Beyond the famous historic cities and world-famous sights, you'll find the real Italy tucked away. Meet some of Italy's lesser-known regions and get to know the real Italy.
Cilento
Located just south of Naples, the walking paths and coastal roads of Cilento will reward you with inspiring sea views, highland backdrops and beautiful harbor (港口) towns. The waterside restaurants offer the best buffalo mozzarella, a type of cheese, in Italy! You'll find many hundred-year-old people living here thanks to their healthy diet.
Umbria
Landlocked Umbria is a truly comer of Italy and is a feast for the senses with its museums, galleries, Romanesque churches and cathedrals. Wander through the narrow streets of historic Perugia, take a guided tour of the impressive Etruscan caves at Orvieto, or admire the frescoes (湿壁画) of the Basilica di San Francesco and the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi.
Piedmont
While the region is full of green-gold vineyard (葡萄园), Piedmont is also a hotbed of culinary excellence, with its focus on local production and food origin. The small town of Bra and its parish, Pollenzo, is the birthplace of the international Slow Food movement, and home to the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
Basilicata
Basilicata is filled with historic hilltop towns that look out across the mountainous landscapes of the Lucanian Dolomites. As a region that remains relatively unexplored, it is a fascinating corner off the beaten path that is place where Italy's attractive for its historical presence. It's home to neighbourhoods of prehistoric houses believed by many to be the first settlers arrived over 9,000 years ago.
A mom's job is never truly finished — Elise knew this when her son was born. For at least the hundredth time, she sat next to his bed in that chair mending his quilt (被子), which was one from a flea (跳蚤) market selling cheap goods, and telling the stories.
To call it a quilt stretched the definition as it was nothing more than a thousand pieces of oddly shaped cloth together, layer after layer, until the whole of it was thick enough to hold in the warmth of a small boy's body as he drifted off to sleep.
"I love how cool it feels when I first get into bed," her little man observed the first night he wrapped himself in the old quilt. "But before long, it warms up, and I'm snug as a bug in a rug. It's very comfortable and relaxing. Where did you get it?"
The question for stories was one whose answer was too simple to interest on a wide eyed little boy, so Elise stretched the truth of the quilt. "It was brought over on the Mayflower by the Pilgrims (朝圣者) to America," she answered to her son's delight. "It's made from pieces of fabric from all over Europe and is the first blanket used by the first Americans." It was just a hard history of the family. Elise sat by his bed and mended the "heirloom" (传家宝). Then she would continue the "true" story of how the quilt had found its way to her son.
"During the Revolutionary War, your quilt was captured by General Cornwallis and used to keep his legs warm on the cold winter nights." Elise said, weaving a story as complicated as the blanket itself. "George Washington took it from Cornwallis and used it during his eight years as president."
"You mean my blanket has been to the White House?"
"Of course it has," Elise answered with a wink (睁眼).
"Who then, Mom?" The little boy asked, "Who took my blanket to the White House?" "That's a story for Tater," Elise replied, kissing her son on his forehead. "Now you get some sleep, and I'll continue the story next time. I'll tell you more about your great great grandfather's story and the treasures he had passed on us."
This was a major week in AI (Artificial Intelligence), with some of the largest companies announced its flagship and leading models: GPT-4 from OpenAI's made its first show to the public, while Google put out its Med-PaLM 2, a new-and-improved medical model etc. Meanwhile, Company Anthropic introduced its ChatGPT competitor Claude API which is a lighter and cheaper. And in China, Tsinghua launched ChatGLM, a chat-based Chinese-English model, in somewhat as a reminder of ChatGPT. In this AI spring, much awaits for customers.
Designs are on the rise. November's release ChatGPT turned AI a breaking news. Two months later, it amounted to 100 million monthly active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Earlier this month, OpenAI came to market for the first time — the ChatGPT. Finally, both Google and Microsoft put out AI plans as well.
Funds are flooding. Recent attention turns to a large amount of investment on Microsoft's $10 billion OpenAI. The past few months have witnessed a "gold rush" for new AI model startups. Some standouts: Adept raised $350 million, Google dropped another $300 million into Anthropic, Character AI raised $200 million from Andreesen Horowitz, Perplexity raised $25 million, and Salesforce Ventures launched a $250 million fund.
Demands for policy. As foundation models change rapidly, the demand for AI policy grows as well, which catches the attention of top policymakers across the world, attempting to ensure AI security. In the U.S., Congressman Ted Lieu presented a report calling for AI regulation that was written by ChatGPT, accompanied by a column (专栏) in the New York Times.
"AI is no longer a matter of science fiction, nor is it a technology confined or restricted to research labs. AI will drastically change our lives. Jobs like journalists, lawyers and doctors are facing challenges. AI is a technology that is already being highly concerned."
DNA from Beethoven's hair is helping to uncover what may have caused his death, scientific researchers say.
The composer was troubled by health issues for most of his life. On March 26, 1827, he left the world with a puzzle as to what many historians doubted was his liver (肝脏) failure while in his apartment in Vienna. Now, an analysis of hairs passed down through his families and gathered by collectors shows that Beethoven carried several genetic factors for his liver disease, the scientists report on March 22, 2023 in Current Biology.
This increased the risk-paired with liver illness and the composer's frequent alcohol drinking habits — may have burdened Beethoven's younger death at the age of 56, says Tristan Begg, a biologist at the University of Cambridge in the UK.
It's well-known that Beethoven's storied legends career was cut short by his gradual hearing loss that left the composer completely deaf by age 45. Beethoven also suffered from stomach and a worsening liver. That faulty liver is thought to be responsible for the composer's skin reportedly turning yellow in the summer of 1821.
The root cause of Beethoven's terrible health issues has been a source of fascination to many. But working out what troubled a man that lived nearly two centuries ago is no easy task. Researchers have had to rely on notes from the composer.
Everything about Beethoven, his sensitivity, his understanding of the world, his unique wisdom and will, the unique construction method of the heavens for him, his ideals, his songs, as well as the unique substances in his body, his temperament, and so on, are all representatives of that particular times in Europe. A great man is the one overcome all the obstacles on the way in life.
When starting college, most students enjoy a week's stay on campus before classes actually begin. Below are several tips to ease yourself into college life.
Participating in campus welcome activities.
Most universities host welcome events before the academic year officially begins, including freshmen orientations (迎新会), campus picnics, and entertainments like concerts. Participating in such events is a great way to learn about school facilities and understand campus culture: What are their favorite classes? What is the history of your university? It can help you observe campus life outside the classroom.
Exploring campus.
Getting to know where essential campus resources are — such as the student advising center, psychological services, and the tutoring center will make your first few weeks on campus a lot easier. Take some time to check out the buildings where your classes will be held. This will prevent you from getting lost in the first few days of classes. .
Starting classes means being in different places at different times, so it's a great idea to start getting used to that routine right this week. Following the planned time will ensure you have enough sleep to get to those early classes and stay wide awake. If you have other daily routines, such as exercising or talking on the phone with family, work those into your day-to-day life before classes start so that you get a better idea of how they fit in with your schedule.
A. Starting a routine.
B. Scheduling your life.
C. What do students do for fitting in?
D. What should you do with that time?
E. What helps you most is to schedule your sleep.
F. What can you do to adapt to the new high school life?
G. It also familiarizes you with how long it takes to get from place to place.
I went to an old friend's farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and 1 past a house which had apparently not been used in many years. A 2 at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), 3 trying to escape. I 4 her from spider-webs (蛛网).
With the bird in my 5 hand, I looked around to see how she had got in. The broken window was the 6 answer. I stuffed a piece of cloth into the 7 and took her outside.
When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I 8 the sticky spider-webs that covered her head and wings. 9, she made no attempt to fly. Perhaps she had been 10 too long and was too tired? Or too 11?
As I 12 her toward my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly 13.
Two hours later, as I was 14, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. Finally, she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then 15 a squeaking call, seeming to say good bye to me, and was gone. What an amazing bird!
China's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) announced on Wednesday that 68 lost Chinese cultural relies have been returned from the UK, (set) a good example for international cooperation in fighting against (legal) trade of cultural items.
"The recovered 68 smuggled (走私) cultural relics (reach) an ideal end due to the Chinese government's efforts over the past 25 years, is a significant landmark for the spirit of international conventions." said Guan Qiang, deputy director of NCHA, the press conference.
These cultural relics were found in the UK in 1995 during an investigation into an international cultural relic crime ring. Since buyer of these cultural relics refused to participate in negotiations for their return, the cultural relics were seized by the British police for 25 years. In January, the Metropolitan Police Service in London contacted the Chinese Embassy in the UK offered to return the cultural relics. They explained that the relics (involve) in the case had been classified as "no owner".
The return of the cultural relics has been applauded by Chinese netizens, with many posting (message) such as "welcome home" on social media. Some netizens have also called for a return of the cultural relics in the British Museum's collection. However, Guan explained, "The return of relics is complicated and requires lots of historical evidence and communication between countries, so although we hope something can be recovered, that does not mean it can be recovered (success)."
