【推荐3】Each year, the discovery of new shark species underlines how little we know about ocean biodiversity. In a recent report conducted by Sibert and Rubin, they reported an unexpected finding: a large-scale extinction of sharks in the pelagic ocean, the largest ecosystem on Earth, about 19 million years ago. Their discovery suggests that some extinctions in the open sea of the past may have been mysterious.

The study of Sibert and Rubin takes advantage of a system by using tiny, hard bits of shark skin and bony fish teeth that naturally fall from their bodies to the seafloor. These extremely small fossils provide a rich record of ancient oceanic sharks and their abundance for thousands of years. By studying fossils from many regions, the diversity patterns can give major insights into evolution (进化) of the open sea that would be otherwise unknown.

Sibert and Rubin quantified(量化)a past extinction of sharks, reporting a 90% decline in number and >70% drop in diversity. They found that nearer-shore sharks appear to survive, but migratory ones go extinct. The finding of this study is that sharks had undergone a widespread extinction that reorganized their communities from 16 million to 20 million years ago.

Sibert and Rubin narrowed the disappearance of sharks to a window of time under 100,000 years around 19 million years ago, but the causes of this event remain unclear. Because this time period does not stand out as a period of major climatic change, the authors do not attribute(归因于) environmental factors as an extinction driver. As for other causes, the loss of shark diversity is directly linked to overfishing.

The loss of sharks from the oceans has profound, complex, and unavoidable ecological consequences because their presence reflects the stability of marine ecosystems. Yet, one-quarter of the global diversity of sharks is currently threatened with extinction. Despite recent improvements in conservation actions, shark communities never recovered from a mysterious extinction event 19 million years ago; the ecological fate of what remains is now in our hands.

【推荐1】Charlie Chaplin, British comedian, producer, writer, director and composer, is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in the film history.

Chaplin was named after his father, a British entertainer. He spent his early childhood with his mother, the singer Hannah Hall, after she and his father separated, and took the place of his mentally unstable mother to appear on the stage. However, he and his mother soon separated from each other because the sick Hall was sent to a hospital. Then, Charlie was sent to a series of boarding schools.

Using his mother’s show-business contacts, Charlie became a professional entertainer in 1897 when he joined the Eight Lancashire Lads, a dancing act. His following stage characters include a small role in William Gillette^ Sherlock Holmes (1899). While touring America with the Karno company in 1913, Chaplin was signed to appear in Mack Sennett’s Keystone comedy films. Though Making a Living (1914) was not the failure that historians have claimed _, Chaplin’s first screen character did not show him to best advantage. To come up with a more-workable screen image, Chaplin created an outfit consisting of a too-small coat, too-large pants and a walking stick. As a finishing touch, he put on a mustache(胡子).It was in his second Keystone film, Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), that Chaplin’s classic screen character, “the Little Tramp(流浪汉)“，was born.

In truth, Chaplin did not always portray a tramp; in many of his films his character was employed as a waiter, store clerk? stagehand, fireman, and the like. But the Tramp’s attraction was universal： audiences loved his cheekiness(厚脸皮)，unexpected bravery and especially his recovery in the face of difficulties which moved the audience most. Some historians have traced the Tramp’s origins to Chaplin’s Dickensian childhood, while others have suggested that the character had its roots in the motto (座右铭)of Chaplin’s teacher, Fred Karno： ”Keep it eager, gentlemen, keep it eager. “ Whatever the case, within months after his movie was on, Chaplin was the screen’s biggest star.

【推荐2】I'm interested in the Renaissance, so I like visiting ancient Italian cities. Ferrara is called City of the Renaissance. When I learned about this city on the Internet, I decided to pay a visit to it.

The city has a certain charm and calmness, but I find it isn't as great as other Italian cities like Verona, let alone Venice or Rome. The Michelin Green Guide gives it two stars, which is right.

I first visited the city centre. The Cathedral and Castello Estense are at the heart of the city. Both have striking appearances. I visited the Cathedral first. Castello Estense is also worth visiting, which owns its name to the powerful family Este family. It was built with bricks and surrounded by a moat（护城河）. At the lower levels, the history of the city and the Este family are told through displays, and in another part the ceilings are shown through mirrors on the ground.

In the north, we can appreciate the Renaissance extension of the town, with straight streets and monumental houses. The famous Palazzo dei Diamanti lies here. When I was visiting it, it started to rain, so after taking a few photos quickly, I cut my visit there short. It had been raining for a few days. When the rain ceased, I went to visit the historical centre and the Renaissance buildings.

After leaving there, I visited several other interesting places such as palaces, churches and the narrow streets of the downtown. After four hours in Ferrara I left by train to Mantua. There I had much better time.

【推荐2】A mom’s job is never truly finished — Elise knew this when her son was born. For at least the hundredth time, she sat next to his bed in that chair mending his quilt (被子), which was one from a flea (跳蚤) market selling cheap goods, and telling the stories.

To call it a quilt stretched the definition as it was nothing more than a thousand pieces of oddly shaped cloth together, layer after layer, until the whole of it was thick enough to hold in the warmth of a small boy’s body as he drifted off to sleep.

“I love how cool it feels when I first get into bed,” her little man observed the first night he wrapped himself in the old quilt. “But before long, it warms up, and I’m snug as a bug in a rug. It’s very comfortable and relaxing. Where did you get it?”

The question for stories was one whose answer was too simple to interest on a wide eyed little boy, so Elise stretched the truth of the quilt. “It was brought over on the Mayflower by the Pilgrims (朝圣者) to America,” she answered to her son’s delight. “It’s made from pieces of fabric from all over Europe and is the first blanket used by the first Americans.” It was just a hard history of the family. Elise sat by his bed and mended the “heirloom” (传家宝). Then she would continue the “true” story of how the quilt had found its way to her son.

“During the Revolutionary War, your quilt was captured by General Cornwallis and used to keep his legs warm on the cold winter nights.” Elise said, weaving a story as complicated as the blanket itself. “George Washington took it from Cornwallis and used it during his eight years as president.”

“You mean my blanket has been to the White House?”

“Of course it has,” Elise answered with a wink (睁眼).

“Who then, Mom?” The little boy asked, “Who took my blanket to the White House?” “That’s a story for Tater,” Elise replied, kissing her son on his forehead. “Now you get some sleep, and I’ll continue the story next time. I’ll tell you more about your great great grandfather’s story and the treasures he had passed on us.”

【推荐3】Rudolph plays football for Florida State University. When he was visiting a middle school in Florida one Tuesday, he noticed sixth-grader Leo eating his lunch alone. Rudolph grabbed a couple pieces of pizza and joined Leo at his table.

Leo has autism, a condition that can make it hard to make friends and communicate with other people. His mother always worries about him. Two days later, she saw a picture of Rudolph and Leo eating together and it made her so happy that she cried. Then, she shared the picture on the Internet, along with a message about how thankful she was. The story became popular very quickly.

“We just had a great conversation. He started off telling me his name is Leo, telling me how much he loves Florida State. We went from there, ” said Rudolph. “It was really easy. He had a nice smile on his face. Just a really warm person.”

Leo’s mother said that middle school can be hard, and she worries about how other kids will treat her son. “Sometimes I’m thankful for his autism. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but in some ways I think — I hope — it shields him, ” she said.

“He doesn’t seem to notice when people look at him when he flaps (拍打) his hands,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to notice that he doesn’t get invited to birthday parties. And he doesn’t seem to mind if he eats lunch alone.”

The mother said the photo of Rudolph and Leo’s lunch date helped teach people about autism. “The picture speaks more than a thousand words. You can see how far away the rest of the students are, but you can see how engaged Rudolph is with Leo,” she added.

“I just wanted to go say hi to the kid, because I saw him eating alone. I didn’t even know anybody took a photo of it.” Rudolph said he was glad that the story was helping others.

Leo is excited that Rudolph signed his lunch box, and is enjoying all of the attention. “It’s been awesome. Everyone was so proud of me,” Leo said.

Leo and his mother have been invited to dinner with the football team and possibly to a game.