“I wish we hadn't come on this trip!” Jeff's voice echoed across the narrow canyon （峡谷）. His father stopped, breathing heavily. “This is hard on you, but you've got to come through with courage!” He gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. “Now, I don't know if I can make it without stopping every so often. You're young, but you're strong and fast. Do you remember the way back from here to the road, if you had to go alone?”

    Jeff flashed back to the painful scene of Mark, his seventeen-year-old brother at their campsite. He was bitten by a snake yesterday. This morning he couldn't move, and the pain got worse. He needed medical attention right away. They had left their phone in the car, and it must have been out of power by then. Leaving Mark at the campsite and seeking help was their only choice.

“Jeff, could you do it?”

    Jeff looked to the end of the canyon, several miles away. He nodded and a plan began to take hold in his mind. “What is the name of that little town we stopped, Dad?” There must be a hospital there.

    “Flint. We parked at the side of the road a few miles out of Flint.”

    Jeff nodded. Then they continued climbing. Stone by stone, they made their way up the canyon. Gradually, Jeff's father grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Jeff waved to him and then climbed toward the road. Two hours later, he finally reached the road and struggled toward the town, almost exhausted.

    “Can't stop.” He thought. “Mark's in big trouble. Keep going.” Suddenly, he saw a truck heading toward him. “Hey, mister!” He shouted, waving both arms. He began to jog toward the truck, and then broke into a full-speed run.

    His chest was burning with every breath when the truck driver stopped by him. Jeff explained breathlessly. The driver reached for his cellphone as soon as he heard about Mark. “Better get the helicopter in there,” he said immediately. But Jeff wasn't sure about that because everything got unclear and then went black and quiet.

    Hours later, Jeff opened his eyes to find his father on a chair nearby. “You're a hero, son,” his father said with a smile. “You had the helicopter sent into the canyon after Mark. I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw it overhead. They got him to the hospital. He's going to be fine soon. I'm so proud of you!”

    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 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 environments 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 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 best bikes for the beginners

    When it comes to purchasing your first bike, the choice is endless, making it tough to know what to go for. Here are the best buys on the market right now.

    Boardman CX Comp

    This is a cross-country bike, and it's so versatile(多用途的)that you can handle any terrain(地势)on it, making it a great choice for those wanting to try various cycling subjects. If you leave on the thick tires it comes with, it can ride on various paths and can even handle some less demanding mountain bike routes. Alternatively, put on thin, slick tires and treat it as a road bike. It has basket and comes with Shimano Sora gears(齿轮), which are outstanding for its price.

    $650, Halfords

    Planet X RT-58 v2

    Planet X is based in Yorkshire, which means you'd probably have to buy this bike without seeing it. But it's worth it, because this is an excellent machine at a lower price. Planet X is a highly rated manufacture and this model comes with Shimano Sora gears.

    $439, Planet X

    Specialized Allez ES

    Specialized is one of the biggest and most popular brands in cycling, and this is its hugely popular primary road bike. It comes with solid components from front to back and you'll look great out on the road.

    $575, Evans Cycles

    Boardman Road Team Carbon

    If you can push budget further still, this bike is worth the extra investment. The frame is made entirely from carbon, which is lighter, faster and more comfortable than the composition metal models above and gives you an all-round more enjoyable ride. It also means that if you get really serious about cycling, you don't have to upgrade as quickly as you would with a cheaper bike.

    $800, Halfords

    In 2011, the old style Malta buses were taken off the road and replaced by modern vehicles. Most of the old buses were deserted, a few were sold, and about 100 of them were put into storage in the hope of showing them in a museum at some stage.

    A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn't have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses. Until 1973 you could tell the destination of the bus just by looking at its color — Sliema was green and white, Zabbar was red and white with a blue stripe(条纹)etc. . Later, the buses all had numbers. For a while, they were all painted green and white before the ‘final' orange, yellow and white.

    In their prime, walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. Most of them had locally built bodies. On the front of the buses carried names like Dodge, Leyland, Bedford etc. You were equally likely to find football pennants(锦旗)and the like decorating the cabs. Real bus experts would have recognized that these were there mainly for decorative reasons, and were seldom an accurate reflection of the vehicle's origins.

    Nowadays much more modern buses are to be found at the Floriana bus station. They are more environmentally friendly and possibly even more comfortable than the older types. However, I miss the old buses. I remember, when you boarded your bus, you had to prepare the correct change to pay the usually bad-tempered driver as you got on. If you were seated anywhere near the front, you would have noticed that most drivers sat well to the right of their steering wheel. The reason for this, as any Maltese would tell you, was to leave space for their pet to sit alongside them. I wonder where the pet sits these days.

    Are you interested in travelling? Here are famous national parks where travellers mostly like to go in America.

    ⒈Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Visitors: 11,388,893

    The name "Great Smoky Mountains" comes from the fog over this mountain range situated along the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Established in 1934, it is not just home to a diverse ecosystem of plants and animals, but also home to rich Appalachian cultures. Visitors there can see over 100 waterfalls, go boating on Fontana Lake and hike the Appalachian Trail. It's also an excellent vantage point to see the leaves change in the fall.

    ⒉Grand Canyon National Park

    Visitors: 6,254,238

    The Grand Canyon is the result of over 70 million years of geological events creating the Colorado Plateau, glaciers and valleys, while the Colorado River carved its way through the valleys. It is truly a natural splendor!

    When President Roosevelt first visited it in 1903, he said, "The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison – beyond description."16 years later, it was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, officially viewing the Grand Canyon a national park.

    ⒊Yosemite National Park

    Visitors: 4,336,890

    In addition to being a national park, Yosemite is designated as a World Heritage Site. Yosemite National Park is in Central California in the western Sierra Nevada. Though it covers around 1,168 square miles of area, visitors spend most of their time in the 5.9 square-mile area of the Yosemite Valley where there are some most famous sites like Yosemite Falls, and Cook's Meadow Loop.

    ⒋Zion National Park

    Visitors: 4,504,812

    Settled in Southwestern Utah is Zion National Park. It has some of the most unique landscapes packed with mountains, valleys, rivers, desert and forests.

    Zion National Park is also an important place to study ancient humans who made the area their home about 8,000 years ago. Some of the park's most notable attractions include Angel's Landing, Kolob Arch, the Narrows, etc.

If you really want a taste of the everyday swing of Dutch life, a bike tour through Amsterdam is the way to go.

What is included in an Amsterdam bike tour

The bicycle is of course provided and included in the price of the tour. Some tours offer coffee and tea after the tour finishes. Every tour especially has its own theme and route. You can compare them by visiting webpages dedicated to a particular tour.

A tour itself is a beautiful experience. Amsterdam's architecture, markets, bridges, plazas and street atmosphere are memorable and comfortable to see from a bike seat. See them like most citizens of Amsterdam do.

Amsterdam bicycle tour basics

These tours are usually between one and two hours long. They are guided by friendly and knowledgeable tour guides who are well capable in Amsterdam information. What's more, the tour guides usually know many languages and are used to overcoming language barriers(障碍).

Important during the bicycle tour of Amsterdam

Please don't become so Dutch that you ignore( 忽视) the traffic laws. It is a fact that some Amsterdammers often cross a street or a bridge when they feel like doing it. That is why staying alert (警惕的) and a little bit of biking experience can help you to go through the small city streets during an Amsterdam bike tour. Also, unless you are 100% sure that the weather will be sunny, you'd better bring a jacket. When you start moving on the bike, the wet Amsterdam's air can get quite cold.