In 1909 an English newspaper offered £ 1,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane. Today, modern jets cross it in minutes. But at that time it still seemed a good distance. The race to win the money soon became a race between two men. Both were very colourful.

One was Louis Bleriot. He owned a factory in France that made motor car lamps. He was already well known as a pilot (飞行员) because he had had accidents several times. Some people laughed at him. One man said, “He may not be the first to fly across the Channel but he will certainly be the first to die in an accident!” But Bleriot was really a good and brave pilot. He also had many good ideas about aeroplane design.

The other man was Hubert Latham. He was half French and half English. He took up flying when his doctors told him he had only a year to live. “Oh, well,” he said, “if I’ m going to die soon, I think I shall have a dangerous and interesting life now.” Latham was the first to try the flight (飞行) across the Channel. Ten kilometres from the French coast, his plane had some trouble. It fell down into the water and began to sink under the water. A boat reached Latham just in time. He was sitting calmly on the wing and was coolly lighting a cigarette (香烟). Bleriot took off six days later. He flew into some very bad weather and very low cloud. He somehow got to the English side and landed in a farmer’s field. When he did so, a customs (海关) officer rushed up to his plane. Planes have changed since then, but customs officers have not. “Have you anything to declare?” The officer demanded.

San Francisco Bay Area is a great place if you're a sports fan, as you'll find several events all year round and plenty of team pride. If you are anywhere close to the area during a game,these fantastic sports events are here for you.

The San Francisco Giants baseball team plays in SF at Oracle Park. This is a fun ballpark because it's always packed with great energy and offers views of the bay. It's one of the most popular San Francisco sports events. The Giants are part of the National League West Division. Since their arrival here in 1958,they have been World Series Champions three times.

The fan base of the Golden State Warriors distributes the whole San Francisco Bay Area as this region's only NBA team.Their regular season runs from late October through mid-April, and all home games are played at the Chase Center in San Francisco.In total, the Warriors has won six NBA championships.

The 49ers are San Francisco's NFL team, though they have recently moved to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, about an hour south of SF. The football team was named for the prospectors (探矿者) who arrived in the area in 1849 for the Gold Rush. They’ve won 5 Super Bowl championships, all between 1981 and 1994.

The San Jose Sharks represent the Bay Area in hockey (冰球).They were founded in 1991 as the only Bay Area team to compete in the NHL. Sharks fans love going to these San Francisco sports events at the SAP Center,which they call the Shark Tank,located about an hour southeast of SF.

Osaka, Japan—Defending champions China lifted the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup trophy（奖杯）with perfect 11 straight wins after easing past Argentina 3-0 here on Sunday. With their eleventh win at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup, China won the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup.

This year, the World Cup has been played across different cities, and Team China had training sessions even on traveling days when some participating teams chose to rest up after a tiring flight.“Coach Lang focuses on details of the technique in the training sessions, and I feel our team has become more balanced.” Captain Zhu Ting said. This firm approach explains how China managed to turn the table against the United States at the World Cup. Never quit, especially in adversity. That’s what the spirit of Chinese women’s volleyball means.

When the team struggled, Zhu was always there, doing whatever was needed to carry the team forward. That’s why she has become a national volleyball icon, just like “Iron Hammer” Lang. As for Lang, she took over the flag from her former coach Yuan Weimin, who was behind China’s rise in the beginning. From coach Yuan to coach Lang, and spiker（主攻手） Lang to spiker Zhu, the flag bearers may have changed over time, but the craving for championships and the steely desire and determination remain the same.

Volleyball is a team sport and behind the on-court team, there is always a supportive coaching team and staff. Lai was one of the members, shouldering responsibilities as both vice director of China’s Volleyball Management Center and as assistant coach. Apart from coordinating between coaches and players, Chinese coaches and foreign coaches and sometimes within Chinese coaches, she also has to do chores. During Rio 2016, assistant coach Yuan Lingxi headed for the arena（竞技场）at 6am every day to film the matches and would return to the Olympic Village at 2am when he would start analyzing China’s opponents and file reports. There are many Lais and Yuans that are not known by the public, but who remain indispensable for the team to overcome difficulties and reach their peak.