After the sudden loss of her 5-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, Natalia Spencer felt she needed to do something to honor the little girl. That strong wish inspired Spencer to start what she calls a “Walk of Love”, a 6,000-mile trek (长途徒步旅行）along the British coastline.

    “Elizabeth particularly loved the beach and the sea and we visited the seaside a lot. After she passed away, I went to the seaside and it was the first time I had felt some comfort,” Spencer said. “I knew this was what I had to do. It was something I could do and it would somehow make life more bearable.”

    On Valentine's Day, Spencer began walking Durdle Door in Dorset, England, the last beach she took Elizabeth to before she became ill. So far, Spencer has journeyed about 1,500 miles, walking through Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and the entire coast of Wales. Every day, except Saturday, Spencer walks 20 miles. Often locals join her; many times they share stories about losing their own children.

    Everything changed for Spencer on Nov. 22, 2015. Spencer noticed Elizabeth was ill with what she thought—was a chest infection. But the girl's health worsened rapidly. Doctors diagnosed her with a life-threatening immune condition where the immune cells damage tissue and organ. This caused Elizabeth's organs to shut down and stopped the blood supply to her arms and legs. She was moved to Bristol Children's Hospital where she spent 18 days on life support before passing away on Dec. 10.

    After Elizabeth died, Spencer struggled. She stayed with friends because it felt too hard to live in a house with the memories of Elizabeth. In January, a friend encouraged Spencer to go for a walk and the two ended up at the Gower Peninsula in Wales. That's when she realized she wanted to walk along the coast for her daughter.

    While walking provides Spencer with time to grieve (感到悲痛)，she's also using the trip to raise￡100,000(about $144,000) for the Bristol .Children's Hospital. She admired the doctors and nurses and wanted to raise money to allow another family access to treatment.

    Spencer expects to complete her walk next spring. She'd love to finish on Valentine's Day, but doesn't know if that is realistic.

    With online courses, anyone can gain knowledge in any field of interest for free. You can educate yourself and get a certificate after finishing the course.

Coursera

    It offers high-quality courses from top universities for free to everyone to improve your resume, advance your career, expand your knowledge, and gain your confidence. This online learning website provides courses from Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California, and University of Pennsylvania. Learn more at https://coursera.com

Udemy

    Its goal is to promote education by enabling anyone to learn online. It seeks to hugely change education by inviting millions of experts worldwide to teach and share what they know. Whether you want to learn business, arts, health, music or technology, there is a course for you. Learn more at https://udemy.com

iTunes U

    If you are a student who uses Apple devices, you will be happy to know that you have access to iTunes U, which gives you access to different educational courses from all leading universities for free! Learn more at https://iTunesU.com

Skillfeed

    If you hope to learn a new skill, or improve your Photoshop skills, it offers unlimited access to high-quality video courses from a worldwide community of instructors. You have a month's free trial, after which you will pay a monthly fee to gain unlimited access to all courses. Learn more at https://skillfeed.com

UC Berkeley

    It offers courses in Japanese, legal studies and public health. Since they are recordings of actual lectures, they are short of lecture notes and extra materials. However, each course has audio recordings of lectures through iTunes U or video recordings of lectures through YouTube. Learn more at https://ucberkeley.com

    All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy, happy and help them to live longer.

    Sports change with the season. People play different games in winter and summer.

    Games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities. The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life; they use them in their sports, too.

    Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers.

    Some sports or games go back to thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time.

    People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game they often become good friends. Sports help to train a person's character(性格). One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(体面).

    Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists have long debated why. A new study finds that these big－winged birds carefully position their wingtips and flap(拍动) at the same rate, probably to catch the upward movement of air and save energy during flight.

    There are two reasons birds might fly in a V formation: It may make flight easier, or they're simply following the leader. Squadrons(中 队) of planes can save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same. Models that treated flapping birds like fixed－wing airplanes show that they probably save energy by drafting off each other, but currents created by airplanes are far more stable than those coming off of birds.

    Just as aerodynamic(气动力) calculations would predict, the birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to the side of the bird in front, timing their wing flaps to catch the uplifting eddies(涡流). When a bird flew directly behind another, the timing of the flapping reversed(相反) so that it could minimize the effects of the downdraft coming off the back of the bird's body. “We didn't think this was possible,” Usherwood says, considering that the difficult achievement requires careful flight and incredible awareness of one's neighbors. “Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and down.”

    The findings likely apply to other long－winged birds, such as pelicans and geese, Usherwood says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes(尾波) that would make drafting too difficult. The researchers did not attempt to calculate the birds' energy savings because the necessary physiological measurements would be too invasive for an endangered species. Previous studies show that birds can use 20% to 30% less energy while flying in a V.

    Scientists do not know how the birds find that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that the animals line themselves up either by sight or by sensing air currents through their feathers. In future studies, the researchers will switch to more common birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to investigate how the animals decide who sets the course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to cause traffic jams.

    When it comes to medical care, many patients and doctors believe “more is better.” But what they do not realize is that overtreatment—too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures—may bring harm. Sometimes a test leads you down a path to more and more testing, some of which may be attacking, or to treatment for things that should be left out.

    Terrence Power, for example, complained that after his wife learned she had Wegener's disease, an uncommon disorder of the immune system(免疫系统), they found it difficult to refuse testing recommended by her doctor. The doctor insisted on office visits every three weeks, even when she was feeling well. He frequently ordered blood tests and X-rays, and repeatedly referred her to experts for even minor complaints. Even when tests came back negative, more were ordered, and she was hospitalized as prevention when she developed a cold. She had as many as 25 doctor visits during one six-month period. The couple was spending about $30,000 a year for her care.

    After several years of physical suffering and near financial ruin from the medical costs, the couple began questioning the treatment after discussing with other patients in online support groups. “It's a really hard thing to determine when doctors have crossed the line,” Mr. Power said. “You think she's getting the best care in the world, but after a while you start to wonder: What is the purpose?” Mr. Power then spoke with his own primary care doctor, who advised him to find a new expert to oversee Mrs. Power's care. Under the new doctor's care, the regular testing stopped and Mrs. Power's condition was stable. Now she sees the doctor only four or five times a year.

    Metro Pocket Guide

    Metrorail(地铁)

    Each passenger needs a fare card to enter and go out. Up to two children under age five may travel free with a paying customer.

    Fare card machine are in every station. Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the station and fare card machine only provide up to $ 5 in change.

    Get one of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a fare card machine in Metro stations. Use it after 9:30 a.m. until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays.

    Hours of Service

Open: 5 a.m. Mon—Fri.    7a.m. Sat—Sun.

Close: midnight Sun—Thur.    3a.m. Fri—Sat. nights

    Last train time vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train time posted in the station.

    Metrobus

    When paying with exact change, the fare is $ 1.35. When paying with a smatTrip@CARD the fare is $1.25

    Fares for the Senior /disabled（老年/残疾）customers

    Senior customers 65 and older and disabled customers may spend less money on their ride. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled fare card or SmarTrip@card. For more information about buying senior/ disabled fare cards, or SmarTrip@ cards and passes, please visit MetroOpenDoors.com or call 202-637-7000 and 202-637-8000.

    Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202-962-1100

    Travel tips

    Avoid riding during weekday rush periods –before 9:30 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m.

    If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202-962-1195.