【推荐1】The man walked down the trail on a cold day. This was his first winter in Alaska. He was on his way to a camp near Henderson Creek. His friends were already there. He expected to reach Henderson Creek by six o’clock that evening. It would be dark by then.

He continued his way until he came to a frozen stream called Indian Creek. He began to walk on the snow-covered ice. It was a trail that would lead him straight to Henderson Creek and his friends.

Then he had to walk around a part of the frozen stream, where an underground spring flowed under the ice, which made the ice thin. If he stepped there, he might break through the ice into a pool of water. To get his boots wet in such cold weather might kill him.

At a place where the snow seemed very solid, the ice suddenly broke. The man’s feet sank into the water. It was not deep, but his legs got wet to the knees. Now he had to build a fire to dry his clothes and boots. He collected pieces of dry grass and wood, pulled off his gloves, took out his matches, and lit the fire.

Now, the fire was beginning to burn strongly. He was safe. He sat under the tree and thought of the old men in Fairbanks. They had told him that no man should travel alone when the temperature was sixty degrees below zero. Yet here he was. He had had an accident so he was alone. And to save himself, he had built a fire.

Suddenly, without warning, a heavy mass of snow dropped down just onto the fire. He reached into his pocket for the matches again. But his fingers were frozen. He couldn’t hold them and all the matches fell onto the snow. He tried to pick one up, but failed. Seeing the matches, he couldn’t do anything…

【推荐2】In the middle of the night, a baby chimpanzee (黑猩猩) is having nightmares. Chantal, his caretaker, tries to calm him down. She works at the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, in the Republic of the Congo, in Africa. The chimp’s name is George. He was taken from his mother by hunters. Finally, he was rescued and taken to the sanctuary (鸟兽保护区), where Chantal helped him make friends with other chimpanzees. “We rescue chimps from terrible conditions and help them to live in the wild like other chimpanzees,” Chantal said, “They need to learn chimp behavior.”

Chimpanzees meet a lot difficulties because people cut down forest and illegal (非法的) wildlife trade. Their population, numbering in the millions a century ago, could be down to 172,000. This makes the work of the Tchimpounga Sanctuary even more important.

When opening in 1992, Tchimpounga had space for 60 chimpanzees. It has been made larger to the size of a hundred football fields, and provide home around 150 chimps. Many live on islands with thick forest in the Kouilou River. In that environment, the chimps are prepared for a possible return to the wild. The sanctuary also works with the government to reduce illegal trade in animals. Tchimpounga’s head veterinarian (兽医) Rebeca Atencia said, “We have effectively reduced the arrival of orphan (孤儿) chimpanzees to Tchimpounga. We’ve received only one orphan chimp over the past three years.”

The chimps have shown that they understand the sanctuary staff’s efforts. “Saving the life of a chimpanzee is very gratifying,” Atencia says. “Chimpanzees know when you’re helped them or saved their life. Sometimes, they thank you with a hug.”

As the leader of Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Atencia also works with people who live near the sanctuary. These people depend on the forest for food and building houses, and their growing population is a danger to chimps. JGI helps the people in these places get healthcare, clean water, and others. This makes them less dependent on the area’s natural resources and reduces illegal trade in chimps. At present, there are islands within the sanctuary where the chimps can be safe from wild chimpanzees and hunters. And they’ re still under the care of the sanctuary staff.

【推荐1】Never will Kate Baker forget her frightening traveling experience. She and her husband. Bob, were heading to Europe with their 2-year-old son, Neil. "When we got on the plane in New York, all three of us were healthy," she said. "But halfway over the Atlantic Ocean, Neil started to get very warm, and his face was red." Then Neil began foaming at the mouth.

"The flight attendants were going up and down the aisle（过道）, asking anyone if they were a doctor," Kate recalled, "No one would come forward. And then the pilot started announcing, ‘Is there a doctor on board and should I turn this plane around?’ And again, no one came forward."

"When noticing Neil could hardly breathe, I think I must have gone into shock because I couldn't feel anything, and I couldn't speak," Kate said.

Then three women got out of their seats and approached where she was standing in the aisle. They came up to her and put their arms around her. They started speaking to Kate in a language that she didn't understand.

"The tone of their voice was so, so soothing, and they stood there with me with their arms around me." said Kate.

They eventually landed in Amsterdam. But they quickly booked another flight home to New Jersey. They went right to a doctor, who discovered that Neil had just had an ear infection. His symptoms（症状）had probably been due to a rapid increase in his body temperature.

The doctor treated him for the ear infection, and everything was fine. Kate never forgot those women and how supportive they were. She said, "I will never forget them and what they did for me. We may not speak the same language, but it doesn't matter to me because we can connect on a very deep human level."

【推荐2】He was the last person who should have run into a burning building—he had lung disease. But that didn’t stop him. Michael Surrell and his wife was parking when they got a call from their daughter: “The house next door is on fire!” He went to investigate.

Though the fire department had been called, Surrell ran inside. The thick smoke burned his eyes and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions were life-threatening for Surrell.

After a few minutes, he went outside to catch his breath. Taking a deep breath, he went in again. The house was similar to his, so he made it to the second floor. He couldn’t see anything. Then a soft moan (呻吟声) came. Still unable to see, Surrell crawled (爬行) toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the trapped.

Finally, he touched something. He pulled the kid toward him and held her into his arms and stood. He fought through the smoke and ran into the blackness. The next thing he knew, he was at the front door, then outside. Surrell put Tiara down on the porch. He started CPR. Soon a cough came from Tiara’s throat. Surrell gave five more breaths. She coughed again, opened her eyes and took a breath on her own.

Surrell woke up in the hospital days later, having suffered severe burns to his lungs. He spent a week in the hospital. The fire worsened Surrell’s condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. “It’s a small price to pay,” he says. “I’d do it again without a second thought.”

【推荐3】Volunteers are working along the border of Italy and France to keep migrants(越境者)from getting killed or injured by the cold and the mountains.

On both sides of the border in the Alps, the effort is based on humanist and humanitarian ideas. It is grounded in local traditions of not leaving people to face the weather alone. It started in 2016 when mountain workers would not ignore the migrants. The Alpine Mountain helpers arm themselves with hot tea and hand warmers. They believe that their own humanity would be reduced if they left pregnant women, children, and men young and old to struggle in the weather on their own.

The aid grew to hundreds of volunteers. They run migrant shelters, clothe those in need for the dangerous crossing and go out into the mountains. They clear paths in the snow during the day for migrants to follow and wait for them at night to guide them past border police to safety. They also treat them for health problems related to the cold and other medical needs.

Migrants credit the volunteers for saving lives. “If not for them, we would have died of cold,” said Aymen Jarnane, 23, a Moroccan led to safety on a night when the temperature dropped to -15℃. But there have been deaths. Aid groups pushed French officials to provide mountain shelters for migrants and to stop pushing the migrants back into Italy. This happened after a Togolese man died from the cold during an attempted night crossing of the mountains in February 2019.

The Alps are not as deadly for migrants as the Mediterranean Sea, where many hundreds have died or gone missing this year alone.

European opponents of migration argue that aiding migrants gives hope for others to follow. The volunteers however cannot imagine not helping others. Gaboriau said, “Regardless of skin color, political or religious beliefs, everyone has the right to be saved or simply to be welcomed.”