Professional athletes in most sports start to slow down after the age of 35. Some retire (退役). Jamaican Olympic runner Usain Bolt has talked about retiring, for example. He is only 30 years old. But on Thursday, Serena Williams earned a spot in the Australian Open finals. She will face her older sister, Venus, who won her semifinal (半决赛) match a day earlier. It is the first time that the Williams sisters will play in a Grand Slam final since 2009. Venus is 36. Serena is 35. One of them will win the championship (冠军) at last.

    One older champion will play in the men's final, too. Roger Federer qualified for the final by defeating Stan Wawrinka. Federer, like Serena Williams, is 35 years old It will be one of the sport's oldest finals in a long time.

    Ken Rosewall of Australia is the oldest winner of a Grand Slam. He was 37 when he won the Australian Open in 1972.

    Serena Williams is already the oldest winner of a women's Grand Slam match. She won Wimbledon last year at the age of 34.

    Many people are impressed that three of the finalists are 35 or older. All of the players have recently had injuries (受伤). Federer missed six months due to back and knee injuries.

    He told the crowd that he did not think he would be able to make it back to a Grand Slam final.

    The Williams sisters have had difficulties, too. Earlier this month, Venus won a match in New Zealand but withdrew (退出) from the final after hurting her arm. She also learned in 2011 she had the immune system disorder. The disorder kept her from practicing and staying in good physical condition for a number of years.

    Serena took time off to recover from knee and shoulder injuries after losing in the semifinals of the U. S. Open last September. It is the ninth time that the sisters will face each other in a major final. Serena has defeated her sister six of those times. If she wins, Serena will beat Steffi Graff's record for the most Grand Slam titles ever in women's tennis.

    My son Cameron who was 16 years old came up with this crazy idea to make his own survival show. Well I thought it was just another one of his “phases” but he began to sound more and more serious about it. He's a big outdoors man and has always loved the idea of surviving in the woods by himself, but he has never done anything like this. Anyway, he somehow raised $4,000 for his idea. With the money he bought a nice camcorder(摄像机) ;that's when I realized that he was really serious about this whole thing.

    Cameron organized the trip all by himself. I just put out a few rules that he had to follow and rented a satellite phone so that he could contact us on his journey. My son traveled nearly 50 miles, while surviving for four days and three nights alone in the wilderness. He had no food or water, only his knife, and a camera. The journey was difficult as he traveled through valleys, up and down big waterfalls, all while he was filming his entire journey. The wilderness we dropped him off in was a wild forest that is made up of untouched land; he found his way to the beautiful lake where we picked him up. In the end he made the most amazing movie that I have ever seen in all my life.

    My son's courage should be recognized. That is why I am trying my hardest to get him seen by the rest of the world. Cameron recently turned 17. He already has plans for his next adventure and I have no hope in stopping him from completing it. This next summer he plans on surviving for two or three weeks on a desert island in Fiji or Tonga. No teenage kid has ever done anything close to what my son Cameron has done.

    There was a time in the 1960's and 1970's when some people believed that coffee would replace tea as Britain's favourite drink, but that did not happen, and today, tea remains Britain's favourite drink.

    To say that the British are fond of tea is something of an understatement. From the Royal(皇室的) Family down to the homeless and the out-of-work, tea is more than just a pleasure. It is an important part of life!

    The popularity of tea in the United Kingdom has a long history. It was in 1657 that Thomas Garway, the owner of a coffee house, sold the first tea in London. The drink soon became popular as another choice besides coffee.

    In those days, however, tea was not something for anyone. For a century and a half, it remained an expensive drink. Many bosses served a cup of it to their workers in the middle of the morning, thus inventing a lasting British tradition, the “tea break”. But as a social drink outside the workplace, tea was served for the nobility(贵族) and for the growing middle classes. Among those who had the money for tea, it became very popular as a drink to be enjoyed in cafés and “tea gardens”.

    It was the 7th Duchess of Bedford who, in around 1800, started the popular “afternoon tea”, which took place at about four o'clock. At about the same time, the Earl of Sandwich popularized a new way of eating bread with something (e. g. jam) between them, and before long, a small meal at the end of the afternoon with tea and sandwiches had become part of a way of life.

    As tea became much cheaper during the nineteenth century, its popularity spread right through British society. In working-class households, it was served with the main meal of the day, eaten when workers returned home after a day's labour. This meal has become known as “high tea”.

    Today, tea can be drunk at any time of day. Most people in Britain drink tea for breakfast. The mid-morning “tea break” is an institution in British offices and factories. Later in the day, “afternoon tea” is still a way of life in the south of England and among the middle classes, while “high tea” has remained a tradition in the north of Britain.

    At times we all get angry when we are driving. It might be because we are stuck in a traffic jam or stuck behind a very slow driver. It might be because we think another driver has done something very stupid and dangerous. Whatever the reason, it seems that getting angry in a car is something which happens more and more often and there is now a special term for it: "road rage". Some experts even think that road rage is a kind of mental illness! How can we recognize this "illness" of road rage?

There are two kinds of road rage: aggressive driving and aggressive reactions to the way other people are driving. Aggressive driving can take different forms:

    Driving much faster than the speed limit.

    Increasing your speed very quickly.

    Driving very close behind the car in front and sounding the horn or flashing the headlights.

    Changing lanes very suddenly and blocking another car.

    Moving into a parking space where another ear is trying to park.

There are also different reactions to the way other people are driving. These include:

    Making rude signs at people.

    Shouting at people and threatening them.

    Deliberately driving into another person's car.

    Hitting somebody.

    Using a weapon such as a baseball bat, or even a gun or a knife.

    Road rage is certainly not a joke. There have been incidents of road rage which have led to serious injuries and even murder. Experts think that one reason for road rage is that films show a lot of examples of fast and aggressive driving such as car chases where this kind of driving seems to be positive.

    Experts also think that the punishments for dangerous driving are not serious enough. Experience shows that driving problems can be controlled，but it takes a long time. In the UK in the last 30 years, he police have been quite successful in reducing the number of people who drink and drive. They are now working to stop people using mobile phones when they are driving. Let's hope they can have the same success with road rage.

    In most people's opinion, the tiger is not an animal that we would ordinarily think of as being chicken. However, one tiger, which lives in an English zoo, turned out to be more cowardly (胆小的) than his keepers could ever have imagined.

    Tanvir, a two-year-old Bengal tiger, got stuck at the top of a new 5m-high activity tower in the zoo, after climbing it for the first time.

    The wooden tower had been designed to provide mental exercise for Tanvir by testing his ability of dealing with troublesome situations, but after climbing it in just a few seconds, he lost his courage when it came to coming back down. Tanvir went on to spend nearly two days at the top of the tower trying to collect the courage to attempt to get down.

    A spokesperson for the zoo said that several days before Tanvir had taken half an hour to get down a lower tower only 1.5m high, and the taller tower had clearly been too much challenging for him.

    "Every time he got to the edge, he looked out, put a paw over, and thought, 'no, I cannot make it!" 'laughed Samantha Cordrey, Tanvir's keeper. In the end Tanvir's hunger defeated his fear, and after almost 48 hours he made his way down. Burying himself in a big meal just like a hungry pig, Tanvir seemed to forget such a shameful experience for a while.

    It appears that his experience would not be the worst in Tanvir's life if he continued to act like a chicken. It is not known whether he will take courage to go back up his exercise tower again.

    The whole episode (插曲) only serves to show the difficulties faced by zoo staff in creating environments that will improve animals' living ability in enclosed space.

Looking to take your four-legged friend on holiday? Here are the best pet-friendly hotels in the UK.

Sentry Mead, Isle of Wight

Sentry Mead is a beautifully decorated destination with charming bedrooms. Guests delight in features such as piles of books, homemade cakes and even a pillow menu. Dogs are welcomed with a bowl at the gate and are allowed everywhere except the dining room. There are extra blankets just for them, not to mention walks from the door to Alum Bay, and treats and towels on your return. 

No. Twenty 9, Norfolk

This hotel offers a lively stylish atmosphere and charmingly odd features. Rooms are spacious and light, each named after a music or movie legend. Dogs get their own "fur baby welcome present", containing a treat, bowls and a bathrobe. A spa shower in the garden washes off the sand on your friend after a long day on the beach before settling down in the bar together.

Mayfair Townhouse, London

Mayfair Townhouse is spread over a row of townhouses on Half Moon Street. Inside it offers an abundance of personality and a touch of oddity with nods to the famous writer Oscar Wilde. Puppies stay for free and receive a blanket, bowl and "screaming" ball for their stay. There are walks nearby in Green Park, and your pet can join you in the fancy bar for a "Pawsecco".

Halfway Bridge West Sussex

In the heart of the South Downs national park, Halfway Bridge is a welcoming village pub with rooms, famous for its delicious food. Dogs can stay in select rooms with garden access. In addition to a bed, bowl and sausage breakfast, treats for four-legged friends are available in the bar, and there's always a water bowl to hand.