【推荐1】The Arctic Circle—the habitat of polar bears and decreasing sea ice at the top of the world—hit 32 degrees Celsius, last week.

This was the temperature in Banak, Norway on July 30, though some Norwegian areas even reached a couple degrees warmer, according to the European meteorology site severe-weather.eu. Banak sits atop northern Europe, over 350 miles above the bottom edge of the Arctic Circle.

The greater Northern Hemisphere and Europe itself have been repeatedly scorched by both record and near-record temperatures this summer, a consequence of overall rising global temperatures.

In the past 40 years, Earth’s climate has experienced an accelerated warming trend, which adds an extra level of background warming to hot spells—making heatwaves more extreme, climate scientists have said.

A photo of what appears to be Scandinavian folks taking a dip in a river while reindeer—the cold-adapted herbivores(食草动物)—cooled off in the water beside them is perhaps the best example of just how hot it is in parts of the Arctic Circle right now.

The “warm season” in Banak is short, lasting around three months, but the very warmest day of the year, around July 23, is usually around 62 degrees Fahrenheit(华氏度)—about 30 degrees cooler than temperatures there now. Overall, temperatures in northern Europe are between 14 to 21 degrees Fahrenheit, 8 to 13 degrees Celsius, above average.

All-time temperature records were set in both Norway and Finland on July 30, including 86 degrees Fahrenheit, 30 degrees Celsius, in Verde, near Banak, though extreme or near-record temperatures blanketed the region.

Persistent heat and dryness this summer have transformed normally green European countries into brown and yellow lands, and the continent’s extreme heat is expected to persist.

Andrew Derocher, a professor at the University of Alberta who studies polar bears, said climate change is shrinking the ice bears usually hunt on, making them faced with the danger of extinction.

【推荐2】A Love of Gardening

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” These words come from the author of the book The Secret Garden, first published in 1911. At that time, only the very rich in Britain had gardens. Very soon after this, homes with gardens began to be built. This is what started the British love of gardening! Today, millions of Brits like to say that they have “green fingers”, with around half the population spending their free time gardening.

For many people in the UK, their garden is their own private world. Each spring, children plant sunflowers and wait to see which one is the tallest. Expert gardeners know just the right corner for roses, and others spend hours trying to grow perfect vegetables to enter into competitions. And while many Brits like nothing better than spending their Sunday cutting the grass, some are happy just to sit under the branches of the trees and enjoy the beauty of the world around them.

But in cities, limited space has led to people looking for new solutions. Those without outside space can rent small pieces of land on which to grow things. Today, there are over 4,000 people in London waiting for such pieces of land. One recent idea has been to turn rooftops and walls into private gardens. These gardens have helped make the cities greener and improve air quality.

As well as being good for the environment, gardening is also good for the soul. What other free-time activity allows you to be at one with nature and create more beautiful living things? And if you’re in any doubt about this, take a moment to reflect on this line from The Secret Garden: “Where you tend a rose… A thistle cannot grow.”

【推荐1】Huang Danian, the well-known Chinese geophysicist, was born in 1958 in Guangxi, China. As a keen and able student, Huang went to the UK in 1993 to further his studies.

By the time Huang moved back to China in 2008, he had been living and working in the UK for 15 years. He had a good job and a life there, but he gave it all up to return to home driven by the idea that he needed to contribute to his country. As one of the world’s leading experts in deep earth exploration technology, Huang was invited to participate in the “Thousand Talent” programme. He took up a position at Jilin University, Changchun.

Huang was named lead scientist on China’s deep earth exploration programme, developing advanced cameras that can see through the Earth’s crust(外壳) so that it can be analysed without having to dig into it. He set up an advanced lab, sometimes paying for equipment with his own money. Some described him as a “lunatic” (a “madman”), but this passion(热情) and drive enabled Huang to push forwards China’s deep earth exploration technology into a world-leading position. Huang’s devotion contributed to China’s lunar probe(月球探测器) Yutu being landed on the moon in 2013 and the launch of the spacecrafts Shenzhou-11 and Tiangong-2 in 2016.

Huang's health also paid the price for his commitment to his work. He began having fainting fits(昏厥) in 2012, but paid them little attention, stating he did not have time to go to see a doctor——his work always came first. In November 2016, Huang fainted and was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with cancer. The disease was so advanced that he had just a couple of months to live.

Like the true scientist he was, Huang never gave up, but always tried to push forwards. Even from his hospital bed, he continued his work, writing letters of reference for his colleagues and replying to questions from his students. Huang died in January 2017, aged just 58. More than 800 people attended his funeral to celebrate a life that burned so bright, but was so short.

【推荐3】One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always.

I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly rehearsed(彩排)my lines with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head.

Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to switch roles. I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practise my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the garden.

It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine(藤)was turning green. We could see yellow dandelions(蒲公英)popping through the grass in bunches. I watched my mother casually bend down by one of the clumps(花丛). “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds(杂草),” she said. “From now on, we’ll only have roses in this garden.”

“But I like dandelions.” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful -even dandelions.”

My mother looked at me seriously. ”Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. “And that is true of people too,“ she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.”

Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened.

“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud to her. “The narrator’s part is as important as the part of the princess.”

Over the next few weeks, with her constant encouragement, I learned to take pride in the role.

Lunchtimes were spent reading over my lines and talking about what I would wear.

【推荐1】The eyeliner makes the dark circles less pronounced. The lipstick hides the trembling. The ponytail (马尾辫) masks missing patches of hair. I might look a bit thinner, but everyone will ask about my new diet. One hour of preparation and I look like myself. One hour out of 24. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it—wasting a twenty-fourth of my day on a lie.

Checking my makeup one last time, I slip on a cute pair of flats—heels are too dangerous with shaky legs—and grab my Hollister bag. Walking downstairs, I breathe in the sweet smell of waffles and juice.

“Morning, Mom,” I call.

“Morning, baby,” she sings. “Did you sleep well?”

“Better than I have been.”

She sighs, and her eyes look a hundred years old for a minute. “Any improvement is good,” she says half-heartedly.

“Of course.”

“I made waffles.”

“Thanks. Mom. Smells delicious.”

I sit at the table and she hands me a plate. The thought of all that food turns my stomach, but I force a smile and thank my mother again. She busies herself at the sink and fills the silence with chatter. When she turns around, she takes in the waffles still on my plate, only missing a few bites. I smile apologetically.

“I’m not very hungry this morning.”

“You’ll need your strength for this afternoon. Morrison will wait for you.” She bites her lip.

“I packed your lunch.”

I’m 18, Mom. I can pack my own lunch. You have more important things to do.”

She reaches for the paper bag. “But now I know you’ll have something to eat. And you need to eat, okay? You have to keep your strength up.”

Sighing, I take the bag. I know this peanut butter and jelly sandwich won’t be eaten, not any more than the one yesterday or the day before. And even if I do eat it, I’ll just throw it up later.

“Honey, have you thought about what I said the other day?” she asks.

I remain silent.

“Sweetheart, you can’t hide the secret forever. Eventually you’re going to miss school and people will start asking questions.”

“Mom, I have two months left of high school. I can make it till then. I’m class president. I was voted ‘Most popular’, ‘Best smile’ and ‘Most likely to succeed’. I’m the girl who’s got it all together. People don’t want to know that the girl who’s got it all together doesn’t have it all together. People don’t want to know that girl is to be parted!”

“Honey, don’t say that. You’re not……”

“Yes, I am. You heard Dr. Morrison. I have maybe a year left. But that means I can graduate and then never see those people again. I’ll depart and they’ll feel sorry for me, but at least I won’t have to tolerate their pity.”

“But...” she tries to interrupt.

“Mom, listen to me. I don’t want to be the girl everyone looks at and whispers, ‘Look at her. Poor thing. She has cancer.’ I can’t handle that. I want to be normal. Just for these last two months.”

“Okay,” she whispers. “Okay. Just remember, it’s okay if you don’t have it all together. Sometimes things just fall apart and there’s nothing we can do.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I grab my bag and lunch and kiss her on the cheek. “Take care, Mom.”

“You too, my angel.” she replies. This exchange, once taken for granted, is now a vital part of every morning, every afternoon, and every night. Three little words, followed by four more, have come to mean more than an entire conversation. They bridge all gaps and disagreements, because we both know there is now a restricted number left.

Keys in hand, I open the door and blink(眨眼) in the early morning sun. Perfect.

【推荐3】Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Therefore, I take weekly trips to COSTCO to get supplies. About a month ago, I finished loading up the car and was about to leave, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully.

It was a receipt (收据) from the State Motor Vehicle Division, recording the owner’s payment of her Vehicle’s Registration fees. At first I thought that I could find die owner. So I waited there for about an hour. Although the receipt had been borne (由……携带) on the wind, where in file busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owner? I looked over the receipt for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag (牌照) or telephone number, I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the name of the owner and pocketed the paper. I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the receipt in an envelope and send it to the owner first the next morning.

By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy woman containing a handwritten message and a gift card. In the letter, the woman explained how the wind snatched (夺去) her receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. She had searched everywhere for quite some time before giving up.

It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a loss by doing something that at first glance (一瞥) seemed little or even unimportant.