Self-Guided Cycling in the Douro Valley
Duration: 7 days
This cycling holiday in the Douro Valley will make you familiar with magical surroundings, delicious cuisine and some of the world's finest wines. The ride begins in Castelo Rodrigo, a village close to where Portugal borders Spain, and home to an ancient castle. You'll cycle through vineyards and visit the famous Port wine estates.
Cycling the Italian and Swiss Lakes
Duration: 8 days
The Italian lakes of Como and Maggiore are famed for both their wonderful scenery and their wealthy residents. This is a fascinating area to discover on two wheels with excellent roads that closely follow the winding shores. The Villa del Balbianello with its beautiful Italian gardens may look familiar, having been seen in international films such as Bond's Casino Royale.
Exploring Sri Lanka by Bike
Duration: 8 days
Being an island, Sri Lanka is incredibly diverse. Exploring on two wheels is the best way to see this rural country and to experience the way of life of its friendly people. We travel from ancient cities to the hill country towns of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya before ending the trip on the beaches of the beautiful south coast.
Cycling the Balkans
Duration: 15 days
The Balkans offers a mix of beautiful countryside, fast-developing cities and historic towns. Our first ride ends at the UNESCO town of Ohrid on the vast lake of the same name. There are a few stops along the way to visit or see places of interest.
Todd Bol, a retired businessman, could never have expected that a wooden container he built in his front yard one day would have the global impact it does today.
Bol built a dollhouse-size structure that looked like a schoolhouse on a post and he put it in his yard as a free community library to remember his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher. Bol's prototype gave birth to Little Free Library (LFL), a nonprofit organization that seeks to place small, accessible book exchange boxes in neighborhoods around the world. The concept is simple: Neighbors are invited to share a book, leave a book, or both. Today, there are over 50, 000 of these libraries registered in 70 countries.
Almost everyone can register with LFL and start a library as long as the person keeps it in good shape and makes sure that book materials are appropriate for his/her neighborhood. Library owners can create their own library boxes; therefore, the libraries are usually unique in appearance, and there seems to be no limit to the possibilities. One library in California was built out of a used wine container; another in Texas had tiny stairs and bright colored walls. Once registered, libraries are assigned a number at LFL's website. The LFL Index lists the locations of all libraries with GPS coordinates (坐标)and other information. Owners receive a sign saying "Little Free Library".
People say they have been attracted to pick up a book when walking by a Little Free Library, out of curiosity and because it's convenient. Some sidewalk librarians say they have met more neighbors since having a little library in their front yard. Bol is also most proud of the way Little Free Library is bringing communities together. "It's started a neighborhood exchange. It gets people talking and more comfortable with their neighbors," he says. "This leads to them helping each other."
One of the main challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization and the growing multilanguage trend. "One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that, with a few important exceptions, mothertongue education is not practiced in any of the independent African states. " said Neville Alexander, Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town.
In response to the spread of English and the increased multilanguage trends arising from immigration, many countries have introduced language laws in the last decade. In some countries, the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions (规定) was the 1994 "Toubon law" in France, and the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often considered as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty in controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process.
It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the "purity" of a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world, but that has not been a barrier to acquiring superiority and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of the state regulation is that it has never been the AngloSaxon way of doing things. English has never had a statecontrolled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academic Francaise in France.
The need to protect national languages is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon—especially the need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fields. Public communication, education and new ways of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.
We've been covering standing desks for a long time now because experts agree that sitting all day is killing us. We want to be productive while also keeping our bodies healthy. Over the years, there have been several solutions to this from fixed standing desks to adjustable ones, portable desks to ones that change into shelves.
However, the most hightech and elegant solution has to be this new smart desk called the Stir Kinetic Desk. The desk learns your daily behavior and moves between a sitting and standing height regularly throughout the day to keep you moving without interrupting your work flow.
You can program specific sitting and standing intervals or let the desk set the schedule. If you tend to sit while returning emails in the morning, but always want to stand during that afternoon conference call, the desk will learn those regular habits and adjust the schedule to fit them. Of course, the desk can always be manually lowered or raised by using the touch screen on the lower left corner of the desk.
When switching positions, the desk gently dips and rises to let you know that a change is coming up. If you're not ready to switch positions at that time, you can tap the touch screen to stay sitting or standing for a while longer.
The builtin touch screen also keeps track of your daily sitting and standing times and tells you how many calories you've burned. You can even set goals for how long or how often you want to stand. The desk also works with fitness devices like the Fitbit to track your movements.
All of that smart technology doesn't come cheap though. The M1 desk, which is the everyday model, runs a steep $2,990, while the more executive model with added features, the F1, goes for $4,190.
While expensive, it's worth that thinking of how much time we spend at our desks. Much like a good mattress (床垫), a good desk that works with you is worth the investment. Hopefully in a few years these smart, integrated desks will be more common and less expensive.
Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.
● Recite and repeat in conversation. When you hear a person's name, repeat it. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.
● Ask the other person to recite and repeat. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name and pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.
● Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy (同情) if you say, "I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again？"
● Use associations (联想). For example, you could make a mental note："Vicki Cheng—tall, black hair. " To reinforce (加强) your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.
● Limit the number of new names you learn at one time. When meeting a group of people, concentrate (全神贯注) on remembering just two or three names. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.
A. Admit you don't know.
B. Recite and repeat names.
C. Free yourself from remembering everyone.
D. You can let other people help you remember their names.
E. If you can't remember someone's name, you may tell him the truth.
F. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips.
G. Link each person you meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual.
Coffee shops are cool, but in Wilmington, Bitty & Beau's Coffee enjoys a good reputation for its warmth.
At the heart of the shop's popularity is its 1staff: Almost everyone has an intellectual (智力的) or developmental disability.
The coffee shop was opened in 2016 by Amy Wright and her husband, 2 by two of her four children Beau and Bitty, who have Down syndrome (唐氏征).
When the couple discovered that most people with intellectual and developmental disabilities could never find an employer who would even give them a(n)3, they resolved to do something about it.
"It4me like a flash of lightning: a coffee shop!" Wright said. "It would be the perfect environment for bringing people together. Seeing the staff5customers at the door, preparing food, serving orders and cleaning tables, people would realize how6they are. "
When the shop opened, it immediately had7out the door. National press attention8, and six months later, it had to move to a9space.
Today, the store employs 40 people with disabilities, who are really good at their jobs.
What makes Amy most proud is the10it has built in the community. "Every day, people say, 'You've made my day. Thank you.' That's a feeling of happiness most people don't get elsewhere, and it's what11 people back here," she said. "This is a place where people can 12with those with disabilities and realize how much more alike we are than different. It's13a cup of coffee. It's a human rights movement. It's given our employees the respect and a sense of being14that they deserve. For many employees, it's their first job, and their15fills the air."
Astronauts have traditionally been serious, sensible types with the "right stuff" who can (trust) to fly equipment. But any mission to Mars will need a "joker" or "class clown" figure to be (success), according to NASA research. A sense of humor will be vital for any team to keep morale (士气) high on a twoyear trip to Mars may happen in the 2030s.
According to researchers, groups work best when they have a "joker" who has the ability to pull everyone together, bridge gaps when tensions appear really boost morale. When astronauts are in a confined space on a mission to Mars, tensions are likely (occur). It's vital that there should be one who can help everyone get along, so they can do their jobs and get there and back (safe).
Researchers have studied isolated groups of people in extreme environments including Russian, Chinese, Indian and Polish (explorer) based in Antarctica. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen succeeded while Captain Scott (fail) to reach the South Pole because the Norwegians had a "clown" figure on their team. He laughed and was very happy, (keep) up people's spirits.
But researchers added: "Being funny won't be enough to land somebody the job. He also needs to be excellent scientist and engineer and be able to pass a strict training programme."
18-year-old Sadiya was born in Deora, a small village in eastern India, but moved to the city of Mumbai when she was 3. In 2020, when the pandemic(疫情)broke out, her father's small business was forced to close temporarily and the family returned to her ancestral village to wait out the pandemic.
However, it greatly shocked her when she found that attending school was uncommon in Deora, where almost half of the villagers couldn't read. Unable to afford textbooks, many families often withdrew their children from schools. They didn't wish to educate their children, many of whom had to work in the fields with parents though some had the desire to read.
Sadiya, the college girl with a strong sense of social responsibility, has been trying to seize opportunities to open doors for others. Fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and English, she often speaks at inter-college events on the right to education and enjoys a high reputation among college students.
Used to taking on challenges, Sadiya was determined to do something for the children. One day last July, Sadiya sat down with her family elders and proposed the idea of setting up a library". Many shook their heads in disagreement—this wasn't how a young girl should spend her time.
After many discussions, Sadiya finally convinced them and gained access to her relative's guesthouse, mending it with $67 that she'd won in public-speaking awards. She took the help of her uncle, Akbar, and cousin, Nawaz, and got to work. Walls were repainted, the bamboo roof was repaired and lights and bookshelves were fixed, and the room was filled with chairs and a long table. Vivid charts stuck on the walls—from anatomy(解剖)to transportation, lightened the space. Looking at the newly-decorated" library", Sadiya couldn't hold back her excitement while imagining the children reading books here by light.
All was ready except books. So what Sadiya was desperate to do next was fill the shelves with books. She drew on all her savings and purchased many books suitable for children online.
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But these books were far from enough.
……
With everything ready, the library finally opened.
