【推荐1】On a July afternoon in 1937, 15-year-old Betty Brown was playing with her father’s shortwave radio and searching for her favorite songs when she casually turned the dial on the radio and heard something that made her stop. It was a voice that sounded familiar. Back in those days, news clips (新闻摘要) were played at movie theaters. Brown recognized the voice from one of the news films she had seen.

“I heard Amelia Earhart in a panicked voice, a heartbreaking voice,” Brown recalled in a 2007 interview. “She was saying, ‘This is Amelia Earhart Putnam, please help me. Please hear me.’”

Brown quickly began writing down what she heard --- parts of desperate conversations between the woman she believed was Earhart and an unknown man. Later, she decided that the man must have been Earhart’s navigator (领航员), Fred Noonan. As the signal faded in and out, Brown never left the radio. She scribbled (潦草地写) away as Earhart and Noonan struggled for control of the radio. Earhart tried to prevent Noonan from leaving the plane after they had apparently crash-landed. All the while, Earhart repeated strings of numbers and mentioned rising water. After about three hours, Earhart and Noonan were seemingly forced to abandon the plane as it was filled with water, and the distress calls (遇险呼救) stopped.

Brown and her father both tried to give her notes to the United States Coast Guard, but they were told the situation was under control. The search for Earhart was abandoned after a great effort was made. But Brown kept her notebook. In 2000, people from an organization researching Earhart’s disappearance asked to see it. The researchers were convinced that Brown’s notes were reliable. If the researchers are right, the notes are a priceless, yet sorrowful, record of the sad ending of an American hero.

【推荐2】I made my decision to start my own company and leave my stable position after attending a regional sales meeting. The vice-president of our company delivered a speech that changed my life. He asked us. "If genie（精灵）would grant you three wishes what would they be?" After giving us a moment to write down the three wishes, he then asked us. "Why do you need genie?" I would never forget the power I felt at that moment.

I realized that everything I had accomplished had prepared me for this moment. I was ready and did not need a genie's help to become a professional speaker.

When I tearfully told my boss my plans, this incredible leader whom I respect so much replied, "Go ahead with reckless abandon and it will pay off."

Having made that decision, I was immediately tested. One week after I quit mine, my husband was laid off（解雇）from his job. We had recently bought a new home me and needed both incomes to make the monthly mortgage payment and now we were done to no income. It was tempting to turn back to my former company, knowing they wanted me to stay, but I was certain that if I went back, I would never leave. I decided I still wanted to move forward rather than end up with a mouth full of "if onlys" later on. A motivational speaker was born.

When I held fast to my dream, even during the tough times, the miracles really began to happen. In a short time period my husband found a better job. We didn't miss a mortgage payment. And I was able to book several speaking engagements with new clients. I discovered the incredible power of dreams. I loved my old job, my peers and the company I left, but it was time to get on with my dream. To celebrate my success, I had a local artist paint my new office as a garden. At the top of one wall she wrote, "The world always makes way for the dreamer."

【推荐3】A little girl who battled against cancer received a special gift on her third birthday, thanks to a creative stranger from Idaho. Jessica Sebastian, owner of Sebastian Design, was contacted by Danielle Munger, whose daughter, Brynn, lost an eye because of cancer. Daniell asked Jessica if she could make a bunny doll with one eye.

?”I make dolls, which is not a heroic profession by any means. But recently I was asked to make a doll for a little girl who is a true superhero,” Jessica wrote.

“A mama contacted me and asked if I would make a bunny doll with one eye for her two0year-old daughter who loves animals and lost her left eye to cancer. The girl had started to notice that she was different and her sweet mama read articles about a doll which looks like a child can be helpful and therapeutic（有益健康）. She wanted her daughter to have a doll that looked like her and only had her right eye. Up to now, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to create something so tender and meaningful.”

Brynn received the special gift on March 25 during her family birthday party.

“She smiled so big and then she could not open the rest of her presents until we got the bunny out of her box and she could show her off to all her cousins and family,” Danielle said.

That evening, Danielle snapped a photo of Brynn in her wonder woman pajamas looking at the bunny doll happily. She recalled her daughter saying,, “She matches me!” “My favorite part of this photo is how she is wearing her wonder woman nightgown,” Jessica said. “It perfectly represents the strength and courage of this little superhero.

【推荐1】Our “Mommy and Me” time began two years ago. My next-door neighbor and fellow mother, Christie, and I were out in our front yards, watching seven children of age 6 and under ride the bikes up and down. “I wish I could take one of my children out alone,” said Christie.

Then we worked out a plan: When Christie takes one of her children out, I’ll watch her other three. And when she watches two of mine. I’ll take someone out.

The children were extremely quick to accept the idea of “Mommy and Me” time. Christie’s daughter, McKenzie, went first. When she returned, the other children showered her with tons of questions. McKenzie was smiling broadly. Christie looked refreshed and happy. “She’s like a different child when there’s no one else around,” Christie shared with me quickly. With her mother all to herself, McKenzie didn’t have to make an effort to gain attention.

Just as Christie had noticed changes in McKenzie, I also discovered something different in each of my children. For example, I am always surprised when my daughter, who is seldom close to me, holds my hand frequently. My stuttering (口吃的) son, Tom, doesn’t stutter once during our activities since he doesn’t have to struggle for a chance to speak. And another son, Sam, who’s always a follower when around other children shines as a leader during our times together.

The “Mommy and Me” time allows us to be simply alone and away with each child-talking, sharing, and laughing, which has been the biggest gain. Every child deserves to be an only child at least once in a while.

John Steinbeck once said, “All Americans believe they are born fishermen. For a man to admit to a distaste in fishing would be like denouncing (公开指责) mother – love or hating moonlight.”

I can’t say that I’m the biggest John Steinbeck fan. Actually, the only thing I can ever remember reading by him was “The pearl” when I was in middle school, but I couldn’t agree more with the man when it comes to fishing. Whether I am on a boat in the middle of the Lay Lake, fishing off the shores of the Florida Keys for tarpon (大海鲢) or catching rainbow trout (红鲭鱼) in the Shoshone River of Wyoming, fishing is my life.

According to the American Sports Fishing Association, the fishing industry brings in more than $ 116 billion per year from fishermen across the country.

Though a beautiful picture to imagine fishing is much more than that. Fishing is a way of life for many people and a way to escape everyday stress. Being a fisherman makes me a member of a wonderful group of people extending to all walks of life. Even President Bush can be found fishing on his farm in Texas with his good friend Roland Martin when the job gets too stressful.

I can remember fishing with my grandfather when I was 5 years old on his boat at Lake Mitchell. Although I didn’t understand what I doing. I did know that my grandfather was happy and that made me happy. Since then I’ve spent the past 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama.

After days of practice, before and after work, I slowly developed an understanding of fishing. My boss, Ric Horst, took me back to the Shoshone, and I managed to bring in a 19 – inch cutthroat trout. Fishing with Ric was a life – changing experience for me. He not only showed me how to fish correctly, but also told me how fishing could be a way to escape your problems.

Since then, prime – time (黄金时间) season seems to take forever to arrive.

Now, with the ending of February and beginning of March in sight, the excitement of heading out Lake Tuscaloosa or Lake Lurleen before classes and catching something has finally returned.

【推荐3】Do you want to hurt the person back, or do you hold it against them for the rest of your life when somebody hurts you? If you answered “yes” to these questions, know that you are like most people. To forgive is something that most people generally have difficulty with.

People don’t forgive readily, because it is easier to hate than to forgive. Some people thing to forgive is a sign of weakness, but actually to forgive takes courage and effort.

Forgiveness is a gift from a generous heart. It is not a reward for good behavior. It is not based on whether the person deserves it or whether the person has asked for it.

Besides, forgiveness is an act and a process, which often takes time. The deeper your pan, the longer it usually takes to completely forgive. It is an act because it is not just the words you say, but also your actions which show if you’ve truly forgiven someone.

Forgiveness is necessary because it releases you from the burden of bitterness and hate. It takes a lot of energy to hate and to keep that hate in place. Hate puts unnecessary stress on your body. It is a well-known fact, proven by numerous studies, that bitterness and hate can actually make you sick. The moment that affected people forgive and let go of their hate, they will start to get well. Forgiveness brings freedom, whereas revenge is neither sweet nor satisfying.

I have personal experience of this. I used to be very cynical about life and didn’t forgive easily. At the time, I also struggled in every area of my life. Things just didn’t seem to work out for me. It is as if everything that could go wrong. Always went wrong. That was until somebody told me to take a look at my attitude. And when I forgave those who wronged me and changed my attitude, everything else changed. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a while, but I could see and feel the difference.

Are things not working out in your life, despite you doing all the “right” things? Is it possible that you are holding “unforgiving” in your heart? It is worth thinking about. By Leonard J. Roost.

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【推荐1】In 2010, after six years of training and further six years on the wards, I resigned from my job as a junior doctor. My parents still haven’t forgiven me.

Last year, the General Medical Council wrote to me to say they were taking my name off the medical register. It wasn’t exactly a huge shock, as I hadn’t practiced medicine in half a decade.

It was, however, excellent news for my spare room, as I cleared out box after box of old paperwork, tearing files up fast. One thing I did rescue from the jaws of death was my training portfolio (档案袋). All doctors are recommended to log their clinical experience, in what’s known as reflective practice. On looking through this portfolio for the first time in years, my reflective practice seemed to involve going up to my hospital on-call room and writing down anything remotely interesting that had happened that day.

Among the funny and the dull, I was reminded of the long hours and the huge impact being a. junior doctor had on my life. Reading back, it felt extreme and unreasonable in terms of what was expected of me, but at the time I’d just accepted it as part of the job. There were points where I wouldn’t have stepped back if an entry read “had to eat a helicopter today”.

Around the same time that I was reliving all this through my diaries, junior doctors in the here and now were coming under fire from politicians. I couldn’t help but feel doctors were struggling to get their side of the story across (probably because they were at work the whole time) and it struck me that the public weren’t hearing the truth about what it actually means to be a doctor. Rather than shrugging my shoulders and ignoring the evidence, I decided I had to do something to redress the balance.

So here they are: the diaries I kept during my time in the NHS, verruca’s and all. What it’s like working on the front line, the consequences in my personal life, and how, one terrible day, it all became too much for me. (Sorry for the spoiler of my book beforehand, but you still watched Titanic knowing how that was going to play out.)

Along the way, I’ll help you out with the medical terminology and provide a bit of context about what each job involved. Unlike being a junior doctor, I won’t just drop you in the deep end and expect you to know exactly what you’re doing.

【推荐2】The British poet John Donne once said: “No man is an island; every book is a world.” As an enthusiastic reader, I can’t agree with the latter part of the sentence more. Every summer, I endeavor to find some peaceful places where I can attack some classics without being disturbed. Thomas Hardy wants to live far from the crazy crowd. I am no friend to chaos, either.

I read George Orwell’s 1984 in a New England beachside cottage with no locks on the doors, no telephones or televisions in the rooms. 1984 is a good book that needs deep reflection. Attempting The Sound and the Fury lying on the bed of a poorly-occupied motel, however, was less fruitful: I made it through one and a quarter volumes, but then my eyelids were so heavy that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

But this summer I find myself at a loss. I’m not quite interested in J. D. Salinger, say, or Frankenstein. There’s always War and Peace which I’ve covered some distance several times, only to get bogged down in the “War” part, set it aside for a while, and realize that I have to start over from the beginning again, having forgotten everyone’s name and social rank. How appealing to simply fall back on a favorite — once more into The Call of the Wild or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which feels almost like cheating, too exciting and too much fun to belong to serious literature.

And then there’s John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (愤怒). This title does not amaze but confuse. We’re never short of sour grapes, but we’ve never heard of angry grapes. Anyway grapes are my favorite fruit in summer. These stone fruits can always make me feel cheerful and peaceful all at once.

【推荐3】Leeny stood in the chicken coop（笼子）, shovel in hand, smiling widely. She was not faking it: My 7-year-old daughter was having fun cleaning out the chicken coop. I was happy she was enjoying herself, but I’d meant the household work to be punishment for losing a library book. So, was I winning or losing at parenting?

Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been overeducated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks（堆）. So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged（耸肩）. “Sorry. I can't find it.” My daughter said. “It’s only $20, right? What's the big deal?”

I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to clean the chicken coop in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime, and dust floated in the dry air.

But my girl, my animal-loving, mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop（铲鸡粪）was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She did not feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another book on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded（发愣的）, watching her.

It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leeny’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book anymore. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.

【推荐1】In the competition of Olympic weightlifting, the athletes try to lift the maximum (最大的) weight they can. There are special conditions they have to meet in order to compete: body weight, height and strength.

The Olympic weightlifting mainly tests the limit of explosive strength (爆发力). There are not many lifters who really like Olympic weightlifting and the explanation is very simple: they are short of explosive strength.

The weights used for Olympic weightlifting are added in kilograms. The order by which the athletes enter the competition is not general, but it is set depending on the event. Usually the athlete with the lowest weight begins. If he/she is not successful, he/she can try later. There is a maximum of three lifts allowed for every competition.

For many years Olympic weightlifting was only for men. However, now women also take part in Olympic weightlifting. It was at the beginning of the 21st century that women’s competitions entered an organized professional environment. For women, Olympic weightlifting is more difficult because of their different body structure. However, strength training techniques (技术) are widely and successfully used by women, too.

Lots of the athletes who’ve ended up in Olympic weightlifting competitions have started with strength training only to improve their muscle condition and their body power. However, the demarcation line (界线) is not still very clear between power training and Olympic weightlifting. This is how so many lifters have got into Olympic weightlifting competition, even if their purpose was different at the beginning.

【推荐2】Something’s happening at the lowest point on our planet,some 1,388 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea, a salt lake close to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, is shrinking at an alarming rate—about 3.3 feet per year, according to the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East.

“It’s not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea; it’s more like the whole region,” said photographer Moritz Küstner, who visited the area in February to work on his series “The Dying Dead Sea”.

The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it, such as the Jordan River basin. But around the 1960s, the courses of some water sources it relied upon were diverted. Israel, for instance, built a pipeline during that time so it could supply water throughout the country.

Mineral extraction(提取) industries are another main reason why the water levels are declining, experts say. The Dead Sea’s minerals have been popular for their medical power and can often be found in cosmetics(化妆品) and other consumer products.

And then, of course, there’s the Middle East’s hot, dry climate, which makes it difficult for the lake to refill itself. Last year, Israel and Jordan signed a $900 million deal in an effort to stabilize the Dead Sea’s water levels. It involves building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea which would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump much needed water—some 300 million cubic meters annually—into the Dead Sea.

“This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan (in 1994),” said Silvan Shalom, Israel’s energy and water resources minister at the time. Whether the canal—estimated to take three years to complete—will work out positively and as planned remains to be seen.

For now, Küstner shows us that the Dead Sea remains very much a place of interest, with people from all over the world going there to swim in its salty waters.

【推荐3】When memory began for me, my grandfather (“Gramp”) was past sixty. The little marks of laughter at the corners of his eyes were the product of a kindly and humorous nature. The years of work which had bent his shoulders had never reduced his humor or his love of a joke. Everywhere he went, Gramp made friends easily. At the end of half an hour you felt you had known him all your life. I soon learned that he hated to give orders, but that when he had to, he tried to make his orders sound like suggestions.

One July morning, as he was leaving to go to the cornfield, he said: “Edwin, you can pick up the potatoes in the field today if you want to do that.” Then he drove away with his horses. The day passed, and I did not have any desire to pick up potatoes. Evening came and the potatoes were still in the field. Gramp, dusty and tired, led the horses to get their drink.

“How many potatoes did you pick up?” Gramp inquired. “I didn’t pick any.” “Not any! Why?” “You said I could pick them up if I wanted to. You didn’t say I had to.” In the next few minutes, I learned a lesson I will not forget: when Gramp said I could if I wanted to, he meant that I should want to.

My grandmother (“Gram”) worked hard all day, washing clothes, cleaning the house, making butter, and even working in the field when help was scarce. In the evening, though, she was not too tired to read books from the community library. For more than forty years, Gram read aloud to Gramp almost every evening. In this way, she and Gramp learned about all the great battles of history and became familiar with the works of great authors and the lives of famous men.

She also had a deep love of beauty. When she was almost seventy-five and had gone to live with one of her daughters, she spent a delightful morning washing dishes because, as she said, the beautiful pattern on the dishes gave her pleasure. The birds, the flowers, the clouds –– all that was beautiful around her –– pleased her. She was like the father of the French painter, Millet, who used to gather grass and show it to his son, saying, “See how beautiful this is!”

In a pioneer society it is the harder qualities of mind and character that are of value. The softer virtues are considered unnecessary. Men and women struggling daily to earn a living are unable, even for a moment, to forget the business of preserving their lives. Only unusual people, like my grandparents, managed to keep the softer qualities in a world of daily struggle.