Growing up, my family always had cats—but by the time I got to college, I wanted one l could call my own. So, I visited Animal Home in Michigan, looking for the perfect cat.

There was a black kitten I nearly ignored. He was skinny and small and not even cute, but he stuck his paws through the cage, trying to play with me. He was clearly interested in me, so I asked to hug him. He curled up on my shoulder and began purring(发出咕噜声). Our connection was immediate. I adopted him, named him Adam, and brought him home.

Over the next 16 years, Adam and I were so close. He was gentle, sweet and playful. But one night last year, everything changed.

It was as if one day Adam was still acting like a kitten, and then the next day he was vomiting(呕吐)all the time and no longer acting like his usual self. He'd lost weight and I knew that he was sick. I took him to the vet(兽医)and the diagnosis was sad: stomach cancer. Worse yet, the vet thought he was too old for operation. All I could do was give him medicine to help make him more comfortable.

A month later, Adam got worse. I took him to the emergency vet, where they kept him overnight to administer fluids(输液). When I went to pick him up the next morning, on Christmas Eve, the vet said it was time to end his life. It was the best thing to do for him. With deep sorrow, I said goodbye to him.

Once I got back home, reality hurt me much. Usually, Adam was there to wait for me at the door. But he was gone, leaving an aching emptiness in my life and in my home. I suffered from huge pain. I told my husband I didn't want another cat.

Few weeks later, my friend Amy who rescued homeless cats called me.

After I brought the new cat home, my huge pain gradually disappeared.

A vegetarian diet is often praised for its health benefits. Studies have shown that vegetarians usually have lower levels of heart disease and a risk of diabetes（糖尿病）than people who eat meat. What most people are less aware of, however, are the effects that a vegetarian diet can have on the environment.

Researchers from the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US recently studied how consumer behavior affects the environment. The study showed that meat consumption is one of the main ways that humans can damage the environment, second only to the use of motor vehicle.

Then, how can eating meat have a negative effect on the environment? For a start, all farm animals such as cows, pigs, and sheep give off methane gas（沼气）by expelling（排出）wind from their bodies. One cow can produce up to 60 liters of methane each day. Methane gas is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Many environmental experts now believe that it is more responsible for global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 25% of all methane released into the atmosphere comes from farm animals.

Another way that meat production affects the environment is through the use of water and land. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef, whereas 20 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of wheat. One acre of farmland used for crop production can produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots, or 50,000 pounds of tomatoes.

Many people now see the benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet, not just for health reasons, but also because it plays a vital role in protecting the environment. However, some nutritionists advise against switching to a totally strict vegetarian, or vegan diet. They believe a vegan diet,   which excludes（拒绝）all products from animal sources,   such as cheese, eggs, and milk. can be short of many necessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need.

Once there was a slave named Androcles, who was so badly treated by his master that he resolved to run away from him. He therefore secretly left his master’s house and hid himself in a forest, some miles distant from the city.

After wandering about for some time, he came to a large cave, and overcome by hunger and tiredness, he lay down in it, and soon fell fast asleep.

He was suddenly awakened by the roar of a wild beast; a great lion stood right at the mouth of the cave. There was no way he could escape!

Androcles expected nothing else than to be at once torn to pieces, but to his great surprise, the lion came gently towards him, without showing any signs of anger. It gave forth a low and mournful (悲哀的) sound, as if it were begging for his assistance. As the lion approached him, he noticed that one of its feet was swollen.

He then went up to the lion, took hold of the wounded paw (爪子)，and examined it as a surgeon would examine a patient. He was not long in finding out the cause of the swelling; for he saw in the ball of the foot a very large thorn (刺). The slave pulled out the thorn, and pressed out of the wound a quantity of matter, which gave the lion immediate relief.

Then, the lion began to show his gratitude by every means in his power. He jumped about like a playful spaniel (西班牙猎犬), wagged his great tail, and licked the hands and feet of his physician. From that moment Androcles became his guest; the lion always shared his prey.

The slave continued to live like this for several months. At length, wandering carelessly through the woods, he was seized by a company of soldiers who were sent by the master to search for him.

He was sentenced to be torn by a lion in the public arena (竞技场).

However, the lion didn’t act as most had imagined.

We already know that the underwater world is anything but silent. It is full of natural sounds produced by animals and by the motion of the atmosphere and water. But today’s researchers are increasingly concerned about the man-made noises under the water. They are confusing whales and other marine animals

Although hearing is important to all animals, the special qualities of the undersea world emphasize the use of sound. Underwater sound allows marine animals to gather information and communicate at great distances and from all directions. Loud underwater noises can cause damage to their hearing. And nowadays it's becoming too much for marine wildlife. Evidence shows that whales will swim hundreds of miles, rapidly change their depth, and even beach themselves to get away from the sounds of sonar.

You might think lower noises, typically caused by shipping or construction, do not pose a threat to marine animals. In fact, while they may not kill the animals directly, they can disturb their ability to locate food, find mates and avoid predators (掠食动物)).Scientists looked at the effects of noise from small motorboats on coral-reef fish at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In the lab, the fish had been trained to recognize the smell of three common predators as a threat. Some fish were trained in the presence of boat noise, while the others had training with the natural sounds of the ocean. It turned out that the first group showed no fright reactions when exposed to the predator. However, the other group was scared. And under the influence of underwater noise on this group, only 20 percent of fish survived, compared to almost 70 percent of unexposed fish.

Humans rely on the ocean for its natural resources and biodiversity. The ocean also plays an important role in regulating( 调节)temperatures, As Cousteau said, "For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.

You might think that whether you choose a blue shirt or a yellow one to wear to work or college makes no difference to your day and those around you. However, an increasing number of experts argue that the colors we choose affect our mood, our career prospects (前景) and even our health.

The power of color has been used for centuries and we should be making the most of it in our lives. Color affects us to a greater degree than most of us realize. It is used increasingly by psychologists and therapists for influencing mood and state of mind, and for various types of treatments when we are ill. Some people ever believe that the blind can benefit from, the “vibrations” (震动) that color gives off.

Companies use color to great effect to encourage us to buy their product. For example, purple is seen as creative and mixes well with red, to show that a company has ideas and the power to make them happen. Orange and blue are also recommended colors for companies to use, because orange is the color of communication and blue suggests safety and security. So this could be a particularly good combination. Companies have found certain colors ‘speak’ to specific age groups. They often use red to attract younger people to their products, for example, as it is vibrant and more youthful than colors like gold and navy, which older customers seem to prefer.

Wearing different colors can affect how you feel and how others react to you, so it is important to consider this when deciding what to wear in the morning. If you want people to take you seriously, then wearing navy blue or black is good. Blue would also be helpful for an interview or oral examination because it relaxes you and makes you feel calm. Red gets you noticed by everyone and makes you, the wearer, feel energetic, but be careful, as it can raise your pulse rate and not everyone wants this effect.

So think carefully before you leave the house. The colors you choose are a wonderful tool. Are you making the right impression—on yourself and on others?

The Theobroma Cacao tree, to use its scientific name, provides us with one of the world's most delicious foods—chocolate! Theobroma is a Greek word meaning 4food of the gods. The tree originally comes from the Amazon region of South America. Hand-sized pods that grow on the tree contain cacao seeds—often called ‘cocoa beans’. These seeds，or beans，are used to make chocolate.

The earliest use and consumption of cacao beans dates back to around 1000 B.C. Later, the Mayan and Aztec civilizations consumed cacao as a drink. They often flavored it with ingredients such as chili peppers, and other spices. It is believed that drinking cups of chocolate was important in Mayan rituals such as wedding ceremonies. Consuming cacao was also believed to have positive effects on health. In Peru, eating or drinking a mixture of chocolate and chili was said to be good for the stomach. The Aztecs thought it could even cure sicknesses!

Christopher Columbus, along with Spanish explorers, made his fourth voyage across the Atlantic in the early 1500s, and arrived on the coast of Honduras. It was at this time that he first discovered the value of cocoa beans，which were used as currency in many parts of Central America.

In the sixteenth century, chocolate was taken back to Spain by Hernando Cortez, another explorer. The Spanish people added ingredients such as sugar and vanilla to make it sweet. It later spread to France in the seventeenth century. The popularity of chocolate continued to spread further across Europe and the Americas. The only Asian country to adopt it at that time, though, was the Philippines, which the Spanish invaded in the sixteenth century.

As chocolate became more popular, the demand for people to work on the cocoa plantations increased. Slaves were brought to the Americas from Africa to farm the cocoa. Eventually, the cacao tree was taken to

Africa and cultivation(m) began there. Today, the African plantations provide almost seventy percent of the world's cacao, compared with one and a half percent from Mexico.

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