Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family. Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mum, I can't peel(削皮) potatoes. I have only one hand.”

    Mum never looked up from sewing. “You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me. “And don't ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”

    In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel rod(杆) to the next. When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying.

    That night I told Mum about it. She hugged me, and I saw her “we'll see about that” look. The next afternoon, she took me back to school. At the deserted playground, mum looked carefully at the bars.

    “Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow. Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung(横杠) I reached.

    I'll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs; I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open.

    One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing. I could hear Mum came into my room. “Mum,” I said, weeping, “none of the boys would dance with me.”

    For a long time, I didn't hear anything. Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you'll be beating those boys off with a bat.” Her voice was faint and cracking. I peeked(偷看) out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks. Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf. She had never let me see her tears.

    Here are three best destinations for you to discover in 2018 if you ho heart-stopping adventure, a close-up look at history or the perfect meal.

    Los Cabos, Mexico

    Located at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, the two small colonial(殖民地的) towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo have become the hottest vacation destinations in Mexico in recent years. With wide, original beaches, lively nightclubs, natural resorts, and a farm-to-table food scene, the oasis(乐园)of Los Cabos is drawing tourists in record numbers. As a result, the hotel scene is booming, with a lot of new developments and repairs completed this year.

Zambia

    Until now, Zambia has had little recognition as one of Africa's great safari(狩猎远征) destinations. Yet experts know it as the birthplace of the walking safari. In South Luangwa National Park, visitors can expect to see more animals than baobab trees, while Liuwa Plain National Park is the setting for the world's second-largest wildebeest(角马) migration, when tens of thousands of the creatures head across the plain from neighboring Angola.

Brussels, Belgium

    Visitors may want to return to the Belgian capital in 2018 to visit two cutting-edge museums. The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art opened to show contemporary art from around the world. There's also the Citroen Cultural Centre, which will launch its first exhibition in May. The JAM Hotel with exposed brickwork and concrete beams housed in a former art school, is the perfect place for culture-lovers to stay. don't leave town without experiencing beer culture at youthful breweries(啤酒厂) like Brasserie de la Senne or Brussels Beer Project.

    Home from the Navy, I started school at Greenville College in my hometown of Illinois. I'd been out of high school for four years, but my high school headmaster, Mr. Gardner, invited me to a Valentine's Day dance party at school. The thought of seeing my former teachers was exciting. So I agreed.

    When Friday came, I cleaned up, dressed up and drove to the high school gym. I chatted with my teachers and approached Mr. Gardner to thank him before leaving. Just then, the band started playing and a young girl stood up to sing. One look at and I was crazy—I had never seen such a beautiful girl!

    I asked Mr. Gardner who she was, and he answered, “That's Marilyn Riley, Cut Riley's daughter.” I was shocked to say the least. They lived just around the corner from me. I walked across the gym floor to introduce myself, “Hi, I'm Jack Joseph.”

    “I know who you are,” was her not-too-friendly response.

    “Would you like to dance?” I asked. “No! I'm working,” she shot back.

    “Can I call you next week for a movie date?” I asked. “No,” was her response.

    For the next month I phoned, trying to set up a date. She always had the same answer: No. then one rainy afternoon in March as I was driving home after basketball practice, I saw Marilyn, walking with no umbrella, no raincoat, no hat. I pulled alongside her and asked if she needed a ride, half expecting her to say no. instead, she stepped over the roadside and sat down on the seat next to me. It was only a few blocks to her house, but after pulling into her driveway we talked for 45minutes. It was magic from then on.

    Dining in a completely dark room, unaware what's on your plate while sitting next to a complete stranger may not sound like an ideal restaurant experience but it's certainly an intriguing way to spend a rainy night in London.

    Dans le Noir, close to London's financial district, is a restaurant full of blind waiters and waitresses who become your eyes around the restaurant, whose original Paris branch opened in 2004.

    In the bar with the light, you choose whether you want the fish, meat or vegetable, but the dishes themselves remain a secret, as do the ingredients of the “surprise” cocktails. Bags, coats and devices(设备) that light up, including watches and mobile phones, are kept in the bar. Placing your hand on the shoulder of your guide, you are led to a table in a black dining room that sets up to 60 people. And it is dark.

    The waiters tell you when the food is being placed down in front of you, then the fun begins, trying to get food into your mouth, then identifying just what it is that's on your plate, and finally whether you have missed any of it.

    It's also a great chance to break social convention and eat using your fingers. Those same fingers are also the only way you can tell how much wine you're pouring into your glass.

    The happy atmosphere in the dining room also made the night memorable. You can't really avoid talking to the person next to you at the long tables and guessing what the dishes are certainly provides adequate fuel for the conversations.

    All will be revealed at the end of the meal when you are led back out into the lit bar. Not only do you finally get to see what you've just been eating but also who you've been talking to for the last 90 minutes.

    July is a month of fun-filled activities for kids and teens as long as you know where to find them. When you want some fun activities for July, consider these ideas happening in this month.

    In the U. S. state of Washington, a road called Interstate(州际公路；州际的)90 cuts through a wild mountainous area to reach the city of Seattle. For the area's many kinds of animals, busy high- way greatly limits their movements. Animals need to move to find food, to find mates, to find new places to live as their populations expand or just when conditions change, like a fire breaks out. Crossing I-90 – as the road is called – is a risky but sometimes necessary act. But soon, animals will have a safer choice. They will be able to go above it.

    To help the animals, the state is finishing work on its largest - ever wildlife bridge. The 11-meter-tall, 20 - meter - wide bridge begins in the forest. It forms two arches above the highway, one for each direction of traffic. Workers are adding fencing anti plants to help guide the animals across the bridge, Two-meter-thick walls will help block noise from vehicles below. Scientists chose the area because it is within a natural migration(迁徙)path for some animals.

    The I -90 bridge is part of a growing number of wildlife crossings across the United States. Some are fences, some are overland bridges，and some are underpasses. They all aim to keep drivers and animals away from each other.

    A U. S. Transportation Department study found crashes between animals and humans rose year by year. The accidents made up about 5 percent of all crashes nationally, and cost the economy (经济)about ＄8 billion. Such costs come from car repaid, emergency room visits and removal of the dead animals on roads. Collisions between animals and drivers are rarely deadly to people. But they are often deadly to wildlife. The study also found that 21 endangered or threatened species in the U.S. are affected by vehicle hits. Bridges, underpasses and fencing reduce I he area's animal - driver collisions by 80 percent.

    Most of the wildlife bridges are in western states. Many other areas also need such paths. But finding money for more crossings is "the- number - one problem". Patty Garvey — Darda of the U. S. Forest Service has worked on the I - 90 crossing from the start of the project. She says the $ 6 - million bridge will one day pay for itself because the highway will not have to be fully or partly closed each time a large animal is struck. "If you shut clown Interstate 90, you shut down interstate trade." she adds.