【推荐2】Extremely low temperature, strong winds and endless white snow are just a few of the challenges explorers must face in the Polar areas. But a 16-year-old British girl didn't let these worry her. On April 15 Alicia Adams became the youngest person to walk to the North Pole.

She completed the adventure with her geology teacher and two other companions. Each of them carried 30 kilograms of supplies. At times temperatures fell to -45C during the 320-kilometre trip. But they made it in ten days, two days less than her famous father, David Adams' time record for the same walk.

“It is a really good feeling, more of an achievement,” said Alicia Adams after coming to the end of her adventure. “The winds were like angry beasts roaring behind us. The trip seemed endless and there was nothing in sight: no buildings, no people, and no animals. Sometimes we had to walk across lakes covered with thin ice, which is the deadliest threat.”

David Adams is a top British explorer, who reached both the South and North poles on foot. He also set a series of hot air-balloon records and climbed the highest mountain on every continent. “I take pride in what she has achieved but a bit annoyed that she has beaten my time,” her father said playfully.

Asked if there would be any future joint adventures, the dad joked, “I think I would be struggling to keep up with her now.”

Alicia returned to Britain last week where she faces a more normal task of going to school. And she said her achievement would not necessarily mark the start of a life-long exploration. “Going to school is on top of my list,” she said.

【推荐2】We were on our way! In Wyoming we would have a new home. It was 1980 and my husband Gary and I were driving to Wyoming with our kids. After driving all day, we were hungry. So we stopped at a restaurant to have dinner.

After the dinner, we were on our way again. Suddenly our vehicle hit ice on a bridge. As soon as the car started to slide, Gary touched the brakes (刹车) but failed to control the car. We were thrown from side to side against the guardrails (护栏).It took some time before we slid to a stop, but unfortunately our car was totally destroyed.

Only minutes later, a car stopped by and the driver asked how he might help. With his help, my husband was able to have our car taken to Rapid City. Then he drove us to a hotel in the city. He made sure we were safe before he said goodnight and left. The next morning, the driver returned and drove us to find our car so that we could take back our valuables. He lost at least half a day of work, all for a family he had never met and would never see again.

With no car, our family finally arrived in Gillette, where we had no friends. Though we were a little lonely, we all felt lucky and thankful to the amazing stranger whose service made such a difference to our family.

【推荐1】When I was seven years old. My friend had gotten a computer for his birthday. He invited me to play a simple game, and we loved it! We played for hours. We would meet after school every day to play it. My addiction to computer games started then.

At first I played games over the Internet after I had done my homework and eaten dinner. Then I started playing as soon as I got home each day. My parents stopped me, so I started playing in the middle of the night. I often fell asleep in class. My teacher would scold me but I would often do the same thing the next day! Shortly after that I began to skip meals and play through the night. My parents found out and took away my computer and smartphone. I knew I had gone too far. My love of computer games had become an addiction. It was affecting my schoolwork and my health, and I felt quite depressed.

Playing was fun, but I felt even more worn out afterwards! We can spoil good things by doing them too much. I realized that it was very important to adjust my lifestyle. I decided to take control of my life and find other ways to relax.

To succeed in quitting, I had to replace it with something else. So I thought about what to try. Rock climbing bowling, watching comedies, and playing basketball were the things I thought of doing instead. I get refreshed through climbing, spend more time with my dad, and get to meet new friends. The more we get together and laugh, the more relaxed I feel. Besides, I can eat a little more food, sleep soundly, and Pm almost in high spirits.

After six months of trying out new ways of relaxing, I feel much more energetic. I feel that I can change myself for the better. And if that’s true for me, then it might truly be possible to change the world for others. Just as the saying goes,” Nothing is difficult to a willing heart.“

【推荐2】Last summer our family excitedly set off on holiday.My parents had never booked such an expensive holiday before and we had certainly NEVER set foot on a Caribbean island!

So it was with eager expectation that we arrived at the airport with our five suitcases—only to be told that our Unity Airlines flight had been cancelled! We hung around the airport despondently until we were re-routed onto a Sky Eagle flight,but we still missed our connecting flight.So they put us onto another flight to JFK Airport,this time with Omega Airlines,and we had to dash like mad through the airport to catch the plane with minutes to spare.

From JFK we boarded our final flight,and it was with some relief that we arrived in St Maarten Island,ready to forget the stresses and strains of actually getting there.However,one vital thing hadn't kept up with us-our luggage.

The laid-back officials in St Maarten Airport didn't seem particularly worried about our missing bags.They phoned Omega Airlines,who blamed Sky Eagle,because they said that the first flight was responsible for the luggage.Sky Eagle blamed Omega,and they all blamed Unity Airlines for canceling the original flight.

Meanwhile,through all the accusations,we only had the clothes we stood up in,so Mum took us on a quick shopping trip and bought tooth brushes,swimming stuff,shorts,flip-flops,and a couple of T-shirts each For two days we waited in St Maarten until we joined our five-day cruise. Dad went to the airport twice a day,but each time the baggage staff said nothing had arrived.So we had to go on the cruise without our luggage.My brother,sister and I weren't much bothered,but our parents were. Dad missed his diving equipment,and Mum was upset about not being able to wear her new summer wardrobe bought especially for our big holiday.The cruise was fantastic,anyway,even though we had to keep washing our few clothes.

When we got back to the airport to go ho me,there was a new set of baggage staff who didn't seem to know anything about anything.My dad was so frustrated by this time,he actually sneaked into the storage room and found four of our bags!If he hadn't done that,they might still be sitting there.He just dragged them out without telling anybody,and we went home.When we arrived back in the States,we found our last bag.It hadn't even left the airport!

【推荐3】My dad has watermelon-size muscles and enormous hands as if he’s always wearing baseball gloves. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who bakes great bread, but he does. Every Saturday he bakes silently by himself. When he’s done, the whole house smells delicious. The rest of the week, he’s a car mechanic whose job involves complex lifting, tightening, shaking and hitting. People tend to think of cars as metallic members of the family, and Dad seldom lets them down.

I kind of understand Dad’s baking routine. Though he’s into the work, customers’ expectation and understaffing weigh him down. When working on the dough (生面团) he returns to a life of ease.

I had been feeling stressed out myself since I didn’t qualify for the swim team. I would have to wait a whole year, which was like a million years. I thought Dad had found that. He asked me how things were going last Saturday. I said OK. He looked at me for a moment, said it was time for me to help and headed to the kitchen.

Surprised though, I followed him. Dad took out his mixing bowl, telling me to mix materials while he added them. He isn’t big on measuring, knowing instinctively (凭直觉) how much to use. The bread is always great. Then he showed me how to process the dough — repeatedly stretching, pounding and folding it. It took ten minutes and a surprising amount of energy to finish. But what came next was harder and more surprising — doing nothing. We put the dough back into the bowl. It took an hour to rise. Then we pressed and stretched it, put it into pans and waited another hour for it to double. “It’s hard to resist putting the dough directly into the oven, but if you do, the bread will be tough,” Dad explained.

When the dough rose at its own pace, time seemed to slow down. We could do nothing to speed that. As I accepted that, I stopped watching the clock and started enjoying the time. My father taught me how to bake, but I learned something more — appreciate the slow pace of time and let the bread rise.