Everyone , including members of Congress and Native American tribes (美国印第安土著部落), wants fewer wild horses on Western lands and tribal reservations.(土著保留地).    1    

The wild horses come from horses that were brought to America from Spain in the 16th century. By 1971, the number of wild horses had dropped sharply. So Congress passed a law to save them. Since then, the number of wild horses has increased three times in size.

Experts predict there will be 115,000 wild horses by 2020.An average adult wild horse eats more than two-and-a-half kilograms of grass and drinks 75 liters of water a day.    2    

The horses’ actions have also caused soil erosion (土壤侵蚀)around water sources, threatening water quality. Gillian Lyons is a wildlife expert at The Humane Society of the United States.

She said, “Originally, when the 1971 act passed, it allowed the Bureau of Land Management(国土管理局) to destroy healthy horses…if populations grew too large. “Since 1994, except for one year, the BLM has been prevented from destroying wild horses. The agency now captures and places them in holding facilities(收容所). A few horses are adopted, but not many. It costs about $50 million a year to care for the captured animals.     3    .If Congress approves the plan, the BLM would have to find other ways to manage horse populations. “They’re going to do that in a couple of ways,” said Lyons. “One is by reducing any use of fertility control(节育措施), which they use barely any of now. And the other way is by getting rid of horses in holding facilities.” Recently, a House committee(众议院监管委员会) voted to permit the BLM to kill the horses. But a Senate committee voted against another bill that would lift the ban(禁令) on horse killing. Native American tribes have struggled with the problem for years. Some support capturing the animals. But others, including leaders of the tribes, say the animals should be treated well and not killed.

The Northwest Tribal Horse Coalition(西北部落马联盟) is made up of five small groups and tribes in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It says in the short term controlling the number of wild horse births will not stop overgrazing(草场的过度放牧). It supports the slaughter of horses at “humane(人造的) facilities.” An estimated 48,000 wild horses live on the Navajo Nation’s 7,000 square kilometers in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Duane “Chili” Yazzie is the president of the Nation in Shiprock. Yazzie has started a horse capture program he considers more humane.     4    He is also looking to train them as farm animals.

【推荐3】Since Abbi Hickman was just a little girl, she has been surrounded by animals. Chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and sometimes goats are just some of the animals she cares for. At the age of 9, Abbi went to the Tracy Animal Shelter，in her hometown of Tracy，California，to adopt Sheldon，her favorite cat. There，she saw the poor conditions that the animals were kept in. Abbi knew that it was her duty to take action.

Pins for Pets is Abbi’s solution. For the last three years, she has organized a bowling tournament to raise funds for the Tracy Animal Shelter. She has raised more than $30,000, resulting in a better home for the animals. “Now the shelter is nicer and cleaner and animals have more space. It is far better, a hundred percent better,” Abbi says.

To praise Abbi for her outstanding efforts, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) named her the 2015 ASPCA Tommy P. Monahan Kid of the Year. This award is given to kids who make a substantial (大量的) effort to help animals. Abbi responded to the news of her win with shock. “I was pretty excited. I’ m really honored to receive it,” she says.

Sacrificing time and effort to assist animals can sometimes be difficult, but Abbi hopes to do more. “I want to spread my free services to more shelters. I really just hope people are kinder to animals and respect them more,” says Abbi, sharing her goals for her organization.

At the age of 12, Abbi has already accomplished so much. The advice she has for kids like her, who want to accomplish their goals, is, “Nothing is impossible. You can do anything you put your mind to. Even if it is something small, it can make a huge difference.” Abbi’s work has improved the lives of animals, and she plans to keep coming up with new ways to help them.

【推荐2】At one time or another in your life you have probably done origami, even if it was just making a paper airplane or something more complicated like a paper crane. The chances are that as you did it, you reflected on how inventive this traditional art is. Animals, boxes, flowers, boats: it all can be created from a single square or rectangular sheet of paper simply by folding it. No cutting, no pasting.

But did you ever stop to think how the same techniques might be applied to engineering? Equipment that could be of real practical use? Origami meets the demand for things that need to be small when transported and large when they arrive, like the everyday umbrella. In fact, origami-inspired creations have already flown in space; in 1995, Japanese engineers launched a satellite with solar panels that folded like a map.

“It’s now mathematically proven that you can pretty much fold anything,” says physicist Robert J. Lang, who quit his engineering job eight years ago to fold things full time. Lang, an origami enthusiast since age six, advised a advised well-known ear manufacturer the best way to fold an airbag into a dashboard. He is currently working on a space telescope lens that, if all goes according to plan, should be able to unfold to the size of a football field.

At the other end of the scale, researchers are also working on tiny folding devices that could lead to breakthroughs in medicine and computing. There’s no doubt that computers of the future may contain tiny, folded motors or capacitors for faster processing and better memory.

Applications for origami engineering go further than many of us might imagine. “Some day,” says MIT’s Erik Demaine, “we’ll build reconfigurable (可重构的) robots that can fold on their own from one thing into another, like Transformers. Too much like science fiction to be true? Maybe—though you certainly wouldn’t want to bet against it.”

【推荐3】It’s not often you get information about a destination from a heavy metal band, but in Debrecen, Hungary’s second largest city, locals are used to having to make a noise to get heard.

Just off the historic center, Roncs bar is a pub that also hosts live music.   It has the atmosphere of a student party in an old building that might soon be knocked down.

Roncs is owned by Hungary’s best-known heavy metal rock band, Tankcsapda. Sometimes referred to as the “Hungarian Metallica”, the band has taken a type of music that is famous worldwide and-through lyrics, album covers, and an annual New Year’s party and concert-made it all about their home city.

It’s perhaps fitting that Tankcsapda should be seen as ambassadors for Debrecen — the city sometimes needs loud heavy metal rock music to get noticed. “Foreigners think that Hungary is Budapest and there’s nothing else,” is a familiar saying on Debrecen’s streets.

Debrecen has, at times, been more important than the current seat of power, with locals claiming it takes over in times of trouble.

That doesn’t quite add up.

Debrecen survived an attack from the Mongols in the 13th century, the Black Death, 150 years of struggle against the Ottomans and numerous conflicts, and yet it has still only briefly been the country’s capital twice. This happened for the first time after a short-lived revolution in 1849, and for a second time at the end of World War II.

Today, Debrecen may not be well known to tourists, but that only adds to the charm of this relaxed city. It’s a small place; the historical center is sized for strolling (散步) and regular cafe stops. There’s also a view of Debrecen’s mix of architectural styles, a result of the frequent large fires that back in the 19th century led the city’s students to form one of Europe’s first-ever fire brigades (消防队).

You can also see traditional weathercocks from the rooftops, featuring Islamic star and crescent moon symbols that once advertised to Ottoman invaders that the city preferred trading to fighting.

Trade meant that Debrecen’s skilled people became very successful and the city became famous for-among other things-fine foods, hats and clay pipes. In the early 19th century, 10 million clay pipes were reportedly made a year, with thousands bought for Britain’s navy.