【推荐2】Heavy traffic doesn’t stop big mammals like bears from crossing highways — nor does it keep smaller creatures from being squished (压扁) by cars. In just two years along one highway in Utah, more than 100 animals were killed in traffic accidents. In the United States, there are 21 endangered species whose survival is threatened by traffic accidents.

However, there’s one way to reduce crashes between cars and animals crossing the road: wildlife under and overpasses. Looking much like a regular overpass for cars, but decorated with native plants, they aren’t particularly noticeable unless you know what you’re looking for. The drivers may not be able to see the under crossings. But they’re helping countless species to pass the highways, from gold monkeys in Brazil to water voles in London.

Washington State is one of the latest to join in. Building its first wildlife bridge began in 2015 over Interstate 90 (I-90), which runs from Seattle to Boston. Though it’s just a bare set of arches now, with native plants to be planted next year, deer and wolves are already using it. Along with six underpasses built since 2013, these crossings are the first in a set of 20 along a 15-mile stretch of highway on I-90. These passes will allow black bears and mountain lions to pass through what was once an impenetrable road.

These wildlife crossings aren’t just about saving individual animals — they’re about species survival, too. I-90 is an economically important east-west lifeline in the state. But many of the animals mostly want to move from north to south. Those animals on the south of the highway got trapped in an island. Inbreeding (近亲繁殖) became a potential problem. Localized extinction happens if they don’t have genetic variability. The Snoqualmie overpass helps reconnect these isolated (隔绝的) populations. I-90’s underpasses are important in connecting waterways and species.

【推荐1】Fu Yuanhui is China’s newest sweetheart. The 20-year-old swimmer from Hangzhou won a bronze medal at the recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But it wasn’t the medal that charmed people’s hearts, it was Fu’s honest remarks and bubbly personality.

Climbing out of the pool after a semi-final heat, Fu looked tired and out of breath, and not very happy. She thought her time may not have been good enough to make the final. But the reporter told her otherwise. Fu had just swum a personal best! And it was Fu’s reaction (反应) to this news that made everyone fall in love with her.

Her eyes got big and smiled. “Wow, I’m so fast!” she said. And she joked with the girl reporter that she must have been helped by her “mystical powers.” Later, after the final race, it was the same reporter who again surprised Fu by telling her she’d won a bronze medal. “What? Really?” she said, “That’s not so bad, then.”

Fu worked hard to get to the Olympics and her training, she said, “Even though I did not win a gold medal, I surpassed (超过) myself and I am happy with that.”

【推荐2】A butterfly-shaped island in the central Aegean hopes to become Greece’s first carbon-free tourist destination. Under a deal with the government, Volkswagen, a carmaker, has donated several new electric vehicles for use by Astypalea’s public services; it will sell others at cost price to its 1,200 year-round residents. In return, the government has offered more financial assistance for islanders to buy electric cars and will build a solar and wind-fuelled power plant to replace polluting generators.

Unlike other nearby islands, Astypalea is not connected to Greece’s electricity providers. With only 3,000 rooms for visitors in small hotels or flats, tourism is still low-key. Many residents make a living the old-fashioned way: raising goats, keeping bees and fishing. The island was selected for Volkswagen’s experiment after Nikos Komineas, the go-ahead mayor, contacted the transport ministry for help in finding an electric bus to try out on its rough roads.

Most islanders sound keen on the project. Mr Komineas expects the number of private cars on Astypalea to fall by a third over the next five years. Its residents, he says, will get around on electric minibuses, which will be free, linked to a mobile-phone app and available round the clock.

Some observers smell green washing in the project. A bid for a solar park that would generate half the island’s electricity within three years will not get under way before the tourist season ends. A single wind-fuelled engine will be set up only in 2026, assuming the licensing process goes smoothly. That is not normally the case in the Aegean, where islanders worry that tourists will go elsewhere if the view is spoiled by an engine 200 meters high. And even then, the solar and wind-fulled power unit is planned to cover only about 80% of summer demand. But it is a start.

【推荐3】Arthur Phillip High School, located in Parramatta, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, will be NSW’s first public high-rise high school. When it opens, the school will be different from anything else we’ve got across the system.

Students will eat lunch in courtyards overlooking city rooftops, before continuing their lessons in sound-proofed music rooms, science labs or atriums ( 中 庭 ) with eight metre-high ceilings. The specialty rooms, such as science labs, will be on the top floors. There will be large lifts, but students will be encouraged to use the stairs. There will be a gym, a play ground and play space on each floor.

The building will be run more like an office block than a traditional school, with a plant room used for the operation of the sprinklers（洒水装置）, air conditioning and elevator systems. In addition, people will be seen cleaning the windows while students are studying.

“We’re going to have to get kids used to that,” said Sylvia Corish, an executive director of school performance for the NSW Department of Education. “That’s going to be a unique experience.”

“This   is   a   very   different   concept,”   said   the   chief   executive   of   School   Infrastructure   NSW, Anthony Manning. “While it has been challenging at times, the end product is going to be really amazing and impressive.”

“I am very surprised and happy to see how creative this learning space will be for students in the Parramatta region for years to come,” Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said.

The Herald visited the new high school, as construction of the ambitious project enters its final phase and students at the original school across the road prepare to begin testing its state-of-the-art facilities. In the next few months, students and teachers will visit the school to help ensure a smooth transition （过渡）. “It will be a matter of testing how people can move around the building,” Mr Manning said.