humans needed to find other sources. Those who lived near the ocean or other natural sources for salt were lucky. Those who did not had to trade for salt. In fact, people used salt as a method of payment in many parts of the ancient world. The word “salary” comes from the word “salt”.

Salt also played an important part in population movement and world exploration. Explorers understood that if they could keep food fresh, they could travel longer distances. So they used salt to preserve food and explore the world.

Salt was so important that, according to food historians, it was traded pound-for-pound for gold. Today, people still use the expressions “worth oneˈs salt” or “worth oneˈs weight in salt”. The expressions describe a person of value.

A person might also be called “salt of the earth”. That description means he or she is dependable and trustworthy. However, when you say “I think we should take what he said with a grain of salt” you mean you accept it but maintain a degree of doubt about its truth.

As anyone who freelances (做自由职业) knows, there are lots of advantages of working at home alone. But there are drawbacks too, like the potential loneliness. No wonder co-working spaces are becoming so popular: they permit self-employed individuals to feel like they are part of all office environment, while making them get some work done too. But renting a co-working space does cost money.

Now a Swedish project is aiming to change that by turning people’s under-used homes into temporary co-working spaces, available to freelancers for free. Hoffice was started by freelancers Christofer Gradin Franzen and Johline Zandra about a year ago in Stockholm when they invited a few people into their home office to work together. It was a great success, and the project has since spread to a number of cities in Europe, North andSouth America,Australia,Indiaand Japan. Anyone can sign up and offer their home space as a free co-working space, or go find a Hoffice near them.

On a Hoffice day, everyone arrives and starts work at a certain hour. After 45 minutes, everyone gets up to take a break, stretch, do qigong or yoga for 10 to 15 minutes. Afterwards, people can gather around again, and re-state their intentions and goals for the rest of the work day, as a way to motivate each other. Meals can be eaten together at a certain hour, potluck-style(家常饭)or by bringing your own lunch.

This process creates an encouraging and supportive work environment. As some freelancers describe, “By working at Hoffice, we give ourselves and each other the gift to spend our days in a social working environment, where we are extremely productive without ignoring our other human needs. We also make sure to give us and each other what we need to feel calm, happy, inspired and creative during the working day. ”

So Hoffice is not just about sharing space；itˈs also about a free exchange of ideas. And perhaps the best thing is that Hoffices are free to use.

Julia Morgan was born in San Francisco on January 20, 1872 and raised in Oakland. Julia attended Oakland High school, graduating in 1890. With a strong mathematical interest she attended U.C. Berkeley, studying in the College of Engineering. In her senior year, Bernard Maybeck, a professor at U.C. Berkeley, taught descriptive geometry(画法几何) and he started a series of informal architectural seminars for his favorite students. He became a positive influence on Julia and others, encouraging them to study at the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris which he had attended ten years earlier. Julia went to Paris in 1896, learned French, and passed her entrance exams in the fall of 1898, becoming the first woman ever admitted to the architectural department within the Ecole. After three years’ hard work Julia earned her diploma in February 1902.

Morgan returned to Oakland in 1902 and worked for Architect John Galen Howard at U.C. Berkeley, assisting him on the construction of the Greek theater. But her ambition was to open her own practice. She took the state licensing exam and was allowed to practice as an architect in her own right in 1904. She opened her first office at 456 Montgomery, a building destroyed in the earthquake of 1906. In 1907 she moved into the Merchants Exchange Building firstly with Ira Wilson Hoover as a junior partner, but from 1910 she was lifted simply as Julia Morgan, Architect. 

Her first major project after the April 18, 1906 earthquake was the reconstruction of the badly damaged Fairmont Hotel. Morgan supervised(监督) its repair so that it reopened on the first anniversary of the earthquake.

Morgan designed over 700 buildings in her 50- year career. She was highly regarded, especially by women. She also designed a surprising number of homes and apartments in San Francisco.

a. She opened her first office.

b. She worked for John Gallon Howard.

c. She studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

d. She graduated from Oakland High School.

e. She supervised the repair job of Fairmont Hotel.