Helen Thayer, one of the greatest explorers of the 20th century, loves challenges. She says, “I like to see what's on the other side of the hill.” She has gone almost everywhere to do that.

    In 1988, at the age of 50, she became the first woman to travel alone to the North Pole. She pulled her own sled (雪橇) piled with 160 pounds of supplies, and during her trip no one brought her fresh supplies. Accompanied (陪伴) only by her dog Charlie, she survived cold weather and meetings with polar bears. In fact, Charlie saved her life when one of them attacked her. Near the end of her trip, a forceful wind blew away the majority of her supplies. The last week of the trip, she survived on a handful of nuts and a little water each day.

    Helen goes to challenging places not only for adventure, but also for education. Before her Arctic journey, she started a website called Adventure Classroom. On the site, she shares her adventures in order to motivate (激发) students. She explains, “Although kids often see the world in a negative way, without hope for their future, we work to inspire them to set goals, plan for success and never give up…” Helen grew up in New Zealand. Her parents were athletes and mountain climbers. Following how parents' example, she climbed her first mountain at 9. Later, she climbed the highest mountains in North and South America, the former USSR and New Zealand.

    In 1996, she took on another challenge-the Sahara Desert. She and her husband, Bill, walked 2,400 miles across it! In 2001, she and Bill traveled on foot from west to east through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. They hope to travel in mainland China into Sichuan and Tibet to study pandas this year.

    Helen plans to continue taking trips. She'll use her colorations, writing, photography and environmental work to create programs for her Adventure Classroom website. She wants to inspire her students never to stop facing challenges!

    Sharon, Aged 22

    The most important thing to keep in mind when going into high school is to be yourself. Besides, I don't know what your middle school was like, but high school teachers will not care about things such as how much homework you already have in one night. It's best to just learn to deal with things and manage your time wisely so you can achieve everything you need to.

    Frank, Aged 21

    I think almost every kid feels both nervous and excited before their first day. You will probably love it. I know I did. You should join some sports or activities that will make your high school experience more enjoyable.

    Good luck!

    Eddie, Aged 20

    When I started high school I was really nervous too, especially since I had been homeschooled all through middle school and didn't really know anyone. I suppose the best advice would be to just relax. The first couple of days can be a little bit hard, but things will become easier before you know it.

    David,  Aged 19

    I am not going to lie. The first day is kind of frightening. But you'll get used to it. Don't be afraid of anyone; upperclassmen will pick on you more if you let them know you're afraid. Just take it easy. Making some friends and staying with them will greatly help you get used to high school quickly. After the first week it's really not bad at all. Don't worry.

    Do you often feel tired? Is it really because of the large amount of mental work you do? Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can't make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

    So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

    Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional attitudes. One of England's most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

    What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated —— those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

Welcome to Cengiz Tours

    If you are looking to have a relaxing and unforgettable vacation, sailing on the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey, you are at the right place!

Cengiz Tours offers blue cruises starting from June until the end of October each year, in the Gulf of Gokova, located on the Mediterranean Sea.

    You are encouraged to make reservations one-month ahead of time. The blue cruise usually starts from Bod rum, in the Gulf of Gokova, and takes you along the beautiful shores within the Mediterranean Sea. Cengiz Tours offers trips based on your desired destinations. Mr. Cengiz Tozluklu, a licensed captain, a skilled cook and a tour guide, has been sailing for almost 40 years, and will make sure that you have an unforgettable time during your vacation on his boat. He offers a pick-up and drop-off service at the Bodrum Airport. Three meals are included per day and so is moderate alcohol.

    Please make sure that you inform us of any allergies or medical conditions you might have. Sleeping is quite comfortable on the sailboat and you are also certainly invited to sleep on the deck of the boat, under the stars.

    Mr. Tozluklu is a very friendly tour guide, so expect your vacation to be extremely pleasing and a little surprising. The Mediterranean beaches, visiting beautiful Turkish countryside, watching the sunset and sunrise, the moon and the stars, swimming, fishing and enjoying the quiet coves within the Gulf of Gokova will be a vacation hard to forget.

    Call for reservations. You are encouraged to make reservations one-month ahead of time.

    Please note that there is a one-week minimum stay per tour.

    Cellphone (Turkey): + 90-533-923-3222

    At the age of 14, James Harrison had a major chest operation and he required 13 units (3.4 gallons) of blood afterwards. The blood donations saved his life, and he decided that once he turned 18, he would begin donating blood as regularly as he could.

    More than 60 years and almost 1,200 donations later, Harrison, whose blood contains an antibody (抗体) that has saved the lives of 2.4 million babies from miscarriages (流产), retired as a blood donor on May 11. Harrison's blood is valuable because he naturally produces Rh-negative blood, which contains Rh-positive antibodies. His blood has been used to create anti-D in Australia since 1967.

    "Every bottle of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it," Robyn Barlow, the Rh program director told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's an amazing thing. He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it." Since then, Harrison has donated between 500 and 800 milliliters of blood almost every week. He's made 1,162 donations from his right arm and 10 from his left.

    "I'd keep going if they let me," Harrison told the Herald. His doctors said it was time to stop the donations — and they certainly don't take them lightly. They had already extended the age limit for blood donations for him, and they're cutting him off now to protect his health. He made his final donation surrounded by some of the mothers and babies who his blood helped save.

    Harrison's retirement is a blow to the Rh treatment program in Australia. Only 160 donors support the program, and finding new donors has proven to be difficult. But Harrison's retirement from giving blood doesn't mean he's completely out of the game. Scientists are collecting and cataloging his DNA to create a library of antibodies and white blood cells that could be the future of the anti-D program in Australia.

    The Secretary-General of the U.N. has always been chosen in private meetings. But for the first time in its 70-year history, part of the selection process is taking place in public.

    At least eight countries have announced their candidates (候选人) for the position, among whom are women, including Irina Bukova from Bulgaria, Susana Malcorra from Argentina and Helen Clark from New Zealand. 56 countries says the next U.N. chief should be a woman. There have been eight U.N. chiefs, none of whom was a woman.

    All member states were permitted to ask the candidates questions during two hour-long meetings last week in the U.N. General Assembly (联合国大会). The candidates were also asked some of the 1,000 questions written by people on social media.

    They were asked questions about development, how they would improve efforts to create peace and how they would protect human rights.

    The U.N. Security Council will examine the candidates' backgrounds. Then the 15 members will vote secretly until one person is chosen. The General Assembly will then vote on whether to accept the choice.

    Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the five permanent members of the Security Council. Experts say they are likely to have more influence on who will be the new secretary-general than the 10 non-permanent nations on the council.

    The Security Council will begin to discuss who will be named the next secretary-general in July. A new secretary-general may not be confirmed until as late as November.

    The U.N. has a tradition of choosing its new leader from a part of the world different from its current leader. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Asia. The previous U.N. chief was Kofi Annan, who was from Africa.

    Dan Thomas is a spokesman for the president of the General Assembly. He says there is no rule that says where a new secretary-general must come from. But most observers say the new U.N. chief will not be from Asia or Africa.