Next month, about 30,000 runners will take to the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, for one of the world’s oldest and most famous races, the Boston Marathon. Nearly half the competitors in the 26.2-mile race will be women. But for most of the race’s 119-year history, only men were officially allowed to compete.

A woman named Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb helped change that in 1966, when she secretly ran the marathon and finished ahead of most of the men. “Word went out around the world that a woman had done the impossible,” says Gibb. “It changed the way men thought about women.”

Gibb saw her first Boston Marathon in 1964, while running through her neighborhood. She was inspired to run the race herself. For nearly two years, Gibb trained to build the energy and strength she’d need to finish. But when she sent in an application for the 1966 race, it was turned down.

At the time, the longest official races for women were only 1.5 miles. Many people didn’t think women were physically capable of running longer distances. Running a marathon was also seen as “unladylike”.

But the 23-year-old Gibb refused to let go of her dream. She came up with a plan to run the race anyway. On April 19, she showed up at the marathon wearing her brother’s shorts and a sweatshirt to hide the fact that she was a woman.

Gibb hid in the bushes near the starting line. When the race began, she jumped into the pack. Shortly into the race, Gibb took off her sweatshirt. To her surprise, the crowd cheered when they realized she was a woman. Gibb finished the race in 3 hours and 21 minutes- faster than two thirds of the male runners.

Gibb opened the door for future female long-distance runners. In the years that followed, she and other women ran in the Boston Marathon, even though the rules still prohibited women from running in the race. Finally, in 1972, the marathon was officially opened to women.

Author Norman Mailer published an essay in which he declared the graffiti(涂鸦) of the New York subway to be "The Great Art of the 70s". But what happened to the artists and why is there no subway graffiti anymore?

"It started with someone just writing their name - someone saw that, and added on to it," recalls New York graffiti artist Nicer, born Hector Nazario."Letters going in front of letters, coming back through a letter, behind a letter, going across a letter... the subways became our playground," adds Riff170.

New York in 1974 was a city in crisis. The Mayor, Abe Beame, slashed the city's budget in a bid to stave off bankruptcy(破产), which meant laying off school teachers, police officers and subway staff.

"They were taking the money from the schools, there was a lot of corruption here, in this community, and so they took the after-school programmes away, and there was no outlets for this. So the outlet became our city," says Bronx-born designer Eric Orr.

"It was like an explosion. The graffiti explosion. All of a sudden it took over the whole city. I don't know what happened, but overnight in the early 70s it was from no graffiti to all graffiti," says another former artist, Flint Gennari.

Eric Felisbret, author and former graffiti artist, says graffiti culture was in a way a product of the civil rights movement. "It was never political," he says, "but many people were brought up with that, and to express yourself by breaking the law became a natural process for them."

The graffiti pioneers came from all races, however. "There were writers that were African American, Latino - Puerto Rico, Dominican, Cuban - Jewish, Asian, and it became one unit - one family," says another graffiti pioneer, Roberto Gualtieri.

Prof Gregory Snyder, sociologist and author of Graffiti Lives, says: "For lots of people, graffiti is ugly, vandalistic, and I'm not denying that. It's vandalism... now, oftentimes it's very clever vandalism. It can be written on a dumpster, like a garbage bin, and if someone's attempting to make a garbage bin look a little prettier maybe that's not the worst thing in the world."Although Mailer was not alone in welcoming the flowering of creativity, the authorities hated it, as did many passengers.

So when Mayor Ed Koch took office, he was determined to clean up the city and set about targeting graffiti.

"I remember in 1982 he brought everyone out to a train yard and there was a single train painted white," says former New York Daily News reporter Salvatore Arena. Trains were taken out of service and cleaned as soon as graffiti was spotted. Carriages were protected at night and the city agreed to ban the sale of spray cans.

If in 1984 80% of subway carriages contained graffiti by May 1989 the network was graffiti-free. “Graffiti has gone through an evolution, and it will continue to evolve. It’s now socially accepted in places where 20-30 years ago that would have been impossible. It’s now showcased(展示)in certain museums –and let’s say in another 30 years from now it may be hanging in the White House,” says Nicer.

Nowadays painted graffiti is largely gone from the New York subway trains themselves and is seen instead on the walls and tunnels of the city. It has been replaced by scratchiti(刮擦艺术) created onto carriage windows using keys, knives. Unlike the vivid images of 40 years ago, these ghostly patterns are somehow easy to ignore. After all, graffiti has faded quietly into the background.

I’m Emily Barr, a British journalist. One day, an idea of travelling around the world came into my mind. I was so scared at first that I thought about canceling the whole plan at least twice a day. But I finally made up my mind and left.

Travelling around the world is the most exciting thing I have ever done. During the first few months I saw the beautiful view of Miami’s South Beach. I crossed the United States by train and walked on a Fijian beach, and I was happy to visit New Zealand. Then I spent about a month in Australia.

When I arrived in China, I carefully copied the Chinese characters for the hotel I wanted to stay in onto a piece of paper, and handed it to a taxi driver. He frowned(皱眉), and then laughed at my ugly writing. In Chengdu, I rode out of town to see pandas at their reserve(保护区)．One evening when I spent my time in a bar, I met James, another tourist, who is my husband now by the way. We flew to Tibet together the next day.

James and I walked around in Lhasa, travelled on Indian trains, wandered around the Taj Mahal and slept on the floor at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Then a year after I began my trip, I went back home.

Now James and I live in France with our two young sons and often make plans to travel with the boys. Once you have done it, anything seems possible.

  a. Travelling to China.    b. Crossing the United States.

   c. Visiting New Zealand.        d. Going to India.         e. Going on a trip to Australia.

When my students ask me why I live in a tiny house, they actually ask about all the “sacrifices (牺牲)” I am making. They know that I have moved from a large apartment in the city to a small home on wheels in the backyard woods. They know I forego running water, Internet connection, and reliable phone reception.

However, it was possible for me to be truly happy while living with very few material things. My body responded well, in health, fitness and mood. Watching the daily sunset, hosting friends for days at a time, reading, writing letters to my families and friends and exploring natural wonders in my spare time all were free and invaluable experience.

What was necessary to my survival proved to be a rather short list—healthy food, clean and drinkable water, heat source, weather-protecting shelter, weather-suitable clothing, equally important friends and mental and physical stimulations (刺激).

When I returned to life in the US, I couldn’t help but sense a deep and uneasy belief that life suddenly changed. I felt disconnected with many things—the earth, others, my food source, my waste disposal, the natural cycle of my body and the productive interests. These are the things I once loved but now find myself too busy to enjoy. How was it that I was earning 40 times my Peace Corps salary and was less healthy and satisfied in my daily schedule? I found myself asking—what is it to be rich anyway? Therefore, last August I let go of most of my belongings and moved into a tiny house on wheels because I wanted to see if I could live a more enjoyable lifestyle.        

So far so good. I believe that I have made the right decision.

We convey (传达) information through the position and movement of the body. We often use gestures or body movements to stress what we are saying. For example, when I lecture , I often use my hands to emphasize (强调) points or point to something on the blackboard. Some people use them more than others. The victory sign, the OK sign, the goodbye wave and the blowing of a kiss are all popular gestures in America. It is important to recognize, however, that most gestures are not universally recognized. For example, although the OK gesture means acceptance in America, it has other meanings in other cultures. In France it means worthlessness. And in Greece, it is considered obscene .

   There are some sex differences in nonverbal behavior. In American culture, men tend to sit or stand with legs apart and hands outward, while women tend to keep legs together and hands at their sides. Women are also better than men at understanding nonverbal gestures.

   A nonverbal behaviour is to have the tongue just slightly protruding (突出) from the mouth. A study showed that people were less willing to approach others who had their tongues showing. Perhaps this is why people often tend to avoid individuals with bad nonverbal behaviours. When we make decisions about other people, we learn to recognize nonverbal cues (提示) and interpret (理解) them along with verbal information. 

A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin(顽童) was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, sir?” he asked.

Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it did cost you nothing? Sir, I wish…” He hesitated(犹豫). Paul thought of course he knew what the boy wanted, but what the boy said surprised him greatly. “I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes, I’d love to,” the boy answered.

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Sir, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled(残疾的) brother. He sat down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in beside him and the three began an unforgettable holiday ride.

More students than ever before are taking a gap year(间隔年)before going to university. It used to be called the“year off”between school and university .The gap-year phenomenon originated(起源)with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.

This year,25310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by the University and College Admissions Service(UCAS).

That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. “Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible,”he said.

But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students(NUS),argued that the increase is evidence of student hardship—young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their education.“New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university up to ￡15,000 in debt .It is not surprising that more and more students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree. NUS statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacation periods,”he said.

Billboard Music Awards of the Year 2015 goes to Taylor Swift，a singer-songwriter，who has shaped and inspired the American music industry with her success．

 When Taylor Swift first came to public notice，she was a 17-year-old newcomer who loved singing to her own guitar．She was far more enthusiastic than skilled，but apparently threw spark of superb talent．

  Four years’ later，Swift has become a multi-awards winner，with the biggest selling albums．

 Swift is used to breaking chart records and winning honors since her career started．She followed that up in 2008 with Fearless，which established her as a skilled songwriter with

   Students these days often have a lot of worries. Sometimes they have problems with their schoolwork, and sometimes with their friends. ________ .

   Some people think the worst thing is to do nothing. Laura Mills, a teenager from Washington, agrees. "Problems and worries are normal in life, " says Laura. "But I think talking to someone helps a lot. If we don't talk to someone, we'll certainly feel worse. "

   Laura once lost her purse, and was worried for days. She was afraid to tell her parents about it. She even walked three miles to school each day because she didn't have any money. She just kept thinking. "If I tell my parents, they'll be angry! " But in the end, she talked to her parents and they were really understanding. Her dad said he sometimes made careless mistakes himself. They got her a new purse and asked her to be more careful. "I will always remember to share my problems in the future! " Laura says.

   Robert Hunt advises students about common problems. He feels the same way as Laura. "It is best not to avoid our problems. We should always try to solve them. " He thinks that you can first find someone to talk to. This person doesn't need to be an expert like himself. Students often forget that their parents have more experience than them, and are always there to help them.

   In English, we say that sharing a problem is like curing it in half. So you're halfway to solving a problem if you talk to someone about it!