No matter what kind of vacation you are looking for, the world is full of interesting and exciting places to explore. So, start planning an amazing getaway! The following are some of the most fantastic destinations for you.
Amsterdam
From its exciting city life to its distinctive canals (运河) and historical sites, Amsterdam is home to a variety of cultural experiences.
Why not explore the city by foot or by bike and take in the sights? You could even take a cruise along the canals for an entirely new perspective. For those who are looking to relax, take a leisurely walk through the parks and gardens. So, why wait – come to explore the charms of Amsterdam!
Dominican Republic
With its amazing beaches, striking landscapes and dynamic culture, the Dominican Republic has something for everyone. It has a longstanding musical culture. Make sure to check out some live music to experience this fantastic part of Dominican culture. It's also home to beautiful natural wonders. Nature lovers can explore the country's thick mountainous rainforests. If you're feeling adventurous, try hiking or rafting through the country's incredible rivers.
Costa Rica
From its impressive landscapes to its unique wildlife and culture, Costa Rica is sure to have something to suit your taste. If you're a nature lover, you'll be in for a treat. Costa Rica is home to an abundance of wildlife and many species of plants in the world. For the adventurous traveler, Costa Rica offers plenty of activities, such as rafting, zip lining and surfing. If you're looking for a little bit of culture, visit one of Costa Rica's museums, galleries and churches.
Kristin Schell is the founder of The Turquoise Table, a movement of ordinary people who want to create community in their own front yards. Ten years ago, she and her husband and their four children moved to a new home in Austin, Texas.
One day, Kristin needed backyard furniture for a party and bought some picnic tables from Lowe's. The delivery driver set one table down in her front yard by mistake. After the party, she painted the table turquoise (青绿色)—her favorite color—and put it in the front yard.
That turquoise table became the place where Kristin and her kids hung out. They played games, did crafts and ate snacks. Neighbors began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Kristin invited people to join her at the table for coffee or iced tea. Construction workers on jobs in the neighborhood took their lunch breaks at the table. A babysitter walking by with her young charges sat down to rest. Then neighbors asked Kristin if their family could put a picnic table in their front yard too. A movement came into being.
People often hesitate to invite others into their homes. They think their house is too messy, it's not big enough or they don't have enough time. However, Kristin's picnic table takes away the excuses and the pressure.
"Hospitality (好客) doesn't merely mean entertaining people with a meal or a big party. At the picnic table, all I have to do is to show up. " She likes how it enables her to take a small step toward easing loneliness and building relationships in her community.
A decade after their Texas beginnings, thousands of Turquoise Tables exist in all 50 states and in 13 countries around the world. Not all of them are actually turquoise. "No matter what color it is, it's a friendship table," Kristin says.
Did you know that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet can reduce your food carbon footprint by 73%? It's likely you've heard similar statistics before, which might have even grabbed your attention long enough to try a plant-based lifestyle for a while. However, for some, cutting out delicious meaty products forever seems too restrictive to sustain long term.
It's true that we're creatures of habit, so the dishes we love might be difficult to give up even when we intend to do so. But all the exciting new food technology could greatly change the way we consume food. Usually consisting of soy, grain or pea protein bases, fake meat hamburgers use around 90% less water than their beef stuff, so for all those looking to make a change without changing their diet, this could be wonderful news.
However good this may sound, it's not a perfect system. Meat alternatives have their c onstraints too, but the good still far outweighs the bad when used to replace red meat. If health is a big concern for you, you might be better off sticking to vegetables and enjoying fake meat as a treat as some brands can be overprocessed or may not contain sufficient nutrients.
Currently, companies are racing to create the first "lab grown" meat products as a simple answer to everyone's concerns. However, with all the moral concerns, questions about health and cost of production being extremely high, this is a long way from becoming a reality in mass production.
The exciting thing to take from this, whichever side you may be on, is that the fake meat industry is growing at such a rapid speed. It's bound to produce a practical sustainable option soon, so keep watching this space.
A miniature, shape-shifting robot can melt itself and reform, allowing it to complete tasks in hard-to-access places and even escape cages. It could eventually be used as a hands-free soldering (焊接) machine or a tool for taking out swallowed items.
Carmel Majidi at Carnegie Mellon University and his colleagues created a millimeter-sized robot that can not only shape-shift, but also become stronger or weaker by alternating (交替) between being a liquid and a solid. When solid, the material was strong enough to support an object 30 times its own mass. To make it soften or melt as needed for different tasks, the researchers put it near magnets ( 磁 体 ), whose magnetic fields applied forces on the tiny magnetic pieces in the robot, moving them and changing the shape of surrounding metal in different directions. They also used a stronger field to pull the particles upwards, making the robot jump.
When Majidi and his colleagues used an alternating magnetic field, electrons in the robot's liquid metal formed electric currents. The coursing of these currents through the robot's body heated it up and eventually made it melt. Using this flexibility, the team made two robots carry and solder a small light bulb onto a circuit board. When they reached their target, the robots simply melted over the light bulb's edges to solder it to the board. Electricity could then run through their liquid metal bodies and light the bulb.
Finally, they shaped the robot like a Lego minifigure, then helped it escape from a cage by melting it and making it flow out between the bars.
The robots could be used for emergency fixes in situations where human or traditional robotic hands become impractical, says Li Zhang at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For example, a liquefied robot might replace a lost part on a spacecraft by flowing into its place and then solidifying, he says.
Do you have days when you stare into the mirror and can't help but feel like something is missing? It's reminding you to fully maximize your potential. In other words, it's telling you to become the best version of yourself. To help you get started, we've listed four tips below.
It's quite understandable that, because of our nature as human beings, to a certain extent, people's opinions about us influence how we see ourselves. Choose not to care about what others think or say. Otherwise, you'll be held back from performing those activities that draw you closer to your goals.
Try new things.
Try to explore new opportunities because only then can you be able to discover yourself and figure out what the best version of yourself might be. This allows you to work towards it. Think of failure as a lesson that teaches you what not to do next time you find yourself in such a situation.
Surround yourself with a good circle.
You wish to one day live a successful life, but if you're surrounded by people with negative emotions, it is highly doubtful that you will get to attain that goal because the people around you are going to keep holding you down.
Quit Procrastinating (拖延).
Don't give opportunities for the words, "I would do it later" and "it can wait" to pop up in your head. Treat every task given to you as a top priority. When you choose to embrace procrastination, you create room for laziness, which results in unproductivity.
A. Also, don't be scared to fail.
B. But it is easier said than done.
C. Stop seeking approval from others.
D. Take others' advice into consideration.
E. You can be as good as those you hang out with.
F. You might thus never know the limit of your abilities.
G. You need to think of goals leading to your final destination.
My pulse (脉搏) quickened as my feet took me closer to the door. My heart beat1 . What are you doing? You're fifty! My thoughts2 with my kids' words "Do something for yourself, Mom. " Even so, it was as if I had no3 over my feet.
My first drum 4 came. I took a seat and tried to 5 my breath. I was nervous, thinking that the teacher would reject me.
"Stephanie? I'm Mike, the drum teacher," an old man said. Mike had a good6 . Not only did he say I was 7 enough to play the drums, but also praised me for how well I 8 the sticks. My passion9 .
My daughter used to10 that I was always working, with no time for them. But now I finally sit down with them, talking a lot after I practice11 . As weeks turned into months of playing, I became more and more12 . Mike convinced me to play at a concert.
How many times have I watched13 as my kids went in front of audiences? Soon, it would be my14 . I was going over what I needed to play when Mike made the15 ,"Tonight Stephanie will be on the drums for her first time. "
I held my sticks in hands and sped up; Mike nodded at me. I did it!
It appears that language can have a fascinating effect on the way we think about time and space. A growing number of(expert) believe language can influence how we think just as how language develops can(shape) by our thoughts and culture.
In English and many other European languages, we(typical) view the past as being behind us and the future in front of us. In Swedish, for example, the word for future, framtid, literally has the meaning of "front time". But in Aymara, (speak) by the Aymara people live in the Andes in Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina, the word for future(mean) "behind time".
is becoming increasingly clear that language is influencing how we think about the world around us and our passage through it, which is not to say that one language is(good) than another. But being aware of how languages differ can help you think and communicate more effectively. And while mastering more languages won't necessarily make you genius, we all can gain a fresh perspective and a more flexible (understand) of the world by learning a new language.
The Amazing Day I Learnt to Swim
There are certain days when we feel our lives change greatly—days we remember for a lifetime. Such, for me, was one morning in July in the Ligonier Valley of Pennsylvania, at a place called Devil's Hole.
On that morning, my twin brother Roger and I had finished our chores, and the whole day lay before us. "Let's go to Devil's Hole," Roger suggested. I readily agreed, but for all my eagerness there was a feeling of restlessness deep in my heart. Although he had never said a word about it and never laughed at me, Roger could swim and I could not. I had been too afraid to try. Now Roger could slip through the water expertly with the experienced, confident older kids.
Roger led the way to the kitchen door. "Grandma, can we go to Devil's Hole?" We leaned against the screen, peering into the dark kitchen. Grandma, busy baking cakes stood at the kitchen counter. "Well, I guess the big kids are up there now, but mind the road and be careful in that place," warned Grandma.
With a yell, Roger pushed open the screen door, dashed through the kitchen and climbed up the stairs. I followed racing to get into my bathing suit. Throwing towels around our necks, we ran across the field next to our house and headed up the dirt road.
Roger and I reached the destination. Sunlight flooded through a break in the trees. A quiet path of smooth stones and mossy ground led to a deep green pool of icy water reflecting a huge rock on
the opposite bank, partially in the water. The rock was my province and protection. While the others swam, I always pretended to be trying to catch fish along its base with an old tin can.
Roger joined the older boys and girls at once. They excitedly dived in, swam swiftly across the
pool and pulled themselves up on the big rock to feel the sun on the skin, their shouts, splashes and laughter echoing (回响) through the trees.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
I watched with envy and decided to have a try.
I couldn't help shouting, "I can swim!"
