2 . The launch of a tool to record a vanishing Greek dialect drew attention back this week to one of the great extinctions of the modern world: nine languages are believed to be disappearing every year. Romeyka, which is spoken by an ageing population of a few thousand people in the mountain villages near Turkey’s Black Sea coast, separated from modern Greek thousands of years ago. It has no written form. For linguists, it is a“ living bridge” to the ancient Greek world, the loss of which would clearly be a blow.

But some languages are in even bigger trouble, with 350 that have fewer than 50 native speakers and 46 that have just one. A cooperation between Australian and British institutions paints the situation in distinct colours, with a language stripes chart, devised to illustrate the accelerating decline in each decade between 1700 and today. Its authors predict that between 50% and 90% of the world’s 7,000 languages will be extinct by 2150. Even now, half of the people on the planet speak just 24 of them.

The history of languages has always been linked to colonialism (殖民主义) and political persecution (迫害), which scatter populations as well as controlling them. The Endangered Languages Alliance (ELA) has tracked down and mapped hundreds of dying languages in New York, which is an unexpected discovery. These dialects are supposed to be found in remote rural areas. Among ELA’s more shocking discoveries is that, of 700 surviving speakers of Seke, which originated in a cluster of mountain villages in Nepal, more than 150 can be traced to two apartment buildings in Brooklyn district of New York.

From Sami reindeer herders across the Arctic to Australia’s Indigenous (土著的) peoples, the ways in which people express themselves hide secret messages about ancient ways of living in nature. Both a will and a way are needed if they are to survive. By simply honouring their existence, linguists play an important role. Ken Hale, an activist who is strongly for preserving endangered languages famously argued that losing any language was “like dropping a bomb on the Louvre”.

6 . Children running to school are now more likely to get a table device (平板设备) than a pencil case, according to a study.

Researchers found that 55 percent of children are given a new iPad as they head back to school, compared to only 45 percent who get a new pencil case.

It also showed fewer kids walk to school now, dropping from 81 percent in their parents’ schooldays to just 63 percent now, with a third of kids preferring to use a scooter (滑板车) to make it to the school gates.

And most children now listen to music on the way to school instead of chatting with friends as their parents used to. However, one thing that hasn’t changed about going to school is the excitement.

68 percent of parents said they rushed back to school to be friends they hadn’t seen for the six-week break. Only 23 percent of children rush back to school to chat with friends now.

This is because modern kids chat with friends during the holiday on WeChat or QQ, so they already know what their schoolmates have been up to.

Clothes are another big area for change. Children like to choose clothes on their own now. What’s more, their clothes are always in style.

The after-school life has also changed. More than half of parents had a daily bedtime story in their childhood, while a third of modern children watch daily cartoons on the Internet instead now.

7 . How to Improve Time Management Skills

Getting work done, meeting deadlines, and being productive 100% of the time is difficult for everyone.     1     Luckily, there are several ways you can improve your time management skills.

    2    

Write down everything you would like to finish within the week and prioritize (按优先顺序列出) each task according to their importance or urgency. Additionally, for larger goals, consider breaking them down into smaller, more achievable ones that can be more easily finished.

As you cross things off your to-do list, it’s hard to get things done when you’re doing too many things at once.     3     For example, instead of answering emails and returning phone calls at the same time, answer all of your emails before you make your phone calls.

If your desk is full of papers, envelopes, pens, and garbage, anyone would be a little stressed or distracted!     4     Throw away any garbage, dust off your laptop and desk, and try organizing your papers in a folder or binder.

    5     Schedule breaks throughout your day to give yourself some time to rest. A break allows you to recharge and come back to a task with a fresh perspective (视角).

8 . Why are Police Officers Called Cops?

Police officers are often referred to as cops.     1     Some argue the term is shortened from “copper” and comes from copper badges (徽章) worn by a policeman. Others say that it stands for “Constabulary of Police”.

General agreement on the word origins of “cop”, however, suggests that the term is based more on the policeman’s job than on his clothing or job title. In Latin, the verb capere can be defined as “to capture.” In French, the verb is caper. “To cop” in English is to seize or to take.     2    

Some also believe that the Dutch word kapen, which also loosely translates to “to steal or take”, is related to policemen being called coppers or cops. Essentially, the police force was there to take criminals off the streets.     3     And since American English especially draws from German, French, and Latin, the specific language origin of kapen or capere creates a ready path to the term “cop”.

    4     And it is no longer considered rude. However, certain other terms for police officers are definitely unwelcome. While British Police might not mind being called “bobbies”, no police members like to be referred to as “pigs” or the “fuzz”. Some don’t mind the term the “heat” as applied to the whole police force, but the police force does not generally take kindly to terms given to them by criminals.

The term “cop” is in such common usage now that a show documenting their work on the job is called Cops. Even though J. Edgar Hoover once highly objected to the term, it is now fine to refer to a policeman or a police woman as a cop.     5    

9 . Here I was, sitting in the roller coaster (过山车) cart of Kingda Ka in New Jersey, the tallest and second fastest roller coaster on Earth. My friends shouted in excitement, while I shakily _______ my hands on my shorts. “How can you be so excited when...”

My words caught in my throat and melted into screams as the roller coaster suddenly _______ forward. It was the fastest _______ I had ever experienced in my life: 128 miles per hour. I screamed at the top of my _______ as fear froze me up from inside. We rapidly moved up the skinny hump (驼峰) rising into the clouds at a ninety degree angle, having crossed the track bringing us forward in mere _______.

_______, close to the highest part of the hump, I _______ a little. My screams became less terrified and more energetic. Once we reached the _______ of the hump, I could almost touch the sky.

And then we were spiraling (盘旋) downwards, curving and twisting and _______ towards Earth at the same speed. ________ I realized it, we had already met the ground. It was a thirty - second - long ride. I managed to ________ the entire ride without a breakdown.

I gasped in surprise. It was over. I had not only survived the ride—I had ________ it. My friend turned to me, her eyes ________. “Are you ready for the next roller coaster?”

My head felt light as we walked away from the ride spinning with something I didn’t ________ recognize. It took me a few minutes to put a name to it — thrill. “I’m ready for anything.”

Until today, that ________ ride that I went on 20 years ago is still kept alive in my memory.

10 . Imagine having a magic purple crayon that can bring your imagination to life. That’s exactly what happens in the movie Harold and the Purple Crayon, originally a children’s book by Crockett Johnson.

In the book, Harold is a kid who uses his crayon to draw a fantasy world. If he draws the moon, it shines just like the real thing. If he draws a hot- air balloon, he can float away. In the movie, Harold is a grown-up character in a book who uses the crayon to enter the real world.

Joined by his friends Moose and Porcupine, Harold gets help from a kind family. He returns their kindness by drawing things that make them happy. Of course, the crayon eventually falls into the wrong hands. Harold worries about its being used for bad purposes. He loses faith in his ability to make people happy with his drawings. Luckily, friendship and imagination show him and his friends that anything is possible.

Harold and the Purple Crayon is funny and exciting. Readers of the book will really enjoy seeing the characters come to life on the big screen. It’s perfect for a family movie night and for anyone who enjoys fantasy. It might inspire you to, as Harold says, “Make your life what you want it to be. Use your imagination.”