When I was watching a sports event yesterday, I met with an amazing sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of pure courage and determination.

    The event was swimming. I watched a man dive off the blocks and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold — his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle.

    I heard the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes (划水) and you could tell he was worn out. But in those few awkward strokes, the crowd changed. No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and yell things like, "Come on, you can do it!" He did. The crowd went wild.

    Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to take part in the event. Even though he recorded the slowest time, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors—a man that gave his all, knowing that he had no chance but to compete because of the spirit of the games.

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    The value-packed, all-inclusive sight-seeing package that combines the best of Sydney's harbor, city, bay and beach highlights. 

    A Sydney Pass gives you unlimited and flexible travel on the Explore Buses: the ‘red' Sydney Explorer shows you around our exciting city sights while the ‘blue' Bondi Explorer visits Sydney Harbor bays and famous beaches. Take to the water on one of three magnificent daily harbor cruises(游船). You can also travel free on regular Sydney Buses, Sydney Ferries or City Rail services (limited area), so you can go to every corner of this beautiful city.

    Imagine browsing at Darling Harbor, tasting the famous seafood at Watsons Bay or enjoying the lights on an evening ferry cruise. The possibilities and plans are endless with a Sydney Pass. Wherever you decide to go, remember that bookings are not required on any of our services so tickets are treated on a first in, first seated basis.

    Sydney Passes are available for 3,5 or 7 days for use over a 7-calendar period. With a 3 or 5-day pass you choose on which days out of the 7 you want to use it. All Sydney Passes include a free Airport Express inward trip before starting your 3,5 or 7 days, and the return trip is valid (有效的) for 2 months from the first day your ticket was used

Sydney Pass Fares

*A child is defined as anyone from the ages of 4 years under 16 years. Children under 4 years travel free.

**A family is defined as 3 adults and any number of children from 4 to under 16 years of age from the same family.

We thought we had it all—a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars — and we loved it. We spent money like it was going out of style. Then, the market turned and my husband's job as a bigwig(大人物) at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for ever.

    We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren't any to be found. With each passing day our panic increased and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of great love for my husband that I hadn't felt in years.①

    That's why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I knew that he had no control over the economy, however, he constantly degraded (降低…身份)himself and his spirit sunk lower with each unkind comment. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.②

    Finally one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children. That's what's important. That makes you a rich man.”

    “But what if we lose the house? They'll hate me—you'll hate me.” he replied.

    I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye.③

    “If we live in a cardboard box on the empty place across the street I will be happy—as long as I have you.” I smiled again as I realized that I wasn't saying it. Somehow, in all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do.”

    I could see relief wash through him as his shoulders and neck relaxed and the tension left his body. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn't in quite some time. ④

    We are still struggling financially, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can't buy and no one can take away from us.

    If you have spent any time living in or visiting a big city in China, you have most likely used the service that Didi provides. The convenient ride-sharing company, now known as Didi Chuxing, was praised last month by Fortune magazine. According to the magazine, it is changing the world with its environmentally friendly solution to getting around in major cities. As the magazine reported: “Didi concluded that last year its car-pooling services helped reduce total car trips in the country by 1 million a day, which saved 500 million liters of gas, cutting 13.5 million tons of carbon emissions (排放) per day.” The transport service was the only Chinese company to make the important magazine's list, and its influence can be felt in many parts of Chinese society.

    Didi is just one example of what is being called the “sharing economy”. The sharing economy is one in which regular people exchange goods and services, usually using an online marketplace. Other similar companies include companies that allow people to rent out their homes to strangers like Airbnb and Couchsurfing, and similar ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

    All of these services are possible partly because many people are realizing that they have underused assets in their lives. Millions of people around the world have started renting them out online to earn extra money. They rent their apartments while they are away for the weekend, lend people their cars for money and even sell their spare time.

    The sharing economy is the latest example of the Internet's value to customers. This model is now big enough for regulators and companies to have woken up to it. That is a sign of its great potential. It is time to start caring about sharing.

    Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday. There are so many places of interest to visit. And if you enjoy seeing more than just the city centre, there's no better way to explore than by car.

    Conditions of Hire

    ⒈The shortest rental period at these especially low prices is three days. For prices and for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel.

    ⒉Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car. But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be ab le to help you.

    ⒊The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed.

    ⒋Upon delivery the driver(s) will be asked to sign the car hire company's Conditions of Hire.

    ⒌If you decide to hire a car, just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us. A booking fee of ￡12 as part of the car hire cost is required.

    ⒍Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before date of hire), a cancellation charge of ￡12 will be made.

    The world's oceans will likely lose about one-sixth of their fish and other creatures within 100 years if climate change continues on its current path. Every degree Celsius that the world's oceans warm, their biomass is expected to drop five percent, a study found.

    The study predicts that if there is no change in the rate of worldwide greenhouse gas production, there will be a 17-percent loss of biomass by the year 2100. But, if the world reduces carbon pollution, biomass losses could be limited to only about 5 percent.

    Warming temperatures are the biggest issue. But climate change also produces oceans that are more acidic and have less oxygen. This also harms sea life. Much of the world depends on the oceans for food or work.

    The findings make sense and the possible effects of the predicted losses of animal life are huge. "Climate change has the potential to cause serious new conflicts over ocean resource use as the human population continues to grow," said scientists.

    Marine biologist Boris Worm, who helped run the study, added that the "building blocks of marine life—plankton and bacteria—may decline less heavily."

    "Those marine animals that we use directly, and care about most deeply, are predicted to suffer the most," said Worm. He works at Canada's Dalehousie University.

    Scientists had already believed climate change would likely reduce future ocean life. But past computer-based studies looked at only part of the picture or used only one model. The latest study used six different computer models to give the best picture look yet, William Cheung said.

    University of Georgia marine biologist Samantha Joye was not part of the research. But she praised the study as well researched and extremely detailed, and called it "an urgent call for action".