6 . For years and years people have been saying that the railways are dead.“We can do without railways.” people say, as if motorcars and planes have made the railways unnecessary. We all keep hearing that trains are slow ,that they lose money and that they’re dying. But this is far from the truth. In these days of expensive oil, the railways have become highly competitive(变得很有竞争力)with motorcars and planes. If you want to carry people or goods from place to place, they’re cheaper than planes. And they have much in common with planes. A plane goes in a straight line and so does a railway. What is more, it takes you from the heart of a city into the heart of another. It doesn’t leave you as plane does, miles and miles from the city center. It doesn’t hold you up as a car does in endless traffic jams. And a single train can carry goods which a plane or motorcar could never do.

Far from being dead, the railways are much alive, Modern railway lines give you a smooth, untroubled journey, where else can you eat well, sleep in comfort, feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are traveling at high speed at the same time ? And we are only at the beginning, for we have just entered the age of super fast trains, trains traveling at 150 miles an hour and more .Soon we will be wondering why we have spent so much on motorcars or planes.

7 . We talk a lot about air pollution. Here in Hong Kong we always complain about light pollution as well. Then, there is noise pollution. It's the same in many cities around the world. In Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, people have been complaining about/the noise made by drivers who continually sound their car horns(喇). That is until recently, when something was finally done about it.

The Chief District Officer of Kathmandu had received many complaints about horn pollution. He said that everyone felt the use of the car horn in recent years had become excessive. Researchers in Kathmandu found that for about 80 percent of the time, it really was not necessary for drivers to use their car horns. Sounding the horn to make a noise had become more of a habit. It was no longer being used as it was supposed to be used: to warn people of danger.

At the beginning of the Nepali New Year in 2017, the local government passed a law to ban the use of car horns unless used correctly.

Within six months, 11,000 fines(罚款) had been collected by the local traffic police. The e fine was about HK S360. A taxi driver in Kathmandu can make about HK S1, 000 per day, so he could lose about one-third of his money if he broke the law.

As usual, there were many complaints from drivers. They said that cows and dogs were free to walk on the roads. They always caused danger. Sounding a car horn was the only way to get them to move out of the way. And although there were quite a few traffic lights in the streets of Kathmandu, very few of them worked. This meant there was often a traffic mess.

The ban on using a car horn went ahead, and within a few weeks the streets of Nepal's capital were quieter-even though they were still just as busy. Because of the ban, drivers are a little more careful when they drive. Fewer accidents have been reported. The local government says the horn ban will now be copied in other areas of Nepal.

8 . Transport has a lot to answer for when it comes to harming the planet. While cars and trains are moving towards greener, electric power, emissions from air travel are expected to increase massively by 2050. If we want big green sky solutions, we need blue sky thinking. Fortunately, there's plenty of that happening right now, particularly the short-haul flights powered by batteries.

Harbour Air is the largest seaplane airline in North America, flying 30, 000 commercial flights in 40 seaplanes each year. Significantly, all Harbour Air routes last less than 30 minutes, making it perfectly fit for electric engines. “As an airline, were currently in the process of turning all our planes into electric airplanes. ” says CEO Greg McDougall. To make this happen, the airline has partnered up with MagniX to create the world's first commercial flight with an electric engine.

Making the skies electric isn't just good for the environment, it also makes sound financial sense: a small aircraft uses $400 on conventional fuel for a 100-mile flight, while an electric one costs $8-12 for the same distance, and that's before you factor in the higher maintenance costs of a traditional engine. There's also the added bonus that electric planes are just much more pleasant to fly in. No loud engine noise, no smell of fuel, just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.

While there has been real progress in the e-plane industry, the technical challenges that remain are keeping everyone's feet firmly on the ground. A battery, even a lithium one, only provides 250 watt-hours per kilogram; compare this to liquid fuel, which has a specific energy of 11, 890 watt-hours per kilogram. Carrying adequate batteries, however, would make the plane too heavy to get off the ground. In aircraft, where every bit of weight counts, this can't just be ignored.

The transition (过渡) from gas to electric in the automobile industry has been made easier by hybrids-vehicles powered by both fuel and electricity. Many believe the same patter could be followed in the air. Fuel consumption could be reduced as the electric component is switched on at key parts of the journey, especially on take-off and landing.

It's certainly an exciting time for electric flying. With companies like Harbour Air taking the lead, battery-powered planes, especially on short-haul journeys, are set to become a reality in the next few years.

About 43 years ago, I spotted an advertisement in the paper for the YMCA wildness program. I was 15 and wanted to do something different. My first experience was a boat trip. I still have the images of sunrises and sunsets with all beautiful colors on Lake of the Woods.

As a teenager, I didn’t know that I was having the best adventure a teenager could have. Even now I can feel the cold water dripping down my arm as we sat in the boat pulling the paddles awkardly through running water. It was my first experience in a boat and my arms became tired after many hours of paddling.

We stopped for lunch in the boat by assembling all the boats together. Our guide handed out chocolate, cheese and dried meat.

At night, it was time to camp at our site picked out by our guide. There we learned to start campfires and cook some of our meals. This is where I felt in love with noodles. It was wonderful to share simple meals over the fire and talk with new friends. We cleaned up our mess and put up our tents and slept on the ground. We learned to carry the heavy packs to our next destination. I developed a sense   of accomplishment and had arm muscles after that trip.

There were no phones , makeup, hair dryers...just us and the bush. We came from different backgrounds with different personalities and we all had to work together as a group.

I liked the boat trip so much that I joined the “Survival” trip the next year. I kept a journal from that second trip and often go back to it.

10 . Bicycles are very popular around the world nowadays. People ride their bicycles for exercise and enjoyment. In some places, people use bicycles to get to work. In other places, bicycle riding is a very popular exercise to people who live in cities. But who invented the first bicycle?

In 1791, a Frenchman named Comte de Sivrac invented and owned the first bicycle. Mrs. Sivrac rode the bicycle in Paris. The handles and the seat were wooden. This bicycle was very difficult to move. A rider even had to pick up the front wheel to change direction. What's worse, the bicycle had no brakes for stopping or pedals for the feet! Riding a bicycle took great risk.

In 1817, a German named Baron von Drais de Sauerbrun made the first bicycle better. The seat became more comfortable. The wheel could now change direction. His ride in the forest took only one hour instead of three hours on foot, which surprised people at that time.

Sauerbrun brought this kind of bicycle from Germany to France. Then Denis Johnson, an Englishman, made a bicycle for women. It had space for their dresses to hang down. But these bicycles still had no brakes or pedals, and riders often got hurt. These bicycles and the people who rode them were not very popular.

It took another forty-five years for the bicycle to become popular. More than 100 years later, bicycle riding is more popular than ever. In fact, in India and China, there are still many more bicycles than cars.