【推荐1】Earth is home to around 7 ， 000 languages ， around half of which are expected to disappear by 2100．

Languages disappear for many reasons． Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because   parents   want children   to fit in．    1     Native American children of the late﹣l9th century were required to attend boarding schools where educators forbade them from speaking   their native languages．

The United   Nations   ranks endangered   languages   according   to their   risk   level．For   example ，   a " critically endangered " language is one that even grandparents don ' t speak often． New York ' s Onondaga language is an example with only 50   speakers left．   An " extinct"   language   has no speakers． It is gone forever． Alaska 's Eyak language is one example．    2    

    3     In the same way ， different languages contribute to cultural diversity． Saving these languages benefits our understanding   of other cultures． Languages   can show how a society looks at the world and what it values． A language may describe something in a way that is funny ， too． In   Welsh ， it rains not cats and dogs ， but old wives and walking sticks．

The Endangered   Language   Alliance wants to save languages from disappearing．    4     However ， its efforts are limited． If an endangered language is going to make a real comeback ， it '11probably get its start in schools． For nearly 100 years ， public schools in Hawaii did not teach the Hawaiian language． Now students can keep learning in Hawaiian   from elementary   schools to college and beyond．

    5     At least one did． In 1881 ， a Jewish linguist named Eliezer Ben﹣Yehuda brought the 3 ，000﹣year﹣old language Hebrew back to life． Today it is one of   the   official   languages of   the country of Israel， with more than 4million speakers．

【推荐1】As a volunteer teacher, I moved into an apartment with eagerness. Sorting all the necessary paperwork out, I got ready to start my work. Great, or so I thought. At 4 a.m. And at several intervals after that, I was rudely awoken by the cock that lives opposite me. Fantastic! I now have 5 extra alarms every morning.

In the following weeks, I also started to notice a trend. Things in my flat started to break at the rate of one object per day, like the hot water line, bowls, cups, shower, doors or glass shelves. Yes, I am clumsy but things just fell apart.

If it wasn't broken, it would either be dirty or missing. Using my washing basket for the first time was pretty disgusting. When I took out my clothes, they were swiftly followed by a hundred or so bugs that were living in the bottom.

As for the general lack of equipment in the house, there was no oven, tin opener, or sharp knives. It turns out making a vegetarian burger from scratch wasn't the best idea. I had a small microwave and a grill. I thought the general understanding was never to put metal in a microwave but I went on. Smoke soon started to appear. I'm not quite sure if it was the burger or the grill but as soon as I opened the door, the electricity cut out. I spent the following 10 minutes in a dark, smoky room hunting for the power switch using the light from my mobile phone, which broke the week after and left me without a connection to the outer world.

Luckily, I'm now borrowing a phone and my luck has returned. No more things have broken (probably because there is nothing left to break). I am learning how to adapt to life with limited, broken utensils(用具)。

【推荐2】Japanese fans who watched their national team be defeated by the Ivory Coast on Saturday showed it is possible to lose graciously (优雅地), when they stayed behind after the match to help clean up.

Despite seeing Japan's Blue Samurais lose 2-1 against the Ivory Coast' s national team at the Arena Perambuco in Recife, the Japanese audience armed with plastic bags searched their side of the stadium and gathered up dropped litter. While gathering waste after a sporting event is customary in Japan, the audience' s actions came as a shock to football fans from other countries.

This isn't the first time the Japanese have taken trash outside the stadium. The 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France was the first ever World Cup that Japan had qualified for. After their first group game against Argentina, the Japanese fans gave the world a lesson in politeness and respect by actually cleaning the football stadium seats. They picked up all the trash around them whether it was theirs or not. They then walked out and threw the trash in the garbage cans before leaving.

The all-around cleanliness of Japanese large cities comes as a culture shock to people coming from other big cities in the world. This tidiness is not due to millions of dollars spent on street cleaners and "Let's clean-up our city" campaigns. It's not due to effective public works or community service. It's due to one simple thing: They don't throw their rubbish on the floor. This unique and rare concept allows for both huge cities and the countryside to stay neat and tidy.

To reinforce this behavior, the common signs in Japan ask people to take their litter home with them. Then, to reinforce the sign, hey usually have no garbage cans in the parks. So when faced with the choice of throwing their garbage on the ground or keeping it with them, they keep it. They don’t need a “Don't Litter” or Keep Japan beautiful” sign. They have been doing it their whole lives and are used to taking their garbage with them.

【推荐3】It is a question that has long puzzled scientists—exactly why are tigers orange? One might think it makes them more obvious-particularly against a leafy green forest background. William Blake summed it up in his famous poem known by generations of schoolchildren: “Tyger, tyger, burning bright / In the forest of the night.” But now the answer is at hand.

While obvious to us, computer simulations (模拟) of what the big cats look to the main animals they hunt for, deer, show a different picture. Humans with normal colour vision, can see red, blue and green colours. But deer can only pick up blue and green light, they are effectively colourblind to the colour red, like some humans. It means the tigers’ orange colouration looks green to them, allowing them to mix perfectly into the background, new research claims.

Dr John Fennell at the University of Bristol and colleagues said that they used computers to estimate how noticeable a given animal was. They did this by using images of the environment in which the animal lives, and then creating images to see whether the camouflage helps the animal to mix in.

Dr Fennell writes that by simulating what the world looks like to animals who are “two-colour vision”—someone who cannot discover the difference between red and green—“we also identify the most suitable colours for hiding and visibility”.

Dr Fennell writes in the Royal Society Journal Inter face: “Considering the coat of a tiger, it has fur that appears orange to a three-colour vision observer rather than some shade of green, though the latter should be more appropriate color for an attack hunter in forests. However, when viewed as a two-colour vision observer, the tiger’s colour is very effective.”

The question then arises as to why tigers don’t grow green coats. Dr Fennell and colleagues write that mammals (哺乳动物) are not able to produce green fur. To do so would “require a significant change to mammalian biochemistry”. There is only one mammal known to have green fur but this is achieved through what might be considered as, well, cheating, not exactly real.

【推荐1】Being deaf in a hearing world can lead to painful feelings of isolation (孤独).

Waitress Kelsey recently shared an experience on a social media sharing site that   quickly zoomed (陡直上升) to the top of the “ front page of the Internet”. In her brief post, Kelsey explained that she waits tables at a bar during the evenings, and one night she noticed a deaf man sitting alone in her section (区域).

When Kelsey isn’t working at the bar she makes a good hourly pay doing sign language interpretation (翻译), so she sensed an opportunity to use her skill to make this customer feel a little less alone in the world. She approached his table and began chatting with him in sign language.

When the table next to his noticed their silent conversation they asked Kelsey how long she’d been signing. They had a brief conversation about her goal of becoming certified (合格的) to interpret sign language in a medical or mental health setting.She didn’t think much about the whole exchange until the customers had left the restaurant and she was tidying up the tables. There, on the table of the customers who’d seen her American sign language conversation with the deaf man, was a handwritten note on the receipt.

“Thank you for what you do; it absolutely matters!” the note said. “Good luck with finishing your degree!” Not only that, but they’d left her a $100 tip.

Kelsey was moved by the kind note, especially because she wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. To her, she was just conversing with someone in a language that only they understood. Yet to the deaf man and the people seated next to him she’d bridged a gap and helped someone who probably feels lonely a lot of the time.

Kelsey shared the note on the Internet to spread more love and light in the world.

【推荐2】At 18 years old I was playing with a handgun and I accidentally shot my friend. I lost my friend and in my view my life was over. At that time I was working for the FBI as a clerk. I was never involved in any sort of criminal behavior but I wasn’t motivated about my life and I was a slacker (懒鬼). Consequently I was sentenced to 8–20 years. I ended up serving 10. But in prison something clicked in terms of being an active participant in my own life and taking ownership of the process. I was always talented academically but I didn’t live up to my potential. I began to read everything I could get my hands on. I went to every academic program. I attended them many times in the years that followed. When college was offered in prison through Saint Francis College of Loretto, I was one of the first students to attend. I ended up graduating with an Associate Degree with honors. Through education, I learned what I wanted my life to be. It’s funny how things work.

But when I was released from prison, I went further. I applied to NYU and was accepted. I graduated from NYU with BS with top honors. I didn’t stop there though. I went on and earned my MSW with distinction from NYU as well. I’m now a practicing social worker in NYC and every day I give back to society in positive ways. Many of my friends would no doubt be shocked to learn of my imprisonment and I often wonder would they understand. In many ways much of my life is a secret and it’s a burden that I have to bear. But it’s mine to bear and I take full responsibility. I use it to help others realize their dreams and goals and honor my friend’s memory.

I know there’re many others like me who made mistakes in their lives that set them way off course from their expectations and hopes for themselves. You can make the life you dream of. It’s never too late to make a new start and reclaim your life. Someone once told me that no matter what happens morning will come and you’ll see the sunshine. I’m bathing in the sunlight. Never give up.

【推荐3】Fresh off the biggest win of her short gymnastics career, 16-year-old Morgan Hurd and her coach, SIava Glazunov, landed at Philadelphia International Airport, headed to baggage claim and prepared for the hour-long drive home to Middletown, Delaware. It was a dull drill they’d performed hundreds of times before.

She is that gymnast who competes wearing glasses. She is so petite (娇小) that she looks tiny standing next to other gymnasts.

“No one is born perfect,” Hurd says. “You will have imperfections. I hope more people see me and try to do sports or gymnastics with glasses. Nothing should stop you from doing something you are passionate about.”

Hurd was 11 months old when her mom, Sherri, adopted her from Wenzhou, China, and brought her to Middletown. When Morgan was 3, Sherri began signing her up for various sports—gymnastics, soccer, T-ball, dance. Because of her size, most sports were tough. But at gymnastics class, being tiny and flexible was a gift. By the fifth grade, her talent had outgrown her classes, so Sherri brought her to First State.

“She stood out from the start,” Glazounov says. “She exhibited that desire. She loves to impress and she wanted it always. No one ever had to tell her to work hard.”

A single mom, Sherri worked as a dental hygienist for 30 years until retiring and taking a job for Discover Bank that allowed her to work from home, support her daughter’s home-schooling and help her daughter’s gymnastics career.

“Who would have known when I went to get that little girl in China what was going to happen,” Sherri says. “This is our life now, but that is what I want for her, a life that is as fulfilling and happy as possible.”