1 . Table tennis may not seem a reasonable option for someone with no arms — but Ibrahim Hamadtou doesn't believe in limits. The 48-year-old Egyptian Paralympian breaks the barrier by holding the paddle (球拍) in his mouth and using his right foot to serve the ball.

Hamadtou, who lost his arms in a train accident at the age of ten, was drawn to table tennis after being challenged by a friend. "I was once watching a match between two of my friends," Hamadtou explains. "They disagreed on a point, When I counted the point in favor of one of them, the other player told me, 'Mind your own business as you will never be able to play.' It was that statement that fired me up to decide to play table tennis."

It took Hamadtou three years to master the sport. He says the biggest challenge was figuring out the best way to control his body. "I was trying first to use the bat under the arm, and I also tried using other things, which weren't working so well. Finally, I tried using my mouth. It took me nearly a year of practice to get used to holding the paddle with my mouth and making the serve. With practice and playing regularly, this skill was improved."

The Egyptian's incredible talent came to light in 2014 when he was awarded the best Arab Athlete of the year. He won a silver medal at the 2016 African Championships, qualified for his first Paralympics in 2016 at 43, and then again for the 2020 Tokyo Games at 48.

The inspiring athlete says, "The disability is not in arms or legs but to give up in whatever you would like to do."

2 . Would you sail over 12,900 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in a boat made from plastic bottles?

In 2010, a crew of six people did. They sailed on the Plastiki, an 18.3-metre boat made from recycled materials. Everything about the Plastiki was environmentally friendly. The sails were produced from recycled plastic and the masts that held them from used aluminum pipes. Organic materials, such as glue made from nuts and sugar, were used to keep the bottles in place. To power the boat, solar panels and wind turbines were used.

During the journey, crew members lived in a plastic cabin. Their daily routine consisted of sleeping, eating and doing chores. For food, they mainly survived on fresh vegetables grown in a hanging garden as well as canned and dried food. They also ate fresh fish, but were surprised to discover that they found more plastic than fish. “From above, the oceans still look beautiful and untouched,” David said, “but just below the surface is this toxic stew that could quickly end up on our dinner plates.”

The leader, David, organised the voyage in order to draw people’s attention to the environmental dangers our oceans face and the need to recycle plastic. He planned to visit damaged coral reefs and islands in danger from rising sea levels. However, his most important objective was to see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge mass of plastic particles floating in the North Pacific. David hoped that, by sailing through the Patch, he could show the world how serious plastic pollution had become.

Unfortunately, the Plastiki was more difficult to control than expected. Therefore, the boat missed its main destination. However, the crew did make stops at islands in the mid-Pacific, where they picked up supplies and talked to local students. Along the way, they battled fierce ocean storms, torn sails and temperatures that reached up to 38°C.

When the Plastiki finally sailed into Sydney’s harbour, the crew were greeted by cheers. The Plastiki’s journey had shown that if we understand how to use waste materials efficiently, they can be transformed into valuable resources. It had also revealed that it was more important than ever to deliver a serious message: our oceans are filling up with plastic faster than we thought.

3 . The Nez Perce Indians are a tribe that lived in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. At the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition (探险队) , which was one of the first journeys by Americans from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and back again, the Nez Perce territory (领土) covered about 17 million acres, covering parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. But that was a brief sweet history.

In September 1805, when Lewis and Clark came off the Rockies on their westward journey, the entire exploring party was hungry and ill -- too weak to defend themselves.

Had the Nez Perce chosen to attack them, they could have put an end to the Lewis and Clark expedition there on the banks of Clearwater River. Instead the Nez Perce welcomed the white Americans and looked after them until they made a full recovery. Thus began a long friendship between the Nez Perce and white Americans. But white men’s greed for land and gold finally broke the friendship.

In 1855 Governor Isaac Stevens of Washington Territory invited the Nez Perce to a peace conference. He said there were a great many white people in the country, and many more would come. But the Chief of the tribe at that time, Old Joseph, replied, “Take away your paper. I will not touch it with my hand.”

Things were quiet for a while after that, but not for long. When Old Joseph died, the chiefship was passed onto Young Joseph. In the late 1870s, government officials came to order the Nez Perce to leave the Wallowa Valley and then began hard battles between the Nez Perce and the white soldiers. After the tribe had fought thirteen battles and moved 1,600 miles to-wards Canada in an attempt to retreat(撤退) north, Young Joseph, gave in to the United States Army. Here was his famous statement, “Hear me my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

In 1885, Chief Joseph was sent along with many of his band to the Colville Reservation in Washington where Joseph continued to lead his band for another 25 years, at times coming into conflict with the leaders of 11 other tribes living on the reservation.(保留地，居留地)

4 . Bob, a Burroughs junior high school football player, always had his mom cheering him on. He didn’t play exciting positions. He played as a linebacker(中后卫球员). Sadly, he often found himself at the bottom of the piles, where everyone would jump onto each other at the end of every play. Bob's mom realized it was hard for her son to hear her cheering. She had to find a solution, but couldn't find one.

Then one day the coach from the school team asked him if he wanted to join the team. Bob was ecstatic, because he was only a ninth grader. His mom was also excited, since she loved football and especially loved watching her son play. She kept considering a way for him to hear her. A cowbell! That was it. Now from the bottom of the piles Bob would hear his mom shaking her cowbell crazily, knowing she was there for him.

Bob's team finally made it to the state championship game. What exciting time to play at Busch Stadium under the lights! This experience made Bob appreciate all the years that his mom had sacrificed everything to get him to practice every day, to wash his uniforms, and to never miss a game. He had to do something.

On the night of the state championship game, the loudspeakers introduced Bob, and as he walked onto the field his mom shook the cowbell, hard. However, it didn’t sound right. She looked its inside, and found a note saying,”Thank you, Mom.” Bob had left her a note expressing his appreciation for always being with him, filling her heart with warmth.

Finally Burroughs claimed the title of State Champion. While others were cheering and admiring the state championship cup, Bob' s mom clutched(紧握) her cowbell happily.

Years later, Bob’s mom died. While digging through her belongings, he found the cowbell with the note. Bob took it to his mom's funeral and rang it, whispering, "Thank you, Mom.”

5 . My first year living in Los Angeles, I was a birthday-party clown. I struggled a lot with my identity because, though I viewed myself as a filmmaker, everyone in my life viewed me as this ridiculous day job.

Once I was told, “Tomorrow you’re going to be Batman.” Now, keep in mind that at the time I had a giant mustache. I know a clown with a mustache is a huge red flag for parents. But I hadn’t wanted to alter my physical appearance for that job, because that would have been me subconsciously admitting I was more of a clown than an artist.

The next day, I went to the party in a huge public park, and I left my car parked far enough away so that the kids couldn’t see Batman pulling up in a PT Cruiser. Walking to the party, I started to regret my choice not to shave. “Gosh, this party is not going to go well.” Sure enough, once I got close enough for them to actually start making out the features of my face, the entire party broke out in laughter. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to turn around and run back to my Batmobile. But then the laughter kind of changed into cheering and applause. Feeling kind of warm and fuzzy inside, I wondered, “Is this what encouragement and support feel like? It’s so new.”

Then I decided to make an entrance for these kids. I was still about 20 yards away from the party when I started running. My cape was billowing in the wind, and mustache or not, in that moment, I was Batman. I ran into the party, and the kids were all high-fiving me. The dad was saying, “I told you, son. I told you Batman has a mustache.” Then he took me over to this huge birthday cake with a frosting Batman drawn on it, and the Batman has a mustache. I just stared at it in disbelief and learnt that instead of just admitting that the cake was messed up, the parents said, “Batman has a mustache. He just shaves it for his movies.”

That year, I struggled a lot with my identity; was I a filmmaker, or was I a clown? But that day, at least, there was no doubt in my mind what I was. I may not have been the hero that they ordered, and I certainly was not the hero they expected. But that day, I was the hero that they needed.

6 . Throughout history, people have promoted stories of curse. Here are some famous ones.

King Tut's Curse

In 1923, a British archaeological team opened the tomb of "King Tut". Two months later, when the team's sponsor died from a bacterial infection, British newspapers claimed that was because of "King Tut's curse". Whenever other members of the team died, the media mentioned the curse gain.

Though it's not clear how many people took the curses seriously, these stories became popular subjects for some horror movies and comedies.

The Curse of the Polish King's tomb

In 1973, a group of archaeologists opened the tomb of Polish king Casimir IV in Poland. European media covered the great event, and the researchers joked they were risking a curse on the tomb by opening it.

When some team members began to die shortly after, some media suspected it was due to a curse. Later, experts discovered traces of deadly bacteria inside the tomb that could cause lung illnesses when breathed in.

The Curse of Tippecanoe

In the mid-20th century, US media began to note a pattern that, starting with Harrison and ending with Kennedy, every 20years the country elected a president to die in office.

Believe It or Not claimed the "pattern" was due to a curse placed by the chief of Shawnee, Tecumseh, on Harrison and future presidents after Harrison's troops defeated Tecumseh's at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. This story bears a similarity to other "curses" in US books and movies about disturbing Native burial grounds.

7 . Located in the Bahamas, Andros Island is also known as “The Sleeping Giant”，yet with only about 8.000 people living on it. Now the island has a new luxury resort Caerula Mar Club- which opened this February. The once-abandoned property was discovered by a well- known HGTV reality star couple who transformed it into a hotel. The Canadian design duo Bryan and Sarah Baeumler were vacationing in the Bahamas in the summer of 2017 when they discovered a once-abandoned resort. They instantly decided to purchase it with hopes to transform the 10-acre beachfront property into a luxury hotel.

However, they had no idea how much the investment would end up costing them. Here most supplies had to be shipped in, and the property was in bad shape. The budget for the remodelling should be around $ 4 million, but they've spent well over $ 10 million. What's worse, in the fall of 2019, category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, and their employees and friends were affected.

Finally, several months later, as they prepared to open the resort to the public, the Coronavirus pandemic （大流行病）struck. They'd just been fully booked throughout the fall and winter months when the new disaster stopped everything as the Bahamas were put on lockdown.

With tourism opening up again, new plans are now for an October launch, but they're just taking things one day at a time. "I think at the end of this pandemic, well find many people are searching for a different experience，” says Bryan. "Instead of crowding into large resorts, they'll be going to properties where they can meet people, connect with the locals and experience nature. Our hotel is just such a place.”

Now the couple is focusing on the future while creating new development for visitors. “We certainly have plans to responsibly and sustainably develop the island that will help support the local economy says Bryan.

8 . I’m a talker. I am keen on debating, gossiping and teasing when I have people to talk to. Under lockdown, however, I’ve only had my partner, Peter.

We not only lived, worked and travelled together, we mostly socialized together, too. Under the first UK lockdown, our already closeness began to feel uncomfortable. While talking to Peter, I could see his attention drift.

For the first time in our 10 years together, we needed to be alone. I tried to manufacture this by going on walks on my own, but a short walk wasn’t doing the job. I had hiked in remote spaces all over the world but always in a pair or group — for safety reasons. I considered my options and hit upon an idea: the semi-solo hike.

Could we do a circular hike but walk in different directions? This would give us the space and peace of a solo hike — done by a person alone. It felt like a promising way out, and he agreed to give it a try.

We started with a four-mile loop (环路) from Reeth. At the start, we parted ways. At first, I was aware of how close we were, which lessened the appeal. As I gained ground, however, I found myself very much alone. I set my own pace, and I decided to take my time.

I sat on a rock and breathed out. That moment — with the weak sun through the clouds and the breeze blowing — felt extraordinary to me. I was born and raised in London and had never imagined leaving until I met an outdoorsman. Now, my former life as a city girl felt crazy. In remembering what I had gained, I felt the tension leave me. There, in the chilly air, I no longer needed to talk. The semi-solo hike gave us a shared experience with added room to breathe.

I didn’t see Peter on the way but reunited back where we started, both pleased.

The semi-solo hike is admittedly silly in theory, but for me it has been a lifeline. It has given me the gift of time alone and, in a year of constant closeness, the joy of reuniting.