These days, tourism is back in full swing. An increasing number of people prefer to take a break from big city life and start exploring those harder-to-reach towns.
Paraty, Brazil
Paray is a bays de town halfway between Rio and Sao Paulo. Here, life moves at the pace of a horse-and-cart moving across the road (no cars allowed in the historic Old Town). The boats in the harbor are not just there to look good. Pick your favorite and set sail for a deserted island beach nearby.
Avignon, France
One of the most recognizable historic towns is found in the south-eastern part of France. The Palace of the Popes here defines the city and is the city and is visible from a far. It once housed Europe's largest library, and became a hotbed for thinkers, philosophers, composers, and musicians. Now it is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Four million tourists visit Avignon every year to explore the ancient architecture.
Sakrisoy and Reine, Norway
This pair of tiny finishing villages sit far, far north. Admittedly, they are a bit of pain to reach: The long (but beautiful!) journey there will require some combination of one or two fights, a bus or a boat. If you can make it that far, though, you'll be rewarded with some of the most impressive scenery on Earth. Look out across the mountains from the hike or enjoy the Northern Lights.
Old San Juan, US
The oldest settlement in the country was founded in the early 16th century. Today everything here is colorful: the houses differ in color and style and even the pavements are made of the blue bricks, making it a very attractive and amusing place.
I finally climbed into bed at 1: 20 in the morning. My friends had helped me celebrate my 31st birthday in the basement apartment， where I lived.
Earlier in the day I had prepared for the unlikely event of a flood. We are about a third of a mile from the banks of the Ahr River. It had been raining buckets that week and the government had sent out a flood warning, though not for where I was. Still, I'd placed sandbags on the floor outside my garden door and put electronics on tables. "Silly bro!" My friends laughed at me for doing that, but I thought, why take a chance?
As I drifted off to sleep, I was awakened by the sound of rushing water, as if I were lying beside a waterfall. When I got off the bed, I was shocked that cold water was rising fast. In darkness, I grabbed my cellphone and turned on the flashlight. When I stepped out of the bedroom, I saw water shooting through the gaps of the door.
I began to panic. I knew I had to get out—fast! In bare feet, I started to make my way to the only escape: the door that led upstairs to the main floor. Finally I made it to the door and tried several times to-pull it open even just a little bit, but the rushing water shut it again. I looked around for anything I could use to keep it open. There in the corner was a coat rack(架子). I took it and, once again, opened the door, throwing the coat rack between the door and the frame(门框) to keep the door from shutting. Finally, I managed to make a gap just wide enough to squeeze(挤) through and make it into the hallway.
I leaped on to the stairs and ran outside. I stood there in the darkness, wet through. What was once a lovely street was now a waterscape, with floating ruins instead of people and cars. The river had drowned(淹没) the neighborhood!
In the time before air-conditioning, southern China's sky wells played a key role in keeping people's homes cool. Could they do it again today?
A skywell, or "tian jing", is atypical characteristic of traditional homes in southern and eastern China. Different from a northern Chinese courtyard, or "yuan zi", a skywell is smaller and less open to the outdoor environment. Its size and design differ from place to place.
Skywells were designed to cool buildings at a time well before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Because outdoor air is often cooler than indoor air, the incoming wind travels down the walls to the lower stories and create airflows by replacing warmer indoor air, which rises and leaves through the opening.
Although skywell buildings have existed in China for hundreds of years, in recent times they have often been forgotten by people who prefer modern buildings. Over the past two decades, however, skywell buildings have been making a comeback.
Yu Youhong, 55, has spent more than 30 years restoring(修复) skywell homes in Wuyuan county of Jiangxi province, apart of the old Huizhou. One of the skywell homes restored by Yu is in the village of Yan, in Wuyuan county. The deserted 300-year-old house was bought by Edward Gawne, a former marketing director from the UK, and his Chinese wife, Liao Minx in, in 2015. The couple turned the three-storey house into a 14-room hotel with the help of Yu. They kept the spaces surrounding the sky wells in their original state: open and with natural airflow. Gawne says that even without air conditioning the skywell areas are very comfortable in summer.
Yu says he expects sky wells to be more and more popular among younger generations especially as sustainability(可持续性) becomes an important element for new buildings.
I am an anxious traveller. I arrive at t airports and. train stations extra early. I double-check all of my documents, feel butterflies in my stomach until I've arrived where I'm going. Non-anxious people laugh at me for being nervous. I used to feel bad about it, seeing it as unreasonable, weak. Not anymore now. I've learned to respect my anxiety.
Recently, I was driving along a country road at the start of a long trip that would mainly be on a large highway. I began feeling that something could go wrong. What if I run out of petrol? I worried, even though I still had plenty. So when I saw a petrol station just before the entrance to the highway, I decided to fill up. Just in case. And that's when I discovered that one of my front tyres was badly deflated(漏气的). If I'd taken no notice of my anxiety, the tyre would have blown on the highway. My planning ahead, even though it wasn't necessary, saved me from a possible disaster.
A growing number of psychologists are getting the message out that anxiety and other negative feelings have a role to pay in our lives. Psychologist Dennis-Tiwary thinks our cult re goes to extremes in demonizing (妖魔化) difficult emotions. She knows what it's like to be trapped by anxiety. "I remember a period at work when there was a lot going on," she says. Worries kept waking her up at 4 a.m. and it kept her from fang back to much-needed sleep.
Instead of trying to stop this unpleasant feeling, however, Dennis-Tiwary leaned into it. "If you sit with the anxiety, you have an opportunity to learn from it," she says. "I usually write down two or three things I could do to solve it" The next day, she always s felt calmer.
But how do we manage anxiety before it takes control of us? According to Dennis-Tiwary, solutions include meditation(冥想), exercise, volunteering, and close contact with nature.
Team building activities can make a great difference when it comes to job satisfaction and organizational success.
The following tips will make your teamwork together more effectively.
Set the team's goal
Studies have shown that teams s work better when each member is aware of the goal. Before the team sets up, have a meeting to create a list of the goals that can help reach the end goal.As a result, they will feel more involved, as they've been part of the whole process.
Solve problems immediately
Effective teambuilding requires an environment where problems are quickly dealt with. It's wise to send a management team for solving problems. Furthermore, according to one social experiment, a "bad apple" can ruin a whole team. So it might be important to ensure one team member isn't ruining the effort.Unfortunately, letting the person drop out of the team can be the only choice in certain cases.
It's useful to get the team from everyday surroundings and into somewhere unexpected. This can improve creativity， but also help build a closer relationship within the team. You could hold team meetings at a cafe, at the company lawn, or even at museums or amusement parks.
Bring humour to team work
The saying "Laughter is the best t medicine" definitely holds true in team building. Humor is a great way to relax team members. Bring humor to teamwork through fun cartoons, little jokes and even series of fun video clips.Too much humor can a take the focus away from the real work.
A. Get outside of the office. B. Have teams take a break. C. But you should find a balance. D. What's the solution if this is the case? E. You should stress the positive steps the team has taken. F. This will lead members to focus in a specific direction to get the expected results. G. But even with the best intentions, it's not enough to just bring a group of people together. |
Many people dream of the moment when they will walk across their college graduation stage to accept the diploma(毕业证书), which they've worked so hard for. And in Alfonso Gonzales' case, that moment was extra 1 . Although at the age of 96, Gonzales2 , not walked, across the stage, the moment was still everything he3 .As the entire crowd of staff, students and teachers erupted into4 , Gonzales raised his hand in 5 with a childlike smile that lit up the entire room.
It took Gonzales six6 to complete the degree he started out to finish. Actually he first started towards his7 as a zoology student in 1947. Later, however,8 became the center of attention and he began working with his brothers, so he never made time to actually attend his school's9 ceremony. Years later, when his niece tried to pick up the diploma for him, the family y was10 to learn that he was actually one credit short of graduation! The school, in response (作为回应),11 a one-credit course just for Gonzales so he could12 his degree. "I did this for my family," Gonzales said onstage at the graduation ceremony. "I did this to13 them to hold on to their dreams."
Gonzales earned his college degree from USC in 2007, making him the school's14 graduate. And after all that hard work, the new college graduate in the wheelchair had only one big15 after the ceremony: "I'm going to take a rest" he joked, "and I would like to say that's a well-deserved rest."
Chinese wine culture has along and rich history, dating back thousands of years. One of the most famous traditional Chinese (wine) is Baijiu, which is made from grains such as rice and wheat. People often drink it during important celebrations. Another popular type of Chinese wine is Huangjiu, also(know) as yellow wine. Huangjiu is a fermented(发酵的) rice wine and has a(soft) taste compared to Baijiu. It is(common) used in cooking and is a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese dishes. Huangjiu is also enjoyed a drink, with different varieties and flavors available across different areas of China.
In Chinese culture, wine is often associated with toasting(祝酒),is an important gesture in Chinese wine culture and helps to create a warm and(harmony) atmosphere. Furthermore, wine is often used in traditional Chinese medicine. Certain types of wine(believe) to have health benefits and are used for medicinal purposes. In recent years, imported wines, particularly red wine,(gain) popularity among Chinese. Wine appreciation and wine-tasting events have become increasingly common,(provide) opportunities for both locals and foreigners to learn and experience different wine cultures.
