“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the founder of parkour ( also called free running－a kind of extreme sport).

    Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.

    Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.

    Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy(理念) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life, to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, “I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”

    Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence.

    When I was a kid, I always used to wonder how in the world my father worked outside in the winter without a coat. It could be minus 20 degrees centigrade and there'd be Dad, removing snow, or perhaps chopping(砍) some wood — his coat thrown aside — wearing a shirt, a cap, and a pair of gloves.

    “Aren't you cold, Dad?” I'd ask. “No,” Dad would reply. “I'm not cold—working too hard to be cold.”

    Many times I wondered whether my father was an extremely tough man, or whether he was foolish.

    One time when I was quite young, perhaps five or so, I went ice fishing with Dad. It was a bright, clear day—and bitterly cold.

    After we'd been out on the ice for a little while, my feet started getting cold.

    “Daddy, my feet are cold.” I said.

    “Yeah, it's cold out here today,” he replied.

    “Tell you what,” he said. “Walk around. Make some circles in the snow. See how many different patterns you can make. That will get your feet warm.”

    I was just a little girl at the time but I remember thinking, “How in the world will walking around in the snow make my feet warm? Dad must be out of mind.”

    But he was my father, after all. I made circles in the snow. I made squares. Pretty soon I was having so much fun making patterns in the snow. I forgot about my feet being cold.

    Now, all these years later, I know, too, from personal experience how my father was able to take his coat off and work outside in the winter wearing just a shirt, a cap and gloves. Because I do it, too. “Aren't you cold?” my husband asked one winter day. “No,” I replied. “I'm not cold—working too hard to be cold.”

    I hope my husband has decided I'm both tough and smart. But I guess quite a bit of the time he thinks I'm foolish.

    Wherever Dad is on that great big farm in the sky—I'm sure he can't help but smile whenever I take my coat off while I'm working outside in the winter.

    Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia, some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud burp after you finish eating. Burping would show that you like your food. In some countries, if you give a big burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please”.

    In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show their good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.

    What are manners like in an East African town? The people try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you. Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.

    There are a number of reasons that can be given as to why children should be taught swimming at a young age. If your child knows the basic swimming skills, you can be at peace when your child is near the water. If you are in the process of teaching your child how to swim, then here are some points that you should keep in mind.

    Help your child pick a bathing suit. If you child wants to wear bathing suit and get wet then it is certain that your child will be able to handle the water.

    If the pool has steps, then it is great. Start from these to help your child gain some confidence. You should make sure that there is one place in the pool where your child can be left safely.

    The best way to teach your children to swim is to make them join swimming classes. In this way, you will be at peace because there is a professional trainer around your children who can teach them all the tricks of swimming. You can join in the parent-child lessons to make your child feel comfortable. If your child is a bit older, then get permission and sit by the pool to watch him/her learn. When you get your child admitted to swimming classes, make sure that the lessons go according to the swimming goals that you have set for your child.

    Swimming is a fun activity and you can make it easy for your children to understand and coordinate(协调)the movements of their arms and legs will take some time. But, with regular practice and training this can be overcome. So, start with the basics and be around your children when they are learning how to swim. Once they know how to swim, then you can be at peace when they play around the water.

    It's natural to think about what goes into producing the food in your daily lunch bag. But have you ever stopped to consider the production techniques behind the bag itself? At the center of it is a woman named Margaret Knight.

    From her earliest years, Knight was a restless creator. In the article titled "TheEvolutionoftheGroceryBag", its writer mentions a few of her childhood projects. She was "famous for her kites", and "her sleds were the envy of the town's boys."

    To support her mother, she took a job at a cotton factory when she was 12. That same year she invented a shuttle system which helped to prevent injury. At the time,  she had no concept of patenting(得到……的专利权) her idea. What strengthened her place in history was her working experience at the Columbia Paper Bag Company. Here, instead of folding every paper bag by hand, Knight wondered if she might be able to make them cleanly and rapidly via an automated machine. The result was a working model of her elegant paper-folding machine. But this time, she wanted to go to the extra step and secure a patent on her creation, a brave move for a woman in the 19th century, when an extremely small percentage of patents were held by women.

    Not only did Knight file for a patent, she bravely defended her ownership of the bag machine idea. A man named Charles Annan said the creation was his own, arguing no woman could be able to design such a machine. Knight fought a legal battle against him and handed Annan a courtroom(法庭) defeat by presenting her detailed hand－drawn blueprints. Finally, Knight received her rightful patent in 1871.

    After making the machine, she continued to invent many other things like a paper feeding machine and a skirt protector. Knight, at the age of seventy, worked twenty hours a day on her 89th invention.

    Over the past century, an alarming number of animals have become endangered or even extinct. Below are some animals whose numbers have been rapidly dropping in recent years.

    Panda Bear

    One of the biggest reasons contributing to the decline in the panda species is the destruction of its natural habitat. Farmers in China have gradually been claiming more and more of the land. As a result, pandas are forced to move away to places where it is hard to find bamboo for food.

    Green Turtle

    The green sea turtle species has survived for several millions of years, so you might wonder why it's only becoming endangered now. A major cause is the change in climate and temperature, which both affect the hatching rates of turtle eggs. Climate changes also cause violent weather and rising water levels to flood areas where turtles usually go to lay their eggs. Apart from this, oil spills and other poisonous pollution, as well as increased fishing activities can cause sickness, or even death to the green turtles.

    Cheetah

    Cheetahs are famous for being the fastest animal on land but even they can't run from some of the larger threats that have harmed them. Like the panda bears, cheetahs have gradually been losing their natural homes due to humans claiming land and developing in those areas. To make matters even worse, smaller animals move away when these areas are occupied, which means that the cheetah has less food! Don't forget that other large animals, such as lions, are also fighting for any food that they can find, so occasionally young cheetahs end up as prey too.

    Indian Elephant

    Elephants are extremely intelligent animals and also the largest mammals that live on land. Sadly, in Asia many elephants were killed so that people could remove their tusks to use as decorative objects. While this practice has been banned now, some people still illegally continue. Forests in India have also been steadily destroyed and elephants are sometimes killed when they end up on human territory.