4 of the Best Cycling Holiday Destinations in Europe
European cycling holidays provide some of the best experiences you can have on two wheels. Come and join us!
Girona, Spain
Girona is surrounded by wonderful and easily accessible cycle routes that pretty much offer any riding you would ever need or want. The traffic-free roads mean that there is little trouble in getting out of the town and into the hills. Girona's old town itself is a beauty and with plenty of places serving great food and great coffee, there's a certain magic to the place.
Algarve, Portugal
Portugal is a cycling destination that has grown very popular thanks to the large variety of roads in the country. Not only are there plenty of climbs but also a lot of rolling roads to test yourself on. The terrain is similar to what you'll find in the most popular cycling regions, but Portugal just feels little bit less mainstream. Away from the bike, there is also plenty of tasty food and local wines to try.
Northern Scotland, UK
One of the best places to tour in all of Europe is in fact Scotland. Particularly adventurous cyclists can take advantage of Scotland's rules on wild camping— Scottish law allows members of the public the right to roam, while English law does not. It's a totally free way to explore a place and Scotland might just be one of the best ones to do it because of the beautiful scenery.
Julian Alps, Slovenia
Slovenia is quite new when it comes to comparing with other European cycling destinations. A great destination for mountain bikers and road cyclists as well, the country has plenty of off-road routes and roads that take you high up into the Julian Alps. It's no surprise once you've come here you'll find that the country does very well in producing world class bike racers.
Rinzin Phunjok Lama was 16 when he first saw a Himalayan snow leopard(雪豹) wandering in the mountains near his home in northeastern Nepal—an experience that changed his life. In the folklore (传说) of Lama's community, snow leopards reveal themselves only when humans disturb the natural order. At that moment Lama says he recognized that his homeland was in danger.
Lama, now 30, has since devoted his life to wildlife conservation. Unlike thousands of young Nepalese who leave rural areas in search of work, Lama returned to his home in Humla after graduating from college with a forestry degree. Even in this remote corner of Nepal, the effects of climate change are clear, with ancient water sources drying up and once snow-capped mountains left bare.
Lama leads a team of trained conservationists who work to engage the community. They document and track threatened and endangered wildlife, facilitate workshops where local people share their knowledge of the landscape and run clubs for children to learn about conservation from an early age.
What makes Lamas project unique is that it's driven entirely by the people it serves. Outsiders have previously brought sustainability efforts to the region and failed to make a lasting impact because they often did not understand the local culture, Lama says. "Gaining community trust should be the first step," he says.
One challenge to that has been high levels of food insecurity and poverty (贫困) in the area, which makes it harder to convince people that conservation should be a priority. To show that it's possible to obtain benefits from the land without harming it, Lama's team has launched programs teaching beekeeping or helping locals to sell handmade artworks. "The people leading this project are from here," he says. "There can be no prouder moment than this for us."
Studies have been done on the connection between humor and genes. The most common ones involved researchers observing the same twins and looking at how genes affect their sense of humor. There was a study with 390 adult twins who were asked to rate 48 cartoons of different humor varieties based on how funny they found them. The conclusion was that environmental influences played a more important role in what the twins found funny than genetics.
However, there is more to be said about this topic. A recent study proved a clear connection between genetics and emotions like laughter. This study tested 336 adults by showing them funny clips from movies and humorous comics. Researchers then examined the gene and positive emotional expressions, which they referred to as laughing and smiling. And even though the research has collected evidence on how there can be a connection between laughing and smiling behaviors and genes, we still need more similar studies before considering the results as a fact.
While genetics play an important role in the formation of many character traits, our sense of humor is too complex to be attributed to one factor. Moreover, your sense of humor can change throughout your whole life, which is why simplifying humor and basing it only on genetics isn't reliable.
When we're young, we learn to talk and do regular activities by observing people and things around us. While growing up, you are exposed to jokes that people around you make and find funny. You will pick up behavioral signs and develop your sense of humor based on all of that. It's not a surprise that your sense of humor is based on the sense of humor of the people you grew up with, rather than on the genes of your ancestors.
Our sense of humor is a subjective field that depends on social factors, such as the influence of your family and friends, social circle, upbringing in a particular country and culture, etc. For that reason, it doesn't mean that you will be humorous just because your parents or grandparents are funny.
The scholars at Yale University have been carrying out a study of more than 10,000 cadets (学员)at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to determine the relative success of those who were motivated by internal rewards versus (与…相对) those driven by "instrumental", or external rewards.
They assumed that some combination of internal and external motives would lead to the most success, as measured by the officers' willingness to stay beyond the five-year commitment to the Army and to graduate and become commissioned officers. In fact, they found that cadets who expressed the most internal motivation were more successful than those who showed mixed motives to serve.
The same subtle(微妙的)interplay between motivation and rewards is also at work when it comes to education and learning. Rewarding students for getting their schoolwork done with prizes, snacks and even grades, as most schools do, can have the unintended effect of dismantling a child's drive to learn for its own good.
"When you hold a burger in front of kids' noses, you are telling them what kind of consequence matters, and what motive to pay attention to, "says psychology professor Barry Schwartz." And education will suffer."
Randy Wallock, a seventh-grade language arts teacher in New Jersey, encourages learning for its own good among his students: They're given choice and autonomy and the freedom to work at their own pace. He also tries to build what he calls "little cultures within the classroom to encourage learning"; teenagers are responsive to social expectations, and creating environments where curiosity is cool invites more self-directed learning.
"As a teacher, you have a choice of what you respond to," says Amy Wrzesniewski, an associate professor at Yale University. "Do you pay attention to students who have their laptops out, or do you pay attention to students who are asking intelligent questions?" she asks. Making those kids who ask intelligent questions feel "valued, responded to and celebrated," she says, brings more of that out in others.
Schwartz agrees, but warns that sending out these kinds of signals must be done slowly and subtly. He adds, "You have to be careful you're not making this another instrumental reward."
How to become a creative person
Anthony Burrill has been exhibiting his work in galleries across the world for over 15 years, finding inspiration in the most unlikely places. I read his book Make It Now! to discover how I too could develop my creativity..
●Look at the world through fresh eyes
In order to think up new and exciting projects, Burrill lets his mind and his body wander in the world. A walk in a new neighbourhood can give you a different view on your surroundings.. "Seeing new things helps generate new ideas," says Burrill.
●Build your creative network
Working alone can be both difficult and boring. Burrill values his creative network as a source of inspiration.. "These people will form the core of your creative community, from which a rich ecosystem of creativity will develop," says Burrill.
●
When Burrill began his career as an artist, he couldn't afford expensive materials, so he had to find new and inventive ways to make things. "It's much better to use what you have around you to produce something," says Burrill. "It's about being clever with what you have and seeing the benefits in the restrictions you have."
●Remember that conformity(随大流)is the enemy of creativity
. Burrill always keeps in mind that "as soon as you start doing as you are told and following the rules you stop being truly creative". He knows that unconventional people are clever and inventive, and always try hard to be the "oddball" amongst the crowd.
A. Be resourceful
B. A weekend trip works as well.
C. Follow these top tips to do the same
D. Allow yourself to create useless things
E. It is essential to maintain your individuality as a creator
F. It is important to be familiar with what's going on around you
G. His fellow artists teach him new styles and push him to take risks
Planning a wedding takes time and hard work, but Kelsey thought of the perfect touch to add to her wedding vows(誓言).
Because both of Michael's parents are 1, they communicate using sign language. Kelsey doesn't speak sign language herself, but she decided to 2 some so she could 3 her vows for them. To pull it off, Kelsey got 4 from her aunt, who is married to a deaf man. "I asked her if she could record herself signing my vows 5 I could practice and know that I was doing the 6 signs," Kelsey said. "I used that and 7 on my own for several weeks."
When the big moment finally arrived, it took Michael a second to really realize that Kelsey was 8 signing her vows and he just couldn't 9 himself. Michael thought it was probably the most 10 moment of the wedding. Michael's parents were deeply 11 .
Since sharing their special moment online, the wedding videographer Chandler has got over 7000, 000 likes! The reason why Kelsey did this wasn't about getting 12 online，but rather, it was about 13 Michael's family. She wanted the family to be able to communicate without any 14 . Looking into the future, Kelsey 15 to be fluent in sign language and also teach her kids about it.
Hunters used dogs to help track and kill pandas in China until the country (declare) the species protected. But dogs are still threatening the (safe) of this species, according to a new study.
Researchers started their investigation when two captive-born (圈养出生的) pandas, which had been released into Liziping Nature Reserve, (attack) by dogs.
There are dogs in panda reserves because there are villages near the reserves and people have dogs. An adult panda is quite able to defend (it) against one dog. However, it has a hard time (beat) a pack of dogs.
In the study, was published in Scientific Reports, the researchers found that dogs can wander more than 10 kilometers a night. Some dogs even live in the reserves. Earlier research found that pandas need a habitat of least 114 square kilometers to thrive (茁壮成长). Although most of the nature
reserves created for the pandas are large enough (sustain) their populations, the panda's territory could become smaller if dogs become part of it.
"The Chinese government has instituted a broad program to vaccinate (给……接种疫苗) the dogs and to help the villagers either remove the dogs control them all the time. So things are getting much(good)," study co-author James Spotila said.
"Good morning, everybody," Mrs. Harris greeted the students as she entered the music room. The 65-year-old music teacher had a reputation for being strict in class, despite music seeming like a light subject. But Mrs. Harris took her job seriously, and teaching music was a massive passion for her.
She walked to the piano and started leading the students into a song to get them warmed up. This semester, she was going to teach them about composition and songwriting. Suddenly, one student raised her hand.
"Mrs. Harris, what do you like to listen to in your leisure time?" she asked curiously. "I bet she listens to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky at home," another student said.
"But I actually like a lot of pop music, and even some of the things you, young people, listen to nowadays. But I must admit that I listen to a lot of old songs, especially Paul McCartney," Mrs. Harris answered, smiling at the kids.
Soon enough, the students got used to her, and some started taking her lessons more seriously. Others still liked to be playful, but she wasn't truly mad at them.
However, the worst was yet to happen. Her husband suddenly died in the middle of the school year, and she didn't have the heart to go to work. Fortunately, the school was accommodating. They gave her some well-deserved time off.
At first, she was like a zombie (迟钝无生气的人) at home, lying in bed all day. She didn't even listen to music anymore. But when her daughter encouraged her to start playing tunes once again, she began to play again until she decided to return to school.
She called the headmaster, letting him know she was ready to get back to normal, even if the love of her life was gone.
"Good morning, everyone," she began upon entering the classroom for the first time since her husband's death. She placed her things on her desk and started to speak again. "Before we begin, I want to apologize ..."
注意：
1.续写词数应为 150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答
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But before she could go on, the sound of notes being played cut her off.
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Her students approached her one by one.
