Canada’s Alice Munro, called the “master of the contemporary short story”, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. After that, the Nobel committee（委员会）said on Twitter that it hadn’t been able to contact Munro and left a phone message to tell her the good news. But The Canadian Press contacted her, and she was quoted as saying the award was "quite wonderful"and she was "terribly surprised".

Douglas Gibson, Munro's publisher read a statement on the author's behalf. "I am amazed and very grateful. I am particularly glad that winning this award will please so many Canadians. I'm happy that this will bring more attention to Canadian writing," she said, according to Gibson.

"Munro is acclaimed for her finely tuned storytelling，which is characterized by clarity and psychological realism（现实主义），"the Nobel committee said.

The author has won many honors over the years，including the 2009 Man Booker International Prize. "Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth，wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels，"the Man Booker judging committee said at the time.

Munro，who lives in Huron County in southwestern Ontario，was born near there in Wingham. She started writing stories in her teen years and studied journalism and English at the University of Western Ontario. She started publishing in various magazines in the 1950s. In 1968，she published Dance of the Happy Shades，a collection of short stories. In 1971 she published a collection of stories entitled Lives of Girls and Women，which critics have described as a coming-of-age work.

Munro gained world fame for writing about everyday people. "Here is a world prize being won by someone who writes about housewives in Vancouver, booksellers in Victoria, bean farmers in Huron County and accountants and teachers and librarians — ordinary Canadian people, and she turns them into magic," Gibson said.

   Letters as a way of communication have long given way to phone calls and WeChai messages.

But a TV show，Letters Alive，is helping bring this old way to keep in touch back into the present.

Letters Alive took its idea from a UK program with a similar name，Letters Live，which was first shown in 2013.Both shows feature famous actors and actresses，but there is no gossip，no eye-catching visual effects or any regular showbiz（娱乐业）activities. Instead，it's just one person walking up to a microphone and reading a letter.

But these are not just any letters. They are selected from a wide time span（时间跨度）and different subjects. There is，for example，a passionate letter that famous painter Huang Yongyu wrote to playwright Cao Yu 30 years ago to criticize his lack of creativity. There is also a heartfelt note from the Spring and Autumn Period written by two ordinary young soldiers to their elder brother to report their lives in the war z0ne，Every letter is like a small piece of history. By hearing them being read，it's as if we were sent back in time to experience a moment that we would otherwise never have had the chance to.

"Letters Live makes us pause and imagine the lives behind the letters，"UK actor Benedict Cumberbatch told The Guardian. "It allows people from all ages and all walks of life to experience a moment of time in someone else's life for a brief moment."

Compared to published texts，letters also come with a personal touch.

One example from Letters Live was a note of thanks from the mother of a dying child to J.K. Rowling，author of the Harry Potter books. It read；"Mrs Rowling，cancer threatened to take everything from my daughter，and your books turned out to be the castle we so desperately needed to hide in."

According to Guan Zhengwen，the director of Letters Alice，it is this kind of humanity behind every letter that strikes a chord（引起共鸡）with the audience. It is also what made the show a big hit in China ever since it first aired on Dec 31 on TV.

"It's a thing of the past that entertainment shows establish themselves only with pretty faces，"Guan told Sohu News. "Showbiz is starting to switch to a focus on wisdom and intelligence.”

   If you're a book lover，you will have a pile of books at your bedside，or a bookshelf in your library with a "to read" sign on it. Yet you can't stop yourself from adding to the pile. This can lead to feelings of guilt（自责）over your new purchases. But I'm here to tell you to stop worrying.

What you have is an antilibrary，and it's a very good thing. The term comes from writer Umberto Eco. He is the owner of a large personal library. He separates visitors into two groups: those who react with "Wow！What a library you have！How many of these books have you read？"and the others who get the point that a private library is not something to show off（发耀）but a research tool. Books you have read are far less valuable than unread ones. Indeed，the more you know，the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection an antilibrary.

If you think you already know everything about a subject，you're cutting yourself off from a stream of information at an artificial point. So a growing library of books you haven't read means you're consistently curious about the unknown. And that attitude is a great basis of a lifelong love of learning.

So don't feel guilty about your unread books. Those hooks will be there for you when you do want them，and as you build your library of books you have read and unread books，you can start using it as you would use a bigger library. Certain books may become references. Or you may find that a book you bought five years ago has special relevance（相关性）today. Letting the role of books evolve in your life is a healthy sign of curiosity. That's good for you and good for the world around you.

   How can I forget the day？On 14 July 1974 I travelled in an overcrowded bus to an unheard town called Shendurni. The next day，I was to join the department of a junior college there. _______ about my new job，but anxious and fearful too，I was out of my ________ zone. Around 7 p.m.it started pouring with rain. Wondering about my new career in an unknown land，I had _________ in my seat. I woke up with a（n）_______ to the sound of the conductor announcing（宣告）the name of my bus stop. I looked out. It was pitch-dark. Ah，a power cut. _________ was unusual during heavy rains. "Conductor Sahab，can I get some _________ for myself here？I'm new to the place，"I heard myself ask _______."Arme bhai，get off my bus and let us go. We _______ to reach the next station on time. Get yourself a place to stay. "he shouted back. In increasing panic，I felt a ______ tap on my shoulder. As I looked back，a warm smile ________ me. "I'm Sawant，from the next town. The bus _______ there for the night and returns tomorrow morning. You can spend the night at my place，and join work tomorrow. "I thanked him from my heart and accepted his ________ .He and his wife took great _________ to make my stay comfortable. I was ________ with warm water for a bath，followed by a hot _________ and a comfortable bed. I was up early the next morning and Mr Sawant came to __________ me off. I could nol see his face clearly，as it was ________ dark. I made it ________ the college in time and taught there for almost 11 years. I still ________ him，even asking my new friends and students to help find the kind soul. But Mr Sawant remained ________ .Perhaps I had got his name wrong. My only regret was that I could not thank him again.

The song Lili Marleen was originally a poem written by a young soldier during World War I，【小题1】 missed his sweetheart，Lili. Later，a German musician set the poem to music and a popular German singer made a recording of it. But the recording wasn't popular. Then in 1941 when Germany invaded（侵略）Yugoslavia and took over Radio Belgrade，the German officer in charge there found that most of the station's 【小题2】（record）had been destroyed in the battle. However，in a dusty box，he found a record named Lili Marleen and began to play 【小题3】.In a very short time，it became 【小题4】（huge）popular with German soldiers.

Lili Marleen was asked 【小题5】（play）again by Radio Belgrade. As a result，it was broadcast every night at 9：57. Then something amazing happened. Although the song 【小题6】（sing）in German and played on a radio station by their enemy，it 【小题7】（become）popular with the local people and afterwards with American soldiers，too. Lili Marleen was at the top of the US music charts in 1944 and 1968，and later，the German and Japanese charts in 【小题8】 1980s. So what was the secret of its fame？Some say it was because of its theme of everlasting love，【小题9】（pain）separation and danger in times of war. But the most poetic comment about its 【小题10】（popular）came from Lale Andersen，"Can the wind explain why it became a storm？"

To make a wildlife exploration，we went to a forest in Sichuan Province. The forest was said to have been existed for hundreds of years. We started early，full of expect. After travelling for two hours by car，we arrived，only find the exploration hard than expected. What's more，in our arrival，it happened to be raining. Faced with many difficulty，we all kept marching along the path. Soon，we all got us equipped and began our task on foot. Sudden，a stream with many wild flowers bloom on both banks came into view. Seeing the scene，we cheered up，busy picking up plant samples and taking photos. We all thought that if we missed it we will feel awfully sorry.

   Life can be a lonely thing without friends. Acquaintances（熟人）are easy to come by but true friends are a whole other story. 【小题1】 Learn these four steps if you'd like to be a true friend that can be relied on.

●Be present for their highs and lows.

If you're absent during my struggle，don't expect to be present during my success.

—Will Smith

It's easy to be there for our friends when they ask us out for fun things. 【小题2】 You might not feel comfortable while spending time with an emotionally weak person on the verge of tears，but true friends are always there when they're needed the most.

●【小题3】

When people talk，listen completely. Most people never listen.

—Ernest Hemingway

Give your friends the gift of silence so they can drop their baggage and get on with living.

●Accept them as they are.

Happiness can exist only in acceptance.  

—George Orwell

If you can't accept people as they are，you will never know the feeling of true friendship. 【小题4】

●Forgive the past.

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.     

—Buddha

【小题5】 If so，you should understand that even the best of us suffer from the occasional slip of the tongue. Holding onto anger over a small mistake will make you look petty（小气的），so let it go.

Science and Technology Influences Life

As we can see，science and technology has been deeply influencing our life. Take our school for example.