The British are among the world’s greatest readers of newspapers. It’s been the custom ever since most people could read.

But why do people want to do nothing but read while traveling to work in a train?

Perhaps they are tired, or else they sit behind a newspaper to shut themselves off from the world. All the same, most men would notice a woman struggling with a heavy case and jump up to help her and a pretty girl sitting opposite wouldn’t escape their attention either. In this case a paper is useful because they can have a good look at her from behind it without her knowing. Perhaps they all do nothing but read stories. There are stories of girls and young men who met in the rush hour, got married, and went traveling on the same train, hand in hand.

When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games. Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.

One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up(咬破)one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl,” she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.

Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet. She went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pat her. Of course she’d let anyone pat her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we’d be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair. she never barked(吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is that she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.

Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss days when she was with us.

For many people, leisure time is an opportunity to get outdoors, have some fun and meet interesting people. Add two pieces of advanced 21st century technology — global positioning system (GPS) devices and the Internet — to get “geocaching”.

The word geocaching comes from “geo” (earth) and “cache” (hidden storage). Geocachers log onto a website to find information about the location of a cache — usually a waterproof plastic box containing small items such as toys and CDs — along with a notebook where “finders” can enter comments and learn about the cache “owner”, the person who created and hid the cache. Finders may take any of the items in the cache but are expected to replace them with something of similar value. They then visit the website again and write a message to the owner.

Geocaching became possible on May 1, 2000, when a satellite system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense was made public. Using an inexpensive GPS device, anyone on earth can send a signal to the satellites and receive information about their position. This is basically a high-tech version of orienteering, the traditional pastime which uses maps and compasses instead of GPS to determine one’s location.

Geocachers are a very considerate group. Owners carefully choose a cache’s location to give finders an enjoyable experience, such as a beautiful view or a good campsite. They also consider the environmental impact of their cache since it could result in an increased number of visitors to an area. As for the content of the caches, owners and finders must only use items that are suitable for the whole family, as caches are found by geocachers of all ages.

Waldseilgarten is an adventure mountain holiday center that offers guests a thrilling night in the wilderness. Nestled at the top of a mountain, daring guests can spend the night hanging off the tree tops, or over a cliff face.

During the warmer months, the center hosts adventure nights out, where guests can sleep in their own portaledge, hanging several meters above the ground. A portaledge is a hanging tent system that is generally used by rock climbers on climbs. At Waldseilgarten, the tents are hung from thick branches of large free-standing trees, where guests can only ascend or descend with rope assistance.

Guests looking for more air and an extreme camping experience can choose to sleep on an overhanging platform, positioned amongst huge cliff faces measuring between 1000 and 2000 meters high. However, if that’s just a little too extreme, the resort also offers easier sleeping options, including cliff platforms between 100 and 300 meters high, or tree platforms between two or four trees, with easy ways to the ground at any time.

All guests partaking in an adventure night out will receive rope climbing training before spending a night in nature. Trained staff teach simple rope climbing techniques, and other useful skills for hiking and rock climbing.

Waldseilgarten seems to offer a camping experience you will definitely remember, however that experience doesn’t come cheap. A night sleeping in the trees in a portaledge will set you back $336 per person, while the cliff face ledges go for $1199. The cheapest option is the tree platforms, at $168 per person per night.

A

People in the United States honour their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care to their children. These two days offer an opportunity to think about the changing roles of mothers and
fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with childcare.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations.A red one symbolizes a living mother.  A white one shows that mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honour their parents.  It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).  On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues(烤肉)for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

Another tradition is to give cards and gifts.  Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is "the thought that counts". Greeting card stores, florists(花商),candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.

C

I am Peter Hodes, a volunteer stem cell courier. Since March 2012, I've done 89 trips — of those, 51 have been abroad. I have 42 hours to carry stem cells (干细胞) in my little box because I've got two ice packs and that's how long they last. In all, from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor (捐献者) to the time they can be implanted in the patient, we've got 72 hours at most. So I am always conscious of time.

I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America. I picked up the stem cells in Providence, Rhode Island, and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London. But when I arrived at the check-in desk at Providence, the lady on the desk said: "Well, I'm really sorry, I've got some bad news for you—there are no flights from Washington." So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said: "In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient—please, please, you've got to get me back to the United Kingdom." She just dropped everything. She arranged for a flight on a small plane to be held for me, re-routed (改道) me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled.

For this courier job, you're consciously aware that in that box you've got something that is potentially going to save somebody's life.

I looked down at my shoes as people filled the train, and then I saw her. I saw her beat-up unlaced construction boots first. I followed the shoes, laceless hole by laceless hole, all the way up to the face of an old woman. She was tiny. She had a slight slump（萎靡）in her shoulders. She wore a bright red cap. Wisps of gray（一小束头发）poked out from beneath it.

As I watched the woman, I thought about the letters my mother wrote and how she must have known an ordinary piece of paper turns into a love letter when a person puts her self into it. Then I remembered the notebook in the belly of my bag. I would write the woman a note and give it to her as I exited the train, I decided. I could drop it at her feet.

I pulled the notebook out of my bag, turned to a new page, and began writing a letter. The words spilled out of me.

When I looked up, the woman was gone. I left the letter in my notebook, unsure of what to do with it now that she would never know that it was meant for her.

After I wrote that letter, more letters to other people I observed came marching out of me, one by one, until soon I had filled up the notebook.

Back on the train, just a few days later, the plan became clear. I was going to leave the letter I wrote to the woman on the subway for someone else to find. Then I would scatter other love letters all over New York City. And once I had set each one in its place, I would write even more. And you want to know why? Because it made me feel something.

I tried to imagine what would make me pick up a letter if I found it on a random subway train or in a coffee shop thinking it might have been for me all along. I settled on something simple: If you find this letter … then it’s for you. I wrote those words on my first letter. I folded the letter and placed it behind me. When I got to my stop, I planned to let the letter slip down onto the seat as I walked away.

At Grand Central Terminal, I waited for the subway doors to open and then busted out of my seat quickly. Darting through the doors, I kept walking faster and faster once my feet hit the platform. My nerves surged. There was a whiff of adrenaline（肾上腺素）as I got farther away from the train, disappearing into the city.

During the fall of 2010, I kept tucking and leaving, tucking and leaving. In the months that followed, I started my own site, MoreLoveLetters.com, about my project, inspiring others to write and leave letters in their own communities. Now the website connects her both to strangers in need of love letters and to those who want to write them.

About a year later, a woman wrote to me about her friend Briana, a single mother struggling to pay the rent. I typed out Briana’s story and published it on the website, encouraging anyone who read it to mail me letters of encouragement for Briana. I decided that at the end of the month, I’d send Briana a bundle of love letters.

A week later, I walked away from the post office with a lot of mail—and a big idea about human beings: mainly that if you give them something to do, a mission, they will show up. At the end of that month, I marched the love letter bundle for Briana to the post office and mailed it off to her.

Then, I got a thank-you e-mail from Briana’s friend. “They show you’re not alone and that you’re not struggling for nothing,” she wrote.

About all stories, I will always go back to Matt’s from Ohio. He e-mailed me one night about two years ago. Matt told me he was getting older. His family and he were disconnected. He didn’t have many friends. He was starting to believe he’d leave nothing behind and he’d be forgotten.

The message was sent with no return address attached. There was no way to write back to him, but I hope he reads these words:

“Matt, I want you to know: You were wrong to think you’d be forgotten. And I was wrong to think people couldn’t walk into our lives and shift our histories in an instant. Because you did that for me.”

C

Once an old man rose early to read each morning. His grandson wanted to be just like his grandfather, so tried to emulate him every way he could.

    One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read just like you do, but I don’t understand most of it, and I forget whatever I do understand immediately I close the book. So what good is it for me to read?”

    The grandfather, who was putting coal on the fire, said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as told to, but the water leaked out before he could get the basket home.

The grandfather laughed, saying, “You’ll have to move a little faster.” This time he ran faster, but again the basket emptied. Out of breath, he decided it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket（桶）. But the grandfather said, “I want a basket of water instead of a bucket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”

The boy knew what he was trying to accomplish was impossible. However, he decided to show his grandfather a third time.

The boy dipped the basket into the river and ran as hard as he could. With the empty basket, he gasped（喘气说）, “See Grandpa? It’s useless!”

“So you think it useless?” the old man asked. “Then look at the basket.” To his surprise, the boy found it washed clean of the dirty coal stains and now clean inside and out.

“My child, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but the words will change you inside and out. That is the work of reading in our lives.”  

  It has often been suggested that the ocean, rather than space ,is the true final frontier. From the extremely high pressure that threatens human lives to unknown geography that can injure people and machines alike, various things make sending human explorers hazardous. The deepest section of the ocean is the Marianas Trench, which begins at 20,000 feet. It has points where the depth approaches seven miles and the pressure reaches eight tons per square inch. That’s why the Marianas Trench remains largely unexplored to this day.

       Even knowing about all of the difficulties, however, some scientists feel the draw of the ocean’s depths. The environment, unfriendly though it may be to man, is friendly to others, allowing for the development of quite a few creatures not found anywhere else on the planet. The first exploration of the Marianas Trench’s floor took place in 1960. Since then, the cost of sending people back has been seen as too great.

       The goal, then, has been to find a way to learn about this frontier without risking the lives of explorers. One way that scientists have discovered new information is through the use of sonar. As sonar technology — a sound-based method of determining surroundings — has improved, scientists have been able to get more accurate maps of the ocean’s floor.

       Another method of exploration that has become more common in recent years is to use machines that have no people working inside them. These include underwater cameras and robots. The latter have become increasingly common in recent years.

       Although most of the robots used so far have been attached to a larger device with people aboard, the day when the robots can move independently may not be far off. As technology is being advanced, it seems quite likely that automatic robots will become more competent ocean floor explorers than humans.