The following are some of the most unique celebrations from all around the world.
Songkran—Thailand
If you're in Thailand between April 13th and 15th, get ready for the world's biggest water fight. The celebration marks the beginning of the Thai New Year, where cleansing with water is meant to purify and renew. In Bangkok or Chang Mai, the water fights can last up to six days. While this is the most popular activity, Songkran is also a time when people visit elders and monks to pay their respects to the New Year.
La Batalla del Vino—Haro, Spain
June 29th is a good day to visit Haro, Spain. Bring a bottle of red wine and prepare to be drenched (湿透) in red wine in the heart of Spain's grape-growing region. After a church ceremony, a large number of people get gathered for the battle, where white shirts will be made bright purple by the end of the day.
Bay to Breakers—San Francisco, California
Created after the terrible 1906 earthquake as a way of lifting people's spirits, the race has become one of the region's most important events. Hosted every year on the third Sunday of May, the race runs approximately 12km through the city. The real highlight, however, is the thousands of people dressed up in a show. Wear whatever you want: Batman suits, purple wigs (假发)...
Koninginnedag—The Netherlands
Although their Queen's birthday is actually during the winter, she celebrates it on April 30—the country's official "Queen's Day" since 1949. Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of shining wigs and body paints, as crowds gather in the squares. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day.
When I awoke, it was morning. I tried to stand up, but I could not move.
At first, I thought that yesterday's dangers had made my body too weak and too tired to move. Then, suddenly, I heard some very strange noises. As I listened, I heard the sounds of people around me, but I could see no one. "So I am not alone here! Thank God!" I thought. I tried to turn my head, but I could not move it in any direction. I turned my eyes down to look at my body and saw that I had been tied down to the ground with hundreds of small ropes.
Just at that moment, I felt something moving up my leg. It was small and light and I thought that perhaps it was a small animal like a mouse or something. I felt the thing touch my chin and looked down to see what sort of animal was climbing on me.
I had never been as shocked in my life as I was at that moment. Standing on my chest was a tiny person! The little man stood on my chest, pulled out a tiny sword, and pointed it at my head. As I stared at him in surprise, the little man shouted something in a strange language. "Hekinah degu!" he said. I had no idea what this meant, but I guessed that it was not a friendly greeting.
I did not know what to do, but I wanted to get free from the ropes. I moved my body back and forth, trying to break the ropes. When I freed my left arm, the little people began to shout loudly. Quickly, I used my arm to pull off the ropes that held my head to the ground.
A moment later, hundreds of small arrows flew through the air and hit my hands and face. They felt like tiny needles in my skin. I shouted in pain and raised my hands to cover my face. Many small men jumped onto my body and began to attack me with their swords. I guessed they were angry. I was trying to escape from them, so I decided the best thing to do was put my hands down and lie quietly. (Adapted from Gulliver's Travels)
There are times when I leave for my running-group sessions with little enthusiasm. It might be because I'm tired, or stressed, or don't want to leave something else. But I'm the coach, so I can't choose to give it a miss.
It was yet another cold, dark, wet evening and I wasn't feeling the love as I gathered all the necessary equipment. No one in their right mind will come out in this weather, I thought. But when I turned into the car park, my headlights picked out runners making a dash through the rain to our meeting point, where others were already working out to stay warm, with chat, laughter and hugs. They, too, I realized, might be tired, stressed or busy. But, unlike me, they had a choice about whether to come running or stay at home. And that makes their decision to come—and to keep on coming—more encouraging. Then, I went home from the run feeling better than when I'd arrived.
I believe one of the strongest motivations (激励；动机) behind these runners' decisions to come along is being part of a group. Belonging to a running community makes running greater than running itself. It's no longer just a workout; it's a get-together with friends, a laugh and a shared experience. It provides a chance to share your success and disappointments, to be congratulated and comforted, and, just as important, to congratulate and comfort others.
Research has long shown the possibility of staying motivated is higher when exercise takes place in a group. The reasons are many. A study at the University of Southern California found people enjoy physical activity more when they are with others and are more likely to keep it up over the long term. And research by Strava in 2017 found running in a group made runners go faster and further. Using data from 90 million runs taking place all over the world, Strava found that the average pace of runs taking place in a group was seven seconds per mile quicker than solo runs, and the distance covered was an average of 1.3 miles further.
I joke about people being more motivated to come to my running sessions by the tea and biscuits afterwards than by the running itself. It might be true, but it doesn't matter. Those laughter-filled minutes are every bit as important as the running in between.
Eating a big breakfast could help you burn double the amount of calories than if you eat a larger meal at dinner.
It could be the key to losing weight while also keeping blood sugar levels steady, researchers at Lübeck University in Germany said. Their study found filling up in the morning boosts a metabolism (新陈代谢) process known as diet-induced thermogenesis(DIT). DIT refers to the number of calories the body expends to heat the body and digest food. It was shown to be twice as high for those who ate more at breakfast than at dinner. On the other hand, a low-calorie breakfast increases appetite (食欲), especially for sweets, the researchers admitted.
The findings published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism were based on a laboratory experiment of 16 men. They consumed a low and high calorie breakfast and dinner one day—and then vice versa (反过来) on another. The study also showed increases in blood sugar and insulin concentrations, caused by eating a meal, was reduced after breakfast, but not so much after dinner. The results also showed eating a low-calorie breakfast caused sweet desires with a higher appetite. This suggests those saving all their calories for the end of the day may face consequences because they snack more.
The study adds to increasing evidence that the best way of losing weight is to eat your largest meal in the morning—and your smallest in the evening. Dr Richter, a neurobiologist at Lübeck University, said, "Eating more at breakfast instead of dinner could prevent obesity (肥胖) and high blood sugar." Both obesity and high blood sugar can lead to many life-threatening illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Previous research has shown DIT is lower in people with obesity. It's seen as a measure of how well our metabolism is working.
DIT can differ depending on mealtime and is generally slower in the evening and at night due to our body clocks. Dr Richter said, "We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases."
Professor Daniela Jakubowicz, author of The Big Breakfast Diet, found that those who piled on the calories in the morning were more likely to feel satisfied, preventing snacking throughout the day. And another study by Professor Jakubowicz found that eating chocolate in the morning, when our metabolism is at its highest, prevented desires for sweet things later on.
Scientists have discovered a new kind of invisible ink. It's called water. And all you need for this secret-messaging ink to work is to write with it on a super-hi-tech piece of paper coated with special chemicals. It shows up darker than the surrounding paper under UV(紫外线的) light.
When the message has been read and needs to be hidden again, get out your hairdryer, and blow some warm air on the paper.
Using hot air from a hairdryer for 15-30 seconds, you were able to reuse the special paper up to 30 times because the heat reorganized the chemical structure of the paper coating.
The invention was made by a group of scientists in China, led by Qiang Zhao of the Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Although much of modern communication is digital(数码的), there are still some situations in which it is important to send messages on a piece of paper, such as when the people don't have Internet. But the problem has always been how to get rid of a message once it has been shown so no one else can read it.
. To use it, write with the lemon juice on ordinary paper, iron (熨) the paper with a hot iron and the hidden message will appear. The downside (缺点) is that the paper has to be destroyed to hide the message so no one else can read it.
A. How to make the invisible ink? Follow the steps.
B. Invisible inks have long been used to send secret messages.
C. Without the heat, the message stayed visible for up to three months.
D. Previously, the most readily available invisible ink was lemon juice.
E. Shine a UV light on the coated paper and the water message becomes visible.
F. Then the message will be gone and the paper can be reused, which keeps costs low.
G. Putting water on the paper broke up the structure of the chemicals it was coated with.
Fujian puppetry(木偶戏) has a thousand-year history. It is one of the1of Chinese performing art to the world's culture and has2a set of characteristic techniques of performance and puppet making, as well as a repertoire (全部剧目) of plays and music.
No3has yet been reached on the4and development of Chinese puppetry. 5the Shang dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.), pottery figurines (陶俑) used as burial objects (随葬品) have been discovered at the Yin Ruins. Wooden figurines6during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods (770-221 B.C.). In a Western Han tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan province, an army of wooden figurines of singers, dancers and musicians have been discovered. These were a great7on those from previous dynasties 8craftsmanship, variety and modeling, which represent the9_Chinese puppets. Over time, figurines as burial objects10into puppets for entertainment during holiday11. 12, just like many other traditional forms of art, Fujian puppetry has fallen out of favour with the younger generations. The number of young people learning puppetry has 13due to socioeconomic changes 14their lifestyles and the long period of training15to master the sophisticated (复杂的) performing techniques.
In response,16communities, groups and bearers (传授者) worked out the 2008-2020 Strategy for the Training of Coming Generations of Fujian Puppetry Practitioners. The key 17are to safeguard the spread of Fujian Puppetry and provide professional 18to raise a new generation of puppetry practitioners.
In 2012, the strategy was selected by the UNESCO to be part of the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. With the wide 19of practitioners, local people and education institutions, Fujian Puppetry can20a brighter future.
Two months ago, a Wuhan resident noticed her (neighbor) open window and a curtain fluttering (飘动) from it. Feb 15, she had been posting the videos of the curtain on Sina Weibo along with the daily weather and other updates from the city.
Her posts soon became widespread, with some micro-bloggers jokingly (call) it "the curtain drama". Many were worried about the house-owner. Was he safe? Was he in hospital with the virus? When will he return?
The curtain drama had a happy ending on Monday with the house-owner returning. He said he had opened the window to let in fresh air and forgotten all about it as he (flee) to the suburbs to distance himself socially. It was after reading about his curtain on social network he returned.
The woman videos have become a best account of Wuhan during lockdown might not (realize) it then. Behind the curtain drama is the (warm) and love of Chinese society. None of those who commented on the drama every day knew who the house owner was or what happened to him/her they all expressed their goodwill and prayed for his/her safety. Such is Chinese society: Never indifferent to (strange), ever generous with love.
内容要点如下：
1）约稿原因；
2）希望王老师提出的建议(主动父母沟通；换位思考，体谅父母的心情和难处等)；3.词数600词，截稿日期本月底。
注意：
1）词数 100 左右。
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Mike licked (舔) the last of the chocolate ice cream. It was almost time to leave. He jumped into the car with his parents and headed off to the Olympic-sized pool for the big swim meet. When his race came up, Mike was confident. He was strong and swift. Mike climbed out the pool, smiling. He had just won first place.
A week later, it was time for another swim meet. Like before, Mike decided to enjoy his favorite flavored ice cream before they left home. As Mike climbed out the pool, his teammates patted (拍) him on the back. He'd taken first place again in his race.
As it turned out, Mike decided to have some chocolate ice cream before every one of the next few swim meets that came up. He began to think of it as his lucky charm. After several months of being placed in the top positions of every race he swam, Mike was feeling unbeatable. And he wouldn't admit it, but he was also starting to feel a little uncomfortable. All that ice cream was adding a few pounds to his athletic swimmer's build.
It didn't take long after that for Mike to start coming in second place—and then third and then last place in his races. The lucky chocolate ice cream had lost its magic. On the day of his next swim meet, his mother sat down at the table with him. "Mike, I think we need to talk about this. We all love ice cream, but it's got lots of fat and sugar in it, and it's not healthy for your body to eat so much of it." Mike unwillingly agreed. His father offered to go running with him few days a week to help strengthen his muscles. The extra weight soon disappeared, and Mike found himself breathing easier at swim.
It was the last meet of the season, and Mike wasn't sure what to expect. He felt healthy again, but he didn't know if he still had any speed in the pool.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右:
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好:
Paragraph 1:
As he dived into the water, he kicked his legs and stretched his arms as far as he could.
Paragraph 2:
His jaw (下巴) dropped as he realized he had beaten his own best time, and everyone else's too.
