Four Interesting Festivals Around the World
Noosa Festival of Surfing, Australia
Noosa is one of the world's best surfing destinations. Big waves crash onto the sunny and expansive beaches, backed by bars, cafes and the Noosa National Park, attracting talents even from the world's greatest surf spots like Hawaii, California and New Zealand. Lighthearted activities such as art shows, live music and dog surfing competitions accompany the more serious competitions.
Hangout Music Festival, Alabama, the USA
For a celebration of some of the finest creators reaching the highest position in the music charts, head to the coast of Alabama for the start of the summer festival season. The annual music festival on the white-sand beaches of the city of Gulf Shores in the southeastern US state is an all-out musical feast, with some huge names in the music world singing live.
Cartagena International Film Festival, Colombia
As the oldest film festival in Latin America Cartagena International Film Festival will enter its 64th year in 2024. The colourful streets of the Caribbean coastal city, Cartagena, come to life with screenings. The city becomes an attraction for fans every year during the festival. Celebrating creative freedom and expression, the film festival is the best opportunity to dive into filmmaking culture.
Copenhagen Photo Festival, Denmark
The Danish capital hosts the largest photo festival in Northern Europe, showing international photography of present day in a surprising setting at the water's edge in an urban coastal wilderness, formerly an industrial shipyard site. The 10-day festival appeals to photographers around the region, with the 2023 festival turning the lens (镜头) to the idea of "rewilding".
I believe that we can use social media for a lot of great things and it's important especially for business owners like me. Ever since I started my calligraphy business two years ago, I've never spent a day without going on social media, especially a kind of social app on my phone, on which I promoted my products and services and got in contact with possible customers.
Later I found it got in the way of more important things. I hate to say I was hooked by it, but I was. Every time I turned on my phone, I would dive into it. For a long time, I had been I ignoring other parts of my life, like my family, my friends and my happiness. One day, I was thinking that a break should have happened long before to me.
Then I decided to remove the app off my phone for a month and only use that on my computer to keep track of my business. I wanted a clean break to reflect and plan for the future.
I had believed that if I spent less time on the platform, I would miss out much. Actually, I was so wrong. During this month off, I realized there was much to enjoy in life. I found more time to enjoy my hobbies and contacted my good friends that I had lost touch with, I was refilled with energy in all aspects of my life.
This one month off the app on the phone was healthy for me. If it were not for my business, I would like not to have it on my phone. I downloaded the app again on my phone, but only used it to post my own content. I didn't intend to paint social media in a negative light, but now I just don't think the way I was using it was healthy. It's difficult to find balance, but I'm going to try to do it anyway. I'm going back, but it's going to be different.
D The social app in the computer was more practical.
The Masai(马赛人) are continually trying to keep their own ways in an increasingly modern world. They live along the border of Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, moving their homes from time to time to follow their cattle, the source of their livelihood. They rely on their cattle in many parts of their life. They like drinking the cows' milk.
They don't kill their cattle for food. But if a cow is killed the parts of its body are used to make containers, shoes, clothin, ropes, bed coverings and so on. Not all of the men have cows. The more cattle a man owns, the richer he is considered to be. A man who owns 50 or fewer cattle is considered poor. Rich men have a thousand or more. The cattle, though owned by the man, are considered to belong to the man's entire family. The family names the cattle and can recognize each animal's special voice.
The Masai men have become known as warriors(勇士), protecting their cattle against other wild animals. They wear their red long hair. Most women often take care of their children, cook food, clean clothes and make clothing at home. They also make necklaces dresses and headdresses. A few women can also become authorities once they are powerful enough. They speak a language called Maa.
The houses of Masai made from sticks and grass, which are held together with a mixture of mud, are not very firm or safe. These plain houses with some basic supplies are built in a circle and make up a Masai village. They are not meant to last long since the migration(迁徙) of the cow population means that the Masai move as well. In the meantime, in order to prevent animals from entering, they also form a wall of branches. The whole setup is to protect the cattle, which sleep at night in the middle of the village. They seem to live a natural and self-sufficient life but lack modern civilisation.
Researchers concerned with space exploration say they have discovered new evidence that Mars once had a large northern ocean. The discovery adds to existing evidence that the ancient Mars had the right conditions to possibly support some form of life.
Today, any water on Mars is believed to be in the form of ice because of the planet's extremely cold desert temperatures. But there is a rich amount of evidence suggesting that rivers, lakes and even oceans once existed on Mars. A study by the American space agency NASA suggested that billions of years ago, Mars likely had an ocean that covered nearly half of Mars' northern hemisphere(半球). Another NASA-supported study estimated that about several billion years ago, the climate in much of the planet's northern hemisphere was very similar to today's Earth. The study noted that at that time, Mars likely had a much thicker atmosphere than today and had an active northern ocean.
Two American researchers recently released a set of maps to provide new environmental evidence of a large ancient ocean on Mars' low-lying northern hemisphere. The team collected data from satellite images and photos of Mars. They then combined them to create maps of the planet's northern hemisphere. Using the maps, the researchers were able to piece together evidence of shorelines that sat at the edge of a huge body of water about 3.5 billion years ago.
The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Geophysical Research：Planets. Benjamin Cardenas, a professor at The Penn State University, was a co-writer of the study. He said the study's findings showed the possible ocean in that area of Mars was changeable and interesting. "It was dynamic(动态). The sea level rose significantly," he said. "Rocks were being deposited(沉积) along its basins at a fast rate. There was a lot of change happening here." Besides, Cardenas suggested the new study also provided useful information on Mars' ancient climate and developmental history. "Based on these findings, we know there had to have been a period when it was warm enough and the atmosphere was thick enough to support this much liquid water at one time," he said.
Music is present in any part of the world, and it is appreciated and felt everywhere. Without its presence, life could be boring. Studies show that music is good for your body and mind.
Music can increase pain management. Listening to music can help increase your pain tolerance (耐痛性). Listening to music can help you gain a sense of control over your ability to deal with pains. If you have a certain pain, for example, listening to music that you enjoy can help reduce the pain that you experience.
● Listening to certain types of music, such as relaxing music, can naturally reduce both your heartbeat rate and breathing rate. Additionally, music has shown promising results as a treatment for heart disease. Whether it involves listening to music or composing music, the calming effect that music produces further improves your heart's health by supporting it throughout the healing process.
●Music can reduce anxiety and depression When it comes to anxiety and depression, music treatment can help to reduce the amount of stress hormones. For example, listening to music that you enjoy can naturally decrease the amount of cortisol (皮质醇) that your body releases.
●Music can improve self-expression and communication. Self-expression and communication are an important part of the human experience, especially when it comes to basic emotional and mental health needs. By listening and singing along to music, kids who struggle to interact and communicate with others can practice using the very skills needed to do so.
A. Music can improve heart health.
B. Music can increase your heartbeat rate.
C. Here are some benefits of music treatment.
D. They are two common pains in your daily life.
E. It has been proved to be helpful for anxious and depressed people.
F. Listening to music can also help decrease the strength of your pains.
G. For kids weak in both areas, music treatment can help develop their relative skills.
In 1980, Dad was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. The disease 1 his memory and expression. Dad couldn't think or process information as fast as he 2 to. He grew to repeat the same words, which drove Mom 3 . On one of my visits home, Dad was sitting in his deck chair. I reached down to 4 and kiss him. "What's new? How are you?"
"Oh, you know, dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark." He laughed, proud of his 5 .
As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She 6 her head. "I heard your dad and those words! It's not his will. He just can't 7 himself." She stopped for a while before 8 . "He always says he's just like a mushroom…" She took a 9 breath and laughed. "Goodness," she said, "I'm going to be 10 the adversity(困境) for a long time."
11 , Dad never became difficult, or had personality changes. I often felt grateful for that. Dad loved and 12 everything Mom ever did for him as well, no matter how big or small.
Care-giving comes at a 13 . Mom was annoyed with Dad, but there was lots of love between them. Through the 21 years of care giving for Dad, there was 14 and tears, as well as weddings and babies. Without 15 , I'm not sure what would have happened to us.
With the Internet well developed, online jobs are becoming popular. The search for employment has become a tough task, so people have started looking for alternatives（替代品）. Thanks the person who started the online jobs, you don't need (wake) up too early in the morning. What's more, you will be doing your work at home or on a trip when others work in the office. You just need a computer and network connection. With (variety) fields, it is up to you to decide which one to take. There are even some online jobs (require) lower major qualifications, less skill and less experience.
Little work pressure is the biggest advantage of working online. The pressure you get here is less than that you get while doing an office job. No one monitors the time at you start your work. As long as you meet deadlines deliver quality work, you will be good to go.
You can work (flexible) regarding time. You can choose your own working hours. This means you can have time to take care of other personal needs without (tie) there from am to pm.
For online jobs, you can try different fields. When you find (you) tired of a certain field, you have the freedom to change to another field. In this way, you will keep active and motivated all through. You can try different job (option), including online teaching, part-time blogging, freelance writing and logo designing.
"I will never forget you," Meryl said to his pet dog with tears rolling down his cheek (脸颊). With his head leaning to one side, Thone watched his master, "Woof, woof! Woof, woof!" He wagged his tail back and forth, seeming to understand what Meryl was talking about.
"I can't take care of myself anymore, let alone take care of you," Meryl cleared his throat. "Soon, I'll move to an old people's home, and I'm sorry to say that you can't come along. They don't allow dogs there, you know." "Don't worry, my friend. I'll find a nice new home for you. I've known the owners of the new home, and they like dogs very much," Meryl added. "With your good looks, we'll have no trouble at all. Anyone will be proud to own such a fine dog."
Thone wagged his tail really hard and walked proudly up and down the kitchen floor. For a moment, the familiar delicious food gave him a feeling of happiness. But then a sense of fear struck again. Thone's tail hung between his legs and he stood very still.
"Come here." With great difficulty, Meryl knelt down on the floor and lovingly pulled Thone close to him. He tied a ribbon (丝带) around the dog's neck with a huge red bow, and then he attached a note to it, which said "Happy New Year! My name is Thone. For breakfast, I like bacon and eggs — even corn will do. For dinner, I prefer mashed potatoes and some meat. That's all. I eat just two meals a day. In return, I will be your most loyal friend."
"Woof, woof! Woof, woof!" Thone was confused and his eyes begged. The old Meryl blew his nose into his handkerchief once more. Later, hanging on to a chair, he pulled himself up from the floor. He buttoned his overcoat, reached for the dog's leash (皮带) and softly said, "Come here, my friend." He opened the door against a wave of cold air and stepped outside, pulling the dog behind.
As they were walking in the empty street, dusk was beginning to fall.
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After a very long time, they stopped before a large house with tall trees in its front.
Through teary eyes, the old Meryl watched from behind the tree as the boy's mother took the note.
