Seasonal city breaks: 4 of the best pre-Christmas European getaways to start your festival spirit.
Zagreb, Croatia
The Croatian capital takes the Christmas seriously, with street decorations, outdoor concerts and a traditional Christmas market. Most of the action is centred on Ban Josip Jelacic Square, which has a history of more than 3 centuries, and European Square. The two squares have market stalls(货摊) and live music performances given by popular musicians.
The recommended hotel: President Pantovcak — Doubles: £200(a parent and a kid with a 10% discount)
Malaga, Spain
Start your day at the Casa Aranda before diving into the Atarazanas Market. In the afternoon, take your pick of the city's cultural spots — the Picasso Museum, or the Center Pompidou Malaga. Then head to Calle Marques de Larios, the main shopping drag, at dusk when the Christmas lights are switched on: the sight attracts visitors from all over Spain.
The recommended hotel: Room Mate Larios —Doubles: £250 (a parent and a kid with a 20% discount)
Le Touquet, France
From 30 November, the trees lining the avenues of this city are decorated with fairy lights, and there are facilities (设施), like a skating spot and horse-drawn carriage rides. The pedestrianized street Rue st. Jean is lined stores selling everything from chocolates to jewellery. Join the locals in gathering cheese at the Marche Couvert and wines at the excellent Le Touquet-Vins.
The recommended hotel: Hotel Bristol— Doubles: £180 (a parent and a kid with a 10% discount)
Aarhus, Denmark
Head to the Latin Quarter for independent stores, cafe and a great Christmas market. Shop for Scandi homeware (家居用品) and fashion on Stroget, the city's important shopping street, before heading to the rooftop of the historic Salling Department store, for a glass of wine with views of the city, lit up for Christmas.
The recommended hotel: The Mayor Hotel — Doubles:£200 (a parent and a kid with a 20% discount)
Twin sisters Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi won the women's double free title to take China's third gold in artistic swimming at the 19th FINA World Championships on Thursday.
The 25-year-old twins, who also won the women's technical double and the women's team technical, beat the Ukrainian and Austrian teams with a score of 95.5667 points. The Ukrainian Aleksiiva sisters, Maryna and Vladyslava, got the silver medal with 94. 1667, while Anna-Maria and Eirini Alexandria of Austria came third on 92. 8000.
"I feel very happy and excited to win the third gold medal for the Chinese artistic swimming team," older sister Wang Liuyi told Xinhua. "The help of the coach and the encouragement of teammates have given us a lot of motivation. We have overcome tiredness and various difficulties. I did very well today and I'm satisfied with my performance. "
Wang Qianyi said: "This is the first time for us to compete in both the double and the team events, so I felt a little bit of pressure. ""In spite of tiredness, we were able to withstand (承受) this pressure. I feel very happy," she added.
Since the start of the FINA Worlds, the sisters have delivered seven performances in the preliminaries and the finals.
According to Qianyi, a key to success was the winter training plan by the coach, which has laid a very good foundation for them. "In terms of physical fitness, both of us have greatly improved. The coach gave us a solid training and gave us a lot of trust. We are encouraging each other too," she said.
On Friday, the sisters will compete in the team free final, which is their last event in the Championships. Wang Liuyi said: "We hope to be able to work together with our teammates in the final tomorrow, to have a better performance and achieve better results." "The World Championships is a big test for us. We hope to play steadily, step by step, and do a good job. I believe that no matter what kind of difficulties we meet, we can overcome them," Qianyi added.
"Boreout (闷爆) is different from burnout (精疲力竭) in the sense that bored-out employees rarely break down with exhaustion. Bored-out people may be present physically but not in spirit, and people can keep doing this for a good while," says Harju, who has studied boreout for years.
Workers who realize they're experiencing boreout may also be unwilling to flag it up as an issue to line managers or human resources. "While the behaviors that feed into burnout — overwork, drive — are appreciated and rewarded by employers, boreout reflects a lack of interest, a lack of motivation," says Harju. "These are things that are avoided in organizations."
There are some quick fixes, like taking on work tasks that are more interesting to you. But a 2016 study Harju and her colleagues worked on showed that people who had boreout were less likely to engage in constructive activities like trying to find new, interesting challenges at work.
What happens more often, she says, is that people will just show up at their desks and spend time shopping online, chatting with colleagues or planning other activities. She says that these people aren't lazy, but are using these behaviours as "coping mechanisms".
Fahri Ozsungur, an associate professor of economics at Mersin University, Turkey, who was behind the 2021 study on the health effects of boreout, points out that combating the phenomenon isn't just down to the individual. "Giving meaning to the job is not just up to the employees," he says. "Instead, it's up to management to create an office culture that makes people feel valuable."
If you think boreout is seriously affecting your health either physically or mentally, it may be valuable to ask yourself how you might be able to reselect your career path toward something healthier for you. Seek the advice from advisers, career consultants, friends and family.
"If only people take its suggestion, boreout can make a change into something else: a different career entirely, or a different role in the organization," Harju says.
Have you ever been seized with a kind of warm and unclear feeling when you start an old-fashioned game? Or maybe when you think back to celebrating the holidays as a kid, something magical just seems to be missing now. That's nostalgia.
In the early 20th century, nostalgia was considered a mental condition similar to depression. Anyone separated from their native place for a long time was easy to suffer nostalgia. But over the next few decades, the meaning of nostalgia has expanded from indicating homesickness to a general longing for the past. And rather than an awful disease, it turns out to be seen as a bittersweet experience.
From several former studies, researchers of the University of Southampton supposed nostalgia might protect people from being in bad mood, even when they think about upsetting thing — like death. To test it out, they conducted an experiment, where 75 people wrote about their own deaths, and then did a word completion task, in which they were asked to complete different words based on a six-letter word starting with C-O-F-F. The people who thought about dying but didn't get nostalgic answered with many death- related words, such as "coffin"，while the nostalgic people gave more answers unrelated to death like "coffee", almost as if they'd, never thought about death in the first place.
The researchers think that could mean nostalgia, despite being a complex emotional state that can include feelings of loss and sadness, doesn't generally put people in a negative mood. Instead, by allowing individuals to remember personally meaningful and rewarding experiences, nostalgia can boost psychological well- being. These studies are pretty limited, though, and there's still a lot we don't know about nostalgia.
Still, these studies support that nostalgia has a purpose; If people are feeling down, it might cheer them up. But there are also some less helpful side effects. For example, advertisers have discovered how powerful nostalgia is as a marketing technique, for nostalgia in ads can make people part with cash more easily. So, it is not all sugar cookies.
Certain people seem to have effortless and calm mornings. How can we have a productive(富有成效的) morning like them? These tips below from experts can help you a lot.
"Waking up 10 to 15 minutes earlier can be enough to make a difference," suggests Jodie Watson. Getting those first few minutes to yourself before being pulled in a million directions really helps you get a jump start on the day.
They complete tasks in the same order.
Casey Osmundson says, " You probably follow an order when you brush your teeth or take a shower because they're a habit. It's the same theory for the rest of your routine," Osmundson says. "The more you practice completing a task, the less you'll have to consciously think about each step. What once seemed like a challenge will soon feel more like second nature. "
They identify several things for a successful day.
Author Laura Vanderkam says, "Organized people think through their days. At the beginning of the day, they ask, ‘What do I need to do to make this a good day? What things can make me feel like the day is a success?' And they'll try to finish them. "
They set realistic morning goals.
"Add one thing at a time, and limit the number of tasks to be completed," suggests Watson. If you try to change everything all of a sudden, you'll burn out and want to quit. She says, "Your routine should be the basic that you need to complete. If you have other must-do tasks each day, simplify them or spread them out differently on your schedule. "
A. They try to be the first one up.
B. They start their to-do list the night before.
C. Thus, you will avoid wearing yourself out.
D. It's because they often make schedules in advance.
E. Then they figure out when these things can be scheduled.
F. This is as though you're creating muscle memory for your tasks.
G. But many of us rush through early hours in the morning with chaos(混乱).
My car needed some mechanical work that I could not do myself. Since the garage I had been taking my car to had 1, my friend Dave gave me a recommendation: D's Auto Repair.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the owner of D's was a mechanic who had worked on my car several years earlier. 2 he was an employee at a gas station near my house. I knew that his work was good.
I 3 the paperwork for the repair and 4 while D took a phone call from another customer. As I sat there, I looked around the small office to keep myself 5. A framed newspaper article caught my attention. The headline read: "Local Dairy Farmer Kills Whole Herd. " The article was about the 6 of a fifth-generation dairy farmer during the polluted milk scare in Michigan several years earlier. Dairy cows were becoming 7 a disease that was affecting the milk supply. The fifth-generation dairy farmer paid to have all of his cows 8. It was found that out of the entire herd, only a few were infected. Because no one could 9 that the other cows were totally 10, he had the herd killed and buried to make consumers feel rest assured (放心). The farmer's insurance did not cover his 11 because the state had not issued an order for him to get rid of the herd. Asked why he did it, the farmer replied "Because it was the right thing to do."
I asked D why he 12 the article on the wall. I thought that he might be related to or somehow knew the farmer. He said he had never met the man, but that the farmer was a (n) 13 to him and set a standard for integrity, trust and honesty. He said that is how he 14 his Auto Repair business.
I was now doubly 15 by both the farmer and D. The next year, on my recommendation, my son started a nine-month mechanics apprenticeship (学徒) at D's Auto Repair.
A new TV series in England, Away from It All, has surprised everyone by becoming a huge success with young people across the country. Its success is surprising because main character in the series is a shepherd, and the series is about the relaxing and different (lifestyle) of people who live in the country. There is none of the actions that we usually see on TV today. There are also no stressful moments, busy offices or (crowd) cities. Away from It All (set) in the peaceful English countryside and tells simple stories about people's kindness.
The director of the TV series says that its success is a sign of teenagers (suffer) from stress. He says that watching TV series (help) teenagers forget about the pressures of exams and homework, and the troubles fill the world today.
the series' success might have a good side, many teachers and parents are worried. They say that some of their students and children are becoming couch potatoes and are using Away from It All as an excuse not completing homework. Some children have even refused to learn for exams because they say that they can only achieve personal happiness by avoiding stressful situations well and (true).
1）目的
2）时间：10月10日下午3点；地点：留学生服务中心；
3）内容：体验穿汉服、学写毛笔字、展示作品、拍照留念等；
要求：10月10日前学生会报名，并告知自己的服装尺码。
I love to play the piano and I greatly enjoy performing my songs, so when the annual winter recital (独奏会) was canceled (取消), I was disappointed. I had looked forward to it for a long time and had already prepared two of my best songs.
My mom had a wonderful idea, however, to turn this disappointing letdown into something worthwhile. "You can perform your songs at Carriage House Senior Living," my mom suggested brightly. "I'm sure the seniors there who do not have families visit them that often, would really appreciate the music and you could play more than just two songs."
I immediately thought this was a great idea. One of the things I did not like about the recitals was that I was limited to playing just a couple of songs. Playing the piano at Carriage House seemed like a win-win situation because not only would I get to play more songs, but I would also have the chance to cheer up the residents there with some lively tunes.
My mom called Carriage House and made arrangements for me to perform. In the coming days, I worked especially hard to polish up fifteen pieces that I thought the crowd would enjoy, including many old classics.
When the much-anticipated day finally arrived, my family and I drove to Carriage House. Walking through the enormous double doors, we stepped into an entryway that overlooked the spacious grand dining room. Right at the entrance to the dining room stood the piano as if it were just waiting to make some music to liven the place up a bit. At nearly every table several gray-haired women or men were seated enjoying their dinner and the company that the crowded room provided. Despite the conversations going on at various tables though, isolation hung like a dark cloud in the room.
Almost immediately, we were greeted by an old woman with a walker who introduced herself as Phyllis in charge of Carriage House. She welcomed me and led me to the stage.
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。
As I sat down on the bench, I pressed a key on the piano and was surprised to hear no sound.
……
Nervousness melted away and I started to enjoy the performance with the old.
