"Meow, meow, meow," is what I heard as I walked through the alley(小巷；胡同). I approached the noise and noticed a tail sticking out from under a piece of wood. Under the wood was a 1 black and white cat. I picked him up and 2 he must be freezing to death. I 3 home with the cat held in my jacket.
My new best friend, who soon became known as Little Bit, received his name because he was almost 4 when I held him in my hands. He stood about five inches tall. Little Bit's small size had a great advantage - he 5 perfectly in the pocket of my jacket, which made 6 him everywhere very easy. Any time I was home, he wouldn't leave my 7. He was always eager to play with me. When I fell asleep at night, he would always 8 up around my head to ensure that I was warm.
Unfortunately, I grew up. My teenage life 9 my relationship with Little Bit. I lived at such a fast pace that I stopped 10 time for him. My free time was spent with my friends instead. I would come in the house on my phone and not 11 him at all. His meows became an annoyance to me, but it wasn't his 12 that he wanted his best friend back.
Time had caused a 13 to Little Bit. His body began 14 down and by the time I realized something was wrong with him, he had already lost his balance. He lay there and looked at me, and 15 this day I still remember the 16 look in his bright green eyes. I took him to the vet (兽医), but there was nothing he could do. The last time I 17 him he wasn't the same tiny cat I had found ten years before. Little Bit filled my arms and he was put to sleep that day.
Little Bit's 18 made me realize how much he meant to me. He was always there for me when I needed him. I 19 our last years together and I feel sorry for not always being there for him. I will always 20 the special memories we made.
Powerisers
The ability to jump two meters in the air may not be something you have thought too much about. And most people have never considered running at 30 kilometers an hour. But just stop for a moment and think about how our new product could change your life.
Your daily journey to your place of work is probably a mad dash for the bus. There is no point in taking your car because there are traffic jams, and anyway the car parks are probably very expensive or, worse still, full. Here is where Powerisers can help. It takes just a couple of minutes to put them on and then you are away, going past others or even jumping over the object which blocks your way.
That is the practical use for our product, but then there is sport and exercise. Powerisers are set to be the next extreme sport and the deep-fit tools. You can imagine the 100 meters, the high jump or basketball performed by athletes wearing Powerisers. And what better way to build your muscles and keep fit?
Our product is very simple. It is powered by a superlight spring, which uses the gravitational(重力的) pull from your body weight and pushes you with superhuman strength. There have been no records of serious injury related to the use of Powerisers, but extreme caution is recommended. We strongly advise the wearing of protective clothing, including at least a helmet(头盔).
Powerisers make you feel as if you were walking on the moon. Now we make two different models: Basic and Professional. The Basic model is designed for the occasional users and costs around $ 500. The Professional model, which is designed for the competitive use, has a strongly-made structure and different springs, though that comes at the increased price of $800. Our Powerisers are guaranteed for two years and will be replaced without question if they fail during that period. That is how confident we are.
My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, "Who broke this window?"
Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.
"Oh," I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn't even get an allowance. "My father is going to have a fit." I thought. I didn't want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward. I told the truth. "I did it." It was hard enough to say what I had.
My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.
"I know how you like bird," she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. "Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now. It's time we got a new one for the school anyway. You will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness."
I couldn't believe it! I wasn't being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide—the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.
All that remains of that day is my memory and the lesson my teacher taught me. That lesson stays with me every day, and it will echo forever.
The next time you attend a social function or go to a place where people meet and interact, take note of the number of people who have adopted the same gestures and posture—the way you sit or stand--of the person with whom they are talking. This "carbon copying" is a means by which one person tells the other that he is in agreement with his ideas and attitudes. By this method, one is non-verbally (非语言的) saying to the other, "As you can see, I think the same as you, so I will copy your posture and gesture."
This unconscious (无意识地) mimicry is quite interesting to observe. Take, for example, the two men standing at the hotel bar. They have mirrored each other's gestures and it is reasonable to assume that they are discussing a topic upon which they have the same thoughts and feelings. If one man uncrosses his arms and legs or stands on the other foot, the other will follow. If one puts his hand in his pocket the other will copy and this mimicry will continue for as long as the two men are in agreement.
This copying also occurs among good friends or people of the same social position and it is common to see married couples walk, stand, sit and move in very similar ways. People who are strangers, however, try hard to avoid holding mutual(相互的) positions. The significance of carbon copying can be one of the most important non-verbal lessons we can learn, for this is one way that others tell us that they agree with us or like us. It is also a way for us to tell others that we like them, by simply copying their gestures.
If an employer wishes to develop immediate friendliness and create a relaxing atmosphere with an employee, he needs to copy the employee's posture to achieve the end. Similarly, an up-and-coming employee may be seen copying his boss's gestures in an attempt to show agreement. Using the knowledge, it is possible to influence a face-to-face encounter by copying the positive gestures and postures of the other person. This has the effect of putting the other person in a receptive and relaxed frame of mind and he can "see" that you understand his point of view.
Seeds on Ice
Close to the North Pole, remote and rocky Plateau Mountain in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems an unlikely spot for any global effort to safeguard agriculture. In this cold and deserted environment, no grains, no gardens, no trees can grow. Yet at the end of a 130-meter-long tunnel cut out of solid stone is a room filled with humanity's most precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection—more than a half-billion seeds.
A quiet rescue mission is under way. With growing evidence that unchecked climate change-will seriously affect food production and threaten the diversity （多样性） of crops around the world, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault （地窖） represents a major step towards ensuring the preservation （贮藏） of hundreds of thousands of crop varieties. This is a seed collection, but more importantly, it is a collection of the traits found within the seeds: the genes that give one variety resistance to a particular pest and another variety tolerance for hot, dry weather.
Few people will ever see or come into contact with the contents of this vault. In sealed boxes, behind multiple locked doors, monitored by electronic security systems, enveloped in below—zero temperatures, and surrounded by tons of rock, hundreds of millions of seeds are protected in their mountain fortress. Frozen in such conditions inside the mountain, seeds of most major crops will remain viable for hundreds of years, or longer. Seeds of some are capable of retaining （保留） their ability to grow for thousands of years.
Everyone can look back now and say that the Seed Vault was a good and obvious idea, and that of course the Norwegian government should have approved and funded it. But back in 2004, when the Seed Vault was proposed, it was viewed as a crazy, impractical, and expensive idea.
We knew that nothing would provide a definite guarantee. But we were tired, fed up, and frankly scared of the steady, greater losses of crop diversity. The Seed Vault was built by optimists who wanted to do something to preserve options so that humanity and its crops might be better prepared for change. If it simply resupplied seed gene banks with samples those gene banks had lost, this would repay our efforts.
The Seed Vault is about hope and commitment-about what can be done if countries come together and work cooperatively to accomplish something significant, long-lasting, and worthy of who we are and wish to be.
