Spring is just around the corner,but if you are tired of sunflowers,tulips（郁金香）and other standard gardens,why not head to one of these mysterious and wonderful botanical gardens?
Butchart Gardens,British Columbia,Canada
One of the rarest flowers you'll find at Butchart Gardens is the Meconopsis,otherwise known as the Tibetan blue poppy. The most impressive flowers can be found in the borders, where you'll find over one million bedding plants. And although the gardens are famous for their perennials（多年生植物）,300,000 spring-flowering plants are grown every year, and over 900 varieties of plants are grown. for the summer gardens alone.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden,Cape Town,South Africa
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is one of a handful of botanic gardens to grow only native plants. Some of the most popular varieties include the king protea,which produces enormous flowers between autumn and summer,and the rare silver tree,a silky-leaved plant,which experts believe could become extinct in the next 50 years.
Denver Botanic Gardens,Colorado,US
Once native to South Africa,these oddly-named flowers are famously drought-hardy,making them perfect for this part of North America. This garden is one of the few to focus on draught-tolerant plants from Colorado and the grasslands of Africa,Mongolia and Argentina. In fact,Colorado is home to nine species of endangered plant,and several can be found here.
Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden,Tromso,Norway
Visit the world's northernmost·botanical garden and you'll find a breathtaking collection of plants from the world's polar and mountainous regions including,in the Himalaya section,the rare giant Tibetan blue poppy,with its huge flowers and metre-high stem. You'll also see the Wilander buttercup,which can only. be found in the quite terrible areas of Svalbard's unforgiving icy islands.
I am a strong believer that if a child is raised with approval,he learns to love himself and will be successful in his own way.
Several weeks ago,I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair. I kept asking him to sit down,telling him that he would concentrate better. He sat but seconds later,as if he didn't even notice he was doing it,he got up again. I was getting angry,but then it hit me：I started noticing his answers-were much quicker and right when he stood up. Could he concentrate better while standing up？
This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe. I grew up to believe that a quiet child was more likely to succeed. This child would have. the ability to study hard,get good grades and become someone important in life. Kids that were active and loud would only be losers.
Now people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA,and all they can do is loving and accepting them. As parents,throughout their growing years and beyond that,we need to guide them and help them find their way.
I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate. Clearly,he is concentrating,just in his own way and not mine. We need to accept our kids,and their ways of doing things. There is nothing sweeter than seeing our children being themselves. It makes us happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live a happy life.
Richard is a very a successful businessman. It is common for him to work hard with a non-stop. He wasn't aware that he might wear himself out or die an early death until he overslept one morning,which was a sort of alarm. And then what happened？He had a week's leave during which time he read novels,listened to music and walked with his wife on a beach,which has enabled Richard to return to work again.
In our modern life,we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. Amazingly,within this world there is a universal but silly saying："I am so busy. "
We say this to one another as if our tireless efforts,were a talent by nature and an ability to successfully deal with stress. The busier we are,the more important we seem to ourselves and,we imagine,to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family,and to be unable to find time to relax - this has become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest,we lose our way. We miss the guide telling us where to go,the food providing us with strength,the quiet giving us wisdom.
How have we allowed this to happen？I believe it is this：we have forgotten the Sabbath,the day of the week - for followers of some religions - for rest and praying. It is a day when we are not supposed to work,a time when we devote ourselves to enjoying and celebrating what is beautiful. It is a good time to bless our children and loved ones,give thanks,share meals,walk and sleep. It is a time for us to take a rest,to put our work aside,trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world.
Rest is a spiritual and biological need；however,in our strong ambition to be successful and care for our many responsibilities,we may feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest. The Sabbath gives us permission to stop work. In fact,"Remember the Sabbath" is more than simply permission to. rest；it is a rule to obey and a principle to follow.
Researchers have developed a wearable device（设备）. It is stretchy（有弹性的）enough that you can wear it like a ring,a bracelet or any other accessory that touches your skin. It also changes the body's temperature into electricity,about 1 volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space - less voltage per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers. It can heal itself when damaged and is fully recyclable,making it a cleaner alternative（替代品）to traditional electronics.
The innovation（创新）begins with a base made out of a stretchy material called polyamine. The scientists then stick a series of thin heating chips into that base,connecting them all with liquid metal wires. The final product looks like a Cross between a plastic watch and a minicomputer motherboard or maybe a diamond ring.
Just pretend that you're out for a jog. As you exercise,your body heats up,and that heat will radiate out to the cool air around you. The device catches that flow of energy instead of letting it go to waste. A person taking a quick walk could use a device the size of a typical sports wristband to produce about 5 volts of electricity,which is more than what many watch batteries can hold.
The new devices are as stretchy as biological tissue. If your device tears,for example,you can put together the broken ends,and they'll seal back up in just a few minutes.
Researchers are trying to make their devices as cheap and reliable as possible,while also having as close to zero effect on the environment as possible. While there are still problems to work out in the design,they think that the devices could appear on the market in a few years.
How often do you have a conversation with someone, and think you are paying attention to him or her,only to realize shortly afterwards that you can't remember what he said？Or, perhaps you get distracted while he is speaking and miss the message that he is trying to deliver.
：TVs, radios, traffic noises, telephones, laptops and so on, which can make it difficult to listen with our full attention.
But how can we listen more effectively？ . He said, "Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, with a purpose, at the present moment and non - judgmentally. "
？Jon Kabat - Zinn describes three key elements of mindful listening that we can use to improve our listening skills.
First of all, be present. When we listen mindfully,our focus should be on the person we are listening to without distractions. Then develop empathy（共鸣）. We often see the world through our own experiences. When we're empathetic, we can understand a situation from someone else's point of view. . Our cues are the thoughts, feelings and physical reactions that we have when we feel anxious or angry,and they can block out ideas and perspectives that were uncomfortable with. Mindful listening can help us to be more aware of our cues.
In conclusion, the rule is straightforward：simply "Listen"! Listen carefully and attentively.
Pay full attention to the other person, and don't let other thoughts, like what we are going to say next,distract us.
|
A. Finally,listen to our own "cues" B. Professor Jon Kabat - Zinn put forward the idea of mindful listening C. But how can we apply mindful listening to our life D. At last,"cues" helps us understand the speaker's ideas E. In today's busy world,modern life is full of distractions F. What can we do with mindful listening G. Besides,it allows us to choose not to let them block communication |
You may have seen a barista（咖啡师）pour milk foam（奶泡）into a coffee,then you can see a beautiful pattern（图案）. But have you seen the art in a cup of tea？
Dian cha is a tea at from the Song Dynasty. The art begins with pouring water over fine powdered（粉状的）tea,creating a paste（糊）and then adding more hot water,whisking（搅动）it by hand with a bamboo whisk. It is believed that the art later spread to other parts of East Asia,including Japan. In 2019,it was listed as an intangible cultural heritage（非物质文化遗产）of Runzhou district Zhenjiang city,Jiangsu province.
The Shanghai designer Han Zhemin has been interested in dian cha since childhood. "My mother loves traditional culture and I have been influenced," said Han. After he graduated from the China Academy of Art in Zhejiang province in 2006,Han tried his best to reviving（复兴）the art form.
He said during the process of dian cha,the froth（泡沫）tried his best to paper while the tea paste is like ink. But "drawing" on the tea foam is not easy. "Traditional paintings is about the soft brush against the hard paper,but the tea is about the hard teaspoon and the soft froth. " Han said.
Creating patterns on the tea foam is careful but quick work. Usually,the whole process has to be completed within 10 minutes. The ideal state is when the tea's temperature is around 40℃ and ready for the palate（味觉）. "Usually,it takes a year of practice for one to be able to do it," Han added.
To spread dian cha culture,Han put the process of tea whisking and drawing on social media platforms,including Xiaohongshu,Bilibili and Douyin,attracting more than 20,000 followers. When taking about tea art Han said we should increase the beauty rather than change the essence（本质）of tea. "I want more people to understand the processes and reasons of tea making," he explained.
It was a dark night. Thick, dark, gray clouds had made sure that there was no starlight or moonlight to 1 me as I walked out of my porch（门厅）. Still,I kept the porch light off because I didn't want to be 2 by bugs and moths（飞蛾）on this sticky 3 evening. I stood there for a while letting my eyes adjust to the lack of 4 .
It was then, though, that I saw them. First one blink of light at the far end of the 5 followed by another and then another. I 6 . I recognized them at once as my firefly（萤火虫）friends,my lightning bug buddies who always 7 this time of the year.
When I was little I used to sit in the grass and watch them 8 fly around blinking on and off. I never 9 and put one in a jar as some kids did because I never wanted to hurt these messengers of light. Their time on this earth was so 10 as it was. I tried to enjoy them each night they were here. It always 11 me when they disappeared in the fall and it always made my heart sing when they 12 the next summer.
We are like them in a lot of ways. Our 13 here on earth is brief. Often our light of love is more like on and off blinks rather than a 14 shine. Still,we do our best to share it and take 15 in knowing that others will be shining their light long after we are gone.
Shadow theater is a unique art form in China. Thanks to the basic principle of light and shadow projected（投影）onto a screen,performers use puppets（玩偶） （make）from animal skins to tell stories in a form of opera. Two thousand years ago,the sadness of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty over the death of his favorite lover was （full）relieved by the projection of her figure through a game of lights. This started is now known in China as the earliest form of shadow play.
Among all the country's branches,Beijing shadow theater stands out its techniques and its specific tunes. It （experience）a long period of formation and now features unique performance methods. Its vocal（声乐的）tone and actual puppets draw （inspire）from Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera.
In the past,the shadow theater （perform）in the fields,with all performers hidden behind the scenes；some controlled the puppets and sang,while others managed the music. A performing group would consist of six or seven people and a box of puppets. When people put on play at a market,a light box and a curtain would be enough （start）the show. Requiring only a few things,the theater was characterized by its mobility,often （appear）at weddings,dinner parties and Chinese New Year celebrations.
