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LAURA DEKKER: RECORD-SETTER!
all athletes aspire to be the best in their sport, and young athletes are no different. more young athletes now aim to win competitions, set records, or perform amazing feats. and some, like dutch sailor laura dekker, achieve that goal.
as a child, laura dekker loved the sea. she wasborn on a boat in new zealand,and has hardly stepped off one since. laura first sailed by herself at age six, displaying a talent for understanding her boat and the confidence to control it. at 13 years old, laura felt ready for the biggest challenge of all: she wanted to set the record for the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
before she could do that, she had to face many challenges. while her parents were confident that she could do it, the dutch goverment tried to stop her, arguing that she was too young to risk her life. many people also felt that she should be focusing on her studies. after a long battle, she finally got permission. she had to go for classes to learn how to care for herself while alone at sea, and had to use a bigger boat than she was used to. to avoid falling behind in her studing, she had to sing up with a special distance-learning school and promise to do her homework at sea.
finally, at the age of 15, laura was ready. on january 20, 2011, she set out form the island of st.maarten in the caribbean on her 38-foot (11.5-meter) sailboat, guppy. her trip lasted 500days in total, partly because she had to stop at different ports to study and check her boat. during this time, she visited exotic islands like the galápagos, bora bora, and vanuatu, and also found time to go surfing, scuba iff diving. she even discovered a new hobby: playing the flute! laura was alone for most of her journey, but she kept a blog that was read by many people around the world.
layra returned to st.maarten at the age of 16 years and 123 days, and was greeted by her family, friends, and many fans. she had become the youngest sailor to circle the globe alone. however, guinness world records and the world sailing speed record council did not verify her claim, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors because it could encourage other young people to do dangerous things. despite this, laura felt a sense of achievement. she said that spending so much time alone on her trip helped her to focus on the important things in her life. "i became good friends with my boat," laura said. "i learned a lot about myself."
THE UNBEATABLE YANI TSENG
yani tseng is one of the brightest stars of the golfing world, not to mention a superstar in taiwan, where she grew up. by the age of 22, she had achieved things most golfers can only dream of. she had been named lpga player of the year twice, and was the youngest professional golfer-male or female-to win five major tournaments.
yani started playing golf when she was very young, thanksto her enthusiastic parents who are both golfers. her father gave her a set of golf clubs when she was only five years old. at 13 years old, she told him she wanted to take up golf as an occupation. just one year later, yani won the callaway junior world golf championships and went on to become the top amateur player in taiwan. she finally started playing in professional tournaments when she was 18 years old, and then her career really took off.
brittany lang, who came second to yani at the women's british open in 2011, calls her "unbelievable". she says yani is "so mentally strong and she's so aggressive and confident. she's just got it all. it's pretty cool to watch."
but yani was not always so confident, especially off the golf course. when she first left her home to start playing in international tournaments, she didn't speak english very well. she struggled to communicate with other golfers and had to use an interpreter for interviews. because she was shy about her english, yani had a reputation as a very  quiet person. yani's coach, gary gilchrist, says that studying english has helped yani chang this. "she worked so hard to improve her english," said gilchrist. "now her confidence is a 9 on a scale of 10."
today, yani is well known for her big smile and sense of humor. she loves to chat and joke with reporters, fans, and other golfers. once, before a tournament near her home in florida, yani invited a number of golfers and golf reporters to her place for a dinner party. halfway through the party, she decided to dress up as harry potter, and even gave a speech wearing her black coat and round spectacles.
as a teenager, yani looked up to abult golfers like annika sorenstam and saw them as her role models. today, she herself hopes to inspire young girls to take up golf, the same way sorenstam influenced a whole generation of women golfers. yani is also an inspiration to people trying to pick upenglish. her advice to english learners: "keep talking. i'm not afraid to be talking to other people, no matter what i say. i'm learning from the way [i talk] to you, and the vocabulary, i use it for the next time [i talk]."

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YOU ARE AMAZING: YOU ARE HUMAN!
did you know that your small intestine is nearly six meters long? or that there are about 60 muscles in your face, and you use 40 of them to frown but only 20 to smile? how about the fact that our bodies consist of 73 percent water, and that our hearts beat over 100,000 times each day? you really are amazing!
the human body is a complex machin. from the day we are born, our bodies grow and change in response to our environment, diet, and habits. the body has many different organ systems and parts that work together to allow us to breathe, move, see, talk, and digest food all at the same time. most of the time we are unaware of what is happening in our bodies; usually it is only when we get sick or feel pain that we notice.
many people do not take care of their complex machines. bad habits like smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and eating junk food damage our bodies. stress can also cause health problems. people who worry a lot or have busy jobs often don't get enough sleep, or don't eat properly. we can also damage our bodies when we play sports or get into accidents. studies done by the australian government show that most people get hurt because of an accidental slip or fall, or because of injuries from car accidents. it's true that a lot of people go to hospital because of serious illnesses, but far more people end up there because they simply weren't being careful.
like machines, different body parts sometimes wear down from old age. people over the age of 65 are more likely to fall and hurt themselves, and these injuries—from bad cuts to broken bones—usually require serious medical attention. due to the increase in the population of elderly people, gerontology is now one of the fastest-growing areas of medicine. there are many treatments available to help older people recover from illness and injury. it is now common for older people with damaged joints, for example, to have surgery to replace the old joint with a new one made of plastic or metal. instead of suffering aches and pains through their retirement days, older people are able to lead happier and more comfortable lives.
as with any machine, the better you take care of it, the longer it will last. the best way to take care of your amazing machine is to eat the right foods, do regular exercise, and get enough sleep. oh, and don't forget to smile!

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SCRAPBOOKING
the dictionary defines a scrapbook as "an empty book for collecting and preserving photographs, newspaper articles, and other papers." today, scrapbooking is also a verb—and a popular new hobby. we talked with diane lucas, who runs a scrapbooking club.
what is scrapbooking exactly?
when i make a scrapbook page, i take a few of my family photos and put them into a "layout", which is a page that uses fancy paper, stickers, drawings, and words to show the theme. for example, i'm working on a page about my son called "first day at school," so there's a photo of him and one of his drawings, and i decorated it with alphabet stickers. i use lots of things on my pages—ribbons, stickers, beads, and much more. when you make a scrapbook, you put words and pictures together to show the important times in your life. it's like a personal history.
how did you get started?
when i was a child, i always saved bits of paper. things like movie tickets, vacation postcards,and even paper napkins. i loved looking at them and remembering. i made my first scrapbook ten years age when my father died. when i looked through his desk, i found the most wonderful things—like my parent's anniversary cards and photos from his army days. i couldn't throw away anything, so i made two scrapbook, one for my brother and one for me.
how do you learn about new scrapbooking techniques and trends?
the internet is a great resource for new ideas. many new "scrappers"—people who make scrapbooks—work from their computers, using digital photos and special software. but my favorite place to get new ideas is at scrapbooking trade shows. these shows feature new materials and techniques, offer workshops, and are a great way to meet people with the same interests.
why is scrapbooking so popular these days?
i think people want to preserve their family history and display it for other people to see. when you make a scrapbook, you can pass the stories on to your children and your grandchildren. so many people today want to do that! in the u.s. alone, there are 2,500 lss's (sorry; that's local scrapbooking stores!) that sell paper and other supplies for scrapbooking. if you go online, you'll find scrapbooking websites from norway, new zealand, and south africa. it's universal. we all have boxes of pictures and we all want to keep those precious memories. that's the real meaning of scrapbooking: sharing your family experiences and your story.