【推荐1】After a year at sea, 16-year-old Laura Dekker can finally say, “Mission accomplished!” Last month, she finished a daring trip around the world aboard her 38-foot boat, Guppy. Dekker, who is from the Netherlands, traveled more than 30,000 miles all by herself. She is the youngest person ever to sail around the globe alone.

Dekker had wanted to lake on this challenge when she was even younger. She first tried to set sail at the age of 13, but a court in the Netherlands stopped her. They said that she was too young to make such a risky trip by herself. But Dekker insisted she had the navigation skills and patience of an adult sailor.

She finally took off on January 20, 2011. During her trip, Dekker battled loneliness, storms, and worries about pirates. But she also got to surf, scuba dive, and started a new hobby: playing the flute. Although Dekker didn’t spend all of her time at sea—she stopped at ports along the way—she did spend her 16lh birthday on the open ocean. To celebrate, she ate doughnuts for breakfast.

But Dekker didn’t sail into the record books. Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council no longer recognize records for “youngest” sailors. They dropped the category in 2009 to discourage children from attempting such dangerous feats (壮举). But that didn’t stop Dekker，who was born on a yacht during a seven-year world voyage undertaken by her parents.

Dekker doesn’t mind that she won’t hold an official record. She says it was a personal goal, and she is happy she achieved it.

“I am not disappointed at all that Guinness World Record won’t recognize my attempt.” Dekker wrote on her website. “I did not start on my trip to achieve any record…I did it just for myself.”

【推荐3】At 12 years old, double amputee (截肢) Jessica Long, from Baltimore, competed in the 2004 Paralympic (残奥会) Games and came home with three gold medals. Since then, the champion swimmer has proved unstoppable, winning numerous international awards. But her path to becoming a champion has been anything but easy.

Jessica, born with fibular hemimelia (腓侧半肢畸形) in Siberia, was deserted by her mother and then adopted from a Russian orphanage by Steve and Beth Long at 13 months old, along with a little boy. She required 25 different surgeries to help her leg condition. But unfortunately, both of her legs had to be removed when she was just 18 months old. Jessica learned to walk with artificial legs. As a child, she took to sports including gymnastics, ice skating, biking and rock climbing.

She began swimming at her grandparents’ house when she was 6. She started competitive swimming about 4 years later. She did really well in swimming. Shortly after she started competing, Jessica was selected as Maryland’s Female Swimmer of the Year with a disability. Even though Jessica was annoyed with her physical limitations, she was encouraged to enter her first Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. She won three gold medals in swimming at 12! But she did not rest on her success. She has 17 Paralympic medals，three Paralympic records and 20 world records. Jessica was named by Sports Illustrated as one of “The World’s Best Female Athletes” in 2006 and 2011.

Her favorite quote by Christopher Robin is “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” She inspires the next generation of Paralympians!

【推荐1】I’m a TV show host. One Sunday, I took my7-year-old daughter by the sea for lunch. On arriving at the beach, I saw JoJo, a wealthy man in the hotel business. We sat down to chat in an open air café.

Suddenly our conversation was interrupted（中断）by a stranger, who politely asked permission(容许) to speak to me. Often people want to tell me something about my controversial（有争议的）TV show, when I’m out on the streets.

He asked to speak to me privately, so we stood a bit away from my table. He said, “I’m James, 35 years old, father of a 7-year-old girl, who’s very sick. She needs treatment abroad. The doctors said that if she was treated in the UK, she would probably survive. But I’m poor, so can you please help me?”

Speechless, I stared in the man’s eyes full of tears and asked how I could help. After we talked for a while, I went to sit back at the table. JoJo asked me,“What’s wrong with you? Your face changed.” I told him. JoJo was very sorry for this family and said I had the means through the media to help him. Later we headed off to our destinations.

All weekend I thought about James, his daughter and his family. I even considered doing a special TV show to raise money for this sick child.

On Monday morning I was at the office after I finished presenting my show, when my secretary said a man needed to speak to me. It was JoJo. He walked into my office. Actually JoJo is so busy with his hotel business that I never imagined he had time to come and see me at the studios.

“Please, call the man with the sick child and tell him that I’ll pay all expenses for his sick daughter’s treatment,”JoJo said, with a check in his hand. “I’ve been married for 35 years. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a child. I want to help this child now.” I picked up the phone to call James.

Now James’ daughter is well and living a normal life. JoJo often visits her. I’m so happy that there are so many good people on this earth.

【推荐3】I ran into quite a few language problems while travelling with my family last summer. The most embarrassing(尴尬的) was when my Mom apologized(道歉) to the people we were staying with because her “pants were dirty”. They looked at her in amazement, not knowing how to react. You see, Mom had fallen over and gotten mud on her jeans. But in Britain, “pants” means underpants or knickers, not trousers as it does back home.

Katie-From America

I went to stay with a friend on the west coast last summer. Her flat was on the first floor of a high-rise building so I got the lift up. Then I wandered round for ages looking for her flat but couldn’t find it. Fed up and tired, I finally had to go out to find a phone box. She explained that her flat was on the first floor, which for me meant the ground floor.

David-From Britain

When I asked for the “restroom” in a big department store, people kept directing me to a room with seats where I could sit and “rest”. It took me years to get through to someone that I only wanted the toilet!

Tom-From America

Last summer we went on a two-week family touring holiday, so Dad hired a car over the Internet. This was an old vehicle (汽车) and there turned out to be lots of things wrong with it. When he phoned the hire company and tried to explain that the lock on the boot was broken, they thought he was talking about footwear! He had no idea their word for “boot” was “trunk”. In the end we went to a garage and just solved the problem.

Mary-From Britain

【推荐1】How much paper do you use every year? Perhaps you can’t answer that question quickly. In 1900 the world’s use of paper was about one kilogram for each person in a year. Now some countries use as much as 100 kilograms of paper for each person in a year. The amount of paper a country uses shows how far advanced the country is, some people say. It is difficult to say whether this is true: different people mean different things by the word “advanced”. But countries like the United States, England and Sweden certainly use more paper than other countries.

Paper, like many other things that we use today, was first made in China. In Egypt and the West, paper was not very commonly used before the year 1400.

The Chinese first made paper about 2,000 years ago. China still has pieces of paper which were made as long ago as that. But Chinese paper was not made from the wood of trees. It was made from the hairlike parts of certain plants.

Paper was not made in southern Europe until about the year 1100. Scandinavia — which now makes a great deal of the world’s paper — did not begin to make it until 1500. It was a German named Schaeffer who found out that trees could be made into the best paper. After that, the forest countries of Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States became the most important in paper making. Today in Finland, which makes the best paper in the world, the paper industry is the biggest in the land.

【推荐2】What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red? If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement. Do you prefer graysand blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy and you would rather follow than lead. If you love green, you are strong-minded and determined. You wish to succeed and want other people to see you are successful. At least this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of color preference, and the effect that colors have on human beings. They tell us that we don’t choose our favorite color as we grow up. If you happen to love brown, you did so as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.

A yellow room makes us feel more cheerful and comfortable than a dark green one, and a red dress rings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. On the other hand, black is depressing. Light and bright colors make people not only happier but also more active. It is a fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or dark grey .

Remember, then, that if you feel low, you can always brighten your day or your life with a new shirt or a few colorful things. Remember also that you will know your friends and your enemies better when you find out what colors they like and dislike. And don’t forget that anyone can guess a lot about your character when you choose a piece of handkerchief.

【推荐3】The city of Toronto is the capital of Ontario and is a popular tourist destination with its beautiful city attractions. During your time in the city, you can find theme parks, historic locations, beautiful nature areas, and great shopping centers. Prepare for an unforgettable vacation with many of the locations listed below.

Canada’s Wonderland

This amazing 330-acre theme park allows for the entire family to enjoy their time in Toronto. The park offers different rides for all ages including thrilling rides and roller coasters and amazing live shows. During the warmer months, the park also includes a 20-acre water park to cool off and relax together with fun slides, pools, and more. To make the park a full-day adventure, there are many restaurants as well for a bite to eat when hunger sets in.

Toronto Helicopter (直升机) Tours

Toronto has a lot to offer from its skyline including historic locations, skyscrapers, and more. With Toronto Helicopter Tours, you can see all of these amazing sights from high above the sky for the perfect bird’s eye view of the city. The tour will be the perfect opportunity to get photos of the city and of your travels as you fly up to 2,000 feet over the beautiful downtown Toronto sky.

Hop On-Hop Off City Tour

See the beautiful city of Toronto with this amazing hop on and hop off city tour. This city tour allows you to get around the city in an one-of-a-kind way to see many popular locations in the downtown area. It allows you to hop off at any time to see the sites and then hop on again to continue getting around the city. The full tour without hopping off takes 2 hours if you are wanting to get a great overview of the city to decide where to go first. Locations along the way of the tour include the Bata Shoe Museum, Casa Loma, Dundas Square, Park Hyatt, CN Tower, Union Station, and so much more.

【推荐1】

At age 12, Keegan Sobilo of New Baltimore carefully tucks his legs and arms into a fire suit, pulls on a helmet and climbs into a race car that exceeds 80 mph. He has been doing this since age 8.

“ At first, I was scared to death. I was like, 'Let's do bowling or swimming. ' It's still very scary.But he knows what he's doing. Your heart goes out on that track every time he goes out there," said his mother Hillary Sobilo.

＂The sixth-grader always wears pajamas to the track every night and takes them off when he puts his race clothes on. He's been doing that for the last four years. That's his trademark,” said Tim Phillips, his crew chief. The first time he wore his train pajamas to the track, Keegan went from last place to ninth place. He decided they brought luck. Since then, he has won a series of championships.

Passion for cars runs in the family. Keegan's father is a design mechanic at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. He knows what it means to have seats and roll cages built to fit his son's body."What I see in Keegan is passion, like how I feel about car restoration. But for him, everything has to align itself. I tell my son you have to be the perfect package. Winning races every weekend is not the only key. More importantly, you have to have the right name, you have to look the correct way, speak the correct way, and act the correct way. Then the rest of it is really luck, like the stock market. If you don't put yourself out there,you'll never hit it big."

While Keegan's classmates play basketball and volleyball,Keegan is at the Birch Run track-practicing, qualifying and racing until 10 p.m. or 2 a.m. While many children spend time playing video games, Keegan runs race simulation training with his joystick after school.

＂The kid is cool.It was like having a grandson. We showed respect to each other. And he takes it very seriously," said competitor Mike Todd, 69 , of Galesburg, Michigan." He's an older soul in a young man's body. I'd like to see him make it big. He's got the willpower."

【推荐2】For over a century, native Asian honeybees have been steadily pushed aside by the European species, which were introduced to China by beekeepers because the female workers are more focused on their job and produce more honey, which is also sweeter.

However, the European species also carries a number of deadly diseases that can damage the natural habitat. Some researchers calculate that up to 80 per cent of China's native honeybee population has been lost since the first European bee farm in the country was established in the late 19th century.

The sweeping expansion of Asia's European honeybee population causes an ecological crisis. After more than 70 million years of evolution, native Asian honeybees could pollinate（对……授粉）a wide range of plant species in the region. However, many Asian bee species across the region are now close to extinction, and that's a cause for concern as the flowers of many Asian plants are not recognised by European honeybees, which will cause fundamental changes in the ecological balance.

A solution put forward by bee scientists was to draw a border between European and Asian honeybees. In some parts of China, bee farms are not allowed to use the European species, giving the native bees some breathing space.

After years of decline, the Eastern honeybees are gaining a foothold, especially in mountains and warm, tropical areas. It is because they can deal with the real hardship of life. The Western honeybees. on the contrary, rely very much on the protection and care of humans. Without caretakers, they have little chance to survive in Asia, where hornets（大黄蜂）alone could wipe them out.

The decline of Asian honeybees was alarming because of their important role in the food chain. Fewer bees mean fewer plants, fewer plants less food and less food fewer humans. We must take positive, sustainable steps towards protecting China's Asian honeybees.

【推荐3】Veena’s teacher had told her to collect the notebooks in the classroom and bring them to the office. Veena collected the homework notebooks and rushed into the office without knocking on the door. The teacher said, “Veena, you have no manners; you have entered the office without knocking on the door.” Veena was a top student but was too proud of herself.   Without saying sorry, she came out of the office.

In the evening, she complained to her father about what happened to her. Veena’s father decided to teach her what good manners mean. He asked her to go with him.

Before leaving, he told Veena’s mother where he was going and asked whether she wanted something from the market. After coming out of the house, Veena’s father softly closed the door behind him. Then both of them went to the reservation(预订) office.   Veena’s father was to collect the ticket that he had reserved. He stopped in front of the door of the office and asked if he could come inside. Before entering the office, he wiped his feet on the mat. Then he politely asked the clerk, “Can I have my ticket, please?” The clerk smiled and gave him the ticket at once.

After taking the ticket, Veena’s father thanked the clerk and then they went to the market.   It was very crowded there. Her father waited for his turn to buy vegetables. When an old man came, he allowed him to pick up the vegetables first. After taking the vegetables, they came to a bus stop. They took their place in the queue.

On the bus they each got a seat. But when an old woman got on, the father gave her his seat. After entering the house, her father talked nicely to her mother. Then they sat down to have dinner.

After that, Veena understood what good manners mean.