Lots of students know what a marathon (马拉松赛跑) is, but perhaps they don't know what a triathlon is. The triathlon is a sport that has three parts-swimming, bicycling and running. It is not an easy sport, but a man named Joe Salter is very good at it. A few months ago, he finished a special triathlon—he juggled (抛起接住) three balls all the time during the triathlon. That is to say, he kept on throwing and catching three balls while he was swimming, riding a bicycle and running.

    31-year-old Joe is from Florida, the USA. He loves juggling and he started at the age of 8. Joe did well in juggling.  Later, he got the idea to do a triathlon and juggle at the same time to make it more fun. Many juggling fans laughed at his idea and thought it was just a joke. But Joe didn't give up and he kept practising it. Because of his hard work, he made it at last.

    Talking about his triathlon, Joe said swimming was the hardest part. "It was difficult and complex(复杂的)," he said. "I basically only used my legs, so it took quite a lot of work. Also, swimming in open water made it a little harder. It was not like in a pool."

    We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.

    Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China

    "It'll soon be Chinese New Year. Before it we'll clean the house and decorate it for good luck.

    Every shop is going to close for a few days and we'll go out a lot to celebrate in the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival."

    Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia

    "Australia Day is on 26^th January and it's an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there's lots of music and dancing. What fun!"

    Amy, 14, New York, USA

    "The first Thanksgiving Day was hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help. It's still a very important day for families to be together. This year we're going to visit my grandparents and we'll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year."

    Deep in the forest of southeastern Mexico, scientists found a surprise. They found an ancient pyramid. There were colorful murals (壁画)in it. A mural is a painting on a wall. Those murals are helping scientists unlock a mystery about people who lived in ancient times.

    The murals are about 1,350 years old. That's more than five times older than the United States. Scientists say the paintings belonged to the Mayas. That was a group of Native American people. They lived many years ago in what is now Mexico and Central America.

    Scientists are excited about the discovery because they don't know much about the Mayas' daily life, explains Michael Coe, an expert on the Mayas. The paintings show how the Mayas worked, shopped and dined. One mural shows a man drinking from a bowl. Another shows a woman selling food to a crowd of people.

    "Mostly we get the murals that show gods and kings, never anything about the daily life," Coe said. "This is like walking into a Maya supermarket." So far, scientists have found more than 30 murals in the pyramid. They are not sure why the Mayas created them. The experts hope to learn more as they continue their search.

    "We never had anything like this before," said Coe. "These are really special murals."

    Scientists learned a lot about the Mayas from the murals. The Mayas were known for more than paintings. Now the murals tell us some fun facts about the Mayan way of life.

    Sweet Home

    The Mayas lived in what is now Central and North America. Today the area includes parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.

    Smart Starts

    The Mayas invented a type of Maths. They also created a type of writing that used symbols or pictures. Mayas used bark (树皮)to make books.

    _____

    The Mayas often ate com and used it to make other foods. They grew many crops (庄稼), including beans and sweet potatoes.

    Cool Clothes

    Mayan men dressed themselves up with some cloth while women wore long dresses. Rich Mayas wore jewelry (珠宝).