Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman empire. But when the empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.

    In the early 17th century, the idea of the “Grand Tour” was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel（英吉利海峡）. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice（威尼斯）in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The “Grand Tour” was an important part of young people's education—but only for the rich.

    In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to “take the waters”. They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.

    In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.

    Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far-away countries.

    The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.

    Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything—plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food—and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.

    The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949. But tourism did not take off until 1978. In 2002, the industry was worth 500 billion Yuan and became an important part of China's social development.

    Last April, on a Sunday, we took one of our “nowhere” drives. My husband was quietly driving along a back road. I was occupied in the front passenger seat watching the scenery.

    I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my husband was struggling to look out of my window. This frightened me, since his eyes should be on the road in front of him. I asked him what he was looking at out of the windows, and he quietly replied, “Nothing.”

    After a few minutes, I looked over at my husband and noticed a tear running down his cheek. I asked him what was wrong. This time he told me, “I was just thinking about Pop and a story he had once told me.” It had something to do with Pop, his friend from childhood, and I wanted to know the story, so I asked him to share it with me.

    He said, “When I was 8 years old, Pop and I were out fishing and he told me that the pine trees know when it is Easter.”

    I have no idea what he meant by that, so I pressed him for more information.

    He continued on… “The pine trees start their new growth in the weeks before Easter because spring is drawing near. If you look at the tops of the pine trees, you will see the yellow shoots. As the days get closer to Easter Sunday, the tallest shoot will branch off and form a cross. By the time Easter Sunday comes around, you will see that most of the pine trees will have small yellow crosses on all of the tallest shoots.”

    I turned to look out of the window and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a week before Easter, and you could see all of the trees with the tall yellow shoots stretching to the sky.

    The tallest ones shone in the sunlight like rows of tiny golden crosses. May you find your Easter season filled with beautiful golden crosses!

    No one has a temper naturally so good, that it does not need attention and cultivation, and no one has a temper so bad, but that, by proper culture, it may become pleasant. One of the best disciplined tempers ever seen, was that of a gentleman who was naturally quick, irritable, rash, and violent; but, by taking care of the sick, and especially of mentally deranged (疯狂的) people, he so completely mastered himself that he was never known to be thrown off his guard.

    There is no misery so constant, so upsetting, and so intolerable to others, as that of having a character which is your master. There are comers at every tum in life, against which we may run, and at which we may break out in impatience, if we choose.

    Look at Roger Sherman, who rose from a humble(低下的) occupation to a seat in the first Congress of the United States, and whose judgment was received with great respect by that body of distinguished men. He made himself master of his temper and cultivated it as a great business in life. There are one or two instances which show this part of his character in a light that is beautiful.

    One day, after having received his highest honors, he was sitting and reading in his sitting room. A student, in a room close by, held a mirror in such a position as to pour the reflected rays of the sun directly in Mr. Sherman's face. He moved his chair, and the thing was repeated. A third time the chair was moved, but the mirror still reflected the sun in his eyes. He laid aside his book, went to the window, and many witnesses of the rude behavior expected to see the ungentlemanly student severely punished. He raised the window gently, and then-shut the window blind(百叶窗)!

    I can not help providing another instance of the power he had acquired over himself. He was naturally possessed of strong passions, but over these he at length obtained an extraordinary control. He became habitually calm and self-possessed. Mr. Sherman was one of those men who are not ashamed to maintain the forms of religion in their families. One morning he called them all together as usual to lead them in prayer to God. The "old family Bible "was brought out and laid on the table.

    Mr. Sherman took his seat and placed beside one of his children. The rest of the family were seated around the room, several of whom were now grown ups. Besides these, some of the tutors of the college were boarders in the family and were present at the time. His aged mother occupied a corner of the room, opposite the place where the distinguished Judge sat.

    At length, he opened the Bible and began to read. The child who was seated beside him made some little disturbance, upon which Mr. Sherman paused and told him to be still. Again he continued but again he had to pause to scold the little offender, whose playful character would hardly permit it to be still. At this time he gently tapped its ear. The blow, if blow it might be called, caught the attention of his aged mother, who now with some effort rose from the seat and tottered across the room. At length, she reached the chair of Mr. Sherman, and in a moment, most unexpectedly to him, she gave him a blow on the ear with all the force she could gather. “There, "said she, "you strike your child, and I will strike mine.”

    For a moment, the blood was seen mounting to the face of Mr Sherman. But it was only for a moment and all was calm and mild as usual. He paused; he raised his glasses; he cast his eye upon his mother; again it fell upon the book from which he had been reading. Not a word escaped him; but again he calmly pursued the service, and soon sought in prayer an ability to set an example before his household which should be worthy of their imitation. Such a victory was worth more than the proudest one ever achieved on the field of battle.

    The Ig Nobel Prizes praise research that makes you laugh and then think. The winners are allowed to make a one-minute speech with time kept by an eight-year-old! Every year, in Harvard's Sanders Theatre, people watch the winners step forward to accept their prizes. These are physically handed out by real Nobel laureates (获得者). Let's have a look at some of them.

    The Empty Bladder (膀胱) Experiment

    Four researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology found that animals above 3 kg empty their bladders in about 21 seconds. What is the purpose of this study? The researchers hope this will help solve urinary (泌尿的) problems in animals.

    The Science of Eggs

    A team of Australian scientists managed to get hard-boiled egg whites to become raw again. While it sounds silly, this research could have a serious influence on cancer (癌症) research.

    The Fascination with Animals

    Charles Foster and Thomas Thwaites from the UK shared the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology. Thomas chose to live like a goat and wrote about his experience in "GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human". Charles, on the other hand, spent some time in the wild, trying out the lives of many animals. He felt it gave him a chance to explore the world around us with more of our senses.

    Colors & Horseflies

    A team from Hungary, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland won the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics. They studied why horseflies have less interest in white-haired horses. The team used handmade horses covered in glue. They found that dark colors attracted more flies because of how sunlight reflected (反射) off them. To the food searchers, it was a sign of food. This finding could explain the white coats of zebras too.

Fishy Weather Conditions

    Laj amanu，Australia，is a dry little town，sitting right on the edge of the Tanami desert. Can you imagines How surprised were people when live fish rained down on them from a dark gray cloudy. It happens that there are similar cases in England and Honduras.

    How do clouds make fishy. The simple answer is that they don't. There is a particular weather phenomenon(现象)called a waterspout. A waterspout is just like a tornado，only it forms above oceans，lakes，or rivers. Like a tornado，a waterspout moves in a circle at high speeds. When it moves above the water，it tends to carry the fish with it，as well as frogs or other small plants or animals.

    Scientists couldn't work it out at first. To make matters stranger still，the fish in Honduras were very much alive when they rained down to the ground，but they were all blind. In England and Australia，it rained fish and snakes，and none were blind. It was difficult to puzzle out，but the blind fish gave them a place to start.

    Scientists knew that some fish that lived in deep，underground caves with no light sources often lost their eyesight. So when blind fish rained down on Honduras，scientists began to connect some dots. Clearly，these particular fish were pulled from an underground water source by force.

    It has rained fish on every continent，and each time，people have tried in various ways to explain this strange phenomenon. Historically，villagers thought the “fishes from the heavens” might be answers to prayers for food. Others suggested that floods overran river banks and oceans，leaving the fish on the city streets. No scientist had actually seen the rain as it occurred，only the fish left on the ground. But in 1990，a National Geographic team happened to be in Honduras when the Rain of Fishes began. They recorded what was happening and made history by finally proving that the fish really did fall from the sky.

    This huge breakthrough wasn't just a spot of good luck. It changed thousands of years of myths and legends into true stories and provided scientific explanations for how fish came to live in deep caves. It explained ancient cave paintings and shed new light on how species have spread over time. It turned out to be a lot more than just a little fishy weather.