【推荐1】Ice hockey’s beginning is a little uncertain. It has been tracked back to an Irish game known as hurley by some experts. Others consider ice hockey as having come from lacrosse and field games that were played by Micmac Indians. Still others say that hockey evolved in Northern Europe. At any rate, it is quite likely that ice hockey came into being from different early games played with a stick and a ball.   

In the 1850s, the first recorded games of ice hockey were played, and in the 1870s, the first set of ice hockey rules were written by a group of students at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. These rules set up the use of a puck (冰球) replacing a ball and decided the number of players to be nine per team. The year 1880 brought the organization of the first amateur hockey league. Over the next several years, ice hockey’s popularity spread across Canada. It was around 1893 that ice hockey was first played in the United States. There have been several ice hockey leagues. The best known is the National Hockey League, which came into being in 1917 in Canada.

Ice hockey has the oldest sports trophy(奖杯）in North America. It had become so widespread in Canada that a trophy was presented by the Governor General of Canada to be awarded to the top hockey team. Lord Stanley of Preston was the name of the Governor General, and the trophy became Known as the Stanley Cup.

Not many changes have been made to the initial rules set forth in the 1870s. The main ones have been the decrease from nine players to six and the progression of new and better equipment. In 1910-11, the game changed from two 30-minute periods to three 20-minute periods. In 1943-44, the red line at center ice was introduced to speed up the game. In 2005-06, goalkeeper equipment was downsized.

【推荐3】Cheerleading（拉拉队）has a rich history in the United States.     1     Even professional sports teams have cheerleaders，so those who love to cheer can continue the sport into adulthood.

Organized cheering started at Princeton University in 1884, when the crowd created a cheer to inspire its team. In 1898, Tom Peebles became the first cheerleader when he led the crowd at the University of Minnesota.     2    In 1923, cheerleading expanded to women.

Cheerleading has grown considerably since its origins.     3     In addition, every team in the NFL has a cheerleading squad（队）, as well as the majority of NBA teams.

    4     From 1982 to 2006, 45 major injuries occurred during high school cheerleading events, with two of those injuries leading to deaths. Of the 45 injuries, 14 of them led to permanent disabilities. During the same years，one female college student died，while an additional five ended up with a disability and 11 suffered serious injuries.

To help keep safe in the sport, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators has made some rules that members must follow.     5     During a forward roll, the top person must begin in a non-inverted（非倒立的）position and keep hand-to-hand contact with two bases throughout. These moves must also include a spotter who can protect the top person’s head and neck in case of a fall.

【推荐1】 China Train Guide

Quick Guide on China Train Travel

If you're looking for an affordable and comfortable way to get around China, train travel is the way to go. Getting train information and cheap train tickets has never been easier. Online train ticket booking makes it easy for travelers to look through China's train timetable, compare train fares, and look for ticket availability. Once you've found a suitable train, you can book online and pick your tickets up at the train station or get them delivered to your home or hotel. Train tickets can be booked online a minimum of 35 minutes and a maximum of 60 days before departure.

How to choose train types

When you're buying China train tickets online, you'll notice that the journey duration differs depending on which type of train you choose. China train types can be recognized by their letter codes. G, D and C trains are high-speed trains, while Z, T and K are slower or overnight trains. China's high-speed trains run between Chinese provincial capitals and first-tier Chinese cities. G trains (high-speed trains, standing for gāotiě) are China's bullet trains-the fastest trains with a maximum speed of 400 km/h. Tickets for these trains are the most expensive.

How to buy train tickets

Unless you can read Chinese, there are only two ways to make train reservations in China:

---Online train ticket booking with a travel agency (up to 60 days before departure).

---At the train station/local ticket agency with your passport (up to 58 days before departure).

How to read train tickets

When reading your train ticket, please take note of the Chinese characters and Pinyin printed next to your departure / arrival city. Directions (North, South, East, and West) appear in Pinyin (Bei, Nan, Dong, and Xi), not English.Please make sure you are going to the correct train station.

【推荐2】Can you imagine a cloud floating in the middle of your room? Do you want to know what it feels like to fly like a bird? Find your answers in Time Magazine's 25"Best Inventions”. Here, we have picked out the most interesting 4 to share with you.

Ever felt confused by the sign language used by disabled people? Here is the "helping hand" you need. Four Ukrainian students have created a pair of gloves that helps people with hearing and speech problems communicate with others. The gloves are equipped with sensors that recognize sign language and translate it into text on a smart phone. Then the smart phone changes the text to spoken words.

Google Glasses are like a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses. With its 1.3-centimeter display, the glasses allow you to surf the Internet and make calls without even lifting a finger . The glasses also have a camera and GPS mapping system. Users can take and share photos, check maps and surf the Internet just by looking up, down, left and right.

It's not virtual but a real world. Dutch artist Smilde managed to create a small but perfect white cloud in the middle of a room using a fog machine. But it required careful planning-the temperature, humidity and lighting all had to be just right. Once everything was ready, the cloud formed in the air with the machine. But it only lasted for a short while.

The suit realizes your dream of flying like a bird. Well, not exactly flying, but gliding through the air. It increases the surface area of the human body, which makes it easier for people to float in the air. Fliers wearing wingsuits can glide one kilometer in about 30seconds.