1 . The climate crisis may lead the human race to decrease in size, as mammals (哺乳动物) with smaller bodies appear better able to deal with rising global temperatures, a leading fossil expert said.

Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist (古生物学家) at the University of Edinburgh, suggested that the way in which other mammals have previously responded to periods of climate change could offer an insight into humans’ future.

He compared the potential situation of people as similar to that of early horses, which became smaller in body size as temperatures rose around 55m years ago, a period called the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Writing in The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, Brusatte notes that animals in warmer parts of the world today are often smaller than those in colder areas, an ecological principle known as Bergmann’s rule. “The reasons are not entirely understood, but it is probably, in part, because smaller animals have a higher surface area compared to their size than bigger animals and can thus better get rid of extra heat” he writes.

Brusatte said that becoming smaller was “a common way that mammals deal with climate change”. He added, “That’s not to say every species of mammal would get smaller, but it seems to be a common survival trick of mammals when temperatures spike pretty quickly, which does raise the question: if temperatures do spike really quickly, might humans dwarf, might humans get smaller? And I think that’s certainly convincing.”

In a recent study, researchers studying human remains over the past million years have also suggested that temperature is a major predictor of body size variation, while scientists studying red deer have said that warmer winters in northern Europe and Scandinavia may lead to the body size of these animals becoming smaller.

However, not all experts agree that rising temperature causes mammals to decease. Prof Adrian Lister, of the Natural History Museum in London, said the relationship shown by the recent human remains study is weak, while the strong relationship between temperature and mammal body size may often result from the availability of food and resources.

Lister doubts whether humans will shrink as the climate heats. “We are not really controlled by natural selection,” he said. “If that was going to happen, you’d need to find large people dying before they could reproduce because of climate warming. That is not happening in today’s world. We wear clothes, we have got heating, we have got air conditioning if it is too hot.”

2 . Since springing up in 2008, Chinese SNS websites have been growing rapidly. While building perfect and complete platforms, SNS websites have been attracting a greatly increasing number of users as well as enormous advertisers’ attention.

The birth of SNS websites brought us a new concept of socializing online using one’s real identity. Furthermore, the popularity of SNS websites has made real-identity online interaction (相互作用) a daily routine for almost all the Internet users. Blogs, photos, virtual gifts, games and other SNS applications have increased real emotional interaction among Internet users.

Obviously, real-identity online communication has become a major competitive advantage of SNS websites. Many experts conclude that SNS websites have created a network of real socializing and have solved people’s daily problems in communication. Therefore, solving real life issues and keeping friendly interpersonal relationship are the critical factors that ensure the survival and growth of SNS websites. Data report shows that Renren. com has helped 63 users find a friend every second during the whole year of 2009 and created a billion friendships.

In addition, celebrities, institutions and organizations have gradually become members of SNS websites. Information sharing becomes more diverse, and the emergence (出现) of social games satisfies users’ need for interactive entertainment.

By gaining users in 2009, the SNS profit model has gradually grown clearer. According to the CNNIC annual report, 80% of SNS profit comes from Internet advertisement, 15% from VAS and another 5% from other sources.

As the real marketing value of SNS was discovered by more businesses, many successful partnerships emerged. Advertising professions believe that the foundational qualities of SNS include participation, interaction, self-expression, and emotional communication. These qualities are the basis of SNS marketing activities, and they will promote the birth of more marketing models.

3 . Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was ________ to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always ________ — it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just ________ the beauty and sweet scent of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.

But I never stopped ________ who the giver might be. My mother ________ to these guesses. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing ________. I had more ________ imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had a crush on me even though I didn’t know him.

One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings ________ from sorrow (悲伤) to fear and anger: my dad was ________ some of the most important events in my life. I became completely ________ in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball (舞会). But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the ________ size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.

The day before my ball, I found that dress — in the right size — hanging over the living room sofa. It was ________ to me so lovingly. I didn’t ________ if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel ________, filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of ________.

My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.

6 . Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Exhibition of Shakespeare’s World

Welcome to the world-famous house where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and where he grew up. The property (房产) remained in the ownership of Shakespeare’s family until 1806. The House has welcomed visitors traveling from all over the word , for over 250 years.

◆Enter though the Visitors’ Centre and see the highly-praised exhibition Shakespeare’s World, a lively and full introduction to the life and work of Shakespeare.

◆Stand in the rooms-where Shakespeare grew up.

◆Discover examples of furniture and needlework from Shakespeare’s period.

◆Enjoy the traditional (传统的) English garden, planted with trees and flowers mentioned in the poet’s works.

◎The Birthplace is within easy walking distance of all the car parks shown on the map; nearest is Windsor Street(3 minutes’ walk).

The House may present difficulties but the Visitors’ Centre, its exhibition hall, and the garden are accessible (可进入的) to wheelchair user.

◎The Shakespeare Coffee House (opposite the Birthplace).

8 . Cuckoos (布谷鸟) are masters of cheating. When it comes to raising young, they don’t spend the energy building a nest (鸟巢), protecting eggs or feeding children. Instead the female passes these roles on to other birds. They don’t raise their own young. Usually, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, fooling other birds into thinking the cuckoo eggs are theirs.

To succeed in doing this, a female cuckoo watches over her chosen nest to observe feeding times. When the host parent leaves its nest in search of food, the cuckoo quickly lays her eggs among those already in the nest. Sometimes, she will even destroy and remove one of the host’s eggs to make room for her own.

Cuckoos are medium-sized birds with long tails, and often have gray or brown backs. When they hatch(孵化) and begin to grow in a host’s nest, the difference between the two can be obvious to an onlooker. Often the cuckoo is twice the size of its foster parents, but still continues to receive food from them.

The cuckoo imposter (冒名顶替者) is usually the only baby bird that the host parent has to care for. This is because when the cuckoo hatches after around 11 days, it gets rid of all the other eggs in the nest. It will lift each egg onto its back before throwing them one by one over the edge of the nest. Even then, the non-biological parent will continue to treat it as one of its own.

Also, cuckoos have developed to produce eggs that are similar in color to their main hosts’. This reduces the chances of eggs being attacked. Female cuckoos have been known to take host birds’ attention away after laying their eggs by producing a noise similar to Eurasian sparrowhawks, scaring birds away from returning to the nest and allowing time for the cuckoo to make her escape unnoticed.

10 . It is no secret that China has an amazingly rich history and culture. My first exposure (接触) to Chinese culture came totally by chance. One day, I entered my grandfather’s personal library and took a book named Tao Te Ching (道德经) from one of the shelves. As an 8-year-old, the book’s content completely confused me, but it provided me with an early connection to a beautiful and great philosophical (哲学的) tradition that still influences me today.

Around this time, I also came across several cartoons heavily inspired by traditional Chinese culture and martial arts (武术) such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. Both cartoons (卡通) describe beautiful landscapes and buildings similar to those found in classical Chinese paintings. This further developed my interest of the rich and beautiful culture.

At school I began studying Chinese. My interest in the language developed early on, combining my love of travelling with my love of meeting new people. Later on, my interest in the language developed into exploring widespread Chinese culture. I wanted to challenge myself in a totally new linguistic (语言的) surroundings and listen to the lives and stories of others in their own language. I have been lucky enough to have lived in China for around three years. I loved every second I spent there and there is never a shortage of things to see and do, people to meet, and foods to enjoy.

It is safe to say that my journey to studying Chinese has only just begun and these first steps are only a drop in the ocean of lifelong learning, but as the Chinese philosopher Laozi says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”