Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip. White had two reasons for making thisepic journey. First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did. He raised £70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam. White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world. He is still waiting to find out whether he has broken the record or not.

   White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June, 2004 and was back 299 days later. He spent more than 1,300 hours in the saddle (车座) and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains. He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe first, and then the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and finally the Americas. Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team. No jeep carrying food, water and medicine. No doctor. Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road.

   The journey was lonely and desperate at times. He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains. He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need. There were other dangers along the road. In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to get away with the little money he had. The worst thing that had happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia. For 1,000 kilometers he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him. This part of the trip was slow, hard and depressing, but he made it in the end. Now Mr. White is back and wants to write a book about his adventures.

A: Mr. Liu, can I ask you some questions about Mars?

B: Sure, go ahead.

A: Is Mars hot?

B: Mars might look red-hot. But don't let its color fool you. Mars is much farther away from the sun than Earth. So it gets less light and heat.

A: Why "Mars"?

B: Mars takes its name from the Roman god of war (罗马战神). In China, the red color makes people think of fire. So they call the planet "fire star".

A: Are there Martians on Mars?

B: Unluckily, we haven't found any "people" on Mars yet. They are kind of like Santa Clause. Nobody can see them, but many people believe they are real.

A: Will we lose weight on Mars?

B: Living on Mars could be good in many ways. For example, you might not need to go on a diet to lose weight. If you weigh 50kg on Earth, you will only weigh 19kg on Mars. This is because the surface gravity (表面重力) on Mars is only about 38 percent of that on Earth. Do you want to know your weight on Mars? Just multiply your weight by 0.38. That's it.

A: Thank you. We know a lot about Mars now.

B: You're welcome.

Recently, a short video showing a member of the cleaning staff at the Summer Palace in Beijing explaining Buddhist tourist sites(佛教景点) drew wide attention online.

In the video, Zhang Xu explains the tourist sites to several visitors who are doing research. What makes it special is that he expertly names a list of hard-to-pronounce Buddhist sites. He speaks so easily and confidently that it seems he is doing a tongue twister(绕口令). {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  But he is wearing the uniform worn by the cleaning staff and holding a broom(扫帚). After the explanation, Zhang smiles and returns to his work as though nothing has happened.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It quickly became a hot topic. People were surprised at how such a cleaner could become an expert in certain areas.

Zhang said he never thought of becoming famous online, as he only wanted to help the visitors who seemed puzzled(困惑的; 茫然的). He added, "I've been interested in architecture(建筑) since I was a child. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}"

Zhang became a member of the cleaning staff at the palace in late 2021. He is required to walk about 40,000 steps inside the palace every day. So he knows a lot about it. "The traditional architecture of the palace is not just a number of bricks(砖块). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They know how to speak to people who understand them," Zhang said. "They show the beauty of traditional Chinese architecture."

A handwritten letter by a little boy asking Santa for a "very good dad" has captured hearts worldwide.

The boy, known only as "Blake" in the letter, wrote, "Dear Santa, We had to leave our house. Dad was mad. We had to do all the chores. Dad got everything he wanted. Mom said it was time to leave and she would take us to a safer place where we don't have to be scared.

"Blake is a 7-year-old boy in one of our shelters, and his mom found this letter in his backpack..."Posted by SafeHaven of Tarrant County on Wednesday, December 18, 2019.

"I'm still nervous. I don't want to talk to the other kids," he continued. "Are you going to come this Christmas? Can you bring a dictionary, and a compass and a watch?"

The most heart-breaking part of the letter was the last line that read, "I also want a very very very good dad. Can you do that too?" 

Officials with SafeHaven of Tarrant County, a group seeking to help end domestic (家庭的) violence（暴力）, posted Blake's letter to its Facebook page. Now, some of the child's wishes have come true. All of the gifts he asked for have been donated by people in the community. Though SafeHaven received more than 10,000 gifts this year, they want to shine a light on the bigger issue of domestic violence.

"To us, it was kind of a story that we've heard all the time," Kathryn Jacob, the organization's president and CEO, told Today. "Like tonight, we have 73 kids in the shelter.""Blake is just one of many."