【推荐1】One summer night, the whole family of Irene was asleep with the windows open. It was very quiet when there was a loud noise from the stable(马厩）.Irene woke up from her sweet dream,and the noise continued.Then she heard a horse running fast towards the house.The next thing she saw was her horse,Thunder,standing outside of her window,neighing(嘶叫） and shaking his head.She knew something was wrong.Irene quickly got everyone out of the house before the earthquake hit.Thunder saved her life.

As amazing as this story is,it is not as uncommon as you may hear of the story of Doris and her cat Maggie.One night,Doris was in a deep sleep when she was woken by her cat Maggie.Maggie was meowing wildly outside Doris's bedroom and throwing herself against the closed bedroom door.When Doris opened her eyes,she saw her bedroom full of smoke.As she escaped her house,she saw a fire was burning in her kitchen.Even though Maggie could have escaped the house through a cat door,she wouldn't leave Doris.

There are also stories of wild animals coming to the rescue of humans.Once,Lyndon was surfing with his friend when he was attacked by a four-meter shark.During the attack,a group of dolphins came to his rescue by forming protective ring around Lyndon until be could get safely to shore.Without the help of the dolphins,there is little chance that Lyndon could have escaped.

No one is sure why animals have so often come to our rescue.However,it is clear that most of us haven't realized their kindness.It is important that we care for them as much as we can.

【推荐3】Freshwater mussels(贻贝) are critical to their larger ecosystems and the world around them, They create habitat for other species, like freshwater coral reefs, and help maintain the structure and rigidity of the waterways they call home.     1     Nearly three-quarters of NorthAmerica's roughly 300 native mussel species are endangered, at risk, or of danger. Dozens are already extinct.

    2     For decades, freshwater mussels were over harvested for their shells.Before the age of plastic,they were collected and grown by the millions to satisfy commercial demand for buttons, Even more damaging was the spread of human development and environmental degradation.Rivers were dammed for power.Streams were diverted (使绕道) for agriculture.     3     All this continues today, endangering far more than freshwater mussels.A recent report by the United Nations found that human practices have put roughly 1 million species at risk of extinction,many within decades.

The species-specifc nature of the die-off suggests another cause：disease.The scientists have found a novel virus and a bacterium that are “statistically associated” with the dying mussels compared with control groups, but nobody is willing yet to identify which is the cause.     4    

Are the mussels dying because they're filled with virus and bacteria?Or are they full of virus and bacteria because they're dying?     5     There are a million things it could be!

Nature is so complex.Biology is so complex.We do not understand how important somethings are until they're gone.

【推荐1】My father was attached to gardening by birth. One of my earliest memories is following Dad barefoot around in the garden with both hands blackened from digging in the soil. The garden is a wonderland full of possibilities.

As Dad grew older, he still loved gardening. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he still planted all sorts of plants. Sometimes, I would come over to visit, and we would walk together in the garden. But then, something changed. Like the weeds that took over his garden, the cancer grew rapidly in Dad. I stayed with Dad twenty-four hours a day and I found myself in all kinds of uncomfortable situations with Dad until I promised to care for the garden.

Though I had heard the words of the doctor, what really made me believe that Dad was dying was the state of his garden. That year, he only planted tomatoes. Too tired to weed them, he simply tied them with strong strings to the fence and let them be. It made me sad to see them ignored, so I would come over and water them once in a while, and remove the weeds. I still remember the day I picked the last tomato from the vine(藤). That day was one of the saddest I had ever experienced in my life.

Three years ago, I decided to plant my own garden. I decided I would start out with just a few tomatoes. That morning when I moved to the garden, something caught the corner of my eyes and I had to smile. It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, standing barefoot in the soil, happily playing in the soil.

【推荐3】I believe in the power of science fiction, not just for its capacity to turn dreams into reality, but also for its power to bond together those who share a common view of the future. For me, that’s true for my relationship with my dad. Some fathers and sons bond over sports, fishing or hunting, but my dad and I bond over Star Trek. We tried a trip to Disney World, but one of my earliest memories wasn’t Mickey, but a Klingon battle cruiser on the screen.

Over the years, nearly every setting and situation has become far away for my dad and me. When it’s warm at night, we’re not driving along some dark streets in Indiana, but going at a slow speed with stars dimly shining. Both of us are thinking of them, without needing to say a word. All these imaginations of other universes have together created a private universe for my dad and me.

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, once said, “Science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects.” A lifetime of science fiction has influenced more than just my relationship with my dad, but has also helped me shape my own hopes for the future. I’m now a science writer.

Yes, science fiction has made me into a “nerd” and it also has been a source of joy for my family, making me an optimist while enabling me to think critically about the danger of technology. Thank those authors who have shared their visions: the world and my family are better for it. Thank my dad, who is both the best storyteller and the best man I have ever known because he helped me realize the truth of Tennyson’s words, “For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.”