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　　Pectoral fin Humpback whales are sometimes called performers of the ocean．This is because they can make impressive movements when they dive．The name “humpback”, which is the common name for this whale, refers to the typical curve shape the whale’s back forms as it dives．

　　Sometimes the humpback will dive with a fantastic movement known as a breach．During breaching the whale uses its powerful tail flukes to lift nearly two-thirds of its body out of the water in a giant leap．A breach might also include a sideways twist with fins stretched out like wings, as the whale reaches the height of the breach．

　　A humpback whale breathes air at the surface of the water through two blowholes which are located near the top of the head．It blows a double stream of water that can rise up to 4 meters above the water．

　　The humpback has a small dorsal fin located towards the tail flukes about two-thirds of the way down its back other distinguishing features include large pectoral fins, which may be up to a third of the body length, and unique black and white spots on the underside of the tail flukes．

　　These markings are like fingerprints：no two are the same．

　　Humpback whales live in large groups．They communicate with each other through complex “songs”．

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　　Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons：a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing．Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart．

　　“I have two kids in college, and I want to say ‘come home,’ but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education,” says Jacobs．

　　The Jacobs family did work out a solution：They asked and received more aid form the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan(贷款)program．They will each graduate with ＄20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school．

　　With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear more families like the Jacobs．More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans．College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around．

　　At the same time, tuition(学费)continues to rise．A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439％ from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147％．Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade．

　　“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” says Patrick M．Callan, president of the center．“The middle class families have been financing it through debt．They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt．”

　　Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them．The good news, however, is that federal loans account for(占)about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted．

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　　When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English．Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly．People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her．

　　My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well．When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she．I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her．One time I had to call her stockbroker(股票经纪人)．I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs．Tan…”

　　And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek already two week lone．”

　　And then, in perfect English I said, “I’m getting rather concerned．You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived．”

　　Then she talked more loudly．“What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss．” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate(忍受)any more excuse．If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week．”

　　The next week we ended up in New York．While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs．Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English．

　　When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me．But now, I see it differently．To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural．It is my mother tongue．Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom．It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world．

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　　Butterflies can seem friendly and harmless．But at least one type has learned to raise its young by tricking ants into feeding it and giving special treatment, British researchers report in this week’s Science．

　　The pupae(蛹)of the Rebel’s Large give off a smell that imitates the ants and make themselves at home inside the ant nest．Once they become a caterpillar(幼虫)they even beg for food like young ants, a team including Oxford’s Jeremy Thomas say．But, not satisfied just to be fed, the butterflies even manage to demand special treatment．It turns out that queen ants make sounds that signal their special position to worker ants．The caterpillars have learned to imitate those sounds, gaining position high enough to be rescued before others if the nest is attacked．

　　The original idea came to Jeremy some 15 years ago when he was recording the sounds of worker ants．He realized that sometimes worker ants treated the caterpillars of the Rebel’s Large Blue like queen ants when the caterpillars make chemical and behavioral signals just like those of the advanced enough to prove whether or not the idea was correct．

　　In an experiment, the team recorded and then played back the sounds made by queen ants to worker ants in a nest．Jeremy said, “When we played the queen sounds, they would stand still with their antennae(触角)held out and their jaws apart for hours－the moment anyone goes near they will attack．” In short, the right sound signals cause worker ants to protect and care for a caterpillar pretending to be their queen．

　　Such a discovery is especially important because the Rebel’s Large Blue is an endangered species．

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　　Harry Wilder might be spending his gap year on the side of the world, but his mum is with him every step of the way．Thanks to a satellite tracking device, Rachel Wilder can keep an eye on her son at any time of the day or night．“It’s fantastic to be able to keep an eye on Harry and his journey,” said 53-year-old Mrs．Wilder, “I feel like I stay with him all the time on his travels, which means he doesn’t have to check in with a phone call．”

　　Harry, who is in Australia with his friend now, agreed to carry the 2 in-thick, credit- card – sized Traakit device when he left home．By visiting a website, his mother can track him to within 15ft of his exact location and the global positioning system can even send her a text message alert if he goes anywhere he shouldn’t．“I can’t tell which street he is in but I can make sure he doesn’t wander into any dangerous area,” added Mrs．Wilder．Harry will travel to Thailand next month before heading to South Africa in July．He is due to start a degree in Business Management at Oxford University in September．

　　The Traakit device was developed by Harry’s uncle David Clatton, 65．It costs ￡279 plus ￡11 a month．It triangulates(作三角测量)its position by taking co- ordinate(同等的)readings from four satellites．It feels the information back to a computer, which then maps out where it is in the world．

　　Harry says he is happy to carry the tracker as protection against danger．“But if I didn’t want mum to know where I was going I can always leave the thing in the car．”

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　　“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton(骨骼)in the closet(衣橱)?” Jessica asked．“A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully．“Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about．For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’．He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it．”

　　“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger．“Your family history isn’t so good, you know．Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners．” “Gosh, sorry I asked．I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse．

　　After dinner, the house was very quiet．Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other．Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read．When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet．Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor．Jessica’s mother sank in a faint(晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead．She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter．

　　“What happened? Where am I?” she asked．“You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica．“I brought it home to help me with my health project．I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad．” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly．“They’re both crazy,” she thought．

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　　“Tear’em apart!” “Kill the fool!” “Murder the referee(裁判)!”

　　These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events．At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough．But let’s not kid ourselves．They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed．Volumes have been written about the way words affect us．It has been shown that words having certain connotations(含义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior．I see the term “opponent” as one of those words．Perhaps the time has come to delete it from sports terms．

　　The dictionary meaning of the term “opponent ”is “adversary”：“enemy” “one who opposes your interests．” Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy．At such times, winning may control one’s intellect, and every action, no matter how gross(rude), may be considered acceptable．I recall an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player’s request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough．The player stepped forward to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then exclaimed．“Are they wet enough now?”

　　In the heat of battle, players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences that such a move might have on anyone in their way．I have also witnessed a player reacting to his opponent’s international and illegal blocking by deliberately hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the course of play．Off the court, they are good friends．Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which departs from(goes against)normal behavior．

　　Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs therefore setting an example to the rest of the sporting world．Replacing the term “opponent” with “associate” could be an ideal way to start．

　　The dictionary meaning of the term “associate” is “colleague”; “friend”; “companion．” Reflect a moment! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term “associate” rather than “opponent．”

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　　Special trees that grow faster, fight pollution, produce better wood, and even sense chemical attacks are being planted by scientists in the US．

　　When 40 per cent of Hawaii's US＄14 million-a-year papaya(木瓜)industry was destroyed by a virus five years ago, work began on creating genetically engineered(转基因的)trees．

　　Researchers successfully introduced seeds that were designed to resist the virus．Since then, more and more people have been testing genetically engineered trees．

　　Some researchers put special bacteria into trees to help them grow faster and produce better wood．Others are trying to create trees that can clean polluted soil．

　　Meanwhile fruit farmers are looking for trees that are strong enough to resist worms, and paper companies want trees that produce more wood and therefore more paper．

　　The Pentagon(五角大楼，美国国防部所在地)even gave the researchers US＄500,000 this year after they developed a pine tree that changes its colours if it senses a chemical attack．

　　So far, the poplar, eucalyptus(杨树与桉树), apple and coffee trees are among those being engineered．All these can be done today because we have a better understanding of tree genomes(基因组)．

　　However, some people fear that the genetically engineered trees will cause dangerous results．They are worried that the new trees will breed with natural species and change the balance of the forest environment．

　　“It could be destructive,” said Jim Diamond, an environmentalist．“Trees are what is left of our natural environment and home to many endangered species．”

　　But researchers insist that science could give nature a fighting chance against both natural and man-made dangers．

　　They hope to answer the critics by stopping the new trees from breeding, so their effect on the environment can be controlled．

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　　Dear Cary,

　　I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to leave from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer．I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat．I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping．After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed．

　　I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room．I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so．Otherwise, they would notice the bump(肿块)on my forehead and two black eyes．

　　I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end．I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying, or getting fired again．

　　Thanks for reading．

Yours T

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　　Play is the basic business of childhood, and in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being．From earliest infancy(婴儿), every child needs opportunity and right materials for play, and the main tools of play are toys．The main function of toys is to suggest, encourage and play．To succeed in this, they must be good toys, which children will play with often, and will come back again and again．Therefore, it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child’s development．

　　In recent years research on infant development has shown that the standard a child is likely to reach, is largely determined in the first three years of his life．So a baby’s ability to benefit from the right play materials should not be underestimated(低估)．A baby who is encouraged, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully．

　　In the next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds(限度,止境)．Every type of suitable toys should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability：Bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; painting, scribbling and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play－the first social games for learning to play and get on with others．

　　But at the third stage of play development－from five to seven or eight years old－the child is at school．But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school．It is easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys．

　　Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same to a child．But once reading has been mastered, then books become the main source of learning．Toys are still interesting and valuable, which lead up to new hobbies, but their significance has changed to a child of nine or ten years old, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun．