At times Columbus became reconciled to the truth that this new land was not China，not Japan，not the spice Islands．He seemed to accept it as a part of the earth that the geographers of Europe had never heard of before．It was another world-and he called it exactly that-but Columbus also insisted until he died that the land he had reached was an unknown part of Asia．
四次西航的哥伦布
哥伦布于1492到1504年间四次西航，希望找到一条通向亚洲的海上航线，但没有成功。失败常常萦绕心头，使他充满悲哀。
他沿着中美洲的海岸航行，无论他到什么地方——古巴、波多黎各、牙买加、南美洲和巴拿马，碰到的总是一样的情形。他看到的不是金色的宫殿，而是草棚和棕榈叶搭起的帐篷；映入眼帘的不是绸缎裹身的巨商豪富，而是连衬衣都穿不起的光脊梁印第安人。
有时，哥伦布不得不承认这一事实：这块新陆地不是中国，不是日本，也不是香料群岛。他似乎接受了下面这种说法，即这块陆地是欧洲地理学家们从未听说过的地球的一部分，是另外一个世界——他恰恰是这样称呼它的。但是哥伦布在离世以前一直坚持认为：他抵达的这块陆地是不为人知的亚洲一部分。
Consider... YOU
Consider... YOU. In all time before now and in all time to come， there has never been and will never be anyone just like you. You are unique in the entire history and future of the universe. Wow！ Stop and think about that. You，re better than one in a million， or a billion， or a gazillion...
You are the only one like you in a sea of infinity！
You，re amazing！ Youre awesome！ And by the way， TAG， you，re it. As amazing and awesome as you already are， you can be even more so. Beautiful young people are the whimsey of nature， but beautiful old people are true works of art. But you don，t become “beautiful” just by virtue of the aging process.
Real beauty comes from learning， growing， and loving in the ways of life. That is the Art of Life. You can learn slowly， and sometimes painfully， by just waiting for life to happen to you. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers. You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today.
Paint a Masterpiece.
God gives every bird its food， but he doesn，t throw it into its nest. Wherever you want to go， whatever you want to do， it，s truly up to you.
超越卓越的你
试想一下……你！一个空前绝后的你，不论是以往还是将来都不会有一个跟你一模一样的人。你在历史上和宇宙中都是独一无二的。哇！想想吧，你是万里挑一、亿里挑一、兆里挑一的。
在无穷无尽的宇宙中，你是举世无双的！
你是了不起的！你是卓越的！没错，就是你。你已经是了不起的，是卓越的，你还可以更卓越更了不起。美丽的年轻人是大自然的奇想，而美丽的老人却是艺术的杰作。但你不会因为年龄的渐长就自然而然地变得“美丽”。
真正的美丽源于生命里的学习、成长和热爱。这就是生命的艺术。你可以只听天由命， 慢慢地学，有时候或许会很痛苦。又或许你可以选择加速自己的成长，故意地挥霍生活及其提供的一切。你就是手握今日之刷描绘自己未来的艺术家。画出一幅杰作吧！
上帝给了鸟儿食物，但他没有将食物扔到它们的巢里。不管你想要去哪里，不管你想要做什么，真正做决定的还是你自己。
Cookware during the Reign of Edward Ⅲof England
Pots and pans were once considered to be precious possessions．In the fourteenth century，during the reign of Edward Ⅲof England，the pieces of cookware-iron pots，griddles，spits，and frying pans-were numbered among the king，s jewels．They were difficult to come by and，being rare，were extremely valuable；when the monarch went on a journey or made a visit，the pots and pans traveled along in a separate coach．
By the time Henry Ⅴ，Edward，s grandson，ascended the throne in the following century，the royal frying pans were made of silver，and so were the roasting spits．
The kettles at Westminster during the early sixteenth century，when Henry Ⅷ held the throne，were “coppergilt”and quite lavishly decorated with chasing．The handles of the cooking ladles were chased with the royal arms，and one of the twopronged toasting forks is known to have been tipped with an ornate metal ball．
英国爱德华三世在位时的炊具
圆锅和平底锅曾一度被认为是贵重家私。14世纪英国爱德华三世在位时，几样炊具——铁制圆锅，炙烤架，炙叉和煎锅皆列为国王的珍宝。获得这些炊具颇不容易，它们因是稀世之物而显得极为贵重。君王旅行或出访时，圆锅和平底锅单独装在一辆马车上随行。
到了下个世纪爱德华孙子亨利五世继位时，王室的煎锅便是银制的了，炙叉也是银制的。
16世纪初叶亨利八世在位时，威斯敏斯特的水壶是镀铜的，并且有十分讲究的雕花装饰。烹饪用的勺子把手上镂刻着皇家的纹章。人们也知道，有一只两齿烤叉，其顶端镶着一只华丽的金属球。
Copper，the First Metal That Man Learned to Make
Copper was the first metal that man learned to make．In some mountainous lands there were rocks streaked with green minerals．One day some rocks were accidentally heated by a roaring fire．When the fire burned low，little beads of copper were seen on the rock wall．
After that，men heated the rock deliberately to see whether more copper would appear．They soon found a good way to make copper．They would build a trench on a hillside and fill it with charcoal and copperbearing rock．They covered this furnace with flat stones．
They started a wood fire to heat the charcoal and the hot charcoal released copper from the rock．A hot red pool of melted metal formed at the mouth of the trench．When it was cool，the solid metal could be lifted out and cut and pounded into shapes．
铜，人类学会冶炼的第一种金属
铜是人类学会冶炼的第一种金属。在一些山地，有带绿色矿物条纹的岩石。一天，一些岩石意外地被冲天大火烧热。火势减弱以后，石壁上出现了小铜珠。
从那以后，人们便有意识地把岩石加热，看还有没有铜出现。他们很快找到了一种炼铜的好方法。他们在山坡上挖一条深沟，然后把木炭和含铜的岩石填进去，再用扁平的石头把这个炉子盖好。
他们生起柴火，烧热木炭。灼热的木炭使铜从岩石里游离出来，在沟口形成一池红色的滚烫的熔化金属。当它冷却后，那固体状的金属便可以取出来，切割和敲打成各种形状。
Diamonds in the United States
Most of the world，s diamonds come from Africa，but there is one place in the United States where they are found．It is near Murfreesboro，Arkansas．
Diamonds were first found near Murfreesboro in 1906．About fifty thousand diamonds have come from this field．One fortycaratdiamond was the largest ever found in North America．But most of the stones were too small to make mining worthwhile．Soon all mining stopped there．Today a visitor to Murfreesboro can hurt for diamonds himself．
A few diamonds have been found in sand and gravel along the Great Lakes，too．But none of these were in their original blue ground．They may have been formed far to the north and carried south by the last great glaciers．
美国的钻石
世界上的钻石大部分出自非洲，但美国也有一个钻石产地，它位于阿肯色州默弗里斯博罗附近。
1906年，在默弗里斯博罗附近首次发现钻石，从这个矿里一共开采了大约5万颗钻石，其中一颗重40克拉的钻石是迄今在北美洲发现的最大的一颗。但是，多数钻石都太小，没有什么开采价值，不久那里的采掘工作就都停止了。今天去默弗里斯博罗的游客可以亲自去寻找钻石。
在五大湖沿岸的沙地和砾石中也发现一些钻石，但是没有一颗保持原有的蓝色。它们也许是在遥远的北方成形，然后由最后一批大冰川带到南方的。
Earthworms That Help Improve the Soil
The earthworm is a useful animal．Out of the ground，it is food for other animals．In the ground，it makes rich soil for fields and gardens．
Earthworms dig tunnels that loosen the soil and make it easy for air and water to reach the roots of plants．These tunnels help keep the soil well drained．
Earthworms drag dead leaves，grass，and flowers into their burrows．When this plant material decays，it makes the soil more fertile．