It was a dark and stormy night. I was about to go to bed when I heard a tapping sound on my window.

"Who's there?" I shouted. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning; I saw a face at the window. It looked like an alien（外星人）— an alien that I had seen on the television show, "the X files".

    I felt very scared. I ran to my bed and pulled my blanket over my head. I started to shout for my parents but there was no reply. Then I remembered that they were at a fancy dress party.

    I looked out of my blanket but it was too dark to see anything. Then I heard footsteps. They were getting louder and louder. I ran to my drawer to take out my camera and started to take pictures in the direction of the window. Soon the footsteps died off.

The grandfather clock struck. It was 12 midnight. I went back to my bed and tried to sleep. But I could not sleep. I felt too frightened. I sat up, and my mind was full of thoughts. Time passed — finally, I fell asleep.

    I woke up only after eight and decided to find out what it had been. I found some footprints outside my bedroom window. I measured them with a ruler and found them to be exactly the same size as my father's shoes. I then went to town to get the film developed. I didn't realize that I did not use the flash until I saw the black photos.

    When I reached home, I told my father the whole incident and he started to laugh. I started laughing too when he told me that he had dressed up as an alien for the party. Today, I am still amused to think I was so afraid of my own father.

    Even though it's the 18th movie from the Marvel Universe, Black Panther is the first one to feature a black superhero with a primarily black cast(演员阵容).

    The film tells the story of the Black Panther, a superhero who takes his father's place as king of the fictional African country Wakanda. The film came out in Chinese mainland cinemas on March 9, passing the $1 billion (about 6 billion yuan) mark at the global box office and becoming the No. 2 superhero release of all time on March 10.

    However, Black Panther means more than just the money it's making. As the Guardian noted, the film is already being regarded as "a positive force for social change".

    The wild success of Black Panther lies in the fact that it gives voices to minorities who are rarely given room in popular culture. "It carries a weight that neither Thor nor Captain America could lift: serving a black audience that has long gone under-represented," Time noted.

    "It makes me feel proud and confident that we made it on screen in that way," Rasheed Butler, 14, from a black community in California, US, told the Marin Independent Journal.

    The superhero Black Panther is inspiring, but the movie also highlights brilliant black women. For example, Black Panther's teenage sister is a tech genius. She designs gadgets for her brother and develops resources that make the isolated Wakanda wealthy scientifically and technologically advanced.

    "What I love about the way this film represents women is that each and every one of us is an individual, unique," Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o, who plays a spy in the movie, told the Los Angeles Times. "I think that's a very powerful message to send to children – both male and female."

    Powerful characters aside, the movie has social implications. While the Black Panther tries to keep his country and people away from the outside world, others want to make use of Wakanda's advanced technology to fight injustice. "But neither option is truly tenable," The Verge noted. "It suggests that these destructive cycles may only be broken through guidance, education, and global leadership."

    Instead of hiding away from current issues of race and economic differences, the movie explores what it means to be black in the US, in Africa and in the world. It deals "head-on with the issues affecting modern-day black life", Time concluded.

    When you think of a jungle adventure, what comes to mind? Are they gorgeous birds flying through the air or monkeys jumping through the forest? Do you think of plants? Probably not. After all, plants aren't the most exciting living things in the world. They just sit there and absorb water and nutrients from the soil and the sun. But actually there are also some plants that eat insects and even small animals from time to time. We call these unusual things carnivorous(食肉性) plants. Although most carnivorous plants eat small insects, larger carnivorous plants in some hot and wet areas have been known to capture rats, birds, and frogs.

    One carnivorous plant many people are familiar with is the Venus flytrap. Its unique “jaws” will function when flies and other small insects touch it. Once its jaws close on its victim, it produces a chemical substance that breaks down the insect and absorbs the insect's nutrients.

    There are several other examples of carnivorous plants. For example, some plants can catch insects with their leaves, which are like a tall narrow wineglass, while some trap their victims with sticky tentacles(触手). And some growing in ponds and streams absorb their victims like underwater cleaners. Carnivorous plants tend to grow in areas where the soil is very thin and lacks necessary nutrients. These plants must find other sources for the nutrients they need.

    Trapping and eating insects allows these unique plants to survive. Unfortunately, human and environmental factors continue to threaten the limited environments where you can find wild carnivorous plants.

    Still for many people, the thought of a plant eating an animal seems very strange. In fact, more than one person has turned the idea into a scary story or movie. Carnivorous plants don't pose any danger to humans, though. Unless you're the size of a tiny insect, you don't have to worry about falling prey to a Venus flytrap.

    Distance, just like currency, becomes incomprehensible when it reaches large quantities.

    So, when outdoor enthusiast and Midwest Mountaineering employee Elizabeth John says she only hiked the nearly 500 miles of the Colorado Trail over a period of six weeks, don't let her fool you. That's like walking from St. Paul to St. Louis—give or take a few dozen miles—plus thousands upon thousands of feet of altitude.

    "I'm a gardener, I'm a busy-hands person, but busy feet are just as good," she explains. "I don't meditate, but maybe that's the way I think about it—walking as a way to relax."

    John took childhood hikes in the Boundary Waters and caught her case of busy feet while hiking in Alaska as a teenager. With a background in paddling, mountaineering, and backpacking, she found long-distance hiking rewarding, though exhausting.

    Since then, thru-hiking—hiking a long-distance trail (考验，试验) end-to-end in one hiking season—has gotten friendlier to beginners. John has given up 60-pound packs in favor of a lighter modern backpacking equipment. For her 50th birthday, she decided to fly to Spain and walk close to 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago. The Colorado jaunt, her first solo long-distance hike, followed a few years later in 2017.

    "Going on a big walk is unreasonable and includes being uncomfortable, wet, hungry, sore, tired, lonely…it's challenging," she says. "It's a leap of faith. But I found the rewards surprising and unexpected, some even waiting for me at home after the trip. There is a rhythm to walking, a physicality and simplicity…a discovery."

    Logging some 4, 000 feet of elevation daily, John met many "trail angels" who provided shade, snacks, and sometimes beer at remote points in the wilderness, purely out of the goodness of their hearts. "You're so excited, because you're someplace so incredible, and it wasn't easy to get there," she says. "There was this moment when you love humanity, and you're so proud of people for doing it."

    If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven't you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

    According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.

    The study also found the effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of "early bilinguals" who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

    Scans showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.

    "Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language," said the scientists.

    It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

    Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. "Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的)," he said. "You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas."

    The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. "Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world," explained the scientists.

    Here are some exciting holidays to make your travel fun and a learning adventure.

    Salsa Dancing Holiday, Cuba

    In Cuba, many all-inclusive resorts(全包式度假胜地) offer free salsa lessons as part of their services, but there are many travel routes available through travel companies that will arrange for dance lessons over the course of your two-week stay, as well as an opportunity to taste authentic Cuban cooking, lifestyle and music. By the end of your holiday, you will be a dancing expert!

    Big Life Stretch, Spain

    Travel opens up opportunities that you do not have at home. Leaving your familiar surroundings might open your mind and bring changes. Big Life Stretch is one-way holiday near Malaga, Spain, in the mountains. You will spend a week surrounding yourself by nature. Guests participate in the scheduled life coaching, and also learn the techniques to hug changes.

    Photography Holiday, Spain

    Taking pictures is a major part of every holiday, but how many of us are good at it? Why not take this opportunity to learn how to really record your travel memories during the trip? In scenic Torrox, Spain. Photography Holiday offers 8-day-long all-inclusive vocations (room and board), photography workshops and personalized photography tours. The holiday includes traditional Spanish homes, the mountains and the sightings of sunrise over Lake Vineula.

    Wild Cookery, Scotland

    If you are looking for a cooking holiday for a change, consider Wild Rose Outdoor Cookery courses. Head out to Scottish Highlands for the weekend, where you will hunt for greens and other cooking materials and learn about ways of cooking outdoors, like fireside cookery, hot stones and pit (坑)cooking.