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　　My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States．The rest of his family remained in Europe．When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man, downhearted．Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear：if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin．

　　One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice．My grandparents were very upset．But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war．Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service．All the little girls were delighted．

　　The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train．The band played and the crowd cheered．Although no one noticed．I'm sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son．The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused．Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station．There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out．Someone shouted,“The war is over!”For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers．The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home．My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn't last a tiny bit longer．

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　　Louis Armstrong had two famous nicknames．Some people called him Bagamo．They said his mouth looked like a large bag．Musicians often called him Pops, as a sign of respect for his influence on the world of music．

　　Born in 1901 in New Orleans, he grew up poor, but lived among great musicians．Jazz was invented in the city a few years before his birth．Armstrong often said,“Jazz and I grew up together．”

　　Armstrong showed a great talent for music when he was taught to play the cornet(短号)at a boy's home．In his late teens, Armstrong began to live the life of a musician．He played in parades, clubs, and on the steamboats that traveled on the Mississippi River．At that time, New Orleans was famous for the new music of jazz and was home to many great musicians．Armstrong learned from the older musicians and soon became respected as their equal．

　　In 1922 he went to Chicago．There, the tale of Louis Armstrong begins．From then until the end of his life, Armstrong was celebrated and loved wherever he went．Armstrong had no equal when it came to playing the American popular song．

　　His cornet playing had a deep humanity(仁爱)and warmth that caused many listeners to say,“Listening to Pops just makes you feel good all over”．He was the father of the jazz style and also one of the best-known and most admired people in the world．His death, on July 6,1971, was headline news around the world．

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　　“The world's oceans are slowly getting more acidic(酸性的)．”say scientists．The researchers from California report that the change is taking place in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere．

　　The lowering of the waters' pH value is not great at the moment but could cause a serious threat to current ocean life if it continues, they warn．Ken Caldeira and Michael Wickett, from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, report their concerns in the journal Nature．Increasing use of oil fuels means more carbon dioxide is going into the air, and most of it will eventually be absorbed by seawater．Once in the water, it reacts to form carbonic acid．Scientists believe that the oceans have already become slightly more acidic over the last century．

　　These researchers have tried to predict what will happen in the future by combining what we know about the history of the oceans with computer models of climate change．“This level of acidity will get much more extreme in the future if we continue releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere,”said Dr Caldeira．“And we predict the amount of future acidity will exceed(超过)anything we have seen over the last several hundred million years, let alone perhaps after rare disastrous events such as asteroid(小行星)impacts．

　　However, it is not absolutely clear what that means for ocean life．Most organisms(有机体)live near the surface, where the greatest pH change would be expected to occur, but deep-ocean life forms may be more sensitive to pH changes．Coral reefs(珊瑚礁)and other organisms whose shells contain calcium carbonate(碳酸钙)may be particularly affected if the water's acidity levels keep going up, the team predict．They could find it much more difficult to build these structures in water with a lower pH．

　　In recent years some people have suggested storing carbon dioxide from power station in the deep ocean as a way of dealing with global warming．But Dr Caldeira said that such a strategy should now be re-considered．“Previously, most experts had looked at ocean absorption of carbon dioxide as a good thing－because in releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere we warm the planet, and when CO₂ is absorbed by the ocean, it reduces the amount of greenhouse warming．”

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　　The website FarmersOnly.com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder．The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio．He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer．Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers．

　　As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date．But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o'clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning．

　　So, in 2005, Jerry Miller launched his website．“You don't have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America's Heartland．”

　　You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site．Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year．As of last week the site listed more than 58,000 members．Many of them are farmers in the United States．Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture．Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website．

　　Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986．It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service．The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship．Its website, singlesinag.org, says there are more than 1,000 members across the nation and as far away as France．

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　　The City of Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the early morning of Saturday, September 4, 2010．

　　No tsunami alert was reported．The country's army troops were on standby(待命)to assist victims and disaster recovery operation．New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, flew to the affected area to respect and assess the situation of the damaged city．The Prime Minister said that the full assessment of the damages will possibly take months to know the severity of damages．Based from his assessment on what he sees in the area, it could cost at least 2 billion New Zealand dollars or US＄1.4 billion for reconstruction．(重建)“An absolute miracle is that no one died,”Prime Minister John Key said．Two were seriously injured from this quake and it awoke thousands of local residents at 4∶35 a.m.of that Saturday．

　　There were people trapped inside the damaged buildings but fortunately none were reported dead from the rubble(碎石)of the damaged buildings．

　　“We're all feeling scared-we've just had some significant aftershocks,”a survivor told the News on TV．“Tonight we're just people in the face of a missive natural disaster, trying to help each other…and we're grateful we haven't lost our lives．”

　　GNS Science reported 29 aftershocks within the 14 hours after the quake, with strength from magnitude 3.7 to 5.4．

　　New Zealand is no stranger to earthquakes．The country experiences more than 14 000 earthquakes a year-but only about 150 are felt by people．

　　“Many buildings here were built with earthquake protection measure．However, in most cities in developing countries, people build how they want to…and there're no building controls to force them to build to a higher standard that's safe,”Andrew Charleson, an architecture professor at Victoria University of Wellington told CNN．

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　　He is a mute．Although he can understand others' speech, he cannot say his own actual feeling．She is his neighbor, calling him brother．The girl who is bound by a common destiny with her grandmother．

　　He really looks like an elder brother, leading her to go to school, accompanying her to play, and listening to her chirp with a smile．He only uses the hand signal．Possibly she is able to read his each look．Gazing at the vision from elder brother, she knows he likes her．

　　Afterwards, She finally passed the tests and went to college．Extremely happy, He then started to go out to make money, and continuously sent money to her．She did not rejected．

　　Finally, She graduated and started the work．Then, she said firmly to him that,“Elder brother, I must marry you!”He looked like only the frightened rabbit to escape, unwilling to see her again, no matter how she begged him．

　　Do you think I pity you?Do you think I appreciate you?No, I've fallen in love with you since I was 12．But she can not obtain his reply．

　　One day, She was admitted to the hospital suddenly．He was scared, running to see her．Doctor said, in her throat was a lump(肿块)and although excised(切除),it destroyed the vocal cord(声带)．Possibly she could not deliver the speech again．On hospital bed, her tearful eyes gazed at him．Therefore they married．

　　For many years, nobody hears them deliver a speech．They use the hand and the look to converse．They share joy and sadness．They love each other and become the object which the men and women envied．The people said,“that pair of happy mute husband and wife!”Love could not prevent god of death arrival．He abandoned her to walk first．

　　People feared she couldn't undergo the attack and went to comfort her．But She opened her mouth to say suddenly that,“He walked．”

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　　A person named Bernard Jackson today is a free man, but he has many bitter memories．He spent five years in prison after a jury(陪审团)wrongly convicted(判处……有罪)him of raping two women．At Jackson's trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the time of the crime, he was convicted anyway．Why?The jury believed the testimony(证词)of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who had attacked them．The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the real criminal．

　　Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony．For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a group of people．They can become confused by seeing many photographs of similar faces．The number of people in the group, and whether it is a person or a photograph, may also affect a witness's decision．People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races．The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them．

　　Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people．Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true．Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians．The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes．

　　Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot omit eyewitness testimony from a trial．American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve(决定)court cases．Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape．Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct．Although people do sometimes make mistakes, and convict innocent people, more importantly, eyewitness testimony has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people．

　　American courts depend on the ability of the twelve jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witness's testimony．It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear and remember what happened．

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　　“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,”said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷)．

　　Do you love running?It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring．But what if making your morning jog a creative one?Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls?Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale?Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way．It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide．

　　Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body．Parkour is considered an extreme sport．As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop．

　　Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that．

　　Overcome all the obstacles on the course and in life it is part of the philosophy(理念)behind parkour．This is the same as life．You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life to reach the destination successfully．A parkour lover said,“I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything．”

　　Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom．It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world．It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence．

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　　“Dr Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

　　The usual laughter followed, and people stirred(骚动)to go．Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was．

　　“I will answer your question．”

　　Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter．And what he said went like this：

　　“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village．”One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror．A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place．

　　I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece．This one and by scratching it on a stone, I made it round．I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine-in deep holes and crevices(裂缝)and dark closets．It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find．

　　I kept the little mirror and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game．As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life．I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light．But light-truth, understanding, knowledge-is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it．

　　I am a fragment(碎片)of a mirror whose whole design and shape l do not know．Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world into the black places in the hearts of men and change some things in some people．Perhaps others may see and do likewise．This is what I am about．This is the meaning of my life．

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　　I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling．I wish it were so．At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents．You should be learning to stand on your own two feet．But take a good look at the present rebellion．It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents．Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching(紧握)at one another's hands for reassurance．

　　They claim they want to dress as they please．But they all wear the same clothes．They set off in new directions in music．But somehow they all end up huddled(聚在一起)round listening to the same record．Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it．They have come out of their cocoon(蚕茧)into a larger cocoon．

　　It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way．Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market．These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be．And many of today's parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children．All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path．

　　But the barrier is worth climbing over．The path is worth following．You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party．You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records．You may have some thoughts that you don't care to share at once with your classmates．Well, go to it．Find yourself．Be yourself．Popularity will come－with the people who respect you for who you are．That is the only kind of popularity that really counts．

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