Wild weather, unexpected coral reefs and dangerous sea creatures… these are the nightmares (噩梦) you can imagine a teenager on a solo voyage (独自旅行) around the world might suffer from. But for Laura Dekker, sailing around the globe seems less a price to be paidthan a prize to be treasured.

    As the 19-year-old Dutch sailor said in Maidentrip, a documentary（纪录影片） released last year about her experience of becoming the youngest person to sail around the world alone in 2012, “I was born on a boat. I lived my first five years at sea. And ever since, all I have wanted is to return to that life.”

    With her yacht(游艇) Guppy, Dekker began her journey at 14 and sailed 50,004 kilometers in 519 days.

    The flying fish keeping her company, the dolphins following in her wake and the warm days spent on deck playing the flute (长笛) as she watched another unforgettable sunset were enough to make others jealous.

    But these didn't always go well. There were terrible moments in which Dekker feared death. On one occasion, a whale almost turned Guppy over. Another time, she battled extreme winds and Guppy surfed down 8-meter-high waves.

    Out on the open sea alone, she also got used to living without a fridge, a flushing（用水冲洗） toilet, and a hot shower.

   “As a human being you don't need much,”she told Stuff.co.nz. “ They might make life more comfortable, but you really don't need them to be happy.”

    In fact, her outlook on life was shaped by the trip. “I wanted the storms. I wanted the calms. I wanted to feel loneliness,”she told The New York Times. “And now I know all these things. It's the end ofthe dream I had as a child, and it's the beginning of my life as a sailor.”

Note：

* All under 18's must be accompanied by an adult

* Pets allowed: No

* Cost: Free

* Phone: 01674­830736

* Location: SNH Visitor Centre, St Cyrus National Nature Reserve

    My teacher, Mr. August J. Bachmann, was the most influential teacher I ever had.

    I had gotten into trouble in his class: Another student had pushed me for fun, and I became angry and began to hit him. Mr. Bachmann stopped the fight, but instead of sending me to the office, he sat me down and asked a simple question,“Penna, why are you wasting your life？ Why aren't you going to college？”

    I didn't know anything about colleges or scholarships. No one had ever considered that a fatherless boy from the poorest neighborhood had a future. That day, instead of rushing off for lunch, he stayed and explained possible education options to me. At the end of our talk, he sent me to see a secretary who had a child at a state college. This was in 1962 at Emerson High School in Union City, New Jersey.

    Well, 55 years have passed, and what have I done with the knowledge he gave me？I gained a PhD from Fordham University when I was only 29.I taught English and social studies and then moved up the chain of command from teacher to principal(校长).

    I've sat on the board for Magnet Schools of America and represented that organization at the United Nations. I've won a number of great educational awards. But where would I be if a truly caring teacher had not taken the time out of his lunch period to speak to me？ It was without question only his confidence in me that helped me forward.

    I have repaid his kindness hundreds of times by encouraging misguided youngsters to aim higher. If I have saved any children, it is because of him. If I have been a successful educator, it is because I had a great role model in Mr. Bachmann.

    Suppose you become a leader in an organization. It's very likely that you'll want to have volunteers to help with the organization's activities. To do so, it should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work.

    Let's begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.

    People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people's wish of participation from an internal factor (e.g. "I volunteer because it's important to me") to an external factor (e.g. "I volunteer because I'm required to do so"). When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.

    Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to "training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience".

    Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view "volunteer" as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as "Volunteering in Hospital is an important part of who I am." Consistent with the researchers' expectations, they found a positive correlation (正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, lead to concrete advice: "Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity…Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity".

    The Largest World Fairs of All Time

    New York World Fair — New York, 1939

    The 1939 New York World Fair was the largest exposition (博览会) in US history with visitors over 14 million. The Fair was planned during the Great Depression and was aimed at relieving the city from economic depression by attracting foreign investment. Major inventions to emerge (出现) at the New York World Fair included nylon fabric, a streamlined pencil sharpener, and a futuristic car city imagined by General Moiors.

    Exposition liniverselle — Paris, 1900

    The Exposition Universelle was one of the earliest expositions to feature multiple countries with France inviting various countries to display their technological advancements and cultural heritage. Exposition Universelle was the birthplace of many inventions that we enjoy today including escalators (自动扶梯) and talking films.

    Expo' 70 — Osaka, Japan

    Expo' 70 was the biggest exposition of the 20th century and the second largest in history. Expo 70 had a record attendance of over 64 million visitors, a 40-year record that would not be broken until Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Notable exhibitions included a large piece of moon rock that was brought back from the Apollo 12 mission.

    Expo 2010 — Shanghai. China

    Expo 2010 goes down as the largest fair in history, having attracted 73 million people. It also had the highest international participation of any exposition in the world with 246 countries participating. The opening ceremony featured the biggest LED screen in the world as well as one of the biggest fireworks displays in history.

    I stopped to watch my little girl busy playing in her room. In one hand was a plastic phone ; in the other a toy. I listened as she was speaking to her make-believe little friend and I'll never forget the words she said, even though it was imagined.

    She said, "Suzie's in the corner because she's not been very good. She didn't listen to a word I said or do the things she should." In the corner I saw her baby doll well dressed. It was obvious that she'd been put there to sit alone and think.

    My daughter continued her "conversation", as I sat down on the floor. She said, "I'm all fed up and I just don't know what to do with her any more. She cries whenever I have to work and wants to play games too. She tries to help me with the dishes, but her arms just cannot reach... And she doesn't know how to fold towels. I don't have the time to teach. I have a lot of work to do and a big house to keep clean. I don't have the time to sit and play - don't you know what I mean?"

    And that day I thought a lot about making some changes in my life, after listening to her innocent words which cut me like a knife. I hadn't been paying enough attention to what I hold most dear. I'd been caught up in responsibilities that increased throughout the years.

    But now my attitude has changed because in my heart I realize that I've seen the world in a different light through my little darling's eyes. So let the cobwebs(蜘蛛网) cut the corners and the dust bunny rabbit rule the floor. I'm not going to worry about keeping up with them anymore.

    I'm going to fill the house with memories of a child and her mother, for we have only one childhood and we will never get another.