6 . A crew (全体船员) of six teenage girls completed a nine-day sailing trip in the US recently, after braving seasickness and strong winds.

For the past three years，the Sea Cadet teenagers who set sail were all male.Roger Noakes, who captained the boat, said this was the first time he’d taken out an all-female crew.

The girls asked for an all-girls trip in August this year. The crew set sail along with three adults, Noakes and two Sea Cadet representatives.The original plan was for the girls to sail 24 hours a day in rotating shifts (轮流换班) along the coast and then return.Things turned out differently, however. “The first night was rough because the wind was really hard.The waves were going up and down.” said Abby Fairchild, 16. “Everybody got seasick.” Noakes gave the girls the option (选择) of just sailing in the bay and not going into open water. “But they decided they were going.”

The teenagers then sailed a long way overnight and slept in shifts.“We’ve learned everything from steering (掌舵) the boat itself to putting up the sails to cooking while we have rough seas.” said 15-year-old Olivia Wilcox.

The teenagers stopped on land in Massachusetts.They didn’t make it to their original destination (目的地) in Maine where they were supposed to have a celebratory dinner, due to the weather and winds.They said they weren’t disappointed, however, as they’d learned a lot. “They learned about boating, and above all, they built confidence and character.”said Noakes.

8 . A Portland, Oregon man has become the first person to travel across Antarctica by himself without receiving any assistance.

Colin O’Brady has completed the 1,500-kilometer trip. He crossed the continent in 54 days. Friends, family and other people followed his progress through messages and pictures he left on social media.

O’Brady spoke with his wife Jenna Besaw by telephone soon after he completed the journey. “It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and appreciation, and he really wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of us.”

The 33-year-old O’Brady documented the trip on the social networking services Instagram. He called his journey “The Impossible First”. He wrote that he traveled the last 129 kilometers in one big, final push to the finish line. The distance took over one day to complete. O’Brady wrote, “While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced.”

The day before, he wrote that he was “in the zone” and thought he could make it to the end without stopping. “I was listening to my body and taking care of the details to keep myself safe,” he wrote. “I called home and talked to my mom, sister and wife. I promised them I would stop when I need to.”

Other people have traveled across Antarctica, but they all had some form of assistance. They either had better, more plentiful supplies or devices that helped move them forward.

In 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died in his attempt to travel alone across Antarctica unassisted. Worsley’s friend Louis Rudd, also from Britain, is attempting an unaided solo journey in Worsley’s honor. He was competing against O’Brady to be the first to do it. Besaw told the Associated Press that her husband plans to stay in Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trip.

9 . My 9-year-old daughter and I were flying from our home in Carolina to spend a week with my husband in Florida. We were excited about the trip because we hadn’t seen him for five months, and my daughter missed her dad terribly.

As usual on the Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally full. Because we did not get our boarding passes until we arrived at the gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together and were separated by the aisle (过道). I asked two passengers in my row if they would exchange places with Kallie and me so that we could be together. They refused, saying they thought they should stay in their own seats. Meanwhile, a mother and her three children were in a panic several rows ahead of us. There had been a mistake in their boarding passes, and therefore the whole family had been split up. The passengers in her row also refused to move elsewhere. She was very concerned about the younger boy sitting with strangers. She was in tears, yet nobody offered to help her. There were a troop of Boy Scouts (童子军) on board. Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said, “Ma’am, I think we can help you.” He then spent five minutes rearranging his group so that enough space was left for the family. The boys followed his directions cheerfully and without complaint, and the mother’s relief was obvious.

Kallie, however, was beginning to worry at the thought of not being next to me. I told her that there wasn’t anything I could do. Amazingly, the man sitting next to the Scoutmaster, turned around to me and asked, “Would you and your daughter like our seats?” referring to himself and the Scoutmaster. We traded seats and continued our trip, very much relieved to be together and watch the scenery from Kallie’s window seat.