Readers' Favorite Running Routes
Paul Ghent, Belgium
I love running in Ghent. It is completely flat, so encouraging for beginners and people aiming for personal bests. There is a rowing lake with a 5km track. This connects with a nature reserve on an 8km loop. If that isn't enough, there is another nature reserve, full of birds and canals surrounded by a 10km loop. I will be running my first marathon in Ghent in March 2022. Anyone?
Jennifer Nice, France
In Nice Provence, I really enjoyed joining the local joggers running along what is one of the most beautiful streets in the world—the Promenade des Anglais. You have the fresh salty sea breezes filling your lungs, the sun shining on the waves of the sea, and the beautiful buildings standing along the running route. Feel free to grab some fresh shellfish and a glass of wine on the beach as a reward.
Lisa Offa, UK
The Offa's Dyke path, which runs from Prestatyn to Chepstow, provides stunning scenery and is just perfect to focus on the run. The sections of the route I like the most include the slopes (坡地) of Moel Famau and the section from Llangollen to Bodfari, where there is an excellent pub (The Dinorben Arms) to refuel in comfort. Perfect.
Richard Protaras, Cyprus
My favorite route is in Protaras, Cyprus. There is a path that runs from Fig Tree bay to Polyxenia beach and you have wonderful views of the bays and beaches while running. The amazing clear seas and sandy beaches make it very pleasant. The best time to go is early morning when the sun isn't blazing and the paths aren't too busy with holidaymakers.
If the idea of getting paid a decent monthly wage to do nothing for the rest of your life sounds appealing, you may be interested in this Swedish experimental art project that plans to hire a very lucky person for a responsibility-free job with just one very simple requirement.
The government in Gothenburg, Sweden will select one very lucky applicant to show up at a train station currently under construction in the city every day and punch a time clock to let everyone know that the useless employee shows up at work that day. After that, the person is free to do anything they want, or nothing at all, just as long as they return to the station to clock out when their shift is over.
You might be wondering what a job that basically only requires you to clock in and clock out every day pays. Well, the selected candidate will earn a monthly salary of about $2,320, plus annual raises, benefits, vacation time and a guaranteed pension fund.
In 2017, the local government announced an international competition for artists willing to contribute ideas for the design of Gothenbug's Korsvagen train station, offering a prize of 7 million Swedish krona to the winner.
Only instead of coming up with actual design ideas, Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby suggested that the prize money be used to pay one worker's salary and give them absolutely nothing to do all day. And that's how their "Eternal Employment" project began.
The jury apparently loved the artists' original idea as their project was announced as the winner in October last year. There was an uproar in Sweden about it, with politicians from all sides accusing them of wasting taxpayers' money. Others just called the idea stupid and worthless, which the artists fully agree with. They acknowledge that paying someone to show up at a train station two times a day just to punch a time clock is unproductive and pointless, but that's the whole idea.
If you're already thinking "where do I sign up?" I have some bad news for you. Because Korsvagen train station is still under construction, the position will only become available in 2026, after the station is inaugurated. The artists will start taking in applications a year earlier.
One of Britain's most outstanding scientists says the growth in use of electronic tablets and smartphones is causing people to spend at least one hour less outdoors each day, so that they need to take regular vitamin D supplements(补充) to make up for the lack of sunlight they receive naturally.
Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales, geneticist Steve Jones said he himself was a follower to the cause and urged others to follow. "I never thought I would be a person who would take vitamin supplements, I always thought it was absolute nonsense. But now I take vitamin D every day. Today, because I knew the sun wasn't going to shine, I took an extra one," he said.
Exposure to UV light from the sun is the major source of vitamin D. However, people are spending less and less time outdoors in many areas. The problem is particularly serious in Scotland. "The Scots are the palest people in the world…for their entire body systems are crying out for vitamin D," he said, adding that life expectancy in Scotland is two years shorter than in England or Wales. Multiple sclerosis(多发性硬化症), a medical condition which is often seen in northern Europe, is also higher in Scotland than in England.
Vitamin D helps with the absorption of Ca, which helps keep bones strong, and he said the fact that rickets, a bone disease, was making a comeback in Britain after nearly 50 years was another sign of how changing behavior patterns were bringing physical harm.
Jones admitted that concerns over the damaging effects on skin of long-time exposure to the sun were reasonable, but said sunlight was healthy and necessary for the human body, and could help in lowering blood pressure. "If you lie on the beach for an hour, you will drop your blood pressure by about 10 points, because it relaxes your blood vessels(血管). So, get out in the sun while we still can." He said.
The key to a happy life has nothing to do with getting ahead at work, making money, or traveling the world. Instead, living your best life and creating meaning is all about one thing: relationships.
A study of adult development has been running at Harvard since 1938, and is now on its second generation of participants—the children of the original study's subjects. Over decades, the research team collected data about their lives, including their physical and mental health, marital (婚姻的) status and quality, career happiness, etc.
They found the most important aspect in how happy and healthy these men were over time was their relationships. In other words: Finding happiness in life is all about the people you love.
The research doesn't only include romantic relationships and marriage. Quality, close relationships are important whether they are in the situation of romantic relationships or closeness between friends or family members. The kind of relationship you have is less important than how close you feel with them.
However, the study only included men, and important gender differences exist in how people experience relationships. Some research suggests that men may benefit more from marriage. But they tend to have a harder time keeping friendships; as men get older, they will more likely say they have nobody to discuss important subjects with. So it's possible that having close relationships throughout their lives might affect men differently than women.
The findings line up with the effects of loneliness. People who are socially isolated have a greater likelihood of strokes (中风), heart attacks, and higher blood pressure, not to mention mental health issues.
Unfortunately for the youngest generations, recent surveys found that young Americans are lonelier than older generations. That will likely have a big impact on how healthy and happy people feel throughout their lives.
If you are in a crowd, the first and most important thing is to make yourself familiar with your surroundings and mentally notice alternate exits.Make yourself aware of the type of ground you are standing on, and know that in a crowd of moving people wet or uneven ground can be slippery or hazardous, causing you to fall.When in danger, a few seconds can make all the difference, giving you the possibility of taking advantage of escaping route. Always stay closer to the escape route. If you find yourself in the middle of a moving crowd, do not fight against the pressure, do not stand still or sit down, because you could easily get trampled.Take advantage of any space that may open up to move sideways to the crowd movement where the flow is weaker. Keep your hands up by your chest, like a boxer—it gives you movement and protects your chest.If you cannot get up because you are injured, get someone to pull you back up. If you have kids, lift them up. If you fall and cannot get up, keep moving by crawling in the same direction of the crowd, or if that is not possible, then cover your head with your arms and curl up into fetal position.
A. Be aware of the general atmosphere of the event, as panic situations can often be expected.
B. There is always space between people.
C. Do not lie on your stomach or back, as this dangerously exposes your lungs.
D. The worst is to be pushed by the crowd against an immovable object
E. If you fall, get up quickly.
F. No matter where you are, make sure you always know how to get out.
G. Instead, move in the same direction of the crowd.
I was taking a nap(小睡) when a loud noise woke me. Outside the window in a parking lot, a car had just 1 into a chain-link fence. The fence bent out in exactly the 2 of the car's back end.
A short man wearing a shirt unbuttoned to 3 his chest got out of the car, with a shaven head. I disliked him 4. After a few seconds of 5 the damage, the man tried to 6 that. He first attempted to pull the 7 fence back into place, but it wouldn't move. I took a drink from the glass, 8 cheering. Then he pulled against the fence's support pole, which bent 9 and was more likely to recover. But the pole suddenly broke. I laughed out loud this time. This was 10. He went back to his car. He must be going to leave all the 11 behind for someone else to tidy up.
That, I thought, would be the 12. But he reappeared a few minutes later with some 13 and got to work using them. He fixed the fence, and even 14 it using a support bar bought from a nearby grocery. Now it would be extra 15, stronger than before.
This man was actually a 16 for me, and I was the lazy one. My 17 assumptions were all about myself. I wouldn't fix that fence and would 18.Years later, I still look out of my window at that 19. It still looks new. And it makes me 20 what else that man has made better, and how I can make myself more like him.
China sent up its first Mars probe(探测器) Tianwen 1 on Thursday. It is expected (reach) the planet in about seven months. The mission to Mars is much (hard) compared to that to the moon.
China's Mars mission, (design) for the mapping of key zones of the planet's surface, indicates the country's space science and technology (progress) rapidly in the past years. It expresses the determination and perseverance(毅力) of the Chinese nation in looking for (science) truth.
Tianwen 1 has immediately grabbed people's attention after its launch, and is reported that there're countless discussions on topics related to spaceflight and the exploration of outer space. People's (curious) about the unknown and thirst for knowledge are (obvious) aroused whenever the country makes breakthroughs in space exploration. And astronauts, scientists and engineers are becoming role models more and more young people. The "Mars fever" that has been aroused shows people's desire to know more about space, which requires more innovations(创新) to discover more about the universe we live.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Time management is of great important in our daily life. There never seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplishing all you need to do. Here is some tips that might be of some help to you.
Setting up a plan. Make a list your tasks and tick the most important ones, including the things you want to do.
Focus on one thing at a time, and you will lose concentration. Otherwise, it will take you longer to complete that you set out to do.
Relax. The most important thing is to remember to take a time to relax. You need a break every now and then to keep working efficient.
Don't delay. Get our life in order now.
1）对活动表示欣慰；
2）介绍你所了解的中国剪纸；
3）邀请他来中国亲自感受。
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
