【推荐1】Carson Kropfl, 11, came up with his idea because no company sold what he wanted. “Everything else fits into my locker (柜子) —my books, my bag, my lunch—but not my skateboard,” he said. So in 2013, Carson broke the nose and tail off a full-size skateboard to make a locker-size board.

At the time, Carson was saving for surfing lessons. His mom, Carrie, told him he needed to do that on his own. He decided to sell the boards at school. For months, he sold them during lunch for $20 each, until he’d saved $1, 000 for lessons. After hitting his financial goal, Carson realized he liked running a business. But he needed start-up capital. Again, his mom said he had to find a way to get it himself. “So that’s exactly what he set out to do,” Carrie says. Carson approached the company Vans to see if he could get some of their used skateboards for free. Vans set up a recycling program for him, and started giving him 50 used boards per month.

Carson first applied for Shark Tank in 2013. The producers turned him down because his company wasn’t big enough. But every six months, he checked in with the producers again. In 2017, they finally said yes. At the shoot, Carson made his pitch (陈述), with the help of his mom. Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines and hundreds of other companies decided to invest (投资). Since then, Carson has sold more than 1, 000 boards. His company has grown more than 300%. He plans to expand to Canada, the U. K. , and Australia. He credits his mom, who has her own title at Locker Board: Chief Mom Officer. She runs day-to-day operations while Carson is in school.

Locker Board was created because Carson had a problem. Identify a problem in your life. Can you come up with a solution? How could you turn your idea into a business?

【推荐2】LONDON (Reuters) — Quiet place — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is preparing to have her swans counted.

Buckingham Palace has announced that the annual Swan Upping, a tradition dating back to the 12th century which involves a census (审查) of the swan population on the River Thames, will be conducted by the Queen’s official Swan Marker from July 20 to 24.

“With the assistance of the Queen’s Swan Warden, Professor Christopher Perrins of the University of Oxford, the swans and young cygnets (小天鹅) are also assessed for any signs of injury or disease,” Buckingham Palace said in announcing the count.

The process involves the Swan Marker, David Barber, rowing up the Thames for five days with the Swan Warden in traditional skiffs while wearing special scarlet uniforms and counting, weighing and measuring swans and cygnets.

It may seem odd, but it is very important to the Queen. According to custom, Britain’s sovereign owns all unmarked, mute swans in open water, but the Queen now exercises the right only on stretches of the Thames and its nearby tributaries.

In medieval times, the Swan Marker would not only travel up the river counting the swans, but would catch as many as possible as they were sought after for banquets and feasts.

This year, the Swan Marker and the Swan Warden are particularly keen to discover how much damage is being caused to swans and cygnets by attacks from dogs and from discarded fishing tackle (渔具).

It is also an important year because Queen Elizabeth has decided to join her team of Swan Uppers for part of the census. She will follow them up the river and visit a local school project on the whole subject of swans, cygnets and the Thames.

“Education and conservation are essential to the role of Swan Upping and the involvement of school children is always a rewarding experience,” Buckingham Palace said.

【推荐1】Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium in 1929. She liked to spend time with her father. Perhaps he was not a warm father, but he was joyous and joked a lot. He had his horses, spoke 13 languages, and would take her gliding. And then everything changed. When she was six, Audrey’s father walked out.

It was the first major blow in her life. From then on, Audrey’s childhood was unsettled. Her mother decided that it might be a good idea for her to learn English, so she sent her to a boarding school. But it was difficult for Audrey to fit in. She felt like an outsider, but she learned English.

Very soon the war broke out. Audrey’s mother sent for Audrey to join her in Holland. They were taken in by Audrey’s wealthy grandfather. Then there was no heating, no school and no food. Yet, Audrey’s spirit shone through. She showed remarkable resilience during the war.

Audrey made her performance debut by dancing in wartime Holland. She didn’t know how long the war was going to last, so she went to a ballet school and learned to dance. About a year before the end of the war, she became quite an excellent performer. After the war ended, Audrey carried on with her ballet training. In 1951, a famous French writer was looking for a leading lady for her best-loved novel. When she saw Audrey, she famously said, “I’ve found my Gigi!” Audrey was to take America by storm.

Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film turned out to be a splendid success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was self-like, unlike the sex-goddesses of the time. Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic Funny Face.