Top 5 Activities For Fun Seekers
Ride with Ballooning Canterbury – tick it off the bucket list
There is nothing quite so exciting as Hot Air Ballooning and floating effortlessly over an ever-changing Canterbury Plains landscape. Join Ballooning Canterbury and enjoy great views of the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. Flights 7 days a week, all flights are subject to weather.
Christchurch Adventure Park – New Zealand's longest zipline
At the Christchurch Adventure Park, experience the thrilling rush of racing through the forest while you fly down the longest zipline in New Zealand, all while taking in the incredible views around you.
Alpine Jet Thrills – rapid riding in the home of jet engines
Alpine Jet Thrills has launched a brand-new airboat operation, just like the "gator hunting" airboats in the Everglades of Florida USA. It is available at the Braided Shallows location at the Waimakariri Regional Park.
Hassle-Free tours – Lord of the Rings landscapes from an epic 4WD
Join Hassle-Free tours, a favorite among visitors to New Zealand. It is the unique Lord of the Rings Tour, which goes into the Canterbury high country for an exciting 4WD ride to the filming location.
Orana Wildlife Park – home to world-famous The Lion Encounter
Set in 80 hectares, Orana Wildlife Park is New Zealand's only open range zoo. The Park provides amazing child-friendly animal encounters: hand feed giraffe, meet rhino up close and travel through the lion habitat, etc.
A few years ago, I stood underneath a red overhanging cliff near my hometown. The weather was amazing. Deer chewed on the brown grasses by the river below. An eagle rode the wind. Townsfolk and visitors wandered in a nearby hot spring.
I was tied in, ready to climb. I was attempting to do a route first try, "onsight," as we call it, which means I didn't know what I was climbing into. It would have been a hard onsight for me to onsight hard climbs. You need clarity. No interference.
Just as I was about to climb, nerves in my body, which I hadn't felt yet, said hello. That's not good for any athlete. Desperate, I painted a coat of confidence on my inner walls of doubt. I visualized myself at the top, celebrating. "You can do this," I firmly told myself. "If you believe, success is certain."
It didn't work. I fell near the top. Defeated, I lowered to the ground and realized powerfully that the desire to climb the route had kept me from doing it. My self-worth was bound together by my success or failure at that moment, and that set off a chain reaction: unnatural desire, pressure, performance anxiety, anticipation, a mind fascinated with the top but a body struggling below, bad decision-making, irregular movement, distraction, frustration. All in that order, too.
In a flash, I told myself that on my next attempt, success or failure was irrelevant. "Make one move at a time. That's all." I gave myself a pass from whatever would happen. It worked. I floated to the top with self-control and clarity.
That moment got me thinking. At some point, I framed this experience for myself in terms of simple mathematics. When I added determination, courage, self-confidence and desire, I failed. When I took away the desire for success, I improved. I enjoyed it more as well, which, as an athlete of 30 years, I didn't think was possible. Eventually, I discovered the power of subtraction.
Feel exhausted after a party? Rather see one close friend than a group of acquaintances? Enjoy your own company? In our world, that makes you an introvert (内向的人). However, there's another possible explanation—vertical attachment. If you are closer to your parents and family members than to your peers, you are vertically attached, which means you rely more on family for comfort.
If you are closer to your peers, then you are peer attached. We live in a peer-oriented world. We believe that having lots of friends means that we are well-adjusted. We put our kids in playgroups and daycare for peer interaction. We expect teenagers to want to hang out with their friends, thinking it is the natural way of things.
Result? Generations often feel worlds apart. We use different language, dress, and technology apps. Even if multiple generations are invited to the same party, the kids go to the basement playroom while the parents stay upstairs.
Vertically-attached individuals can feel out of place in this context, demonstrating the traces of introversion. Will they be exhausted after a party with same-aged acquaintances? Absolutely. Would they rather spend time with one close friend? Sure. Do they enjoy alone time? Yes, more than they enjoy time fitting in with peers.
It's normal that many people need alone time to recharge. However, vertically-attached people often label themselves as introverted. They feel insecure that others have more friends and live richer lives. They claim that their family attachments arise from their loved ones being stuck with them.
If you feel these insecurities, know that there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not missing out on anything. Your attachment style is just different from the culture where you live. Have confidence in the strength of the relationships you have, whether it is with a mom who feels more like a best friend, or a grandmother with whom you can share anything. They are meaningful, enriching relationships, even if they look different from the cultural norm.
A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Bath illustrates that flowering plants escaped relatively unharmed from the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. While they suffered some species loss, the devastating event helped flowering plants become the dominant type of plant they are today.
Numerous mass extinctions have occurred throughout Earth's history, the most famous caused by an asteroid (小行星) hit 66 million years ago. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event wiped out at least 75% of all species on Earth, including the dinosaurs, but until now it has been unclear what kind of impact it had on flowering plants.
Plants do not have skeletons (骨骼) or exoskeletons like most animals, meaning fossils are relatively rare compared to animals, making it very difficult to understand the timeline of evolution from fossil evidence alone.
Dr. Jamie Thompson of the Milner Centre for Evolution and Dr. Santiago Ramírez-Barahona of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México analyzed evolutionary "trees" constructed from changes in the DNA sequences (顺序) of up to 73,000 living species of flowering plants—angiosperms (被子植物). Using complex statistical methods, they fitted "birth-death" models to estimate the rates of extinction throughout geological time.
While the fossil record shows that many species did disappear, the ancestry to which they belong, such as families and orders, survived enough to flourish and then dominate. Evidence suggests that the vast majority of angiosperms families around today existed before the K-Pg event, of which some once shared Earth with the dinosaurs. Dr. Thompson said, "After most of Earth's species became extinct at K-Pg, angiosperms took the advantage, similar to the way in which mammals took over after the dinosaurs, and now pretty much all life on Earth depends on flowering plants ecologically."
So what made them tough enough to survive despite being immobile and relying on the sun for energy? Dr. Ramírez-Barahona said, "Flowering plants have a remarkable ability to adapt. They use a variety of seed-dispersal and pollination (授粉) mechanisms. Some have copied their entire genomes and others have evolved new ways to make use of solar energy."
Disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes or wildfires are typically unexpected, sudden and overwhelming. For many people, there are no outwardly visible signs of physical injury, but there can be an emotional damage. Understanding responses to painful events can help you cope effectively with your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and help you along the path to recovery.
Luckily, most people are resilient (有适应力的) and over time are able to bounce back from tragedy. It is common for people to experience the immediate consequences. Within a few months, however, most people are able to resume functioning as they did prior to the disaster.
Give yourself time to adjust. Anticipate that this will be a difficult time in your life. And try to be patient with changes in your emotional state.
Engage in healthy behaviors to enhance your ability to cope with extreme stress. Eat well-balanced meals and get plenty of rest. If you experience ongoing difficulties with sleep, you may be able to find some relief through relaxation techniques.
Establish or reestablish routines. This can include eating meals at regular times, sleeping and waking on a regular cycle, or following an exercise program. For example, pursuing a hobby, or reading a good book is just among the recommended helpful routines.
Switching careers or jobs and other important decisions tend to be highly stressful in their own right and even harder to take on when you are recovering from a disaster.
A. Avoid making major life decisions.
B. Be brave enough to make critical life decisions.
C. Allow yourself to mourn the losses you have experienced.
D. Join those who have the similar experiences with you to relieve your pain.
E. Try to get involved in something you look forward to during these distressing times.
F. It is common for people who have experienced disasters to have strong emotional reactions.
G. It is of great importance to remember that resilience and recovery are the norm, not the lasting pain.
I'm not athletic. In high school, for example, I joined the soccer team for a year, ending up as a 1 .
In 2020, I was in a difficult stage of life and wanted something to fight for. Therefore, though I'd never run even 5 kilometers before, I entered the lottery (抽签) to run a marathon, a 2 where only a small number of people are randomly selected. Somehow, my name was 3 .
I figured the only way to finish the 42 kilometers was to start by running just one. But even one kilometer proved too hard, so I adjusted the 4 . I ran several minutes at a time, and then walked to catch my 5 . I repeated that for months. Besides, I read books, talked to friends and found coaches. Step by step, I became a 6 .
Then the 7 day came when I showed up at the starting line with other competitors. Did I win? Certainly not! Did I run 42 kilometers, cross the finishing line joyfully and receive my medal proudly? 8 !
Last year I decided to 9 my own business: a performing arts training centre for kids. I've always loved kids and arts, but I was 10 of business. Nevertheless, because of the marathon, I had a model for how to 11 it—step by step.
So, again: I read books, talked to friends and found 12 . Through it all, I became a successful entrepreneur. I keep my Marathon medal above my desk not to 13 about my achievements but to remind myself every big goal can always be 14 into individual steps. When you combine enough steps, you will 15 to the finishing line.
Kunqu Opera, (originate) in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, first emerged as unique local melody in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. Thanks to reforms by a retired official named Wei Liangfu, it took a delicate form in the 1500s, it earned its reputation as "The Queen of the Chinese Operas".
Kunqu Opera is a (mix) of various art forms including songs, narration, dance and martial arts, with astonishing makeup, embroidered (刺绣) costumes and stage arrangements adding to its elegance. many traditional Chinese operas, the Kunqu style also has five main roles: Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, Chou.
Kunqu Opera performances are highly stylized. Traditionally, the stage is (simple) decorated so as not to steal the show from the production's most important element: the plot. The storyline (drive) by the songs, body movements and gestures of the performers on stage. To convey their emotions while performing, performers need to do is control their breath and tone with extreme carefulness, have full command of their (face) expressions and master the many ways to use their stares, smiles and frowns to convey their emotions.
The basic performance unit of Kunqu Opera, Qupai, is still in use in some traditional operas and is expected (use) in the future.
I was a broke university student. I should have been going to university on a scholarship because I came from a low-income family, but a last-minute £100-a-year pay rise for my mum pushed my family over the threshold (门槛) for what defined "low-income" and I was suddenly no longer qualified for £15,000 a year in scholarship money. This news came after I'd been accepted by the university and signed the lease (租约) for my accommodation.
Despite my family not being labelled low-income anymore, I still wouldn't receive any financial support from my family as all the income went toward taking care of my disabled brother and paying their own bills. It would be tight, but because I had savings from my part-time job, I decided to go to university anyway. After paying my rent, I had £10.20 a week for everything else including food, toiletries, and school supplies.
As I was in a new city, I really wanted to make friends, which was difficult when most of the social activities were expensive. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to do a relatively cheap coffee shop trip with my roommates who were pleasant to me.
I had £20 with me to get a cheap cup of coffee and my food shopping for a few weeks. So I headed for the coffee shop. While paying, I pulled out the note and a handful of change and realized I could pay without breaking the note, so I put it back in my pocket. It wasn't until I arrived at the supermarket that I realized the note was gone. What should I do? I was desperate as it was the equivalent (相等物) of two weeks of money. My roommates helped me look for the note. However, it was in vain. Finally, I went to school empty-handed.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As a final attempt, I messaged the coffee shop's Facebook page asking if they'd seen it.
I said, "Oh ... This isn't mine; my note was an old worn one."
