Do you love nature? Have you considered going for nature walks? If your answer is positive, I am sure you will love to go hiking! What is hiking? Hiking is an outdoor activity, which means walking in the natural environment. It’s regarded as a part of mountaineering, consisting of walking, trekking, climbing up mountains and hiking. It’s a popular sport in the world and a hobby for many sport enthusiasts. Apart from offering great benefit to human health, hiking also serve as an excellent means of recreation.

Hiking is given different names in different parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, it’s known as “hill walking”. In Australia it’s called “bush walking” while in the African continent, the sport is given the Raffle, “trekking”.

Hiking offers great health benefits like losing weight and reducing risk of heart diseases. It helps the hikers maintain good health. Threats to personal safety, attack by animals and physical injuries are some of the risks in hiking. They can be overcome by taking proper safety measures.

Hiking can be enjoyable only if proper safety measures are taken. It’s important for the hikers to wear comfortable shoes. Wearing proper clothes can help the hikers fight the weather change. Carrying enough water is advisable. Remember to start slowly and speed up gradually. Watch out for dangerous animals and insects. Carry a sleeping bag for a safe sleep.

Hikers should make sure that their enjoyment does not destroy nature. Large numbers of hikers gathering in popular destinations may cause severe damage of nature. It’s the responsibility of the hikers to safeguard nature, and it’s the major duty of the hikers to safeguard the rare animals and plants by not disturbing their natural environment.

［1］When we were children, it seemed that father knew everything. When we grew up and father became older, sometimes we quarreled about our own views. So I try several ways to get on well with father.

［2］Remember the age of father. Being aware of father’s age will help us to understand him better. He has lived in the years when attitudes towards matters, such as poverty, unemployment, higher education, were quite different from those in our time. Thus it is impossible for him to change mind totally.

［3］Listen to father. As we grew up, what our father has told us often sounds not sophisticated(圆滑的)enough from the world we live in today. Yet I have found that sometimes the words that my father told me long time ago are quite useful. If father knows we respect his point of view, even if we do not share it, it will help him feel close to us.

［4］Remember that father has a past. When he was young, he lived a hard life. He came from remote village. How to stay in a strange city and how to earn money are problems he met first. He must work hard and face all kinds of difficulties. Full of wisdom, courage and hope,he worked hard and succeededat last. It is a part of his life that must have affected him deeply.

［5］Accept personality(个性，品格) from father. Most of us have mixed feelings about taking after our father. We might feel fine about it when we are considering his admirable qualities. But we have realized that we and our fathers share those characteristics we do not admire. Accepting what we have inherited(继承)is important.

［6］Adopting any approach to get on well with our father is the issue of how we manage ourselves. We should keep a sense of humor with our father. Remember we will have our own child and surely we will be parents. Accepting and understanding our father is a part of our life.

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But we have come to know we both have the same features, even if we do not like them.

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     For many years I enjoyed a successful career in Finance, Human Resources and Management Consulting. As a matter of fact, I started my own Management Consulting business in 1990. My daughter, who had a degree in Social Work, was going to join me and finally take over the business.

    However, March 5, 1997, forever changed my life and my career path. On that day, our daughter was told by the doctor that she had breast cancer and that she only had three months to live.

      At that time, she had a son who was just two years old. We both realized that he would never remember his mom. My daughter decided that she would write her biography (传记) so that her son at least would be able to read what his mom had accomplished in life, and what family, friends and co-workers thought of her, and to realize the unique characteristics she had.

      Unfortunately, before she even got started ,she took a turn for the worse, I promised that I would write her biography for her. Despite the fact that I had crossed many hurdles in life and career, this proved to be the most difficult challenges of all. No matter what I tried. I could not get started.

        I always had thoughts that I would like to write about humor and laughter. One day I took my notes that I collected over the years on humor and laughter and started writing. At the same time I started on the biography. I had found the balance I needed to deliver my promise. I finished both, my first bookThe Power of Humorand my daughter's biography at the same time.

         It proved to me how powerful humor and laughter really are in helping overcome even the biggest difficulty m life. It also opened up a new career for me. writing and speaking about humor and laughter. Since then I have written a number of e-books and hundreds of articles on humor and laughter. I have also developed a website of humor and laughter so that I can share the benefits you can gain from humor and laughter with people.

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There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. One of the most popular of these, even though it is fairly recent, is Mother’s Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The Ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria, during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However, over the years the custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19^th century.

Born in 1864 in Virginia, USA, Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people---politicians, churchmen, doctors, city officials---and asked them to support her ideas: a special day of the year for thanking mothers.

In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10---the second Sunday in May, which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.

Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.

Anna Jarvis, a sad and disillusioned woman died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi-million-dollar industry. (296words)

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