閱讀筆記 S4016 A Sticky Situation

Science 4016
A Sticky Situation
Who made rubber the useful material that it is today?
lf you look around, you can probably spot at least a few things that are made of rubber—a ball, the bottoms of your sneakers, the wheels of a car. Without the patience and work of Charles Goodyear, none of them would have been possible.
Rubber begins as the sticky sap of a tropical tree. In the early 1800s, people thought that this waterproof material was the wave of the future. They were eager to use things made of rubber. It wasn’t long, though, before they realized that rubber wasn’t as useful as it first seemed. When it got cold out, rubber froze and became brittle. When it was hot, rubber melted and turned into a gooey mess. Suddenly, no one wanted to use rubber products anymore.
Charles Goodyear was fascinated with rubber. He was sure that there was a way to make it stable and easy to use. He began to work with the rubber gum, kneading it and rolling it out. He experimented with it by adding different materials. He thought that he might be able to add a powder to the rubber that would keep it from getting so sticky in the heat. The first type of powder he added was called magnesia. He made shoes from this rubber, but they melted. Goodyear needed to try something else.
The next time, he decided to experiment with magnesia and something called quicklime. He boiled the mixture and got a slightly better result. However, he found that when this rubber touched even a mild acid, like lemon juice or vinegar, it was ruined.
Others might have given up, but Goodyear knew he could find a solution to the problem. He added nitric acid and found that the rubber seemed smoother and drier. He was sure that he had made a better product. Sadly, he was wrong. The mailbags he made of this new rubber melted in the heat, too.
After years of work, Goodyear learned that sulfur might help dry out the rubber. He made the mixture and kept on experimenting with it. One day, a piece of it accidentally dropped onto a hot stovetop. Instead of melting, it turned tough and leathery. When the mixture of rubber gum and sulfur was heated at a high temperature, it became stable. Goodyear had finally found a solution!

閱讀筆記 R6008 Bonsai

Reading 6008
Bonsai
Have you ever seen miniature trees, or bonsai, at a nursery or a botanic garden?
1 In Japan, the word bonsai means tray plant. lt refers to the interesting combination of art and cultivation of miniature trees and plants. Bonsai originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. The tradition spread to Japan about 700 years ago, and it is still popular there today.
2 Some people believe that small, or dwarf, plants must be used in bonsai, but this is not true. Nearly any type of tree or plant can be used, as long as it is grown from a seed or small cutting. The owner must then prune, trim, and shape the plant as it grows so that it resembles, in miniature, a much larger tree. He or she must do this skillfully, however, because the plant must appear to have grown naturally, untouched by humans. lt takes a great deal of care and patience to achieve this balance.
3 A bonsai is more than just a plant. It holds a special and significant place in Japanese culture. According to Japanese tradition, three elements are necessary to create a successful bonsai: truth, goodness, and beauty. When these three elements come together, a bonsai can live for hundreds of years! It may be passed down from one generation of a family to the next as a prized possession.
4 In Japan, bonsais are grown in containers outdoors but are brought into the home for special occasions. Inside, they are placed in the tokonoma. This is a small area in traditional Japanese rooms intended for the display of artistic objects. In a Japanese garden, other items may be added to the bonsai. The addition of rocks, small buildings, and miniature people is called bon-kei. Sai-kei is a related art form in which entire landscapes are reproduced in miniature.
5 There are five basic styles of bonsai: the formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade, and semi-cascade. In the formal upright, the trunk of the tree should be perfectly straight, and the branches should be balanced. ln the informal upright, the trunk should bend slightly to one side, but never toward the viewer. The trunk of a slanting tree leans to one side and may look similar to the informal upright.
6 Cascade and semi-cascade are similar because in both styles the leaves and the branches cascade down toward the base of the plant. The main difference is that in the cascade style, the leaves actually extend below the bottom of the container.
7 lf you are interested in raising a bonsai of your own, there is no need to go all the way to Japan to find one. Today, bonsais are available in nurseries all over the United States. You will have to do a little research to make sure that you know how to properly care for your plant. You will also need to be prepared to spend time caring for your plant. But as any bonsai owner will tell you, your efforts are well worth the reward of being a part of this time-honored Asian tradition.

閱讀筆記 R5150 Happy New Year!

Reading 5150
Happy New Year!
How does your family welcome in the New Year?
1 New Year’s celebrations are a little bit different all around the world. They are celebrated with different customs, traditions, and special foods. They may even be observed at different times of the year. One similarity is that they are all marked by a celebration and a symbolic welcoming of the new year while saying farewell to the old.
2 ln the United States, we use the Julian calendar, created by Emperor Julius Caesar. Celebrations usually begin on December 31, or New Year’s Eve, and continue on into January 1, the first day of the new year.
3 Probably the most famous American celebration takes place in New York City’s Times Square. A large crowd gathers below the 1,070-pound crystal ball that measures six feet in diameter. At 11:59 P.M. the ball is lowered. It reaches the bottom of the tower at the stroke of midnight, and the crowd erupts into cheers and exclamations of good wishes. Many people watch the ball drop on television during their own New Year’s celebrations. It is common for people to count down to the new year as they watch the ball drop.
4 Making New Year’s resolutions is another popular American tradition. Many people see the beginning of a new year as the time to make changes or have a fresh start. New Year’s resolutions can serve as promises or reminders to oneself of changes and improvements to be made over the course of the upcoming year.
5 Black-eyed peas, ham, and cabbage are traditional dishes to serve on New Year’s Day. They are symbols of good luck and prosperity for the coming year. People in other countries also have New Year’s traditions surrounding food. For example, the Dutch often eat doughnuts to welcome in the New Year. Because doughnuts are shaped like a circle, they are thought to symbolize the completion of a cycle—the beginning of a new year and ending of the previous year.
6 In Japan, people eat long soba noodles in celebration. Eating these noodles without breaking them symbolizes long life. In Spain, there is the tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight. This marks successful grape harvests of the past and the hope for more in the future.
7  One of the most colorful New Year’s celebrations takes place in China and at Chinese festivals around the world. The Chinese New Year is determined by the lunar calendar, and falls between January 2l and February 19. The festival lasts about two weeks. During this time, towns are decorated with colorful lanterns and flowers. People thoroughly clean their homes to symbolize getting rid of the misfortunes of the previous year. Parades and fireworks mark the festivities, and seafood and dumplings are traditionally eaten.
8  The next time January 1 approaches, take some time to consider the events of the previous year. Think about your goals and hopes for the next year. Maybe you can even start a new tradition with your family and friends to welcome in each new year!

閱讀筆記 R4138 E-mail Advice

Reading 4138
E-mail Advice  
What is it like to be an architect?
From: Hiroshi Ishikawa 
Date: November 13, 2008 
To: Mr. Daley
Subject: Architect career
Dear Mr. Daley,
1 My aunt said that you would be expecting to hear from me. My name is Hiroshi, and I am interested in becoming an architect. l would like to learn more about what it is like to be an architect. Can you tell me a little more about your career? What do you like best about it? I would be happy to receive any advice you have.
2  Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Hiroshi Ishikawa

From: Andrew Daley
Date: November 15, 2008 
To: Hiroshi Ishikawa 
Subject: RE: Architect career
Dear Hiroshi,
3  l am happy to hear that you would like to become an architect! Your aunt tells me that you are a good student and a hard worker, so l already know that you’ll be able to accomplish whatever you put your mind to.
4 You have chosen a difficult but rewarding career. Architecture is unusual because it is a blend of both art and science. You need to be creative to think of new and interesting designs. You also need to be good at math and science so that you can translate your creative ideas into structures that are safe and useful. Even English is important to an architect. You need to be able to express your ideas clearly so that other people can understand them.
5  Think about all the different kinds of buildings people need: houses, apartments, schools, office buildings, grocery stores, churches, malls, hotels, factories, gymnasiums, airports, hospitals. Architects figure out the best way to build each building so that it is interesting to look at, safe, and easy to use.
6  First, the architect usually creates a proposal that shows the customer his or her idea for the building. If the customer likes it, then the architect keeps working. He or she comes up with a plan that shows all the details of how the building will be constructed. The architect does not actually build the structure. But questions often come up during the construction, so the architect always needs to be available.
7  My favorite part of being an architect is seeing the idea that I had in my mind become an actual building. That never stops being exciting for me!
8  Please let me know if you have any other questions. You are also welcome to schedule a day to shadow me at work.
Good Luck, Hiroshi!
Andrew Daley

英文閱讀筆記分享012別讓Facebook毀了你的大學申請

They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets.

TechnophoriaBy NATASHA SINGERNovember 12, 2013

别让Facebook毁了你的大学申请

科技NATASHA SINGER2013年11月12日

John-Patrick Thomas

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me., admissions officers are still talking about the high school senior who attended a campus information session last year for prospective students. Throughout the presentation, she apparently posted disparaging comments on Twitter about her fellow attendees, repeatedly using a common expletive.

在缅因州布伦瑞克的鲍登学院(Bowdoin College)，招生人员至今还在谈论去年参加校园招生信息介绍会的一名高中毕业班学生。在整个陈述过程中，她一直在Twitter上发帖辱骂其他到会学生，并且多次使用一个常见的脏词。

Perhaps she hadn’t realized that colleges keep track of their social media mentions.

也许她还没有意识到，高校会查看他们在社交媒体上的表现。

“It was incredibly unusual and foolish of her to do that,” Scott A. Meiklejohn, Bowdoin’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told me last week. The college ultimately denied the student admission, he said, because her academic record wasn’t competitive. But had her credentials been better, those indiscreet posts could have scuttled her chances.

“她的做法是极其不寻常且十分愚蠢的，”鲍登学院的招生和财政援助主任斯科特·A·米克尔约翰(Scott A. Meiklejohn)上周告诉我。他说学院最终拒绝了她的入学申请，因为她在学业上成绩平平。但是，就算她的成绩比较好，那些轻率的帖子也可能会搞砸她的录取机会。

“We would have wondered about the judgment of someone who spends their time on their mobile phone and makes such awful remarks,” Mr. Meiklejohn said.

“如果一个人花时间在手机上如此出言不逊，我们难免会对他的判断力产生怀疑。“米克尔约翰说。

As certain high school seniors work meticulously this month to finish their early applications to colleges, some may not realize that comments they casually make online could negatively affect their prospects. In fact, new research from Kaplan Test Prep, the service owned by the Washington Post Company, suggests that online scrutiny of college hopefuls is growing.

本月，部分毕业班学生正在一丝不苟地准备自己的提前入学申请材料，有些人可能没有意识到，他们在网上随性发表的言论，可能会给自己的录取结果带来负面影响。华盛顿邮报公司(The Washington Post Company)下属“卡普兰考试培训”服务(Kaplan Test Prep)进行的一项新研究显示，高校申请者正在遭受更多的网上审查。

Of 381 college admissions officers who answered a Kaplan telephone questionnaire this year, 31 percent said they had visited an applicant’s Facebook or other personal social media page to learn more about them — a five-percentage-point increase from last year. More crucially for those trying to get into college, 30 percent of the admissions officers said they had discovered information online that had negatively affected an applicant’s prospects.

今年回答卡普兰电话问卷的高校招生人员共有381名，其中31%表示，他们查看过申请者的Facebook等社交媒体页面，以便更多地了解情况——这比去年同期增加了五个百分点。对于希望进入大学校门的人来说，有一点更加重要：30%的招生人员表示，他们在网上发现的信息对申请者的录取结果产生了负面影响。

“Students’ social media and digital footprint can sometimes play a role in the admissions process,” says Christine Brown, the executive director of K-12 and college prep programs at Kaplan Test Prep. “It’s something that is becoming more ubiquitous and less looked down upon.”

“在招生工作中，学生的社交媒体和数字足迹有时候可能会发挥一定作用。”卡普兰考试培训公司的K-12和大学预科课程项目执行主管克里斯蒂娜·布朗(Christine Brown)说。“这种事情正在变得更加普遍，不再那么让人瞧不起了。”

In the business realm, employers now vet the online reputations of job candidates as a matter of course. Given the impulsiveness of typical teenagers, however — not to mention the already fraught nature of college acceptances and rejections — the idea that admissions officers would covertly nose around the social media posts of prospective students seems more chilling.

在商业领域，审核应聘者的网上声誉现在已经被雇主视为理所当然。但是，由于青少年一般都具有冲动的特性——而且高校录取与否本来就是一件令人悬心的大事——招生人员暗中审查未来学生社交媒体信息的举动似乎更加让人寒毛倒竖。

There is some reason for concern. Ms. Brown says that most colleges don’t have formal policies about admissions officers supplementing students’ files with their own online research. If colleges find seemingly troubling material online, they may not necessarily notify the applicants involved.

这并非杞人忧天。布朗说，招生人员如何把自己在网上找到的信息用作申请者的补充资料，大多数高校都没有这方面的正式政策。如果高校在网上发现了一些看似有问题的内容，他们可能不一定会通知申请者。

“To me, it’s a huge problem,” said Bradley S. Shear, a lawyer specializing in social media law. For one thing, Mr. Shear told me, colleges might erroneously identify the account of a person with the same name as a prospective student — or even mistake an impostor’s account — as belonging to the applicant, potentially leading to unfair treatment. “Often,” he added, “false and misleading content online is taken as fact.”

“在我看来，这是一个很大的问题。”社交媒体法专业律师布拉德利·S·希尔(Bradley S. Shear)说。希尔告诉我，首先，高校可能会把同名同姓者——甚至可能是冒名顶替者——的账号误认为申请者的，从而让他们遭到不公平对待。“网上的虚假内容和误导性内容常常被视为事实。”他说。

These kinds of concerns prompted me last week to email 20 colleges and universities — small and large, private and public, East Coast and West Coast — to ask about their practices. Then I called admissions officials at 10 schools who agreed to interviews.

这些担心促使我上周给20所学院和大学——其中小型的和大型、私立和公立、东海岸和西海岸皆有——发去电子邮件，询问他们采取了何种做法。然后，我给同意接受采访的10所学校的招生人员打了电话。

Each official told me that it was not routine practice at his or her institution for admissions officers to use Google searches on applicants or to peruse their social media posts. Most said their school received so many applications to review — with essays, recommendations and, often, supplemental portfolios — that staff members wouldn’t be able to do extra research online. A few also felt that online investigations might lead to unfair or inconsistent treatment.

他们都告诉我：招生人员用谷歌(Google)搜索申请者的信息，或者仔细查看申请者的社交媒体帖子，都不是他们学校的常规做法。大多数人都说，他们学校收到了很多需要审查的申请材料——论文、推荐信，经常还会有补充材料——工作人员没有精力上网去做额外调查。少数招生人员也表示，网上调查可能会让学生遭到不公平或者前后不一的对待。

“As students’ use of social media is growing, there’s a whole variety of ways that college admissions officers can use it,” Beth A. Wiser, the director of admissions at the University of Vermont, told me. “We have chosen to not use it as part of the process in making admissions decisions.”

“随着学生越来越多地使用社交媒体，高校招生人员利用这些信息的方式可能存在诸多不同，”佛蒙特大学(University of Vermont)的招生主任贝丝·A·韦思(Beth A. Wiser)说。“我们已经决定，不在录取决定过程中使用它们。”

Other admissions officials said they did not formally prohibit the practice. In fact, they said, admissions officers did look at online material about applicants on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes prospective students themselves ask an admissions office to look at blogs or videos they have posted; on other occasions, an admissions official might look up an obscure award or event mentioned by an applicant, for purposes of elucidation.

其他招生人员表示，他们没有正式禁止这种做法。事实上，他们说，招生人员确实会一时兴起到网上看看申请者的资料。有些时候，是申请者自己让招生办公室去看他们贴在网上的博客或视频；还有些时候，招生人员需要上网查找申请者提及的不太出名的奖项或者活动，看看到底怎么回事。

“Last year, we watched some animation videos and we followed media stories about an applicant who was involved in a political cause,” says Will Hummel, an admissions officer at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. But those were rare instances, he says, and the supplemental material didn’t significantly affect the students’ admissions prospects.

“去年，我们看了一些动画视频，还关注了一名申请者参与的政治活动的有关媒体报道，”加州克莱蒙特的波莫纳学院(Pomona College)招生人员威尔·胡默尔(Will Hummel)说。但他说这种情况很少见，并且这样的补充材料对学生的录取结果没有明显影响。

Admissions officials also said they had occasionally rejected applicants, or revoked their acceptances, because of online materials. Often, these officials said, a college may learn about a potential problem from an outside source, such as a high school counselor or a graduate, prompting it to look into the matter.

这些招生人员也表示，他们确实偶尔会因为网上的信息拒绝录取申请者，或者撤销对他们的录取。高校常常是从外部人员那里，比如一名高中辅导员或者一名毕业生那里了解到可能存在一些问题，然后才对它进行调查。

Last year, an undergraduate at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., who had befriended a prospective student on Facebook, notified the admissions office because he noticed that the applicant had posted offensive comments about one of his high school teachers.

去年，加州克莱蒙特匹泽学院(Pitzer College)的一名本科生在Facebook上认识了一名申请者，然后发现他在网上发表了对自己的一名高中老师的评论，言语令人反感，于是通知了本科招生办公室。

“We thought, this is not the kind of person we want in our community,” Angel B. Perez, Pitzer’s dean of admission and financial aid, told me. With about 4,200 applications annually for a first-year class of 250 students, the school can afford to be selective. “We didn’t admit the student,” Mr. Perez said.

“我们认为，我们不愿意这样的人出现在学校里。”匹泽学院的录取和财务援助主任安吉尔·B·佩雷斯(Angel B. Perez)告诉我。这所学校每年会收到约4200个申请，新生录取名额只有250个，他们有精挑细选的资本。“我们没有录取那个学生。”佩雷斯说。

In an effort to help high school students avoid self-sabotage online, guidance counselors are tutoring them in scrubbing their digital identities. At Brookline High School in Massachusetts, juniors are taught to delete alcohol-related posts or photographs and to create socially acceptable email addresses. One junior’s original email address was “bleedingjesus,” said Lenny Libenzon, the school’s guidance department chairman. That changed.

在为了帮助高中生避免在网上破坏自己的前程，辅导员开始教导他们如何清理自己的数字足迹。在马萨诸塞州布鲁克莱恩高中(Brookline High School)，辅导员教导高中三年级（毕业年级为四年级。——译注）的学生删除与酒精饮料相关的帖子或照片，并使用社会接受程度较高的电邮地址。一名高三学生以前的电邮地址是“bleedingjesus"（流血耶稣），该校辅导部门负责人莱尼·利宾森(Lenny Libenzon)说。后来改了。

“They imagine admissions officers are old professors,” he said. “But we tell them a lot of admissions officers are very young and technology-savvy.”

“他们以为招生人员都是老教授，”他说，“但我们跟他们说，很多招生人员都非常年轻，非常了解信息技术。”

Likewise, high school students seem to be growing more shrewd, changing their searchable names on Facebook or untagging themselves in pictures to obscure their digital footprints during the college admission process.

同样，高中生自己似乎也变得越来越精明了，在高校录取期间，他们修改了Facebook上的可搜索名称，取消了标出自己名字的图片标记，以便掩盖自己的数字足迹。

“We know that some students maintain two Facebook accounts,” says Wes K. Waggoner, the dean of undergraduate admission at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

“我们知道有些学生有两个Facebook账号。”达拉斯南卫理公会大学(Southern Methodist University)的本科录取主任韦斯·K·瓦戈纳(Wes K. Waggoner)说。

For their part, high school seniors say that sanitizing social media accounts doesn’t seem qualitatively different than the efforts they already make to present the most appealing versions of themselves to colleges. While Megan Heck, 17, a senior at East Lansing High School in Michigan, told me that she was not amending any of her posts as she applied early to colleges this month, many of her peers around the country were.

高中毕业班学生说，对他们而言，清理社交媒体帐户在本质上跟把自己最美好的一面展现给高校没有区别。17岁的梅根·海克(Megan Heck)是密歇根州东兰辛高中(East Lansing High School)的毕业班学生，她告诉我，在本月申请首批高校时她不会修改自己的任何帖子，但全国各地有很多同龄人都在这么做。

“If you’ve got stuff online you don’t want colleges to see,” Ms. Heck said, “deleting it is kind of like joining two more clubs senior year to list on your application to try to make you seem more like the person they want at their schools.”

“如果你在网上有一些不想让高校看到的东西，那么删除它们就相当于是在申请材料上添加了你高三参加了另外两个俱乐部活动，目的都是让自己显得更像是他们希望录取的那种人，”海克说。

Copyright © 2013 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.

翻译：土土

英文閱讀筆記分享011《時代》週刊：中國學生PISA排名「作弊」

China is Cheating the World Student Rankings System

Enough is enough: Beijing must supply national data to assessors and not simply the results of a small minority of elite students

By David Stout Dec. 04, 2013385 Comments

Carlos Barria / Reuters

A Young Pioneer attends the weekly flag-raising ceremony at the East Experimental School in Shanghai November 5, 2012.

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The results from a global exam that evaluates students’ reading, science and math skills are in and, once again, Chinese students appear to be reigning supreme while American students continued to underperform.
But before you shake your head ruefully and scoff at the decline of Western-style education, take a look at how the data is organized.
The OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams are held every three years. Coming first and third respectively in the 2012 exams are the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong.
However, China is uniquely not listed as a country in the rankings — unlike the U.S., Russia, Germany, Australia and other nations judged on the basis of their country-wide performances. Instead, China only shares Shanghai’s score with PISA. (Hong Kong, a Special Autonomous Region of China, sends its own data.)
Shanghainese and Hong Kong students are much better educated than those elsewhere in China. Slate quoted the Brookings Institution’s Tom Loveless as saying that  “About 84 percent of Shanghai high school graduates go to college, compared to 24 percent nationally.” In addition, Loveless points out that affluent Shanghainese parents will spend large sums on extra tuition for the children — paying fees that far exceed what an average worker makes in a year.
By not providing full national data, China is in effect cheating.
As Loveless noted earlier this year, Shanghai’s test scores “will be depicted, in much of the public discussion that follows, as the results for China.” He added: “that is wrong.”
All of a sudden, rote-learning doesn’t look like China’s secret weapon.

Read more: World Student Rankings: China Is Cheating the PISA System | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2013/12/04/china-is-cheating-the-world-student-rankings-system/#ixzz2n4ficJpm

英文閱讀筆記分享010謊稱出軌當周年紀念禮物的代價

Not a laughing matter! Man's 'I cheated' prank goes sour when girlfriend admits she's been unfaithful too

• YouTube prankster Roman Atwood made the claim he'd cheated while they were celebrating their five year anniversary in Aruba
• Through her sobs, his girlfriend said she too had an affair

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 01:58 GMT, 21 November 2013 | UPDATED: 09:13 GMT, 21 November 2013

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What better way to celebrate your five-year anniversary than by fooling your girlfriend into believing you’ve cheated?
Professional YouTube prankster Roman Atwood did just that while he and his partner Britney vacationed in Aruba, thinking the stunt could live among his many others posted online.
But Atwood was in for the shock of his pranking career when his sobbing girlfriend admitted she’d been unfaithful, too.
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Beaten at his own game: YouTube prankster Roman Atwood, left, decided to tell his girlfriend that he cheated while they vacationed in Aruba for the 5-year anniversary

Pranked: With a hidden camera rolling, Atwood tells his girlfriend Britney that he cheated, even though he hasn't

Happier times: Here, Roman and Brittney show their love for one another. Their trip to Aruba marked their five year anniversary

‘I’m in Aruba right now celebrating my five-year anniversary with my girlfriend,’ Atwood tells the camera as he approaches their hotel room. ‘I’m going to prank her tonight by telling her I cheated on her.’
On his YouTube channel, Atwood has posted similarly tasteful prank videos such as ‘Scary Hangman Prank!’ and ‘Homeless Pizza Party Prank!!!’

 

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• The marriage that survived HIS affair but was destroyed by HERS: Sarah and Tony both cheated. But their break-up proves the sexes have very different attitudes to infidelity

But he may have gone wrong with this particular stunt by involving his girlfriend.
‘We have a family,’ she sobs after Atwood’s fake admission. 

Prank goes sour when girlfriend admits she's cheated too

'We had a family': The seemingly heartbroken Britney breaks down in sobs as Atwood begs for forgiveness

But then...: Through her tears, Britney admits 'I cheated on you'

He says he’ll never do it again and apologizes profusely. But then the tables turn.
‘I cheated on you,’ Britney admits.
Atwood flips out and paces in stunned disbelief. His prank has gone terribly wrong.
Most of Atwood's jokes end with a laugh. But most don't involve Brittney.
A few tense moments appeared to put a damper on what had been a wildly popular YouTube prank career for Roman.
Then, before his anger can go too far, Britney smiles. 

Flip out: The shocked Atwood can't believe his ears and he begs Britney to say it ain't so

Gotcha! Then Britney serves her just desserts. She was pranking the prankster. 'I saw you set up your camera, you idiot!'

She was pranking him. ‘I saw you set up your camera, you idiot!’
All is well again and both get a good laugh before Atwood wonders what’s become of his prank.
‘I suck so…I cannot upload that.’
Thankfully, he decided to upload it after all and the world has enjoyed it. In less than a day, the video had gained over 630,000 views.
But there may be more shenanigans in store for the serial trickster and his sly girlfriend, who admits at the end of the video: 'I thought you were going to propose!'
YouTube viewers and Twitter users are now demanding that after his cruel prank he should make good by popping the question.

'She wants to marry you bro marry her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' wrote commenter madman2436.

Daniel Johnson wrote: 'Put a ring on dat, Romes.'
PuRpLe NiNjA says: 'U should proposal 2 her C'

Read more:

• RomanAtwood
• Cheating Prank Backfires When Girlfriend Reveals She's Cheating Too
• PuRpLe NiNjA
• Daniel Johnson
• madman2436

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510949/Mans-I-cheated-prank-goes-sour-girlfriend-admits-shes-unfaithful-too.html#ixzz2mV6Gggp7
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英文閱讀筆記分享009巨蟒吞人?!

What HAS this python eaten? Photograph of giant snake that appears to have eaten a human sweeps the internet… but did it actually kill anyone?

• Incredible photograph, showing giant snake with human-sized bulge, sparks debate and confusion
• Claims that the picture was taken in Asia, Africa and America

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 19:39 GMT, 28 November 2013 | UPDATED: 15:16 GMT, 29 November 2013

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This incredible photograph has sparked debate and confusion across the internet.
The image, which has sweeped across social media sites, appears to show a python that has just finished a human-sized meal.
While suggestions about where the picture may have been taken range between Asia, Africa and America, the general consensus is that this snake's food was human.

This incredible photograph, which appears to show a snake shortly after a human-sized meal, has sparked debate and confusion across the internet

One website claims it was taken in India, where the mighty snake swallowed a sleeping drunkard.
Another version goes that the snake swallowed a woman in Durban North, South Africa, this summer, and that the picture was taken by a reporter.

 

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The picture has also been claimed to have been taken in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Guyana, South America.
There have also been stories that the snake was found in game reserve before eating its rescuer.
Many others, including the website Hoax Slayer, have claimed the photograph is fake.

If real, this would not be the first reported incident involving a python eating a human whole

One of the deadliest creatures in the world, this would not represent the first time a python has eaten a human.
In 2002, a 20ft python reportedly swallowed a ten-year-old boy whole in Durban, South Africa, in the first recorded man-eating incident for its species.
Meanwhile, last month a ten-foot albino Burmese python swallowed two cats in Florida, United States.
Elsewhere, in 2011 a 16-foot python was found in the Everglades National Park, United States, after swallowing a whole adult deer.

THE PYTHON

Python snakes are found in countries across Africa, Asia and Australia. They are also now found in North America after making their way into the Everglades National Park, Florida.
There are currently 26 species of python recognised across the world.
Reported attacks on humans are rare, and the snake is generaly expected to remain calm unless startled or provoked.
Their victims are killed by constriction and then swallowed whole. Depending on the size of the prey, the digestion process can take weeks.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515164/Photograph-python-snake-appears-eaten-human.html#ixzz2mV2zkdNt
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Typhoon Pounds the Philippines

Typhoon Pounds the Philippines, Millions at Risk http://abcnews.go.com/International/typhoon-pounds-philippines-millions-risk/story?id=20825314
Nov. 8, 2013 By ANTHONY CASTELLANO via Good Morning America 

Typhoon in the Philippines Causing Grave Concern  One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded began its assault on the Philippines this morning, bringing powerful winds that have knocked out power, downed trees and killed at least three people.  Typhoon Haiyan made landfall at 4:40 a.m. local time near Guiuan, on the Philippine island of Samar about 405 miles southeast of the country's capital, Manila. Coastal areas devastated by the storm have been cut off from communication because of lost power and the government cannot ascertain the number of casualties or much damage has been sustained, The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said at a morning news briefing. 
Two people were electrocuted to death in storm-related accidents, according to the government, and the other was struck by lightning in Zamboanga City on the island of Mindanao.  PHOTOS: Typhoon Haiyan Makes Landfall in the Philippines 
More than 748,000 people have already been evacuated to the 644 evacuation centers across the country. Government officials said more than 3,000 are stranded in ports. 
The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said shortly before the typhoon made landfall that its maximum sustained winds were 195 mph, with gusts up to 235 mph. 
The world's strongest recorded hurricane, typhoon or cyclone to previously make landfall was Hurricane Camille of 1969, which roared ashore with 190 mph winds in Mississippi. Haiyan's sustained winds easily make it a category 5 hurricane. 
The Philippines government weather bureau said Haiyan had sustained winds of 147 miles per hour, with gusts of 170 mph when it made landfall.  Super Typhoon: One of the Biggest Storms Ever 
The U.S. Navy's numbers are different from local weather data because the Navy measures the average wind speed for one minute while local forecasters measure average for 10 minutes. 
Television images from Tacloban city on Leyte Island showed a street under knee-deep floodwater carrying debris that had been blown down by the fierce winds. Tin roofing sheets
ripped from buildings were flying above the street. 
"Absolutely catastrophic damage must have occurred where this storm made landfall," Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at the private firm Weather Underground, told ABC News Radio. 
Southern Leyte Gov. Roger Mercado said 31,000 people were evacuated in his landslide-prone mountainous province before the super typhoon struck, knocking out power, setting off small landslides that blocked roads in rural areas, uprooting trees and ripping roofs off houses around his residence. 
"When you're faced with such a scenario, you can only pray, and pray and pray," Mercado told the AP by telephone, adding that his town mayors have not called in to report any major damage. 
Haiyan is expected to move over South China Sea and into Vietnam by Sunday into Monday with strong winds up to 110 mph. The storm is forecast to significantly weaken as it reaches Laos and inland China, but tropical rain could produce deadly flash floods. 
Haiyan is about 300 miles wide, roughly the distance from Boston to Philadelphia. The storm surge could likely exceed 23 feet, compared with the 14 feet Superstorm Sandy brought with it last year when it hit the East Coast. 
"It's stronger in an absolute sense than Sandy but the strongest winds are concentrated very close to the center as compared to a storm like Sandy where the strong winds extended very far away from the center," the National Hurricane Center's Richard Pass told ABC News Radio. 
The typhoon has halted air travel as 13 of the country's airports have been shut down. 
The Philippines government has three cargo planes, 32 military helicopters and planes and navy ships on standby. It's the 24th named storm this year to hit the vulnerable islands. 
ABC News' Max Golembo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Arrest Made in Near-Abduction of 8-Year-Old Colorado Girl

Arrest Made in Near-Abduction of 8-Year-Old Colorado Girl
夜闖民宅 綁架小孩 2 http://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-made-abduction-year-colorado-girl/story?id=20765630
Nov. 2, 2013
By CAROL MCKINLEY and KEVIN DOLAK
A Colorado artist has been arrested in connection with the foiled kidnapping of an 8-year-old girl who fought back and was able to escape during her abduction, police said. 
John Stanley Snorsky, 26, of Aurora, Colo., has been charged with first- and second-degree burglary and second-degree kidnapping after being arrested Tuesday morning for an investigative parole hold on an unrelated case, police said. 
On Oct. 28, police said they discovered that an unidentified man had removed a screen and opened an unlocked window at a single-story Aurora residence, reached into the window and grabbed an 8-year-old girl. She had been doing homework with her brother asleep in the same room.  MORE DETAILS: 8-Year-Old Nearly Kidnapped by 'Predator' Through Her Bedroom Window, Police Say 
As the suspect was fleeing with the child, police said, she was able to scratch at her abductor and scream for help, which caught the attention of her father. The father ran out of the home and located his daughter, who was running back to the house from the alley in the rear of the residence, police added. The girl's father ran into the alley where he saw a silver Mercedes sedan drive off. 
"She is a brave young lady and kept her wits about her," Aurora Police Division Chief Rob McGregor said at a news conference today. "It is a message to all parents to reiterate to their kids to make noise if something is going on." 
The girl, who police did not name, had very minor injuries and was transported to the hospital. 
Police released a composite sketch of the man they were looking for on Monday night. A reward of $20,000 was set for information leading to the arrest of the kidnapper. 
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said that he believed the reward was a major factor in the more-than-200 tips that came in. 
Snorsky was taken into custody on suspicion of committing felony theft, police said at a news conference on Saturday.  McGregor said Snorsky, a self-proclaimed artist, works in Aurora at a sub shop. A Facebook page under his name and date of birth showed drawings that he has made and posed self-portraits. 
Snorsky came to the United States from Russia, police sources told ABC News. He has served time in a Colorado prison for burglary and escape. 
While out on parole, Snorsky made friends where he worked at the Aurora sub shop, including with police who often went there to eat. 
The restaurant owner, a 72-year-old-woman, felt sorry for Snorsky and took him in, according to police sources. 
Snorsky is being held on a $500,000 bond, and is scheduled to appear in court Monday. It was not immediately clear whether or not Snorsky had been assigned an attorney.

8-Year-Old Nearly Kidnapped by 'Predator' Through Her Bedroom Window

8-Year-Old Nearly Kidnapped by 'Predator' Through Her Bedroom Window, Police Say
AURORA, Colo., Oct. 29, 2013  
By CLAYTON SANDELL 
Girl, 8, Fought Her Way Free From Kidnapper http://abcnews.go.com/US/year-kidnapped-predator-bedroom-window-police/story?id=20710341
An 8-year-old's cries for help after police say she was kidnapped from her bedroom probably saved her life and now authorities are asking the public's help to find the suspect. 
"We believe there is a predator out there, and he needs to be stopped. He needs to be caught," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference Monday. 
"A predator like this could go anywhere, and has no regard for jurisdictional boundaries," he added. 
The girl, according to police, endured minor injuries, and authorities give her credit for screaming and putting up a struggle. The girl's cries for help alerted her father, who ran outside and found her in an alley. 
"An important element is a lesson to all of us parents. This young girl immediately cried out, immediately put up a fuss and struggled. Who knows if that saved her life," Oates said. 
A sketch of the suspect was released Monday night, and police said they're looking for a white man with short blond hair. He was wearing a heavy black winter jacket and had the distinct odor of cigarette smoke, investigators said.  The girl's grandmother, Beatrice Padilla, told The Denver Post the girl was doing her homework in her bunk bed sometime after midnight Monday. The suspect cut through and removed a screen before opening an unlocked window, according to police. 
The man reached into the ground-floor window and grabbed the girl, pulling her out through the window, investigators said. 
Police said the suspect headed toward the alleyway behind her home, but she began screaming for help and somehow managed to escape. Her father ran out of the house only to find his daughter running back from the alley. The father told police he saw a silver or gray car, possibly a BWM, speeding from the alley. 
Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information aiding the investigation, and are treating it as a stranger kidnapping. 
"There is nothing to indicate that this family was targeted in particular, which in some ways make it even more chilling," Oates said. 
Investigators are now reviewing surveillance cameras in the area for clues and checking on registered sex offenders in the area. 
"I've been in this business a long time. I've never seen anything like this. We really need your support, the media support and the public support. Tips and leads to catch this guy," Oates said. 
The girl's parents returned home hours after the near abduction to collect the family dogs before leaving again. They declined to speak with reporters. 

Bruce Lee Is Back

Bruce Lee Is Back
By Dorothy Pomerantz http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/10/23/bruce-lee-is-back/
The martial artist Bruce Lee died in 1973 at the age of 32. Today, everyone thinks of Lee as an icon whose hit movie, Enter the Dragon, inspired a generation of filmmakers. But Lee passed away before the film even hit theaters. Who knows how many more films Lee would have produced had he lived? Fans might soon get a chance to see Lee back in action on the silver screen. Lee ranks 12th on our list of the Top Earning Dead Celebrities this year with $7 million. His estate, which is run by his daughter Shannon, took the first steps toward realizing the dream of a new Bruce Lee movie with a short film sponsored by Johnnie Walker. Made for the whiskey company’s Keep Walking campaign, the 90 -second spot features Lee in modern times on a balcony in Hong Kong, poetically explaining how you have to make your own rules and follow your own instinct.  The spot took two years to produce. Artists watched videos of Lee, and using a computerized wire screen mask, replicated facial expressions and nuances like the movement on Lee’s face between a neutral look and a smile. The face was then superimposed on an actor. The process was very similar to the one used in the movie Benjamin Button where Brad Pitt played an old man for the first half of the film.
 “Because of our excitement around seeing if the technology could really work, we thought this was a worthwhile endeavor,” says Shannon Lee.
The spot was shown in movie theaters in Hong Kong but once it hit the Internet, it sparked something of a controversy. Online, Lee was speaking in Mandarin to reach out to the massive Chinese audience. But Hong Kong fans were outraged because in real life, Lee only spoke Cantonese (and English).
Fans were also annoyed by the fact that the piece certainly felt like an ad for Johnnie Walker and Lee was famously fastidious about what he put in his body. He never drank alcohol.
Shannon Lee says that the reason they agreed to work with Walker was because the Keep Walking campaign so closely reflected Bruce Lee’s own “walk on” philosophy. For the most part, she says the response to the piece has been positive.
Lee says she is open to using this kind of technology again. The estate is at work on a Bruce Lee museum in Seattle where she thinks a virtual Bruce Lee could help with educational exhibits.
“Do I think the technology could carry itself front and center for a 90-minute movie?” asks Lee. “That remains to be seen. But given enough time and enough artistic people, I’m sure it can be done.”
If Bruce Lee shows up even in a cameo in a film, it could pave the way for other estates to take up the reins and we could see deceased stars making comebacks in the next few years.