In years past, many people would travel over New Year's Eve and immerse(沉浸)themselves in a different culture. Countries around the world celebrate the new year with unique customs and traditions carried out at the celebration.
Japan: Eat toshikoshi soba
Shiwasu is the end-of-the-year period in Japan. To celebrate New Year's Eve, people eat "year-crossing" soba, which can symbolize having a long and fortunate life along with a clean break from the year. However, when eaten at midnight, there's a certain cross of the old and the new year, thus you cannot "break off" all of last year's troubles properly but instead carry them over to the following year.
Russia: Burn, then drink your wishes
After a year of ruined dreams and canceled plans, set your sights on a fresh start with this Russian tradition. Before midnight, write down your wishes on a piece of paper, then light the paper on fire. Once it's stopped burning, spread the wish-filled ashes into a glass of champagne and drink up shortly after the clock completes striking midnight.
Spain: Eat 12 grapes
Perhaps the easiest tradition to carry out is eating grapes for good luck. When the clock starts striking at midnight, eat one with each ringing sound. Better if you're wearing special New Year's Eve underwear while eating your grapes. A pair of red underwear can bring you a new year of love, while yellow may bring joy and fortune.
Greece: Hang some onions
If you've been cooking throughout the pandemic, maybe you have some onions around the house to spare for this tradition. In Greece, onions symbolize rebirth, so people hang them up on their doors on Dec. 31 to encourage a year of growth. Keep the Greek traditions going by baking a special cake on New Year's Day. Hide a coin in the cake and share it with your loved ones-whoever finds the coin is said to have a year of good luck.
Coined as "deliveryman by day, poet by night, "55-year-old Wang Jibing earns a living as a delivery person in Jiangsu Province. He started writing poems online in the 2000s, and later expanded to different social media platforms. He also came under the spotlight as his name was on the 2023 list of new members for the Chinese Writers Association, igniting(点燃)praise and discussions among Chinese netizens.
Dropping out of secondary school, Wang tried various jobs to make a living, such as a construction worker and working on sand mining boats, as well as a garbage collector. Now as a husband and a father of three children, the financial burden on his shoulder has become heavier and his work schedule has gotten even busier. Yet it has never stopped him from reading and writing routinely all his life. His passion for poetry has driven him to write over 4, 000 poems.
His poem titled "People in a Hurry" gathered more than 13 million views within a week. Wang gained inspiration for the poem from an unpleasant food delivery experience in 2019. Because the customer made a mistake with the address, he had to rush several times to get the food delivered on time. It led to delays with other orders, as well as punishments and a decrease in his earnings for the delivery. The government later took action to tackle this type of situation, demanding delivery firms better protect delivery person's rights.
The subjects of Wang's poems cover a wide range, including his memories of his family and hometown, and his observations of society and life while working as a laborer in different cities. During an interview with the media, Wang noted that delivering food allows him to interact with more people and experience more things. The job has also sparked a deeper understanding and empathy for others. Writing poetry helps him feel comfortable and find peace of mind.
It is a practice favored by Lena Dunham, Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga to improve their focus and bring about calmness in an often busy, distracted world. Now researchers have found evidence that frequent meditation(冥想)over several years, may help change human gut(肠道), boost the body's immune(免疫的)system and reduce the risk of anxiety, depression and heart disease. The findings are published by the British Medical Journal.
Meditation is increasingly used to help treat drug abuse, overwhelming stress, eating disorders and long-lasting pain. But until now it has not been clear whether it could also be able to change the composition of the gut microbiome(微 生物组). In an effort to find out, researchers led by the Shanghai Mental Health Centre at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University analyzed the stool(粪便)and blood samples of 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks from three temples and 19 residents in the neighboring areas. The Tibetan meditation from the ancient Indian medical system, is a form of psychological training. The monks in the study had practiced it for at least 2 hours a day for 3-30 years. Both groups were matched for age, blood pressure, heart rate and diet. Stool sample analysis revealed significant differences in the diversity and volume of microbes between the monks and their neighbors. "Bacteria enriched in the meditation group had a positive effect on human physical and mental health, "the researchers wrote. "This changed gut microbiome composition could improve immune function in the body. "Blood sample analysis also revealed the levels of markers associated with risk of heart disease were significantly lower in the monks.
The researchers emphasized that the study was observational and the number joining was small, all male and living at high altitude, making it difficult to draw any firm or general conclusions. However, based on their findings, the researchers said the role of meditation in helping to prevent or treat mental and physical illness deserved further research.
Does a happy person live longer? Many studies have convinced us that happiness brings good health, which has resulted in an increasing demand for speakers and products encouraging positive thinking. However, being happy does not promise that one is going to be healthy. There are other factors that influence one's health and long life such as a person's genes or even a person's socio-economic condition.
Some research even suggests that positive thinking can be dangerous. Positive thinking, when taken to the extreme, can cause a person to be separated from reality. For example, a person who thinks that staying happy and positive can help him recover from an illness like cancer but later fails to recover from it, may blame himself for not being happy. In this case, positive thinking may potentially make the victim disregard other factors. Sometimes the pursuit of happiness is even associated with serious mental health problems such as depression.
All types of happiness are not good for us either. For example, pride, a pleasant feeling, can sometimes rob us of the ability to empathize with others or understand another's viewpoint. This anti-social behavior can cause people around us to turn away from us, and this could, in turn, make us feel lonely and do harm to our mental and even physical health.
Moreover, unpleasant feelings can be beneficial to a person's well-being. Researchers believe that unpleasant feelings can help us make sense of our challenges and experiences in a way that supports psychological well-being. For example, if I have behaved badly towards my good friend, the feelings of guilt and sadness might motivate me to apologize and ask for forgiveness. The rebuilding of a broken relationship can be a lift to one's mental well-being.
In trying to experience happiness, we should remember that seeking for happiness as an end in itself can be self-defeating, and does not necessarily lead to better health. After all, one will surely experience setbacks and conflicts in life. Instead, learning to cope with negative emotions with a realistic positive attitude is key to a person's good health.
In a world where technology is king, hardly does a day go by without the launch of some "world-changing" product in the field of alternate reality. . These include VR, AR, MR, XR and the list goes on.
Many people confuse augmented reality(AR)with virtual reality(VR)and understandably so. Both AR and VR offer alternate or altered reality experiences and as a result, it is easy for users to be attracted and wonder what is real and what is not. . Both aim to provide an enhanced or enriched experience to users, most commonly used in the gaming scene, but also increasingly used in other areas.
However, AR and VR can be quite different in many ways. The main difference lies in the mode of delivery. Simply put, VR "transports" the user to another world, by "replacing" the real world with a virtual substitute most commonly done through helmets or goggles to completely immerse the gamer in a different reality.
AR, however, does not change the entire landscape of what users see. . While AR may be less immersive than VR, the success of games which use AR is proof that it can be just as or even more entertaining than VR games. Moreover, since AR does not require the use of goggles or helmets, it is more accessible.
VR and AR are both powerful technologies which are still relatively new to many consumers. . They can completely change how we use our electronic devices in the future, but whether one will edge out the other is anyone's guess.
A. VR can be interactive or non-interactive.
B. In fact, it adds to reality with digital images.
C. In short, at the heart of VR and AR are two very similar technologies.
D. However, they have already begun to shake things up in the gaming world.
E. It is also getting increasingly difficult to keep up with the "R"s that have come into existence.
F. For example, it can make users feel as if they are falling, thereby igniting fear.
G. They would see computer made images as an overlay to what they see in real life.
Both Debbie and Simon work in the Sunbeam Travel Company. One day they were sitting in the office. The door opened and a lady entered. She glanced at them both, 1 a moment, then walked over and sat opposite Debbie. Debbie greeted her 2 in the corridor, and they got down to business.
Simon 3 , stood up and left. He met Mr Smith, the manager. "What's up, Simon? You don't look very 4 . "
"It's the customers, "Simon said. "They always prefer Debbie to me. I can't 5 it. "
"I can. It's the way you 6 . "
"How can that be ?"Simon said. "I don't even get a 7 to speak to them. "
"Communicating is more than speaking and listening, Simon. Your body language is 8 , too. "
"What kind of language is that?"
"It's the way you stand and sit and walk. It's your gestures and the expression on your face and in your eyes. Your whole 9 communicates things, even you're not speaking. The way you look at customers doesn't give them a good impression, Simon. For example, you often rest your head on your10 . You don't smile. You don't turn your head or your body towards the customers. But look at Debbie. She's holding her head11 . She looks at the customer in the eye. She smiles. She turns her head and her body towards the customer. Your body language is telling customers to 12 . Debbie's is making them feel welcome. That's why the customers go to her and not to you. "
After that, Simon tried to improve his body language. This seemed to13 . Minutes later, a girl entered. without14 , she sat down opposite Simon and gave him a big smile. A few moments later, she left, still smiling.
Mr Smith came over and said, "Well Simon, you 15 made a good impression on that customer. Well done. "
"That wasn't a customer, "Simon said. "That was my sister. She wanted to borrow some money for lunch. "
"The Space-Time Painter, "written by Chinese writer Hai Ya, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette at the 81st World Science Fiction Convention, (hold)in the city of Chengdu. It is the first time that the world's largest and longest-running sci-fi gathering – (come)to China.
Hai shared his source of (inspire)of creating the award-winning book at a press conference. "I watched program of China Media Group named National Treasure Archive and the detailed information of the painter of One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was introduced, interested me, "he said, adding that the painter was an (extreme) gifted young man but was never seen again in history, which is a concept that could (explore)with science-fiction. The fiction tells a story about the (politics) power struggle of the time combined diverse elements such as Chinese traditional culture, history, inference and science fiction.
Hai, also a financial worker, thinks of (he) more a sci-fi enthusiast than a writer. "I write while doing my job, so I have very little time to write every day, "he said. "But I think as long as I love it and am willing to put efforts in it, I will see hopes and the dawn. "
One spring, I was hired as groundskeeper at a Country Inn, a famous bed-and-breakfast located in Washington state. The grand house is in a beautiful place. Many famous people have visited and even had their own rooms there. The owners, Philip and Cecelia, have done a perfect job for the house. However, the gardens were very overgrown. Worse yet, there was another problem: a very persistent doe(母鹿).
Every day when I came to work, there was new evidence of the deer's big appetite. I tried many preventives: spray, human hair, soap, you name it--but none of those things had effect. Often when I was weeding, I'd look over and there she'd be, munching some tasty pieces. Worst of all, she feasted on the roses, in which Cecelia took great pride. I became so frustrated that I named her "Dinner"-and wanted to serve her on plates.
One morning, I was on my hands and knees pulling out vines and bushes when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. There was Dinner, not five feet away, munching a large leaf and staring at me. I felt a connection with this animal. We did have something in common--we were both mothers. I got the crazy idea of communicating with her and it seemed she wanted the same thing.
What's up? I asked in my head.
I'm here because I feel safe, was the gentle reply I felt I heard. I have my fawns(幼鹿)bedded down nearby, and there is plenty to eat. When the twins are older after summer, I will move them deeper into the forest.
I understand that, I assured her. People come here too, from far away. I guess they'll be interested to see you. I promise that nobody will harm you or your children. I don't mind sharing the vegetation but Cecelia loves roses, too. She is very upset when they are all eaten.
A loud crash broke the magic. Our eyes met again briefly before she leaped off across the driveway, disappearing into the forest. Has I really communicated with the deer?
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I went into the kitchen where Cecelia was preparing the evening meal.
Paragraph2.
Every day, I enjoyed watching Dinner with the twins and my presence never bothered them.
