The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵) is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn't exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale.

    Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan. His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly. Her title was Mumtaz Mahal: its shortened form Taj Mahal, means “pride of the palace”. In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died. He was so broken-hearted that he thought of giving up his throne(王位). He decided out of his love for his wife to build her the most beautiful tomb(墓穴) that had ever been seen.

    He invited the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was completed. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

    The building itself stands on a marble platform, 29 meters' square and 6-7 meters' high. Towers rise from each of the four corners. The Taj itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.

    The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However, his son put him into prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife.

    As any plane passenger will confirm, a crying baby is almost impossible to ignore, no matter how hard you try. Now scientists believe they may have worked out why. A baby's cry pulls at the heartstrings(扣人心弦)in a way while other cries don't, researchers found.

    Researchers found that a baby's cry can trigger unique emotional responses in the brain, making it impossible for us to ignore them—whether we are parents or not. Other types of cries, including calls of animals in great pain, fail to get the same response…suggesting the brain is programmed to respond specifically to a baby's cry.

A team of Oxford University scientists scanned the brains of 28 men and women as they listened to a variety of calls and cries. After 100 milliseconds — roughly the time it takes to blink (眨眼) —two parts of the brain that respond to emotion lit up. Their response to a baby's cry was particularly strong. The response was seen in both men and women—even if they had no children.

    Researcher Dr Christine Parsons said, "You might read that men should just notice a baby and step over it and not see it, but it's not true. There is a special processing in men and women, which makes sense from an evolutionary(演化的)view that both men and women would be responding to these cries." The study was in people who were not parents, yet they are all responding at 100ms to these particular cries, so this might be a fundamental response present in all of us regardless of parental status.

    Fellow researcher Katie Young said it may take a bit longer for someone to recognize their own child's cries because they need to do more "fine-grained analysis". The team had previously found that our reactions speed up when we hear a baby crying. Adults performed better on computer games when they heard the sound of a baby crying than after they heard recordings of adults crying.

    It's really true what people say about English politeness: it's everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say "sorry". When getting off a bus, English passengers say "thank you" rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes inevitable, and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting with people.

    People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and shop assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be unusual to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans.

    Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men.

    Recently a movement was launched by Charity Cycling UK to raise awareness of dooring after discovering that many people don't know what it is. Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens the door into another road user—typically a cyclist—without looking for other road users.

    Cycling UK Chief Executive Paul Tuohy told Gloucestershire Live: "Some people seem to see car dooring as a bit of a joke, but it's not and can have serious consequences. Cycling UK wants to see great awareness made about the dangers of opening your car door carelessly，and people to be encouraged to look before they open."

    The charity says 2,009 of the 3,000 injuries happened to cyclists, resulting in five deaths but says this might not be the full extent of the danger.

    Cycling UK says not all car dooring incidents will be attended by police, so the charity has written to transport minister Jesse Norman calling for a public awareness campaign urging all car occupants, not just drivers, to look before opening vehicle doors. One of the ways the charity suggests is the "Dutch reach", where people leaving a vehicle reach over and use the non-door side hand to open the door.

    Cycling UK also suggests harsher laws and advice on safer road positioning for people who cycle.

    Mr Tuohy said: "In the Netherlands they are known for practising a method，known sometimes as the 'Dutch reach', which we think could be successfully encouraged in the UK."

    "Cycling UK has written to the Department for Transport asking them to look into this, and highlight the dangers of "car dooring" through a public awareness THINK style campaign."

    If you're really concerned about opening a door into the path of a cyclist coming behind you, consider using what's known as the "Dutch reach" to open the door. That will naturally turn you in your seat and give you a much better view of what's coming up alongside the car.

    Yellowstone National Park is the flagship of the National Park Service and a favorite to millions of visitors each year. The park is a major destination for all members of the family. By driving the grand loop road, visitors can view the park from the comfort of their vehicle and also take a rest at one of the many roadside picnic areas.

    How much is the entrance fee?

    $25 - Private, noncommercial vehicle;

    $20 - Motorcycle or snowmobile (winter);

    $12 - Visitors 16 and older entering by foot, bike, ski, etc.

    This fee provides the visitor with a 7-day entrance permit for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

    A $50 park annual pass provides entrance for a single private non-commercial vehicle at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The $10 Interagency Senior Pass (62 and older) is a lifetime pass available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

    Where can you stay?

    Inside Yellowstone, you can choose to stay in modern or historic hotels and cabins inside the park like the Old Faithful Inn, the world's largest log structure. For those who want to be a little closer to nature, there are 12 campgrounds with a range of services from primitive pit toilets to shower and laundry facilities. There's also RV camping with and without dumping stations.

    Staying outside the park gives you unique Old West experiences but still keeps you close to park attractions.

    If you're taking a road trip to Yellowstone, you'll want to check out our Hotels and Cabins On The Road section.