1 . Did you know that the color of uniforms can influence the performance of an athlete? It may sound strange, but a study suggests this might be true.

Two British scientists studied the results of four sports in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where the athletes had been given either a red or a blue uniform. They discovered that when there was a big difference in the score, color had no influence on the result. But if it was a close match, the athlete in a red uniform was more likely to win. Then they looked at the uniforms of the soccer teams at the Euro 2004 tournament. Again, teams wearing red won more games.

The two scientists got their idea from earlier studies of wild animals. It had been discovered that when a male show red on its body, it sends a signal of its power and strength. For example, in many kinds of monkey, the more the male shows off its red scars, the more females it can attract.

Based on this fact, the British scientists thought that the idea might work for humans, too. According to them, when an athlete sees a competitor in a red uniform, he gets a feeling that his competitor could be stronger than him. And that kind of feeling may have a bad influence on the player’s performance in the actual game.

Although the idea is Interesting, most people don’t accept that color signals in the animals world can really be useful to humans in sports. They think that it is unreasonable to develop an idea based on such a small number of examples. Much more research has to be done to prove the influence of uniform colors on the performance of athletes.

3 . Thein Shwe is sitting with one of his students, 14-year-old Nur Hakim, outside a small classroom built of wood. Thein Shwe has been working at this non-formal primary education centre since it was first set up five years ago. He says, “I love teaching. I was a personal tutor (家庭教师) before. When I learnt that this centre was looking for teachers, I applied.

Thein Shwe is very popular among his students. Even Nur Hakim, who at first was very shy, becomes more confident as his teacher smiles, nodding to encourage him. “I come from a poor family,” says Nur Hakim. “My father died when I was a baby.”

Nur Hakim’s father, who was a factory worker, was the main provider. Since his father’s death, his mother has had to support the family of six by herself. Nur Hakim was not attending school until the age of 12, when he got the chance to attend this non-formal primary education centre. “I love English and I love my teacher because he is always on time and teaches us well,” says the boy.

Nur Hakim says he hopes to join Grade 5 students next year in a nearby government school. Nur Hakim holds on to his dreams. “I want to be a doctor,” he says. “In my village, I see a lot of illnesses.”

Thein Shwe admits (承认) he finds it difficult to support his family working as a volunteer. But Thein Shwe talks more about the successes and difficulties he has faced keeping his students in class. He says over the four years, about 80%of the students continue on to the government school or vocational (职业的) training.

When Thein Shwe is asked about his main success as a teacher, he needs no time to think. “It’s being able to keep the poorest children in school,” he says.

4 . Sometimes people come into your life and you know at once that they were sure to be there. They serve some certain purpose, teach you a lesson or help find out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be: your classmate, neighbor, teacher, long-lost friend or even a real stranger. But you know that every moment they will influence your life in some serious way.

Sometimes things happen to you. At the time they may seem terrible, painful and unfair. But later you realize that without overcoming those difficulties, you would have never realized your further ability and advantages. Everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance or with good or bad luck.

The people you meet influence your life, and the success and failure you experience create who you are. Even the bad experience can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

Enjoy every day even every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people whom you have never talked to before, and really listen. You should set your goals high, hold your head up, tell yourself you are a great one and believe in yourself.

You can make your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.

5 . I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasn’t going to hurry now. He’d drink a while and rest in the shade, and then drink again or so we thought. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.

We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisoned arrow from the elephant’s body, and let out over 100 liters of pus (胺)－the result of the elephant’s meeting with a poacher（偷猎者）months before.

Today's poacher shoots from a blind. He fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once－it doesn't mean the poison won't finally kill the ele- phant, but it will be a slow death.

Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time. When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the extra- ordinary silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I took some comfort from the knowledge that as the dead body returned to the soil, some animals would benefit－but I couldn't escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed to be a poorer and emptier place.

6 . Today, an increasing number of people are always looking at their mobile phones with their heads down. These people are called the “Heads-down Tribe (低头族)”. Are you a heads-down tribe member? Heads-down tribe members now can be seen everywhere.

Using mobile phones may cause accidents and even cost a lot of money. Also, more and more interesting and strange facts happen to the “Heads-down Tribe”. Let’s have a look at an interesting TV report. A man in America kept using his mobile phone on his way home. As a result, he knocked into a big lost bear on the street. When he lifted his eyes from the phone, he was so scared that he turned around and ran away quickly as possible. Another fact is that we can often see people in the restaurant eating face to face but looking at their own mobile phones. It’s strange that they don’t talk to the ones who sit opposite to them during the meal. Some of them even have fun communicating with others on the phone.

Mobile phones are helpful and necessary tools for modern life. Are mobile phones good or bad? It depends on how people use them. Let’s be “healthy” users and try to be the “Heads-up Tribe”.

9 . Peggy, a nine-year-old border collie (柯利牧羊犬), was signed over to the RSPCA (皇家防止虐待动物协会) after her handler could no longer communicate with her. He thought she could no longer work because she was not able to hear whistles or voice commands.

However, after being handed to the RSPCA, Peggy was taken in by Chloe Shorten, an animal welfare manager from the organization’s mid-Norfolk and north Suffolk branch.

Shorten, 28, and her husband Jason, 34, a shepherd, taught Peggy to understand hand signals and body language. The couple trained Peggy with the help of a sheepdog trainer and their two other working dogs, Sid and Nora.

Shorten said, “We completely fell in love with Peggy almost immediately, and it soon became clear that she wouldn’t be going anywhere. We knew Peggy wanted to be working, so we started the long process of teaching her how to herd and work with a shepherd without relying on voice commands.”

The couple began by training Peggy to look at them to receive hand signals. “We used repetitive and positive reinforcement (加强) and instead of pairing a verbal command with an action we’d use a hand gesture. She reads our hand signals and body language as a way of telling what we’re asking for. For example, thumbs up means ‘good girl’. A flat, outstretched palm means ‘stop’.”

Shorten and her husband point in a certain direction to indicate where they want Peggy to go and pat their knees to summon her back to them. To ask her to slow down, Shorten said she does a waving gesture.

Peggy is not working full-time but enjoys helping out in the fields. “It can be difficult with a deaf dog, because you have to wave at her to get her attention, and sometimes she doesn’t realize straight away,” she said. “But she’s such a happy little dog. She’s no spring chicken, and she is generally retired, but she loves going out to work with us and running around in the fields.”