Why is pink or purple a color for girls and blue or brown for boys?

The answer depends largely on cultural values as well as personal experiences. To the Egyptians, green was a color that represented the hope and joy of spring, while for Muslims, it means heaven. Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures. In China, children are given money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year. For many nations, blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs. Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect themselves against evils (灾祸).

    People's choice of colors is also influenced by their bodies' reactions (反应) toward them. Green is said to be the most restful color. It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally and physically. People who work in green environment have been found to have fewer stomachaches.

Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites (食欲). Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant. Similarly, many commercial (商业的)websites will have a red “Buy Now” button because red is a color that easily catches a person's eye.

    Blue is another calming color. Unlike red, blue can cause people to lose appetite. So if you want to eat less, some suggest that eating from blue plates can help.

    The next time you are deciding on what to wear or what color to decorate your room, think about the color carefully.

    The pillage (掠夺) and destruction of ancient shipwrecks and sunken archaeological sites by treasure hunters seeking gold and other valuables may be illegal under the terms of an international treaty under discussion by UNESCO's 188 Member States.

    "Protecting our underwater heritage is extremely important and increasingly urgent as no site or shipwreck is now out of bounds for treasure hunters. New technologies have made deep-water wrecks easily accessible and these technologies are getting cheaper," warns Lyndel Prott.

    According to estimates by commercial salvors (寻宝者), there are some three million undiscovered shipwrecks scattered across the world's oceans. Even the figures for the known wrecks are impressive. The Northern Shipwrecks Database for example contains 65,000 ship loss records for North America alone from 1500 AD to the present. The Dictionary of Disasters at Sea by Charles Hocking (1969) lists 12,542 sailing ships and war vessels lost between 1824 and 1962.

    Then there are sunken cities such as the trading town and pirate stronghold(海盗堡垒) of Port Royal in Jamaica, which disappeared beneath the waves after an earthquake in 1692. Or the remnants of ancient civilisations, such as the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, and the Neolithic villages being discovered under the Black Sea, which some believe could help explain Noah's great flood.

    These treasures of cultural heritage are under serious threat. Technology now allows extraordinary access to the ocean depths for determined and well-financed treasure hunters. And the potential rewards are huge. In 1985, American salvor Mel Fisher discovered the wreck of the Señora de Atocha, a Spanish ship that sank off the Florida Keys in 1622 with her cargo of gold, silver and jewellery worth an estimated US $400 million.

    An archaeologist can spend ten years or more studying a ship, conserving its objects and publishing its findings. We gain an enormous amount of information and knowledge from this work. With treasure hunters, all of this is lost. This is tragic, for humanity as a whole.

    Throughout the country there are festivals and special events celebrating winter at its fullest, including hockey and dog sled races, skating events and whatever season-inspired activity draws in the crowds.

    Rossland Winter Carnival late January

    Rossland, British Columbia (BC)

    Recognized as canada's longest-running winter carnival (狂欢), the Rossland Winter Carnival has been a popular event for over 116 years. Popular parts of this event include snow volleyball, a parade, and a kid's carnival.

Ice On Whyte Festival early January to early February

Edmonton, Alberta (AB)

    A popular event for more than decade,the Ice on Whyte Festival in Edmonton, is one of the top 10 events and festivals in Edmonton, Alberta. The festival features a wealth of ice carvings and creations along with 10 days of festival fun-from a giant ice slide, games, and ice carving lessons to live music, fashion, food, and culturally themed days and even a marketplace.

Fete des Neiges de Montreal mid January to early February

Montreal, Quebec (QC)

    Celebrating more than 30 years as a popular winter event, it offers all sorts of fun involving everything from snow to ice on three nonstop weekends at the beginning of the year. Highlights include 15 snow slopes for breathtaking tube sliding, dog sledding, and even addictive dancing at the disco-themed La Bouletheque.

    Winterpride end January to early Februar Whistler,

    British Columbia (BC)

    The 26th Whistler Pride will be filled with celebration of annual events with adventurous winter activities including ski and snowboard touring, snowmobile trips, and snowshoe adventures, dog-sledding through the Callahan Valley,and back-country ventures, as well as featuring nightlife highlights of drag shows, as well as wine-tastings, fine dining and even comedy shows.

    I had been in the city for some time and was coming home. I missed my boat and decided to travel on an old ship. I knew that it would not be a comfortable journey but I had no time to wait for another boat.

    Hardly had we left the port when I saw the dog Gulliver, the captain's favourite dog, for the first time. What a big dog it was! I had never seen one that could frighten me so much!

    On the third day the ship caught fire. Nobody tried to put it out. The ship began sinking and all the men rushed to the life-boats. I saw no chance of getting away in a boat. Suddenly I remembered there was a life-raft on the ship. I had no time to lose, so I immediately rushed towards the raft and pushed it overboard.

    In jumping down onto the raft I hurt myself badly and was unconscious for some time. When I came to, I found there was no sign of a life-boat. Every man who had been on board the ship must have gone down with her. I was the only one who was saved.

    Then I saw Gulliver was coming fast towards the raft. He struggled a long time before he managed to get onto it. I wanted to push him back into the water but did not dare to move. The dog shook himself, went to the other end of the raft and lay down. I didn't dare to sleep that night. I must watch him. In the moonlight I could see his eyes were open. He was watching, too.

    Chocolate could soon be a thing of the past, after scientists warned that the cacao plant, from which chocolate is made, could be extinct within 32 years.

    Over half of the world's chocolate comes from just two countries in West Africa­Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana­where the temperature, rain, and humidity provide the perfect conditions for cacao to grow. But the threat of rising temperatures over the next three decades caused by climate change, is expected to result in a loss of water from the ground, which scientists say could upset this balance.

    According to the related data, a temperature rise of just 2.1℃ could spell an end for the chocolate industry worldwide by 2050. Farmers in the region are already considering moving cacao production areas thousands of feet uphill into mountainous area­much of which is currently preserved for wildlife. But a move of this scale could destroy ecosystems that are already under threat from illegal farming and deforestation.

    Part of the problem, according to Doug Hawkins, is that cacao farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years. "Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding strains and crop management techniques to realize their genetic potential, more than 90% of the global cocoa crop is produced by small farms with unimproved planting material," he said. "It means that we could be facing a chocolate decrease of 100,000 tons a year in the next few years."

    Now scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have teamed up with American candy company Mars to keep chocolate on the menu. Using the controversial(有争议的) gene-editing technology known as CRISPR they are trying to develop a type of the cacao plant capable of surviving in dryer, warmer climates. If the team's work on the cacao plant is successful, it could remove the need for farmers in West Africa to relocate to higher ground, and perhaps even allow cacao to be grown elsewhere in the world.