The Catskill Mountains are a year-round playground for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. You will find a number of relaxing inns ready to meet your needs.

Caleb Street's Inn

    Located in the historic village of Catskill at the base of the mountains, Caleb Street's Inn was built in 1785. It provides a view of the garden and Catskill Creek or guests can step outside for a walk along the Hudson River. A full breakfast is served every morning. Each of the four Pet-friendly rooms offers a private bath and a view of the river and neighboring buildings. Hiking trails(小路), golf courses and historic sites are only a short drive away.

Winter Clove Inn

    Nature lovers can enjoy a pleasant location in the Northern Catskill Wilderness Preserve at Winter Clove Inn. With wood floors, each room has a private bath and air conditioning(空调). With active days of tennis, hiking or cross- country skiing ahead, guests don't have to go far for a breakfast, lunch or dinner beside the fireplace at inn's restaurant.

Windham House

    A former pub built in 1805, Christman's Windham House is the oldest inn continually operating in the Catskills. The 300 acres of grounds in the town of Windham include a tennis court, golf course, heated pool and a restaurant. Guests can relax on private balconies (阳台) overlooking a golf course and take their meals at Christman's Windham House Restaurant. The inn is less than 2 miles from the hiking trails of Windham Mountain.

Washington Irving In

    If you're looking for a mountain inn with a Victorian feel, Washington Irving Inn has much to offer. Furnished with antiques, each of the 15 rooms has a private bath. Free breakfast is served. Hikers are a short walk from Kaaterskill Falls and Hunter Mountain trails.

    Though there are about 400 languages from all over the world that are in danger of disappearing completely，Zoque-Ayapaneco，a native Mexican language is considered the most likely to become extinct，because the only two people in the world that speak it fluently do not talk to each other!

    And，it's not because they live in different countries，states or even villages. In fact，Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez，both in their 70s，live within 500 yards of each other，in the village of Ayapa in the Southern Mexican State of Tabasco. They，however，refuse to communicate because they simply don't have much in common. Segovia is apparently a little frank in nature while Velazquez is described as shy.

    Segovia was at least able to talk in Zoque-Ayapanece with his brother until he passed away about 12 years ago，and still manages to practice it with his family，especially his son Manuel，who for the last five years has been trying to learn it and hopes to become fluent enough to teach it to the next generation. Velazquez on the other hand，has not been heard speaking in the language with anybody.

    The two men say the language used to be widely spoken in the village，but the younger generation refused to learn it for fear of being laughed at，and it therefore began to die a slow death，as the elders passed away.

    Unless the two men get their acts together，the only way to hear the language will be to either listen to Manuel's not-so-fluent statement or see them talk in a documentary entitled “Lengua Muerta” (Dead Language) that is being filmed to capture Zoque Ayapaneco and 364 other native Mexican languages that are in a similar state.

    We sure hope Segovia and Velazquez soon find something common to talk about. Maybe the fact is that the language is dying and that they should start encouraging and teaching the next generation together.

    My wife and I owned two doge that we had owned before we met and brought into the marriage. Her dog was a pit bull(斗牛犬) named Zack, and he hated me. When our daughter was born, I was worried that the family pit bull would be dangerous to have around our young daughter. I warned my wife that the dog would have to go at the first sign of trouble. I said, “If he nips(啃咬) at the baby, he's gone.”

    We brought our daughter home in a car seat, and both dogs sniffed(嗅）and licked her, tails wagging. I had to pull Zack away from her because he wouldn't stop licking her. Zack immediately became my daughter's protector, and when she was lying on a blanket on the floor, he always had one foot on the blanket.

    Zack loved my daughter extremely, and when she became a little older always walked her to bed, and then slept on the bed with her. He somehow knew whenever it was time to go upstairs, and he would wait at the bottom of the stairs for her, and then follow her up to bed.

    Zack was poisoned by some neighbor kids, and we had one of the worst days of our lives. Watching my daughter say goodbye to him as he lay still on the kitchen floor, my wife and I were both sobbing.

    At 8:00 that night, my daughter walked to the stairs to go to bed. At that moment, all three of us realized what was about to happen. My daughter looked at her mother and me with a look of horror and panic. It was at that moment that my dog, Sam who loved my daughter dearly, stood up, walked over to her, and nudged her with his head. He put his foot on the stairs, and looked up at her. They walked up to bed, with my daughter holding his neck tightly.

    For the next six years, until he died, Sam waited for her by the stairs each night.

    In England, some food companies across the whole country have been told to carry out urgent (紧急的) tests on all beef products. Do you know why? That's because some food companies used horse meat to make beef products.

    There are some examples about the horse meat matter. In January, 2013, in a number of UK supermarkets, frozen hamburgers were found to have traces of horse meat in them. Some frozen beef products made by food company FINDUS were found to contain horse meat. All of the beef products made by this company have been removed from sale.

    The government said that there's nothing to suggest any health risk from the products. Food minister David Heath said people should not throw away frozen meat products and carry on eating meat. The government will tell people not to eat meat if the meat is not safe.

    Food safety has been an important matter all over the world. More and more countries plan to take some useful measures to ensure the safety of food.

    When Rebecca Saxon was diagnosed with cancer at the young age of 27, she thought her life was over. But in her darkest hour, inspiration struck and she found a way of turning her misfortune into advantage.

    Following her cancer treatment, Rebecca launched a successful business "Something Blue Bridal Shoes"—a unique range of wedding footwear, which came out of the fashion pictures she drew while recovering in her hospital bed.

    Rebecca, from London, says, "I started designing wedding shoes with blue soles (鞋底) when I was halfway through my cancer treatment. I had a hit when I was diagnosed with cancer but I decided that I was going to pick myself up and fight this cancer. The pictures were my release and the way I got through the many hours spent in a hospital room. I had no idea what was going to happen to me, but I knew I had to be positive if I was going to overcome this treatment. I told myself this was not going to be the end for me. I decided to fight with my negative feelings and start drawing."

    Rebecca had always loved fashion since she was younger. Several of her friends were getting married at the time when she was ill. "So at first, I would be drawing designs for wedding dresses and other clothes. But then I started drawing wedding footwear—designing shoes with blue soles which were very comfortable too. I thought it would be a lovely way of combining the 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' tradition. Drawing really helped me deal with my treatment," said the brave girl.

    With the encouragement of her boyfriend, she turned her dreams into her reality and set up "Something Blue Bridal Shoes". Each beautiful shoe has a blue sole, combining the age-old tradition of what a bride should wear at her wedding for good luck.

The world has been extremely impressed by China's high-speed trains that cross the country by the hundreds in all directions every day, but in one corner of this vast land is a gentle reminder that life was not always this fast.

Those fortunate enough to travel to Jiayang in Sichuan province will find railway carriages dragged by steam locomotives(火车头), among the last steam trains operating in China and still running every day. First used to transport coal from Jiayang Coal Mine 62 years ago, today they transport local farmers and their produce to market and serve as a tourist attraction.

"In the early days of the railway, farmers headed for the farm produce market sitting beside coal," said Liu Chengxi, the Jiayang official in charge of the trains. "As coal production has stopped, the trains are now exclusively(专门地)for farmers and tourists."

The narrow railway, only 76.2 cm instead of the standard 144 cm, stretches for 19. 84 km, with the trains reaching a top speed of 20 km/h.

A one-way ticket costs 5 yuan for seated passengers and 3 yuan for standing passengers on the ordinary trains regardless of whether they are travelling empty-handed or with animals or vegetables. But Li Cuirong, who has worked as a train dispatcher(调度员)for more than 20 years, recommends tourists pay 80 yuan for a sightseeing train, as the carriages, which have 37 seats, are more comfortable and air-conditioned. A one-way trip takes about one and a half hours.

The scenery is dramatic as the train winds through the mountain, passengers can view chickens and geese wandering among the orange trees and butterflies dancing over the fields and ponds.

Rob Dickinson, a steam train lover from the United Kingdom, has ridden the trains twice. He hopes the narrow line can last long enough for him to find the time to get back again.