Coolest Hotels in the World

Artau Aragon Towers

 The Ariau Amazon Towers hotel lets you sleep in a tree house. Eight towers make up this hotel that offers over 300 rooms. If you really want to get into the spirit, book the Tarzan Suite which is large enough for a big family. You'll be thirty feet up in the air and can travel between the towers through their wooden walkways.

      Prices: starting at $300 one night for each person for a regular room and going all the way up to $3000 for the Tarzan Suite.

      For more information, visit the website: http://Hwww.ariautowers.com

The Ice Hotel

      Every winter in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, a special kind of hotel called the lce Hotel is built. Each year, world-famous artists are invited to design and produce works of art from the ice, many of which can be found in the rooms. You'll have your choice between hot or cold rooms but you will be well advised to stay at least one night in a cold room for a true experience.

      Prices: starting at $318 one night for each person for either a cold room or a warm one. For more information, visit the website: http:Hwww.icehotel.com

Propeller Island

     Propeller Island City Lodge is a very special hotel that was designed by a German artist. Each room provides you with the possibility of living in a work of art. Every single piece of furniture in the thirty rooms of the hotel has been hand-made and each room is completely different. You'll be able to choose a room based on your own personal tastes.

      Prices: starting at just $91 a night, and an additional (另外) person for only 20 extra dollars. For more information, visit the website: http://www.propeller-island.com

      For information about other cool hotels In the world, visit the website: http://www.bahamabeachclub.com

According to the World Health Organization(WHO), air pollution kills 7 million people every year. In the UK, experts believe that pollution is responsible for 29,000 deaths annually.

Air pollution comes from a number of sources, including power factories and industry. However, cars are the biggest cause. Then, which cities are the most polluted? A global survey by the WHO found that the south-western Iranian city of Ahvaz has the highest level of PM10s. Heavy industry and low-quality vehicle fuel are the main causes of air pollution in this desert city. At the end of the list are cities in Canada and the United States, which results from lower population, favorable climates and stricter air pollution regulation.

Occasionally, an increase of pollution can lead to smog---a fog caused by pollution. This tends to happen when traffic is heavy and the winds are calm. The Great Smog of 1952 killed more than 4,000 people in London over a single weekend. One of the most recent ones took place in April 2014, when there was an added part: dust blown in from the Sahara Desert, which left scores of flights cancelled.

So, what can be done to improve air quality? Major cities have forbidden the construction of new power plants and existing ones are being shut down. And places like Bogota(Colombia) have improved air quality by promoting walking, cycling and public transport. “We cannot buy clean air in a bottle, but cities can adopt measures that will clean the air and save the lives of their people,” said Dr Carlos Dora of the WHO.

Heroes of Our Time

A good heart

Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship to study medicine — but coach  John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his fortune with others. He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the Congo. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: “Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to do great things.”

Success and kindness

After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children’s videos (录象) in her own house. The Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. And she is using her success to help others — producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new program: “I believe it’s the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.”

Bravery and courage

A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails (铁轨), and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he’s not a hero. He says: “We have got to show each other some love.”

    The Winter Olympics is also called the White Olympics．At this time, many colorful stamps are published to mark the great Games．The first stamps marking the opening came out on January 25, 1932 in the United States for the 3rd White Olympics．From then on, publishing stamps during the White Olympics became a rule．
        During the 4th Winter Olympic Games a group of stamps were published in Germany in November 1936．The five rings of Olympics were drawn on the front of the sportswear．It was the first time that the rings appeared on the stamps of the White Olympics．
      In the 1950s, the stamps of this kind became more colorful．When the White Olympics came, the host countries as well as the non-host countries published stamps to mark those Games．China also published four stamps in February 1980, when the Chinese sportsmen began to take part in the White Olympics．
       Japan is an Asian country that has ever held the White Olympics．Altogether 14,500 million stamps were sold to raise money for this sports meet．
      Different kinds of sports were drawn on these small stamps．People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen．

Today, the world’s diversity (多样性) of food crops is quickly decreasing. But scientists around the world are taking action. They are building seed banks. At seed banks, scientists store the seeds of many different crops.

There are now 1,400 seed banks around the world. However, some banks are in warm countries. If the electricity fails, the seeds will get too hot and die. Other seed banks are in countries troubled by war. Sometimes people damage the seed banks. If this happens, valuable seeds can be lost forever!

The organization Global Crop Diversity Trust decided they wanted to deal with this problem. So, they decided to build a global seed bank. This seed bank would contain a back-up, or extra copy, of all the world’s seeds. Smaller seed banks would still collect and keep local seeds. But they would also send copies of their seeds to the global bank.

Scientists from the Global Crop Diversity Trust chose the cold, snowy mountains of Svalbard, Norway to build the global seed bank — the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (斯瓦尔巴全球种子库). Organizations, farmers, or local seed banks store their extra seeds there. And the people who place their seeds in the vault are the only people who can take them out. They pay to ship their seeds to Norway, but it does not cost them any money to store their seeds. The Global Crop Diversity Trust pays for this.

Cary Fowler is a scientist who heads the Global Crop Diversity Trust. He said, “If the Seed Vault simply supplies seed banks with copies of seeds that those banks lost by accident, the Seed Vault will be worth way more than it cost.”

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Australia’s koalas could die out within 30 years unless immediate action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bush-fires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply.

The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. The number of koalas was once estimated to be more than 100,000, but now is as few as 43,000.

The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.

The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their main food, eucalyptus (桉树) leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia’s east and south, are very picky about what types of the leaves they eat.

Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It’s really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don’t have any koalas.”

She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government’s Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala’s status as one of the country’s favorite animals would not be a factor. “There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton said.

Too many people want others to be their friends，but they don't give friendships back. That is why some friendships don't last very long.To have a friend，you must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you.Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules：be honest；be generous；be understanding.
       Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth，people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest，you may lose your friend's trust. Good friends always count on one another to speak and act honestly.
       Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes，of course.Instead，you have to learn how to share things you enjoy，like your hobbies and your interests. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them，you help your friend know you better.  Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand.You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so you can understand the problem better.  No two friendships are ever exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends，you must practice honesty，generosity，and understanding.

General Airport Tips

     Plan to get to the airport at least an hour early, or two during holidays and other busy times; this will reduce the stress of the flight. If all goes well, you will have time to relax, shop for last-minute items, or have a meal before the flight.

Flight Delays

     Find out why your flight is delayed. Call the free call numbers. Find out if other airlines are experiencing similar delays. If you believe the delay is due to something other than weather or air traffic problems, then mention your suspicion (怀疑) and ask the airline agent to book you on the next available flight, either on the same air-line or a competing one. This is called "Rule 240", and all airlines are required to do it. Use the lingo (行话); ask, "Can you 240 me?" when speaking with an agent. They will know what you mean.

Flight Cancellations (取消)

     If your flight is canceled, then make a reservation on the next flight to your destination(目的地). Usually, air-line officials will try to book everyone on their next flight out. Often they will put you on a competitor's next flight only if you request it. If on-time arrival is important to you, when you check flights through our reservation system you can make your choices based on their on-time arrival records. Be sure to also check the weather conditions, as they often affect flight schedules.

Getting bumped (不能登机)

     To avoid getting bumped, you must be at the loading gate at least 10 minutes ahead of scheduled departure(离开) for a U.S. Flight, 20 minutes to /from Bahamas, Canada, and Mexico and 30 to/ from all other international points. You must be at the loading gate, not the airport entrance.

Dubai boasts(夸口) that it has just built a“new global landmark”---the Dubai Tower, which stands 512.1 meters high now and has just become the tallest building in the world.

    The Dubai Tower now surpasses Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which is 508 meters tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world.

    The Dubai Tower, being built by South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and scheduled for completion next year, is one of a series of great projects taking shape in Dubai. The final projected height of the tower has remained a secret since the project was launched in January 2004; however, it is rumored that the tower will be more than 700 meters tall and have more than 160 storeys.

   The Dubai Tower has become the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days, leaving behind other tall buildings.

   The Dubai Tower will house 30,000 apartments in addition to the world’s largest shopping mall. It is the centerpiece(重要工程) of the 20-billion-dollar venture. Another venture gradually emerging across the desert sands is Dubailand, a series of multi-billion-dollar projects claimed to be the Middle East’s very own Orlando. Dubai also paid 100 million dollars to buy the Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world’s superb cruise liners(游轮), which it plans to turn into a luxury floating hotel.

   Faced with decreasing oil wealth, the Western-oriented emirate(酋长国) has raced to turn itself into a business and leisure hub and it aims to more than double the number of tourists to 15 million by 2015.