The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins. People celebrate the coming of summer with customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Today, May Day activities have been moved to the May Day holiday on the first Monday of the month. It is a public holiday when families take advantage of the time off to visit some of the UK's many attractions, including parks, zoos, historic buildings, ancient towns and villages and beautiful countryside.

    May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People would decorate their houses and villages with leaves and flowers they picked at daybreak in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good luck. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew (露水). They believed this made them very beautiful for the following year.

    May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages and was a favorite holiday of many English villages. People of the time used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. This is the origin of the maypole (五月柱). People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter. Maypoles were once common all over England and were kept from one year to the next. The tallest maypole is said to have been put up in London on the Strand in 1661. It stood more than 143 feet high and was cut down in 1717, when it was used by Newton to support a new reflecting telescope (反射式望远镜) invented by Dutch scientist Huygens.

    Sound travels very well through water-much better, in fact, than it does through air. So it shouldn't be surprising that many ocean animals make noise. They use sound to communicate and hunt. As biologist Brandon Southall says, “Their whole world is related to sound.”

    Dolphins whistle, organizing hunts. Lovesick whales sing so loudly they can be heard hundreds of miles away. But these days they aren't the only ones sounding off. They have more and more competition from human machines.

    Every day, thousands of huge container ships sail across the world's oceans. On top of the engine noise, the ships' propeller (螺旋桨) make a loud noise all the time. All that can make it hard for ocean animals trying to listen out for friends, or dinner. Animals swimming nearby a ship can be deafened or even killed.

    Underwater construction can also be dangerously loud. When construction machines called pile drivers were used during repairs to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, dead fish appeared.

    Geologist (地质学家) pound on the seafloor too, trying to find oil wells and map Earth's surface. The results are useful lo science, but all that hammering probably gives ocean animal a headache.

    As people realize how important sound is to ocean animals, they are looking for ways to reduce human noise. Ships could get quieter just by slowing down. Engineers are also trying to find quieter propeller ships.

    Now some companies are using a simple invention called a bubble curtain, which makes sound waves passing through it lose energy and gel quieter. It seems to work - when bubble curtains were fixed on the San Francisco bridge project fish deaths dropped.

    We still have a lot to learn about sound in the oceans, but together we can help keep the sea a quieter place.

Top attractions

    Amsterdam is most famous for its artistic heritage. This tradition is proudly on display in the Rijksmuseum (translates as State Museum). Once you've taken in all that has to offer, artists, history fans, and families shouldn't pass up the chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum —containing around 700 paintings and drawings by Vincent and his contemporaries (同时代的人), including Gauguin, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

    Amsterdam is also home to the Anne Frank Museum, where Anne hid with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. On a lighter note, taking a canal cruise through its extensive waterways is a rewarding way to see the Dutch capital.

    Art lovers get their kicks at:

    ♦♦ The Van Gogh Museum Rijksmuseum Museum het Rembrandthuis

    Food and drink

    Cheese lovers love Amsterdam. You can find an excuse to eat cheese at any time of the day here. Gouda is Holland's favorite, developing a more intense flavor the longer it's aged. Find a selection at the markets，try a cheeseboard at dinner time, or just order cubes with mustard for dipping to accompany a drink.

When you're hungry for non-cheese food groups, you'll find Michel in-starred restaurants, vegetarian, and organic restaurants that accompany an array of global cuisine. For old-fashioned and modern Dutch food, try these Amsterdam restaurants: Moeders, Haesje Claes, Loetje, Greetje, and De Silveren Spiegel.

Don't leave without tasting:

    ♦♦ Patat (hot chips with toppings) Stroopwafel (waffle cookie) Chocomel (chocolate milk)

    Amsterdam Fast Facts

    Approximate flight times:

    ♦♦NYC/Newark 7 hours 20 minutes Philadelphia 8 hours Boston 7 hours

    ♦♦Miami 9 hours 45 minutes Los Angeles 10 hours 15 minutes

    Entry requirements: Passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure from the Schengen area and have 2 blank pages for entry stamp.

    Jim Denevan is an amazing artist whose work is admired by all, but owned by none—that's because all of Jim's art is created on an unusual canvas (画布)—the soft sand. He sometimes spends days working on a piece, only to see it washed away by the sea or a storm and that is just the way he likes it.

    Denevan discovered his artistic talents about ten years ago, when he was wandering aimlessly on the beach with a stick. He ended up drawing a 12-foot-long fish. Since then, Jim has traveled over 1,800 miles while creating over 600 pieces of sand art.

    Over the years, his drawings have become bigger, but the tools he uses haven't changed—All he needs is a stick, a garden rake (耙) and most importantly, his lively imagination!

    Just like any good artist, Jim is quite particular about the “quality” of his canvas, sometimes walking for miles, in search of perfect sand. His latest piece of work, which is also the world's largest freelance drawing(自由绘画), was created in the desert sands of Nevada. It took Jim three trips, eight days and over 100 miles of walking to create this 3-mile work of art. It took the storm just one night to destroy it! However, Jim says he actually enjoys watching the waves or rain wash his paintings away.

    Jim's art has become very popular over the years and was even the topic of a documentary named “Sandman” in 2005. Jim Denevan is not just about art in the sand—he is also an excellent chef (厨师) and founder of an organization called “Outstanding in the Field", whose motto is to celebrate food at its source. Accordingly, group dining events are held outdoors on farms, with the diners being treated to a delicious meal. The events, which are held in different farms throughout America, are always sold out the minute the schedule is announced.

Dear Bobby Brune,

    Children learn best when they're having fun. “Jungle Gym Jimmy” is an article for parents and children that teaches playground safety and shows how simply playing can promote good health and fitness. The tips are given through the funny voice of the “tour guide” on the playground, seven—year-old Jimmy. By listening to Jimmy, children learn how to use the equipment safely and how to get the most fun out of a day on the playground.

    As a Kid Talk subscriber for the last seven years. I am very familiar with your publication, and feel this article would be a positive addition to the “I Can Do It” section of the magazine. The article is 2, 114 words, and has been divided into categories in a way that holds children's interest. Being a mother of four children and using our home as a meeting place for most of the neighborhood, I've had the opportunity to test and confirm that the fun and easy “exercises” offered here are not only effective but are lots of fun for kids.

    I've been writing children's stories and articles for several years, and have had many of my stories published in Kids Know Best, a small newspaper that the Cinder Primary School publishes each month. I'm also a founding member of the “Right On Baby” editorial group which publishes a monthly e—zine for parents with newborns, and I'm a contributing editor to “Write Now,” an online site that teaches creative writing.

    Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Claudia Parker

    Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.

    However, it wasn't all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission.

    In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour. They are learning how to talk each other's language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘Dog', and dogs can learn how to talk ‘Cat'.

    What's interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn how to read each other's body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other's presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.

    The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets ─ to people who don't get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.