Some of the Most Beautiful National Parks in the UK
Snowdonia
North Wales's national park boasts mountain and sea views: Several of its peaks gaze across to Ireland and it has miles of sandy beaches. You can climb Wales's highest mountain without working up a sweat by catching an old-fashioned train. Those who dislike excitement can choose zip lines, bounce down mountain bike trails or catch breaks at an inland surfing.
Cairngorms
The UK's biggest national park is home to its mightiest mountains: Five out of six of Scotland's highest peaks are found here. Lying in the heart of the Highlands, the Cairngorms mountain range still has vast areas of pure wilderness and is one of the chilliest places in the country. For much of the year, its peaks are blanketed in snow and you can ski there in winter.
Peak District
Sandwiched between Manchester and Sheffield, England's oldest national park has two personalities: A tough and a gentle side. In the north are dramatic edges like Kinder Scout which rewards adventurous walkers with stark (荒凉的) views. Venture south for the lower, greener, grass-covered valleys of the White Peak. Walk along the Ecclesbourne Valley to experience both in one day.
New Forest
The New Forest is surprisingly old: William the Conqueror named it when he used to hunt deer and wild pigs here nearly 1，000 years ago. Confusingly，this beautiful corner of southern England isn't completely covered in woodland either—it also has acres of wild land and miles of pebbly（布满鹅卵石的），muddy coast. The terrain is gentle，and you're guaranteed a sighting of its free-walking horses.
When Peter Zhuo was a kid he could barely hold pencil properly. He'd either wrap all his fingers around it or hold it uncomfortably between his middle and fourth finger. Through practice he managed to get it right when he was about eight. Now at 23, not only can he use a pencil competently, he's using it to change the world, one stroke at a time.
Peter—who goes by the name Peter Draw felt the desire to draw with a purpose after meeting Daniel, a teenager with cerebral palsy (脑瘫) in November 2016. When Daniel first joined Peter's drawing class at the Spastic Children's Association of Singapore, Peter doubted if Daniel could even complete a drawing. But stroke by stroke the then 17-year-old did.
"His passion for drawing really touched me. I felt I should do more with my drawing and help children at the same time, says Peter, who has since taken on some impressive projects to raise awareness for his cause.
Last October, he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the world's largest caricature (人物漫画) . His 360-square-metre drawing of Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is twice the size of the previous record. Peter completed it in just three-and-a-half hours while the previous record-holder took three days.
And in December, he took on the challenge of drawing caricatures for 24 hours non-stop in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for the less fortunate. Peter completed 952 sketches (素描) during the time. The event raised $6,000 through donations and his accomplishment earned him a mention in the Singapore Book of Records.
Imagine that you've just experienced something unpleasant—your friend has forgotten your birthday, you've been rejected for a new job, or you've just woken up after a long holiday and remembered you need to go to work. How would you typically respond to those feelings? You might try to tell yourself that it doesn't matter, and not to let it get to you. This tendency could be described as "mood shame": The belief that having bad feelings is a personal failing.
Continually looking on the bright side of life might seem strong, even courageous. While it's natural that we might prefer to avoid uncomfortable feelings like disappointment, worry, anger, or sadness, recent psychological research supports the idea that they serve useful purposes in our lives. By learning to see that value and accept those feelings without judgement, we may enjoy better physical and mental health.
Consider anxiety. We may assume that anxious feelings destroy our concentration and reduce our performance on difficult tasks—that we can only succeed on an exam or in an interview if we learn to relax. Alternatively, we can see the feeling as a source of energy. Besides, disappointment may feel unpleasant—but you could recognize that the emotion helps us to learn from our mistakes. And by assigning a more positive meaning to the feeling and acknowledging its potential uses—rather than feeling it is somehow unhealthy—you might change the brain and the body's responses to an upset.
Rather than judging yourself harshly for bad feelings, you might lean into that bad mood, and allow yourself the self-care you need to get through it. Without fighting the emotions themselves, you could start to question whether those feelings have value. Perhaps they'll help you to identify an important change you can make in your life.
Beavers (海狸) and their dams can positively impact essentially any environment they' re placed in, even the extreme heat of the Moab Desert in Utah. And that is what a university researcher has founded. Looking for solutions to drought and wildfires, a Utah State University student Emma Doden began relocating (搬迁) beavers caught in other parts of the state into small, struggling waterways around the Price and San Rafael rivers.
Studies have shown that beaver dams can vastly improve the quality of wetlands and streams leading to better animal life and improved river health. It was for this service that the "ecosystem engineer" was targeted by Doden as a potential rescuer, even if the idea relocating beavers to the desert caused a few raised eyebrows." We believed the system could support a lot more beavers, Doden said, "and we wanted to supplement it with beavers."
"Beaver dams are gaining popularity as a low-tech，low-cost strategy to build climate resiliency（还原能力）at the landscape scale，"says one study." They slow and store water that can be accessed by plants during dry periods，effectively protecting riverside ecosystems from droughts." Another study found that the ponds which are created on the dammed side of the beaver homes can store huge amounts of sediment（沉淀物）then distribute it more safely around the river ecosystem.
This is the case, the study found, both in entirely wild areas with no human activities and those near to intense agricultural regions, meaning that no matter the conditions of sedimentation, beaver dams can help keep waterways clearer. Doden's university has a program for catching beavers and relocating them to the desert, where they will build dams to provide these benefits. "The eventual goal is to get them to build dams, she said." The dams are what are going to increase habitat complexity and restore water."
Why You're More Creative in Coffee Shops
Some of the most successful people in history have done their best work in coffee shops. . Among them are Pablo Picasso, J.K. Rowling, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Bob Dylan.
Some of us stick in our ear buds (耳塞) as soon as we sit down to work in a public setting. But scientists have known for years that background noise can benefit our creative thinking. A study showed that a modest level of surrounding noise in a place like a cafeteria can actually promote your creative output. The idea is that if you' re very slightly distracted from the task at hand by surroundings, it raises your abstract thinking ability.
Air of informality（非正式）
The typical coffee-shop user might be a lone worker struggling with a creative effort. There is a formal air when gathering on digital meeting platforms. By contrast，there is an informal atmosphere when meeting up at a bar or cafe. All those audio and visual stimuli (刺激物) help groups，too，compared to the meeting in a formal meeting room.
Visual variety
Often we sit in the same chair and look at the same four walls all day long. In the coffee shops, people come and go. The daylight changes. The pleasant smells of coffee and food vary. While we tend not to take conscious (有意识的) notice of these micro-stimuli, and likely don't openly choose to work in this location because of them, these activities around us make our brains work a bit differently than at home.
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A. A sweet spot of noise and crowds B. The birthplace of countless great works C. Therefore, this can lead to more creative idea generation D. Not all kinds of noisy surroundings are bad for your creativity E. However, experts say the cafe settings can benefit work groups who are creative F. Whatever their careers are, they have tapped into their creativity when working there G. One thing that makes working at home or office boring is the visual environment |
How about a heartwarming story that tums out to be a happy moment of holiday embarrassment?
When Mary, decided to do a good deed for a stranger in a gas station convenience store, she had no idea that her most1moment would be viewed by millions on Facebook. It all started when the writer and mother of two children was2time at the Wawa, a local gas station and convenience store, before3her kids from school. She had just been reading a story on Facebook about how everyone is so4over the holidays and how the spirit of giving5everyone's mood, so she decided to pass along some of that6to someone else. The woman behind her in line was just buying some bread, so Mary7to pay for it. It was a simple but lovely act of kindness, the woman was8, and holiday magic was made. Mary left the store to go back to her car, full of the Christmas spirit, and found a man cleaning her windshield (挡风玻璃) . Still delighted in the magic of the holidays and the9of strangers, Mary walked up to the man, gave him a huge10and told him how much she loved humanity and the magic of Christmas. Only one problem-it wasn't her car, it was his. Oh. It was (a) real11
Don't be12if you watch the video over and over again. The Facebook Live video has already been13nearly 100,000 times in just a few days. "I think people love it because people long for holiday magic in these times. This one moment has returned so much encouragement and14to my life," Mary says. "Humans miss15interactions, even if they are a little strange."
Wang Tianchang and his family moved into the Gobi Desert 22 years ago. They have been fighting the desert ever since，（become）a symbol of China's anti-desertification（防治荒漠化）campaign.
Wang Tianchang, native of Gansu Province, grew up with the Gobi Desert. In 1998, Wang's family moved into the desert. They started planting bushes and saplings (树苗) To fund their efforts, they sold most of their farm animals and were left with only 6 sheep to support themselves. To make matters (bad) because they weren't familiar with the environment, the trees they planted in the first two years (blow) away by strong winds. But they learned, they adapted and they started over. In time, they learned that adaptable grasses were ideal for "holding down the sand". A bush (know) as the sweet-vetch has an 80 percent survival rate even in severe desert conditions, has become a key part of the Wangs' efforts.
Now, despite suffering from serious health (issue) and being in his late 70s, Wang has no plans (abandon) his mission. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Chinese government not only appointed Tianchang and his sons forest ranchers (场主) in 2015, but also started funding their work. The family home is surrounded by (beauty) vegetable garden, proving that land can in fact be transformed from the desert.
Once upon a time, there stood an apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the top of the tree, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree also enjoyed playing with him.
As time went by, the little boy grew up and he no longer played around the tree.
One day, the boy came back to the tree, appearing sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy gently.
"I am no longer a kid; I won't play around trees anymore, the boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."
"Sorry, but I don't have money. However, you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then, you will have money." The boy was so excited that he picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn't come back after that. The tree was upset.
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so joyful. "Come and play with me," the tree said.
"I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" "Sorry, I don't have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left with delight.
The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn't appear since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree requested.
"I am sad and becoming old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk to build the boat. You can sail and be happy." So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not show up for a long time.
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。
Many years later, the boy finally returned.
The apple tree is our mother, who devotes all herself to us.
