To give you a helping hand, we've put together a guide to the best Halloween theme park events in the UK this year, which run from Oct 15 until Nov 2. Check out our top picks below.
Paulton's Park Happy Halloween
This theme park's Peppa Pig World will be transformed with Halloween decorations, not to mention that Peppa and George will be in their best costumes and heading out to meet guests. There will be plenty of fun activities and special events throughout the park too, including a live performance filled with music. Tickets are £35.75 per person.
Drayton Manor Park
This park's Thomas Land will boast some fun decorations, and the rides will offer plenty of thrills for little terrors! Be sure to book in advance to take advantage of our great value: for £90 offer for families. Otherwise, tickets for people aged 12-59 cost £39.50, and tickets for those aged 4-11 and 60+ cost £29.5 when booked online the same day.
Legoland Windsor's Brick
At the Legoland's Brick Show, guests can expect "songs from the supernatural and dazzling dances guaranteed to get everyone in the Halloween spirit”. Other highlights will include fancy dress competitions for kids, special trails and heaps of fun decorations around the park. Tickets start from £33 when booked online, which include access to the theme park's rides and attractions.
Chessington Adventures Resort
New for the year will be the Forgotten Forest, an enchanting adventure with special characters. You may also want to check out the park's terrifying rollercoasters, as well as the Creepy Caves. Tickets from £29.50 when booked 5+ days in advance.
Louise Gluck has been no stranger to awards over her long and storied career, since her first publication in 1968. In 1993, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poems, The Wild Iris. And on Oct 8 she became the 16th woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature with the Nobel prizes first awarded in 1901.
Gluck was honored for her unmistakable poetic voice that, with simple beauty, makes individual existence universal. Often said to be an autobiographical poet, drawing from the inner parts of her life, "Gluck is not to be regarded as a confessional(忏悔) poet. She seeks the universal,” Nobel Committee Chair Anders Olsson said in a statement.
Gluck, 77, the author of 12 poetry collections, has been able to turn her life experiences into universal themes covering life, loss and isolation(孤独). Because of this, readers have often found her poetry to be "dark”. However, there is much more than darkness in her voice, as noted by Olsson. "It is direct and ... also a voice full of humor,” he said.
For example, in her poem Snowdrops, she uses the coming of spring after winter to show rebirth of life after death. She leads readers down a depressing path only to reconnect with the light at the near end. At the conclusion of the poem, readers are left to feel the "cool wind of the new world” as they watch a new spring. This is often the case in Gluck's poetry, being able to feel joy even after not having done so for a long time.
Although she's already a well-known writer, experienced in exploring pain and healing(愈合), Gluck did feel honored to be given the famed Nobel award. However, when asked what the prize means to her, the lyric poet responded by saying, "It's too new… I don't know really what it means.” Her only hope is that she can preserve her daily life.
There you are in your favorite clothing store. You don't really need to buy anything, but everything is so cheap and stylish! Before you know it, you leave the store with bags and bags of new clothes.
On the surface, this doesn't seem so bad. However, there are a lot of hidden costs behind the cheap price tags (标牌). To put it plainly, the fashion industry is terrible for the planet. Not only does it use up a lot of resources, but it also heavily pollutes the environment with chemicals, microplastics and unwanted waste.
Fashion is one of the least sustainable industries on the planet, commented Michael Stanley-Jones. "We've all become our own waste managers, hoarding fashion waste in our houses,” he noted.
It doesn't just take up space in our cupboards, though. It also ends up in landfills(垃圾场), too. But, thankfully, the fashion trend tides are changing. People are increasingly examining their own consumption and what changes they can make to become sustainable, Jane Fellner, founder and CEO of sustainable fashion seller Loopster, told the Guardian.
In particular, with its typically lower prices and rare fashion finds, shopping secondhand has become an increasingly popular and eco-friendly option. According to online reseller ThredUp, the secondhand market is predicted to reach $80 billion by 2029. And, although fast fashion will continue to grow 20 percent over the next 10 years, secondhand fashion is expected to grow an unbelievable 185 percent in that same amount of time. Fellner continued: "Secondhand has become more socially acceptable. Thrifting ( 节约) is now massive on TikTok.”
The only true sustainable way to shop is to not shop at all, unless you're buying clothes that already exist.
New international research reveals the far-reaching impacts of forest cover loss on global biodiversity. The study, led by the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews, investigated the impacts of forest loss on species and biodiversity over time and around the world, revealing both losses and gains in species.
Focusing on biodiversity data spanning(跨越) 150 years and over 6,000 locations, the study, published in Science, reveals that as tree cover is lost, plants and animals are responding to the transformation of their natural habitats.
Bringing together over 5 million records of the numbers of different plants and animals with information on both historic and contemporary peaks in forest loss, the researchers discovered both immediate and delayed effects of forest loss on ecosystems.
The pace at which biodiversity responds to forest loss varies from a few years, as is the case for light-loving plants and insects, to decades for long-living trees and larger birds and mammals. Gergana Daskalova, a Ph.D. student in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh and lead author of the study, said, "Changes in the biodiversity of the planet's forests matter because they will reflect how these landscapes look, the types of species they support and the benefits that forests provide for society like clean air and water.”
Maria Dornelas, a co-senior author from the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews, continued, "Humans are undoubtedly changing the planet. Yet, global analyses of how biodiversity is changing over time are revealing biodiversity changes are nuanced(有细微差别的) and variable.”
She added, "With a better understanding of the different ways, both positive and negative, in which forest loss influences biodiversity, we can improve future conservation and restoration of global ecosystems.”
As the saying goes, "No man is an island." If you don't, you will have a much harder time attracting luck and getting what you want. If you do, you can have more time to do the things you really want or get through a difficult or unpleasant period of time.
Show your kindness and generosity to them, and they will return the favor. The Law of Reciprocity(互惠) works like a charm. Your mother may have told you many things that fall under this law when you were a kid. For instance, she may have told you that if you wanted friends, you needed to be friendly. Your mother actually was telling you about the Law of Reciprocity without you or her even knowing about it. The more you help others gain what they are looking for, the more you will be helped. It may not seem like this is the case on the surface, but you can not give without receiving back.
Do acts of kindness unconditionally. Don't demand from others, saying something like, "I have done so many favors for you, and now I want you to return the favor.” Just do good things. Even if people don't remember or appreciate what you have done, the universe will certainly give you the reward that you deserve.
A. So how can you get help from others?
B. Thus you don't have to take the trouble to do things by yourself.
C. No, that's not the way.
D. So always depend on people you can trust.
E. In fact, the Law of Reciprocity will help you achieve a lot of success.
F. It's true that in order to succeed, you have to get help from other people.
G. However, don't go about being nice expecting something in return.
When my aunt's children were small, she decided to get them a puppy. Her neighbor's dog had given 1 to a couple of puppies a few weeks earlier and so my aunt arranged to 2
one of the puppies once they had been weaned(断奶).
The day came to bring home the little puppy and the children were3; they named it Shorty happily and4 welcomed it, preparing its food and a comfortable 5 in a basket. The next day the children gave it some milk before kissing it goodbye and6for school. When they returned, they were 7to discover that Shorty was missing. They8the whole house inch by inch, 9 it was nowhere to be found. A few hours later, the 10 who sold them the puppy came over carrying Shorty,11. He explained that the mother dog had slid into my aunt's house and carried the puppy back to his home.
For a number of days my aunt and her neighbour tried 12 to keep the puppy in his new home, because each day the mother dog would13 it from the tiny bed. Finally, my aunt's neighbour gave up and offered her a refund.
I came to realize that mother's love is flowing all over the places you can imagine 14in the kingdom of animals. By the way, if you would like to keep a puppy as a 15 you might as well keep the mother dog at a distance.
It wasn't until the rise of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 that the Great Wall of China we know today(build). The Ming Dynasty had to deal with a great number of attacks from minority tribes(部落), so it made extensive additions to the wall.The(long) and complexity of the Ming wall beat all the former ones. The dynasty also (add) double and triple walls in some places(strengthen) previously built structures and confuse attackers. In fact, in many places the wall is wide enough on top for someone to drive a car on it, (reach) about 6.7 meters. Although the wall has a remarkable girth(周长), it's not visible from outer space the old myth says. If that were true, major highways would be visible too — many are much (large) than the Great Wall.
Construction on the Great Wall was ongoing and successful effort under the Ming Dynasty until the 17th century, when it could no longer defeat the efforts of the Manchu. This takeover, brought down the Ming Dynasty and gave rise to the Qing Dynasty, (effective) stopped the Great Wall's development, which spanned more than 2,000 years.
内容包括：
①参加人员；
②劳动过程；
③活动感受。
注意：
①写作词数应为 80 左右；
②请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Father's Day Chess
It was Dale's third Sunday volunteering at the retirement home. He had thought it would be a good way to give back. But today he just felt tired. While on a short break, Dale took a walk through the garden. There were people sitting on benches, chatting together. A woman sat knitting, looking very pleased with herself. The strands of brightly-colored yarn disappeared quickly through her hands.
Across the courtyard, there was a man sitting alone at a table with a chessboard in front of him. Dale watched with curiosity as the man would stare at the pieces, then move them, and then would do the same from the other side of the board. On his way home after the day had ended, Dale found himself thinking about the man. How he was hunched over in deep thought, playing a game against himself. How odd, he thought.
Each Sunday, Dale would see the man doing the same thing. While everyone else talked with one another or happily carried on, the man would sit, slightly bent over and scratching his chin. His eyes rarely came off of the chessboard. One Sunday, Dale went to the garden on his break expecting to see the man at his normal spot. But he wasn't there. It was Father's Day and there were many visitors at the home. Dale shrugged and thought the man must be busy with his family.
That afternoon, Dale was mopping the hallways when he happened to pass by the man's room. The door was slightly open and he could see the man sitting in a chair next to the window, peering out at the courtyard. Dale knocked lightly and asked to come in.
The man nodded. Dale saw a collection of framed photographs on the bedside table. "Are those your children?” he asked.
"Yes they're all grown and live far away. They have their own kids now,” he replied. Dale, not wanting the man to be alone on Father's Day, had an idea.
Paragraph 1： He went outside and got the chessboard from the table.
Paragraph 2： Dale was glad that he volunteered.
注意：①续写词数应为150左右；
②请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
