A mouse looked through the hole in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a pckage, and he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Returning to the farmyard, he warned everyone. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap inthe house! There is a mousetrap inthe house! ”

    The chicken raised her head and said, “Thanks for your warning. Mr. Mouse, but why should I be bothered by a mousetrap?” the pig sympathized, but said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you I can tell this is a great concern to you, but it is none of my business.” The mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

The very night a sound was heard throughthe house—-like that of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a snake whose tailwas caught by the trap, and it bit her. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

    The farmer killed the chicken to make fresh chicken soup for his wife, but her sickness continued. Frineds and neighbors came to visit her, and to feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Then she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow cooked to provide enough meat for all of them.

    The mouse looked upon it all from his hole in the wall with great sadness.

    Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own, not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone.

    Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.

    In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen, it is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone. It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.

    Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year. He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He says he wished he had traveled alone earlier. “The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old man.

    Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that is ready to deal with anything”. He said, “The feeling of having overcome something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I'm dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”

    The great 19^thcentury explorer John Muir once said, “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”

    Lots of people like a good fright at Halloween. Yet, the most frightening thing of all about the night is that twice as many children are killed while out and about on Hallween compared to any other day of the year, according to a study by Safe Kids Worldwide. It can also be a worrying time for others, especially elderly people living alone. Bu many people think it's just harmless fun.

    But is it harmless fun?

    Police forces across Britain are giving warnings about Halloween night. They are asking all those wishing to celebrate Halloween this year to respect those who don't want to join in.

    Some forces, like West Mercia Police, have produced “Sorry, No Trick or Treat” posters which can be downloaded from their website, and put up in windows. They want people to send them to the old or anyone who may be frightened by ghosts(鬼)knocking on their doors.

    A spokesman said: “Children should not call on houses where the posters are put up, neither should they call on strangers, as this can put young people at risk and also make some house owners anxious, especially those who are elderly or living alone.”

    The police want all trick or treaters to remember that disturbing other people or throwing objects at their homes or cars are all criminal offences(刑事罪). “What may start off as a bit of fun could end up with someone getting a criminal record,” they warn. “Parents may want to consider having a Halloween party at home, instead.”

Kent Police are warning young people never to go into the home of someone they don't know—and to remember not to frighten people.

    Warwickshire Police are also warning that tricks may seem like harmless fun but can cause trouble to others. They say behaviour such as throwing eggs can quickly cross the line between being anti-social and causing criminal damage. This can result in fines of ￡2,500 for small offences.

    More than 10 million Chinese cultural relics have been lost overseas, lost of which were stolen and illegally shipped out of China during the times of war before 1949. About 1.67million pieces are housed in more than 200 museums in 47 countries, which accounts for 10 percent of all lost Chinese cultural relics, and the rest are in the hands of private collectors.

    Most of these treasures are owned by museums or private collectors in the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. There are more than 23, 000 pieces in the British Museum, most of which were stolen or bought for pennies more than 100 years ago.

    The major method to recover these national treasures was to buy them back. In some cases, private collectors donated the relics to the government. Also the government can turn to official channels to demand the return of relics.

    In 2003, a priceless bronze pig's head dating from the Qing Dynasty was returned to its home in Beijing after it was removed by the Anglo-French Allied Army over 140 years ago. Macao entrepreneur (企业家) Stanley Ho donated 6 million yuan to buy it back from a US art collector and then donated it to the Poly Art Museum in Beijing. Although buying-back is the most feasible way to recover the lost treasures, limited funding is always a big headache.

    In recent years, the Chinese government has improved efforts to recover the precious cultural relics lost overseas. It has started a national project on the recovery of the treasures and has set up a database (数据库) collecting relevant information. It has signed several international agreements with many countries on this matter, and is also looking for international cooperation to recover the relics by working closely with several international organizations.

    What a day! I started at my new school this morning and had the best time. I made lots of new friends and really liked my teachers. I was nervous the night before, but I had no reason to be. Everyone was so friendly and polite. They made me feel at ease. It was like I'd been at the school for a hundred years!

    The day started very early at 7:00 am. I had my breakfast downstairs with my mom. She could tell that I was very nervous. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. She told me I had nothing to worry about and that everyone was going to love me. If they didn't love me, Mom said to send them her way for a good talking to. I couldn't stop laughing.

    My mom dropped me off at the school gates about five minutes before the bell. A little blonde (金发的) girl got dropped off at the same time and started waving (招手) at me. She ran over and told me her name was Abigail. She was very nice and we became close straight away. We spent all morning together and began to talk to another girl called Stacey. The three of us sat together in class all day and we even made our way home together! It went so quickly. Our teacher told us that tomorrow we would really start learning and developing new skills.

    I cannot wait until tomorrow and feel as though I am really going to enjoy my time at my new school. I only hope that my new friends feel the same way too.

    Nobel prize-winners, legendary (传奇的) authors, and famous scientists — you might think all these people were born to be creative. However, that's not always the case.

    While well-known figures like Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein did their most significant (重要的) work in their youth, famous American poet Robert Frost and English-born natural scientist Charles Darwin were known as "late bloomers" – people whose talents were not noticeable until later in life.

    This idea of "peaking" at different times inspired new research from the United States. "Many people believe that creativity is exclusively (独有地) associated (有联系的) with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you're talking about," said Bruce Weinburg, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and co-author of the study.

    According to the study, published earlier this month in the journal De Economist, there are two types of people: conceptual (概念的) and experimental thinkers.

    To reach this conclusion, researchers took the 31 previous winners of the Nobel Prize in economics and arranged them according to when they did their most significant work, to identify (识别) their creative peaks.

    Some peaked from ages 25-29. Classified as conceptual thinkers, these people think outside of the box, coming up with new ideas before they become used to the conventional way of doing things.

    The second creative peak came with economists in their 50s. These are experimental thinkers who have been in their field for a long time. This allows them to learn from errors and experiment with different processes, before eventually finding new solutions.

    "Whether you hit your creative peak early or late in your career depends on whether you have a conceptual or experimental approach," said Weinburg. He added that their study isn't limited to economics, saying it can apply to other creative disciplines (知识领域). So if you're struggling to come up with new ideas, don't panic. Your creative peak may be yet to arrive.