Cheap Travel Destinations for Winter Trips
Charleston, South Carolina (Hotel Cost: $72.33, Round-Trip Flight: $303)
The charming city of Charleston is ripe for exploring even during the cooler winter months. Catch a show at the Charleston Stage Company or watch a performance from the Charleston Ballet. If it's your first time visiting, take a carriage tour of the city to explore 25 to 30 blocks of the downtown area.
Anchorage, Alaska (Hotel Cost: $43.67, Round-Trip Flight: $577.50)
Walk on a glacier, see wildlife and explore attractive national parks for cheapness in Anchorage. The Chugach Mountains are easily accessible, just 20 minutes from the downtown area.
Washington, D.C. (Hotel Cost: $150, Round-Trip Flight: $206.50)
Take a trip to the Lincoln Memorial, express respect and admiration to the soldiers that served in World War Ⅱ at the National World War Ⅱ Memorial and discover other sites that honor American history — free of charge. Galleries, museums and historic neighborhoods are ripe for exploring even during the winter months.
Savannah, Georgia (Hotel Cost: $49, Round-Trip Flight: $317.50)
Taking a self-guided tour of this southern city is one of the best ways to see famous landmarks and sites free of charge. Visit the 22 public squares and see the General Casimir Pulaski Monument. And don't forget to get your picture taken at the same bus stop bench used in the movie Forrest Gump, in Chippewa Square.
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there, lost and lonely in a strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband's name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can(垃圾桶) that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.
Time was, being called "nerd(书呆子)" was a bad thing.
That is happily different now, says Sarah Jane, director at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, which is home to the exhibit "Obsessed: The Art of Nerd-dom" through March 15. "I think the majority of my friends are nerdier than I am," she said, "and I mean that in a 'my friends are cooler than I am' kind of way."
Jane said the rise of the Internet certainly helped blossom, connecting people with common interests across geographies. Now, it's almost mainstream — exhibitions of nerd culture fill convention halls, comic book superheroes and science fiction stories are the focus of blockbuster movies, and more.
"It has made being a nerd less of an isolating experience, and more of a community experience because you're connecting with other people who have that shared interest," she said.
Holladay, the co-curator(副馆长), spoke up in a meeting about what the coming exhibition season would look like. "I knew of another nerdy exhibition that had happened in LA recently... and I just thought ‘you know, I bet there are nerdy artists on the (Olympic) Peninsula and in Washington who have really quality work, where the subject matter might not fit into most exhibits'," she said.
And she wasn't surprised when they received plenty of recommendations. "My theory was that nerds are everywhere," she said. "Once I got in touch with the right people, everyone was coming out of the woodwork."
The exhibit features comic art, and things like Pokemon cards arranged in a collage(拼贴画). One work invites viewers to imagine the unique talents and abilities they have as superpowers they bring to the world. Holladay says the evolution of the idea of nerd culture has been positive over the past several years.
It's been discovered that the world's rarest seal(稀有海豹) uses hidden caves on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus to breed(繁殖) out of sight from humans. Scientists say the caves should now be protected to help the rare Mediterranean monk seals.
Researchers from the University of Exeter and the society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT), set up cameras in eight caves in northern Cyprus to monitor the monk seal population.
The cameras are started by movement, so they start recording when something passes by. Between 2016 and 2019, the researchers found that three of the caves were used for breeding. One monk seal raised babies three years in a row in the same cave.
There are only around 700 Mediterranean monk seals left in the wild and the species is listed as endangered. In the past, they used beaches along the north coast of Cyprus to breed but human activities such as tourism have gradually forced them to move elsewhere. In 2007, a survey identified 39 possible breeding caves. It was only in 2013, however, that a young seal was spotted in the area around the caves. This confirmation that seals were breeding in the area inspired the team to set up their special cameras in 2016. Knowing about these breeding caves will help experts to track the seal population more accurately.
The researchers now want to give the seals in the area better protection. They're hoping to make arrangements with local fishermen who set their fishing nets near the caves, which not only takes food from the seals but also risks catching the animals by mistake. The scientists would also like to protect the caves themselves from any nearby building developments. "The main breeding site we identify in this study currently has no protected status, and we are working with local authorities to try to change this," said Dr. Robin Snape of the University of Exeter.
Imagine a child standing on a diving board four feet high and asking himself the question: "Should I jump?" This is what motivation or the lack of it can do. Motivation and goal setting are the two sides of the same coin. Like the child on the diving board, you will stay undecided.
More than that, how should you stay motivated to achieve the goal? First, you need to evaluate yourself, your values, your strength, your weaknesses, your achievements, your desires, etc. Only then should you set your goals.
You also need to judge the quality and depth of your motivation. This is quite important, because it is directly related to your commitment. There are times when your heart is not in your work. So, slow down and think what you really want to do at that moment. Clarity(清晰) of thoughts can help you move forward.
Another way of setting realistic goals is to analyze your short and long term objectives, keeping in mind your beliefs, values and strengths. Remember that goals are flexible. They also need to be measurable. You must keep these points in mind while setting your goals.
Your personal circumstances are equally important. For example, you may want to be a pilot but can't become one because your eyesight is not good enough. You should reassess your goals, and motivate yourself to set a fresh goal.
You will surely need to overcome some difficulties, some planned, but most unplanned. You cannot overcome them without ample motivation. Make sure that you plan for these difficulties at the time of setting your goals.
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A. This can affect your work. B. So how should you motivate yourself? C. However, this should not discourage you. D. So why should we try to set specific goals? E. They can change according to circumstances. F. Motivation is what you need most to do a good job. G. Without motivation, you can neither set a goal nor reach it. |
As our Earth's temperature warms up because of climate change, it is having unexpected effects on our world's forests. When temperatures rise, trees close their skins to 1 the loss of water, and this, in turn, slows down the 2 of photosynthesis(光合作用). As a result, these trees are shorter and grow slowly, as well as have a 3 death rate.
Climate change also increases the 4 of droughts and wildfires. After wildfires, it takes a while for the forest systems to 5, and in some cases, the forests are 6 permanently. Trees that are stressed are also 7 to attacks by bacteria(细菌). In tropical forests, vines that use the trees as 8 can often choke the trees and rob them of nutrients. Finally, humans have 9 the forest landscape through logging. When trees are replanted on the soil, they will never grow as large as the 10 trees that were cut down.
As these forests disappear, species that once called them "home" are forced to change, 11 the variety of those systems. 12, some endangered species are unable to 13 and die. Old-growth forests are disappearing in all regions of our world. When forests die, younger forests that are reestablished in the same area grow back weaker and smaller 14 poor vegetation(植被). With trees dying increasingly and continuously, will future generations 15 out on the wonders of forests?
For many people in the world, food waste has become a habit: buying more food than we need at markets, (let) fruit and vegetables spoil at home or taking more than we can eat.
These habits put extra pressure our natural resources and damage our environment. we waste food, we waste so much labour, effort, investment and the precious resources that go into producing it, not to mention the resources in transporting and processing it. In short, wasting food increases greenhouse gas emissions and (contribute) to climate change.
It's urgent issue. In fact, tons of food is lost or wasted (global) every day. The part of food that is lost from harvest to, but not including, the retail level is called food loss. The part wasted at the consumer or retail level (refer) to as food waste. We make this distinction to address those root (cause) of this problem, a problem that everyone from farmers and producers to customers can help end.
Reducing food loss and waste is essential in a world millions of people go hungry every day. When we reduce waste, we respect that food is not a given. It's up to us (change) our habits to make not wasting food a way of life!
A few years ago, my mom went to the doctor to ask him about her neck, which had been a little bigger than usual. It turned out there was something wrong with her lymph glands(淋巴结), and soon they scheduled Mom to have a biopsy(组织切片检查) on the seventh of September.
As soon as I found out, I was very angry, as September 7 is my birthday. They had promised to take me to see a spider-man movie and had a picnic in the yard. I shouted at her and everyone else, too. I even shouted at the dog. I started begging her to reschedule the biopsy. She gave me this look like she was about to cry and said, "I've done everything I can. I've got a disease. Could you forgive me?" Finally, I just shouted, "I hate you!" and ran into my room, crying. I sat on my bed thinking — Why do things always have to happen to me? Everyone gets diseases. Why couldn't mum just go to hospital another day?
For the next couple of weeks I remained silently angry. Deep down I knew I should not act that way, but I did anyway. Anyone could see how sad I was making my mom. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I had to have someone to blame.
Finally, my birthday came. My parents left early in the morning for the hospital, and I was sent to our neighbor's house. No spider-man movie, no birthday present, and no picnic. Though I was taken good care of, I was not having a good time. "This isn't fair," I thought. "This was supposed to be my day."
My parents came home late that night. Mom walked in with a bandage on her neck. She sat down and rested her head on my dad's shoulder. It hurt so badly that it was difficult for her to talk.
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:
Later that night, Mom asked me to get into her room and she pulled out a box.
Paragraph 2:
A week later when Mom got the test result, she hugged me tightly and said, "Thank God, it was not cancer!"
