We all know that regular exercise is vitally important for both a healthy mind and body. Research has shown that just five minutes of exercise in a "green space" can help people to keep mentally healthy.
Let's take a look at some ways to get close to nature and make them a part of your regular exercise routine.
Get on your bike
Cycling is a cheap, easy and fun way to get some good exercise in the outdoors. Try leaving your car at home and cycling to work one day, if that's possible. Or get the family together and go on a weekend bike ride. Check out the local cycle paths before you go, and plan a safe route. Make sure you take some healthy snacks with you to keep your energy levels up.
Try some outdoor yoga
Practising yoga can be great for reducing anxiety and aiding relaxation, so why not take your yoga mat and try out some asanas (yoga postures) in the open air? Yoga is great for stretching (伸展) tight muscles and increasing flexibility as well as improving mobility, control and breathing. Why not finish your practice with some quiet meditation to further calm the mind?
Go running
Instead of spending hours on the treadmill (跑步机) , grab a friend and go off for a jog around your local park, or some nature trails. If you are used to running on a treadmill, you may find it harder at first, so make sure you have some good, supportive running shoes. You could also find out where your nearest Parkrun is. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in.
Join a conservation (保护) group
Joining a conservation group is a great way of keeping fit while helping the world around you. Do some research into what's going on in your local area and you could find yourself helping to plant trees, clear up rivers and so on. You never know it could lead to new friendships, as well as the knowledge that you are doing something productive for your local area!
A 10-year-old swimmer with sky-high dreams and a name to match them has broken a record previously held by Olympian Michael Phelps.
Clark Kent Apuada, whose friends call him "Superman", swam the 100-meter butterfly in 1:09.38 at the Far Western Long Course Championships in his home state of California this Sunday. That's a second faster than the record Phelps set at the same event in 1995 with a time of 1:10.48 in the same category of boys under 10.
Clark, a rising fifth-grader who is Filipino-American, told HuffPost he's been dreaming about breaking Phelps' record ever since he started swimming competitively at age 7. "I was so motivated," Clark said about his win. "I was so happy that I was able to beat that record."
Phelps competed in his first Olympics at age 15. He went on to become the most decorated Olympian in history, with 28 medals overall. "Everyone in the crowd was excited when they realized what a special swim they had just seen when we announced the long-standing record had been broken," Cindy Rowland, Pacific Swimming's director, wrote in an email.
Clark won first place for all the swimming events he competed in at this year's Far Western Championships. Pacific Swimming or PacSwim, a regional association that is part of USA Swimming, organizes the Far Western Long Course Championships. Cynthia Apuada, Clark's mother, said that her child seems to be "living by his name at this point".
Asked about the champion swimmer's unusual name, she said she'd always loved the name Clark. And her husband's favorite superhero just happened to be Superman. So when their child was born, they decided to give him the name "Clark Kent". The nickname "Superman" appeared naturally.
If you have to attend a party or other social events where a lot of people will be present, do you feel confident that you will make a good impression on others? Or do you feel shy? In any case, you should increase your confidence at social events.
Whenever you are meeting new people at any social event, you should wear proper clothes. Before you attend the event, try to find out how other people will be dressing. If everyone else is wearing business clothes, you should, too. If the event is informal (不拘礼节的) , you should wear informal clothes so that you can fit in.
If you are going to meet people from a certain business or profession (行业), try looking through a few professional magazines or checking cn the Internet ahead of time to get some conversation ideas that are related to their fields of interest. This can prevent you getting tongue-tied at the event.
When you are at the event, don't worry about whether or not other people you are talking with like you. Instead, try your best to find reasons to like them.
When you are making conversation with people, be sure to keep good eye contact, and make your facial expression soft. Nod to show you're listening. Let your face and body relax so that you can make natural gestures.
After the event is over, take a bit of time to think of your social performance and the conversation you had with people. Tell yourself exactly what you did very well at the event. For example, perhaps you made a big effort to really listen to the people you were talking with, or you may have asked several people some good questions that really got them talking. By doing so, your conversation confidence will gradually improve.
Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps older people company and helps them remember to take their medicine. That is the shared dream of the toy maker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The researchers received a $ 3-million-dollar from the National Science Foundation for a special project. They want to find ways to add artificial intelligence, or AI, to Hasbro's "Joy for All" robotic cat.
The cat has already been for sale for two years. Though priced at over 1 000 dollars, it sold quite well. It was meant to act as a "companion" (陪伴) for older people. Now the project is aimed at developing additional abilities for the cat. Researchers are working to decide which activities older adults may need the most. They hope to make the cat perform a small number of activities very well. Such activities include finding lost objects and reminding the older people to take medicine or visit their doctor. They also want to keep the cost down to just a few hundred dollars.
It is an idea that has appealed (有吸引力) to Jeanne Elliot. Her 93-year-old mother Mary Derr lives with her in South Kingstown. Derr has dementia (痴呆). The Joy for All cat that Elliot bought this year has become a true companion for Derr. The cat stays with Derr and keeps her relaxed while Elliot is at work. Elliot said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.
The researchers are trying to learn how the improved cats will complete helpful activities and how they will communicate. They say that they do not want a talking cat, however. Instead they are trying to design a cat that can move its head in a special way to successfully communicate its message. In the end, they hope to create an exchange between the human and the cat in which the human feels the cat needs them. By doing so, the researchers hope they can even help prevent feelings of loneliness and sadness among elderly people.
Playing sports offers you more than just physical benefits (好处). The benefits are the same whether or not you're good at sports. If you are not good enough to play competitively on a school team, you can play sports with your friends.
Making new friends.
Playing sports enables you to create friendships you otherwise might not have formed. You play together happily and gradually know each other. Many times, the friendships you create on the field remain strong when you are not playing sports.
Understanding the value of health.
Taking part in sports improves your health in many ways. This gets you thinking about what to eat and how to treat your body so as to achieve the highest performance levels. Thus, playing sports can lead to better eating habits and prevent you from becoming too fat.
Building team spirit.
Sports provide children with the important lesson of learning how to work in a team. By working together they will learn each other's strengths and weaknesses and will be better able to decide and work out the best plan for the team. This will without doubt help them in their future lives and jobs as well.
Playing sports requires a lot of time and energy. Some may think this would take students' attention away from schoolwork. However, the opposite is true. Sports require memorization, repetition and learning—skills that are directly relevant (有关的) to schoolwork.
A. Becoming active in class.
B. Doing better in your studies.
C. Everyone has to work together to achieve the goal.
D. To be a good athlete, you must take care of yourself.
E. Sports can help you in your study and fit in with society as well.
F. Sports bring teens together from different schools and backgrounds.
G. Clearly, sports will improve your fitness and help you achieve weight goals.
I stopped at a local store the other day after a fitness class to buy some food. After I got the food, I got in 1 behind a lady who looked about twenty years old. She had quite a lot of things in her shopping basket. She 2 her credit card to the shop assistant but the shop assistant told her it had been refused. The young lady 3 she had paid it off the day before. The shop assistant replied, "Maybe it hasn't got through the system yet. Do you want to 4 someone?" The young lady 5 her cellphone and was looking through it. 6, they opened another counter (柜台) to let me 7 out.
I was walking out to my 8 when I thought, "Okay! You're 9 wishing you could help someone. Now it is 10 for you to do it!" Immediately, I made a 11 to help her. I got out of my car and 12 with my bank card in my hand. The young lady was still looking through her phone. She looked a little 13. I returned to the counter, handed my 14 to the shop assistant and said, "I will pay her bill." She 15 her head and took the card.
As the shop assistant 16 the card to me, the lady was still 17 her phone. And I didn't think she had even 18 what had happened! I told her that I had paid her bill and then I left before she expressed her 19 to me.
The bill was about $ 52. However, the feeling inside me was 20! I realized that helping others did make me happy.
Taipei 101, formerly known the Taipei World Financial Center, is a high building located in Taipei City of China's Taiwan. As it is called, it has a height of 509.2 meters and 101 floors. Upon (it) completion, Taipei 101 was the world's tallest building and it held title of the world's tallest building until 2010.
Taipei 101 has been designed to prevent the typhoon winds and earthquakes, are very common in Asia and Pacific areas. (keep) the tower strong enough through typhoons and earthquakes, engineers installed (安装) a 728-short-ton tuned mass damper (TMD) inside the tower. The TMD is (actual) a huge gold-colored ball that is installed between the 87th and 91st floors. It can reduce the tower's movements by up to 40%. Thanks to the TMD, Taipei 101 can deal with winds up to 216 km/h and the most (power) earthquakes. Today the damper has become one of the hottest tourist (attraction) in Taipei.
The New Year's Eve fireworks display at Taipei 101 is among the world's most famous ones, (watch) by thousands of visitors online. At midnight, colorful fireworks (set) off from Taipei 101, welcoming the arrival of the new year.
It was late spring when my mom and I were driving through the countryside. Back then, I was 13 years old and always felt unhappy with Mom. However, little did I know that trip was going to be a special one.
A pot of flowers sat in the back seat, whose fragrance (香气) filled the car. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, my mom pulled over. My mom went out of the car, grabbing (抓住) the flowers from the back seat. "It'll just be a minute," she called back through the open windows.
Impatiently, I cast my eyes towards the edge of the road before settling on a little sign showing that it was a nursing home. I looked at the building, somewhat annoyed, as my mom reappeared—empty-handed.
Before she started the car, curiosity drove me to ask, "Do you know someone there?" She shook her head. "Then what did you do with the flowers?" She smiled slightly, "I gave them to the receptionist (接待员)."
I kept silent for a moment. Not long after we went on with our driving, I spoke again, "Did you leave your name?" She answered, "No. Leaving flowers there for someone who will appreciate (欣赏) them makes me feel good, which is enough of a thank for me."
Suddenly I heard something burst loudly. It was our car that broke down! Nothing could be worse, because neither my mom nor I understood how to repair it, and we didn't know where the garage was. It also seemed impossible to wait for any passers-by, since we had seen so few along the way.
注意：
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We were worrying about what could be done.
