Our room was on the second floor but you could still hear the roar of the ocean and see the stars at night. I used to take long walks along the water. The food in town was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The area was very quiet and peaceful, and fairly deserted.

    The last evening of our vacation, however, we all heard strange footsteps following closely behind us as we were walking up to our room in the holiday centre. We turned around and noticed a fairly young man moving very rapidly across the beach and getting closer to us. He was tall and wore a baseball cap. We didn't have any cell phones on us. I never saw Dad as worried as he was then and knew that something was terribly wrong. The sense of fear started to overwhelm Mom and me. We had had such a good time in town. Now, the night was rapidly turning into a dangerous situation.

    We could hear the man's footsteps getting closer. Dad's face was almost pale. The so-called intruder (侵入者) had moved nearer and nearer when all of a sudden, the nearby vending (自动贩卖) machine started going crazy and spitting out cans of soda! The noise actually scared the intruder and he ran out of sight. My parents were shaking, but we all turned around to see who had put money into the vending machine downstairs, and actually saved us, but no one was around at all.Not a soul.

    It's one vacation I will never forget.

    Food safety is a problem in all places around the world and people in different areas of the world prepare foods in different ways. The WHO released (发布) five simple rules for preparing food in a safe way. They call these rules the “Five Keys to Safer Food”.

Key 1: Keep clean

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} People should wash their hands often — before touching food and while they are preparing food. People should wash all surfaces and equipment used for preparing food.

Key 2: Separate raw (生的) and cooked

    Raw foods should not touch prepared foods.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Key 3:{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People should cook eggs and meat especially carefully. These foods may carry more micro-organisms (微生物) than other foods. Food like soup must be boiled for at least a minute to make it be cooked completely. It is also important that people re-heat cooked food completely.

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

    When people are finished with eating, they should keep the left food in a refrigerator below 5℃ and shouldn't store it for too long. At room temperature, about 20℃, the amount of micro-organisms can increase very quickly. But temperatures above 60℃ or below 5℃ control the growth of micro-organisms.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Damaged or old food may develop harmful chemicals as it gets older.

A. Eat healthily

B. Cook completely

C. They can live where we make food

D. This key tells about the importance of washing

E. People should use safe water and choose fresh foods

F. They cannot grow as quickly in a very hot or very cold environment

G. People should use separate equipment and tools for touching and preparing raw foods

    Zhang Kui first learned he could perfectly mimic(模仿)the sounds of animals when he was a child. The 29-year-old, who grew up in a poor family in Qiyang, Human province, today is a full-time performer of kouji.

    Zhang was 15 when his father died in 2003. He dropped out of school and joined his uncle's theater. Zhang bought CDs to study how to mimic the sounds of musical instruments and animals. He performed shortly afterward at a small theatre. “Although I wasn't that skilled, I got a lot applause(掌声). It was my first time on the stage. And then more and more audience came to watch my performances.” he said.

    He moved to Guilin in 2004, where he found work as a waiter at a karaoke bar. In 2005, Zhang went to Guangdong province and performed outside supermarkets to sell shampoo. “They paid me less, so I had to perform at bars at night.” said Zhang. He also worked as a condtruction worker. In 2007, he went to Beijing to learn from Niu Yuliang, a Beijing Kouji master. He worked as a gatekeeper to pay his way. He went to Niu on weekends and during the holidays to learn.

    Zhang's skills improved and he has since performed on more than 20 television programs. In September 2013, he was invited to Switzerland, in 2004, he performed in Africa, Europe and North America.

    Last year, he made a short film about the art and said it was the first film on the subject. The film will be on this year, and he said he hoped to draw more attention to the art. He also plans to give lectures on this traditional art at universities.

    Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to adapt to my changing body, I also had to deal with my parents' bitter divorce, a new family and the upsetting move from my country home to a crowded town.

    When we moved, my beloved companion, a small brown pony had to be sold. I was heartbroken and terribly lonely. I couldn't eat or sleep and cried all the time. Finally, realizing how much I missed my pony, my father bought me another horse, Cowboy.

    Cowboy was without doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn't care. I loved him beyond all reasons.

    I joined a riding club. When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged by appearance, we were quickly "shown the gate". I knew nothing could turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the timed speed events. I chose the jumping race.

    For the whole next month we practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home, totally exhausted.

    All of our hard work didn't make me feel confident by the time the show came. One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. I sat at the gate and sweated all out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the court and finish in first place.

    My turn finally came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped over it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.

    No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds.

    I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I'd always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the owner of my fate.

    BBC SHOP

    Entertaining. Informing. Inspiring.

    WHAT A RELIEF!

    Delight everyone on your holiday gift list with great gifts from the BBC.

You'll earn heartfelt thanks from nature lovers for Planet Earth I&II The Complete Collection(page 41)—inspiring look at our planet's wildest, most mysterious creatures and their breathtaking home. from mystery lovers for Sherlock: Complete Seasons 1-4 and The Abominable Bride Giftset (page13)—entertaining proof that Holmes can be difficult, dangerous, accurate, and absolute funny...and from those who appreciate all things British. Delight Charles Dickens fans with Dickensian (page 7), and the new drama series with more adventures for Dickens' characters... Dinner with Dickens Cookbook (page9) with procedures for his favorite dishes... and Tom BakerReads “A Christmas poem”(page 8) for a wonderful new holiday tradition.

    THE MOMENT

    Welcome to murder, suspense, romance, robbery and clothing in this exciting historical drama! Trouble begins for Rachel Verinder the day she inherits a large diamond stolen from a Hindu temple When it disappears again, suspicion falls on Franklin Blake, the man who loves her. But what about mysterious cousin Godfrey, the housemaid with a thieving past, and doctor who experiments with opium(鸭片)？ Blake must discover the fate of the Moonstone or lose Rachel forever. A powerful tale and emotionally sudden changes, based on the first-ever English detective novel by Wikie Collins33/4hours.DVD21024:$34.99 YOUR PRICE: $27.98

    EALKERS CHRISTMAS TREE SHORTBREAD AND TINS

    Santa and a beautiful Angel put the finishing touches on Christmas tree tins-perfect centerpieces and holiday decorations that your family and friends will enjoy year after year.

    Lift the treetops and taste the delicious secret inside pure butter shortbread shaped like mini-Christmas trees, and made from only finest ingredients-flour, butter, sugar and salt.

    Baked in the village of Aberlour in the Scottish Highlands, they follow a generations-old family procedure, first perfected by Joseph Walker in 1898.While the shortbread will disappear as if by magic, the tine will hold your holiday cookies and candy for many Christmases to come.

    Wonderful hostess gifts.   Angel 21042 $19.98

    Both tins: 6h×43/4d.net wt 4.40z Santa 21043 $19.98

    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."