Whistler, B.C.
Beloved by tourists and Canadians alike, Whistler increased its international profile after the success of the 2010 Winter Olympics. With its close proximity (临近) to Vancouver — it's only two hours north of the city — Whistler offers the ideal winter playground for all ages. Challenge yourself on its snow-covered mountains, enjoy some retail therapy in its 200 shops, or sample the finest cuisine in 90+ restaurants and bars.
Quebec
For more than 60 years, Quebec's world famous Winter Carnival has been one of Canada's must-visit winter destinations. With evening parades, snow tubing, skating, snow rafting, outdoor BBQs, ice sliding, snow sculpture competitions and dance parties, there's something for every taste and age. And be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the fete's main man — Bonhomme Carnaval — Quebec's beloved snowman and Carnival ambassador.
Nova Scotia
You can't get more Canadian than maple syrup, and Sugar Moon Farm in Nova Scotia has tasty fun in store for you! Learn all about the art of maple syrup — and sample the yummy results. Sugar Moon Farm offers warm hospitality along with their sugar camp tours, all-day brunch, maple-tasting experiences and hiking trails. Foodies will be thrilled to take part in Sugar Moon's Chef Nights when the finest chefs create delicate dinners for a hungry and appreciative audience.
Saskatchewan
For a true frontier experience, enjoy a breathtaking journey through the Canadian wild by dog sled. Saskatchewan's Sundogs Sled Excursions lets you ride along on a trip of a lifetime. Each winter from late November to mid-March, Sundogs takes visitors deep into the beautiful and unspoiled environs of Anglin Lake by dog sled. Sundogs offers a host of amazing activities including puppy camps, half or full day trips, and overnight camping.
The expression, "everybody's doing it," is very much at the center of the concept of peer pressure. It is a social influence applied on an individual in order to get that person to act or behave in a similar way as a larger group.
People are social creatures by nature, and so it is hardly surprising that some part of their self-respect comes from the approval of others. This instinct explains why the approval of peers, or the fear of disapproval, is such a powerful force in many people's lives. This instinct drives people to dress one way at home and another way at work, or to answer a simple "fine" when a stranger asks "how are you?" even if it is not necessarily true.
For certain individuals, seeking social acceptance is so important that it becomes an addiction. Teens and young adults may feel forced to smoke, or drink alcohol, which might encourage criminal behavior. Mature adults may sometimes feel pressured to cover up illegal activity at the company where they work, or end up in debt because they are unable to hold back the desire to buy a house or car that they can't afford in an effort to keep up with the peers.
However, peer pressure is not always negative. A student whose friends are good at academics may be urged to work harder and get good grades. Players on a sports team may feel driven to play harder in order to help the team win. This type of influence can also get a friend off smoking, or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one.
Although peer pressure is sometimes quite obvious, it can also be so subtle that a person may not even notice that it is affecting his or her behavior. For this reason, when making important decisions, simply going with an instinct is risky. Instead, people should seriously consider why they feel drawn to taking a particular action, or it is simply because everyone else is doing the same thing.
The worst outbreak of desert locusts (蝗虫) in decades is presently underway in the Horn of Africa. It is the biggest of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia — and the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years.
What we are seeing in East Africa today is unlike anything we've seen in a very long time. Its destructive potential is enormous, and it's taking place in a region where farmers need every gram of food to feed themselves and their families. Most of the countries hardest hit are those where millions of people are already vulnerable (脆弱的) or in serious humanitarian need, as they endure the impact of violence, drought, and floods.
We have acted quickly to respond to this outbreak. The primary method of battling locusts is the aerial spraying of pesticides (杀虫剂). FAO's "Locust Watch" service explains that "although giant nets, flamethrowers, lasers, and huge vacuums have been proposed in the past, these are not in use for locust control. People and birds often eat locusts but usually not enough to significantly reduce population levels over large areas."
The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $10 million from its Central Emergency Relief Fund to fund a huge scale-up in aerial operations to manage the outbreak.
But the window to contain this crisis is closing fast. We only have until the beginning of March to bring this infestation under control as that is when the rain and planting season begins. If left unchecked — and with expected additional rains — locust numbers in East Africa could increase 500 times by June.
We must act now to avoid a full-blown catastrophe. And we will. At the same time, we need to pay attention to a bigger picture. This is not the first time the Greater Horn of Africa has seen locust outbreak approach this scale, but the current situation is the worst in decades. This is linked to climate change. Warmer seas mean more tropical storms, generating the perfect breeding conditions for locusts.
Scientists say they have developed a system that uses machine learning to predict when and where lightning will strike. Researchers report the system is able to predict lightning strikes up to 30 minutes before they happen within a 30-kilometer area.
Lightning is a strong burst of electricity in the atmosphere. Since it carries an extremely powerful electrical charge, it can be destructive and deadly. European researchers have estimated that between 6,000 and 24,000 people are killed by lightning worldwide each year. For this reason, climate scientists have long sought to develop methods to predict lightning.
The system tested in the experiments uses a combination of data from weather stations and machine learning methods. The researchers developed a prediction model that was trained to recognize weather conditions that were likely to cause lightning.
The model was created with data collected over a 12-year period from 12 Swiss weather stations in cities and mountain areas. The data, related to four main surface conditions: air pressure, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed, was placed into a unique machine learning algorithm (算法), which compared it to records of lightning strikes. Researchers say the algorithm was then able to learn the conditions under which lightning happens.
The researchers test-ran the system several times. They found that the system made predictions that proved correct almost 80 percent of the time. "It can now be used anywhere," the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said in a statement.
The researchers plan to keep developing the technology in partnership with a European effort that aims to create a lightning protection program. The effort is called the European Laser Lightning Rod project. Scientists working on the project are experimenting with a laser technology that could someday control lightning activity, transferring lightning charges from clouds to the ground. They hope that such technology can one day be used as protection against lightning strikes. Possible uses could be at stations, airports or places where large crowds gather.
Is Society Too Dependent On Technology?
Just think, what would happen if your computer, iPad or laptop crashed today? What if someone took away your phone for some days or perhaps you lost it? Today, most people are becoming dependent on technology.
Most of us cannot go for a minute without looking at our phones and the fear of the battery dying is immense. If you happen to work in offices you may be familiar with this trend. Anyway, it's true. How can work continue if it's hard to send an email to a colleague or customer? This is common in almost all offices.
Kids used to spend a lot of time with each other or parents playing or just sharing stories. Those evening games after school are over; watching cartoons on a Sunday or playing with friends are no longer there. Technology has taken all their time.
Society may have gone too far in technology dependence. It has become so immense that doctors have recommended for "technology detox". If not, according to Oxford Dictionary, Technology Detox is a period during which an individual avoids using any electronic devices including computers, smart phones, etc., as a chance to reduce stress and focus on social interaction in the outside world.
Well, the choice remains in our hands. We must agree that society is being carried away by the increased inventions being introduced in our lives today. Meanwhile, we should have the discipline to turn it off when we are supposed to experience life in reality.
A. Perhaps you may have heard of it.
B. We appreciate technology since it has its benefits.
C. If the Internet is down, all the tasks are over for the day.
D. Technology addiction has become a major problem among teenagers.
E. If thinking about these incidences makes you stressed, you are not alone.
F. Here are some signs that our generation depends too much on technology.
G. Today, most kids remain indoors playing computer games or with a smart phone.
Yesterday, a salesman called me by phone, on behalf of a telecommunication company, to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don't1to spend time with those conversations, I2myself that I couldn't talk yet and proposed him to call me back one hour later, at 6 pm.
That's what he did. So we315 minutes. He explained to me his different phone plans, which he stated to be better than my4one. While listening to him, sometimes I was lost in my thoughts. I gave several "hmm hmm", as a5of approbation (赞同) and to6to him that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit7, especially as he had a bit of difficulty in correctly talking in French. But I stayed calm and8until the end of the discussion.
At the end of the conversation, he9the following to me: "Thank you, Olivier. You are the first person in a long time, with whom I had a(n)10conversation. Usually, people11at us, insult us, and treat us as thieves. Today, since 10 am, I hadn't had a(n)12without an offense. I know you had a long day at work and you could have13in front of your TV or done something else. Instead, you listened carefully to me. I am14and I sincerely thank you. I wanted to tell it to you."
I thanked him for this revelation. I realized how much he could have been the subject of verbal15, all through his working days. Yet, he was only doing his job. I hope he will have a good weekend.
Person of the Year in the Category of Cultural Influence
Picture a young Chinese woman, (dress) in traditional clothing, picking flowers in a field to create make-up for her cheeks, making a sofa from bamboo and cooking up all sorts of delicious Chinese food by herself. It may sound unreal, such a person does exist in real life.
Li Ziqi, 30, has become one of China's most popular (celebrity) with 9 million followers on YouTube, 34 million on Douyin and 22 million on Weibo.
Li Ziqi's videos (feature) her cooking and creating DIY products greatly attract people living in big cities. To our (amaze), she does it all without using any modern technology or electricity.
dominate her videos are scenes of picking seasonal ingredients (原料) from her own garden and sometimes in the mountains and turning them into tasty dishes on her wood-fired pot. Li stresses the seasons in her cooking, China's traditional 24 Solar Terms (节气) also do, and makes food suitable for the particular climate.
There came an intense debate about the image of China and its culture she presented. She (accuse) of presenting outdated image of the country by some critics. Nevertheless, state broadcaster CCTV and Peoples Daily praised her for her initiative (首创) to help rural youth become rich.
Li ziqi, by telling an (inspire) China story, is promoting traditional Chinese culture to an international audience.
1）表示感谢；
2）简单介绍这件事情或技能及其意义。
注意：①词数80左右；
②可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
The Make-up Guy
Dave was a make-up (化妆) artist who regularly held makeup artistry classes at the local community college. He was well known as an excellent trainer and enjoyed great popularity.
Usually, the majority of his students were middle-aged housewives, who wanted to fine-tune their make-up skills so as to make themselves more attractive. But this time, it was beyond him that his class was attended by a man as well.
The new student was a gentleman in his best years with a seemingly boundless interest in make-up artistry. He was keen to learn as much as he possibly could and asked questions whenever and wherever possible. He was so absorbed in learning that he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied with the result of his work.
Understandably, the man was the number one subject of conversation when the other women were alone.
Speculations (猜测) quickly started to spread. Why did he learn make-up? Was he to seek for a woman to be his life partner? How about my neighbor's youngest daughter? Why on earth would he attend such a woman class? Who could it be?
Doubts like this came crowding in.
The community college was placed in a remote rural area, which was why the other participants were quite doubtful of the man's intentions.
Throughout the lessons, ignoring the curious women around him, the man carefully listened and wrote everything down he learned, leaving the women more and more curious and puzzled.
When the day and class were slowly coming to an end, the gossiping women simply could not hide their curiosity any longer, for they knew it was time to remove their doubts, otherwise
Finally, one of them couldn't resist her curiosity, so she picked up the courage and asked him why he was so interested in make-up artistry.
What followed was a dead silence. After what seemed a century, he slowly opened his mouth and here came the most inspiring beautiful reply.
Paragraph 1:
He said his beloved wife partially lost her eyesight because of diabetes (糖尿病) and she was no longer able to apply her make-up.
Paragraph 2:
So he decided to take the course to surprise his wife.
