【推荐1】Unless you are fortunate enough to know an NBA player, Ryan Martin is probably. the best basketball player you’ll ever meet. Unlike those who fly up and down the court (球场) , however, Martin is forced to take a different approach; he doesn’t have legs.

Martin, a 33-year old man, is a professional wheelchair basketball player. His achievements have taken him halfway around the world to play in Spain for the last seven years. There he made a comfortable living playing basketball and working with some of the greatest athletes in the world.

“A good wheelchair player can make $50, 000 a year, while a star can make six figures,” said Martin. What’s more, he couldn’t see his family for months and European cities were unfriendly to the disabled. He also had to learn Spanish. Martin, however, overcame those drawbacks (困难) .

He started by playing basketball when he was 12. It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the sport and, after graduating from Somers High, he attended Southwest Minnesota State University on a basketball scholarship. In college, he scored over 1, 000 points in his career and set several school records.

And he works as hard— if not harder— than any other professional athlete. “He destroys me,” said Gina Navarra, who works out with Martin on occasion. “What he does amazes me.”

Martin also recognizes that, at age 33, he’s in the back end of his career. With that in mind, he has been focusing more and more on his foundation.

“I have 12 brothers and sisters. College gave me a true sense of achievement. The foundation is designed to give those with disabilities the opportunity to realize the dreams that I once had,” Martin said.

“I’m not saying that out of a sense of pity,” he said. “I realize how fortunate I am to have achieved what I have. But I want to open doors for people.”

【推荐2】In Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, you can find Jamey Turner playing an unusual musical instrument, the glass harp（竖琴）. A glass harp is made up of different sized drinking glasses, each filled with water.

Turner makes music by running his fingers over the tops of the glasses. By doing so, each glass makes a different musical sound. Visitors to Alexandria like what they see and hear. They thank Turner by leaving a dollar or more in his box for donations. Jamey Turner is 78 years old. Turner became interested in playing the glass harp at the age of six, when he heard his father playing with a glass of water at the dinner table. He has been playing it for 50 years.

Today Turner puts together his instrument by placing 60 different glasses on a wooden soundboard. He holds the glasses in place with rubber bands, which keeps them from breaking. He then adds different amounts of water to each one to create different musical notes. Adding or taking away just a little water will change the sound. Adding water to a glass will make a lower sound. The smaller bowls of water produce a higher sound, while the larger ones produce a lower, deeper sound.

Turner always uses low-priced glass because it sounds better than costly crystal(水晶) and he has more control over the sound. Before buying new glasses, he will test them in stores. He decides if they produce the right sound by rubbing his finger over the top of them.

The glass harp was popular 300 years ago when composers like Wolfgang Mozart wrote music for the instrument. There have been about 400 pieces of music written just for the glass harp. But Turner plays all kinds of music, even popular music from China. Few people play the glass harp these days, but Turner says he sees videos of people experimenting with the instrument on YouTube. He hopes the next generation will continue making its music.

【推荐3】Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France on December 27, 1822. His family was poor, and during his early education, Pasteur was an ordinary student who enjoyed art and singing. However, when Pasteur was exposed to science as a teenager, he knew he found his career.

In 1848, Pasteur went to college to become a science teacher. He then became a chemistry professor at the University of Strasbourg. He got married in 1849 and had five children. However, three died young from typhoid fever (伤寒). It was the deaths of his children that drove Pasteur to investigate infectious diseases in order to find a cure. During Pasteur’s time, people believed that bacteria appeared due to “spontaneous generation”(自然发生). They thought that the bacteria just appeared out of nowhere. Pasteur carried out experiments to see if this was true.

Through his experiments he proved that bacteria were living things that came from other living things. They didn’t just spontaneously appear. This was a major discovery in the study of biology and earned Pasteur the title of Father of Microbiology.

As Pasteur learned more about bacteria, he began to think they may be the cause of diseases in humans. When the French silk market was threatened by a disease to silkworms(蚕), Pasteur decided to investigate. He discovered that this disease was caused by bacteria. By killing them from the silkworm farms, he was able to cease the disease and save the French silk business.

Today Louis Pasteur is known as one of the most important scientists in history. His discoveries led to an understanding of bacteria and diseases that has helped save millions and millions of lives.

【推荐1】British children generally learn how to ride a bike at a young age. I am an exception to that rule. It’s not my dad’s fault—he tried to teach me. I remember cycling around the neighbourhood. To be honest, though, I never saw the appeal. One of my earliest memories is falling from my bike and into some spiny (多刺的) plants. I definitely didn’t want to repeat that.

So I stopped learning. My dad wasn’t going to waste his time teaching someone who didn’t want to be taught. Time passed and I accepted that I couldn’t ride a bike. It never affected my life in high school because I lived close enough to walk.

I never felt like I was missing out until I couldn’t go on a bike ride with friends in Byron Bay because I was only confident that I could go on a flat surface in a generally straight line. So when the opportunity came up to bike the wall of Xi’an, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and make up for missed time. So, with a friend who is very patient, I got on the bike. Instantly nothing came flooding back to me, I had absolutely no idea how to start! “Push off with one foot hard” was my instruction. It sounded simple enough but it just would not happen. Until something clicked and suddenly I was off, going in a straight line on a flat surface and managing to avoid the Chinese tourists who obviously found exaltation my face.

At 22 years old, I finally learnt how to ride a bike, and nothing can hold me back.

【推荐2】5-year-old Taylor Hooper was just one of the 35,0000 people who were attending the Foo Fighters concert in Belfast, Norther Ireland last week. Not only is the American rock group his favorite band, it was also his first ever concert.

Taylor's mother, Nikki Hooper, says that she and her husband have always been huge fans of the Foo Fighters. So when the band played in their home city, they decided it was finally time for their son to see their beloved rock and rockers in concert.

Mrs Hooper told BBC．“We called the event organizers and they said it would be no problem, but that we should know it would be a loud music event, so we got Taylor some special headphones. When we got there everyone was so welcoming to him.”

Throughout the show, the audience continuously made Taylor and his parents move closer to the stage. Furthermore, Mrs. Hooper helped her son stand out from the crowd by making him a sign that said he was a 5-year-old attending his first concert.

When Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl finally saw the sign and read it aloud into the microphone, the crowd began chanting for them to bring the youngster onto the stage. When the stage managers brought the boy to the stage, Grohl asked Taylor to show the crowd how to dance．

The small boy then danced to the whole song, making him an “Internet wonder”. The band also invited him backstage to give him a number of gifts, including a pair of Taylor Hawkins's drumsticks(鼓槌).

【推荐3】I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a total stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a noisy mall. I have always hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place or when I am rushing around.

Yesterday, I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage because I just had the time to do it after many days of planning. After the purchase in one of the large shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot but my phone was dead.

I then requested the shop assistant who had just sold me the luggage to ring the number of my driver for me and she replied that it was the shop policy that they cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop.

I got out of the shop onto the busy street in front and approached a young mother with her two kids to make a request. As soon as I said “Excuse me, madam”, she grabbed both her kids and ran. I felt like a kidnapper.

I stood there, wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the young mum. I stood there in the busy street with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if there was a sign of kindness on their faces.

I saw a man pretty shabbily dressed. He seemed to have noticed me and I just stopped him expecting him to rush past. My request escaped the lips. He immediately called the number of my driver and waited till my car came to be sure I was picked up, and he turned around before I could thank him adequately and was gone. I was surprised by his kindness and hope I will do likewise to strangers who try to catch my attention from now on.