Texting（发短信）walkers arenˈt just an annoyance to other walkers, Australian researchers armed with movie special-effects technology have determined scientifically that theyˈre threats to themselves. Using motion-capture technology similar to that used for films, researchers concluded that texting while walking not only affects balance but also the ability to walk in straight line.

    “Some people like checking emails while walking to work in the morning” said the study co-author Hoorn, “but they may not know it has a serious effect on the safety of themselves”. Other facts have also proved this. A tourist from Taiwan walked off a pier(码头) near Melbourne last month while checking Facebook, bringing a sudden and icy end to a penguin-watching visit. Another person who was too wrapped up in his phone to notice dangers walked straight into the fountain in front of a shopping mall.

    The Australian study involved 27 volunteers, a third of whom admitted having knocked into objects while texting. They were asked to walk 8.5 meters three times—once without phones, once while reading text and once while writing text, when eight cameras recorded their actions.

    They found the volunteers using the phone walked slower, and, more seriously, they locked their arms and elbows in like “robots”, which forced their heads to move more, throwing themselves off balance. “In a pedestrian（步行的）environment, inability to maintain a straight path would be likely to increase potential for traffic accidents”, said Mr. Hoorn. “The best thing to do is to step aside and stop, or keep off the phone.”

    Authorities world-wide have taken note. Signs on Hong Kongˈs subway system advise passengers in three languages to keep their eyes off their phones. Police and transport authorities have highlighted the danger in Singapore, where the Straits Times newspaper recently declared cellphone-distracted road crossing as “bad habit No. 2” contributing to the rising number of road deaths. Some U.S. states, including New York and Arkansas, are considering bans on what theyˈre calling phone jaywalking(走路不遵守交通规则).

The Boy Made It!

One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn’t have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute.

Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about all the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.

He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter form the freezing wind and snow. If he didn’t, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him.

Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.

By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn’t lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could- he huddled(蜷缩) in his cave and slept.

The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn’t find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved.

Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls’ survival show. Man vs. Wild. That’s where he learned the tips that saved his life, In each episode(一期节目)of Man vs. Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out.

When Grylls heard about Nicholas’ amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive.

Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival, Poland

   It sounds like the plot of a horror B－movie－a group of kids dancing on to the site of an abandoned coal mine for a rave (舞会). It's where this avant－garde music fest in the heart of Katowice will take place. The festival has a line－up featuring the US west coast: rapper Tyler, The Creator, London－based neo－soul talent Fatima and Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills. All this will happen in the old production halls, warehouses and the pressure tower of the deserted industrial facility. There are also tours of the site; this year's organizer promises to make an even more unique and great setting. Southern Soul Festival, Montenegro

   It's straight up sun, sea and soul at this chilled－out festival on Copacabana Beach along Montenegro's Mediterranean coast. Now in its fourth year, the event brings over 40 acts to three stages on the vast, sandy shoreline. Expect to hear a soundtrack provided by modem soul and electronic music's most forward thinking producers, DJs and artists. Think of it as a musical holiday; this is one festival that makes you feel refreshed when you return to work.

Mandrea Music Festival, Italy

   Cool off at this festival on the hilltops in the foothills of the extremely attractive Dolomites range. Mad Professor and Max Romeo are the headliners of this laid－back event that is as much about exploring the peaceful surroundings as it is about the music. The' festival site is by Lake Garda, a turquoise stretch of water that is the largest lake in Italy. Around it you can hike, ride mountain bikes and climb rocks, but the festival itself offers plenty of distractions, including a cinema, a mini skate park and performance workshops, while the sound systems boom in the background. Bring an air horn.

Festival Yeah! France

   Festival Yeah! is an easygoing, boutique festival in the pretty French town of Lourmarin. Don't think of all－night techno party, but think of good food, good music and good lime spent with family and friends. The line－up is mainly a mix of indie electro, rock and folk, as well as some DJs. Gamier himself will be spinning tunes in the kids' tent.

One day last summer, watching the boys and girls trying to catch butterflies I remembered something happened when I was young. When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. No musician can sing more beautifully than the birds. I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, the bird flew about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out, and on the second day my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I about how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my bird was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken good care of my little bird.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time. Hearing me crying over the death of my bird, he explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poisonous berries (干果). She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in cage.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

When my sister Martie told me she had put out tomato plants last summer, I was quite impressed.

   She was a garden-beginner. Once they were planted, she tended to water them daily, anxiously awaiting the juicy tomatoes to appear. But, day after day, her plants were tomato-less while all of her neighbors who had also put out tomato plants were already enjoying the fruit of their labor.

   Frustrated, Martie gave in and went to the market to search fresh tomatoes. While paying, Martie told the farmer her troubles. The farmer paused to think for a moment and then asked, "Well, what kind of tomatoes did you plant?"

   "I think they were called Big Boy," Martie remembered.

   "Well there's your problem," the farmer explained. "Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes have a 95-day gestation (孕育) period whereas regular tomato plants produce fruit in as little as 70 days...you just have to wait a little longer for the Big Boys."

   With that new knowledge, Martie went home with excitement, knowing they would be worth the wait.

   Thinking about my sister's gardening experience, I had to smile. She just didn't know that Big Boy tomatoes took longer--neither did I--but once she discovered that information, she was no longer discouraged and upset about the lack of tomatoes on her plants. Instead, she was encouraged and excited to

see them a few weeks later.

   It makes me wonder how many of us have "Big Boy' dreams in our hearts, yet we just don't realize that they are of the "Big Boy" variety so we are discouraged and worn out with the waiting process. Instead of waiting with excitement, we give up on our dreams and figure we must have done something wrong to stop them from coming to pass. Frustrated, we see other people's dreams coming true, and we wonder why ours haven't yet been achieved.

I moved to this area seven years ago. For years I have had noisy neighbours. Ever since I moved into this flat, I’ve had to put up with noise during the night. I decided I’d had enough and I’ve been looking for a new flat since the beginning of the year. I haven’t found anything till now. Every week I go to the estate agent’s (房地产代理人的) office, but it’s the same story. “ I might have something by the end of the week”, he says, or, “ Wait till next week. I think I might have a few flats by then.”

    I’ve seen a few flats during my search, but I don’t like any of them. One flat I saw has been empty for two years. “ It’s got a busy road on one side and a railway on the other!” I said loudly, “ I want peace and quiet.”

    Last week I visited the agent again. “ I won’t leave till you show me something,” I said. “I’ve got just the flat for you.” I went to see it and I was frightened. But it’s next to a cemetery (墓地)！” I cried. “But you won’t have noisy neighbours,” my agent said. “ It’s exactly right for peace and quiet!”

In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.

   In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to find out the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in London. She was then only semi-conscious and on the “Dangerously Ill” list. A team of doctors hurried to examine the baby only to discover that they, too, were confused by the very unusual symptoms(症状). While they were discussing the baby’s case, a nurse asked to speak to them.

   “Excuse me,” said Nurse Marsha Maitlan, “but I think the baby is suffering from thallium (铊) poisoning.”

   “What makes you think that?” Dr. Brown asked. “Thallium poisoning is extremely rare.”

   “A few days ago, I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse by Agatha Christie,” Nurse Maitlan explained. “In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are described. They’re exactly the same as the baby’s.”

   “You’re very thoughtful and you may be right,” another doctor said. “We’ll carry out some tests and find out whether it’s thallium or not.”

   Tests showed that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium, a rare metallic substance used in making special glass. Once they knew the cause of the illness, the doctors were able to give the baby the correct treatment. She soon recovered and was sent back to Qatar. Later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (杀虫剂) used in Qatar.

When I was 8 years old, I decided to run away from home after a quarrel with my mother. With my suitcase packed and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door.

My mom asked where I was going. “I’m leaving home,” I said.

“What’s that you’re carrying?” she asked.

“Some clothes and food,” I replied.

“If you want to run away, that’s all right,” she said. “But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way.”

I threw my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor and started for the door again.

“Wait a minute,” Mom said. “You didn’t have any clothes on when you arrived, and I want them back.”

Thisinfuriatedme. I tore my clothes off — shoes, socks, underwear and all — and shouted, “Can I go now?”

“Yes,” my mom answered, “but once you close that door, don’t expect to come back.”

I was so angry that I shut the door forcefully and stepped out of my home. Then I noticed down the street two neighbor girls walking toward our house. I was so shy that I saw the big spruce (云杉) tree in our yard and jumped under the low-hanging branches (树枝). A pile of dried-up brown needles (针状物) were beneath the tree, and you can’t imagine the pain those sharp needles caused to my body.

After I was sure the girls had passed by, I ran to the front door and knocked at it loudly.

“It’s Billy! Let me in!”

The voice behind the door answered, “Billy doesn’t live here anymore. He ran away from home.”

Looking behind me to see if anyone else was coming down the street, I said, “Mom! I’m sorry. I’m still your son. Let me in!”

The door opened and Mom’s smiling face appeared. “Did you change your mind about running away?” she asked.

“What’s for supper?” I smiled back.