Brad hadn't seen Grandma Joy for six years since their fierce argument. At his brother's wedding, he 1 her again. He saw her walk unsteadily into the church and helped her get to the seat. But they didn't say much.
Six months after the wedding, Brad hiked the Appalachian Trail. He found himself 2 a lot about his grandmother and the time they had spent at Blue Rock State Park, which is close to her house. There, they'd lift rocks in the river to find fish. It puzzled him why that 3 in particular stayed with him. He decided to call Grandma Joy.
It would be their first real 4 in years. She invited him over and he said "yes". When the door opened, everything inside looked the same. But he was looking at a woman who had 5 . They made small talk. Grandma Joy said that she had many 6 in her life. One of them was hat except her time at Blue Rock State Park, she'd never had the chance to see what she called the great outdoors.
Brad left his grandmother's house and went back to his routine. But he couldn't help thinking of Grandma Joy and her sadness of not seeing more of 7 . She just lived a simple life that stopped at the edge of the county line. He thought it would be a lifelong pity if he didn't 8 her. Then he came up with an idea that even he knew was 9 . He would take his 85-year-old grandma on a camping trip to a national park. He told her his crazy idea. The old lady 10 him by asking, "When do we leave?"
Having arrived there, Brad made a campfire. They sat next to each other, feeling the warmth and looking at stars. They 11 the lockbox of their past, talking about families and friends, about loss and pain. They told each other they'd wasted too many years being 12 . So they decided to go on more trips together.
They have now visited 62 national parks. The open road provided time for the pair to 13 their secrets. Grandma Joy highly valued Brad's company during the trips. She said she wouldn't 14 him for anybody. Now, they're not just traveling partners, not just grandmother and grandson, but 15 ,.
Often, there is a false idea that one must be "in-the-know" to truly appreciate artworks. However, fine art opens the door to everyone. Learning how to look at and understand artworks requires us to take the time to view, identify and think.
Look at the Art
As the first step, it's necessary to take a moment to identify the artwork's general features:
● Is it a painting, sculpture or craftwork?
● Does it appear chaotic(混乱的)or organized?
● Are the colors bright or soft?
Identify the Art and Artist
Knowing when or how the artwork was made and learning something about the artist can reveal more context. We all know the famous painting Guernica is a masterpiece created by Picasso in 1937. However, if we can find out Picasso composed the painting to reflect a bombing during the Spanish Civil War, we'll know more about its anti-war meaning.
Even if the historical context of an artwork is not obvious, knowing the year of its creation offers more context.
Think About the Meaning
Use what you observed in the first two steps to think about meanings the artwork could have.
Consider what the title, the subjects, or the symbols meant to the artist when he or she created the artwork. What do the colors say about the artist, and how do they apply to the subjects in the art? For example, the owls in Lebo's works represent wisdom, but why are they so brightly colored?
In addition, ask how the art makes you feel. Many artists have specific meanings behind their art, but also encourage viewers to come up with their own explanations. Still, every explanation is not automatically correct, which is why the techniques described above are helpful in finding clues.
The next time you're admiring a work of art, keep these techniques in mind, and its meaning may unfold before your eyes.
Anuar Abdullah has always had a special feeling for the ocean. In the 1980s, he settled in Perhentian as a diving instructor and fell in love with corals. Twice daily, he went out to sea, staying underwater for as long as his oxygen supply allowed. He learned the shapes and textures(纹理) of coral reefs long before he knew their Latin names. He studied the living conditions—the water temperature, the sunshine, the diversity(多样性) of ocean life—and saw how just one of those factors could bring about large-scale death.
Abdullah spent two decades experimenting with how to grow coral reefs in the ocean. He didn't have a degree in marine (海洋的) biology or a research lab, but he had his own ways. Almost all the materials he used to grow corals came directly from the ocean. He didn't use steel pipes or bricks—which he couldn't afford—instead, he gathered rocks from the seafloor, piling them so they wouldn't be knocked down by tidal waves. While others might depend on a lab to break live coral into pieces that were in turn used for growing, he searched for broken pieces of coral in existing reefs and fixed them to the rocks using animal-friendly glue. When he needed other materials, he started by searching the beach for waste.
Every day, the locals saw him on his knees examining corals in the ocean. Sometimes, he picked up a rock to which he had fixed a piece of coral several weeks earlier, and said very quietly, "My little acropora (鹿角大珊瑚), how are you doing today?" The locals whispered about how he'd spent days in the water speaking to corals as if they were people. "Everyone thought I was stupid," said Abdullah, "But I knew I was doing the most important thing in the world."
Actually, Abdullah was right. Now, in a world rapidly losing its coral reefs to climate change and environmental damage, he has become an increasingly influential expert on how to bring them back to life. Thousands have traveled from around the world to learn from Abdullah how to grow corals, with some eventually leaving their jobs to join his projects full time. With his 700 active volunteers, he has already saved about 125 acres of coral reefs
Have you ever wished you could be better organized or more sociable? Perhaps you're a constant worrier, and you'd prefer to be a little more carefree? Actually at least 2/3 of people would like to change some elements of their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be fruitless. One's personality was thought to be formed in childhood and to remain fixed throughout his entire life.
Recent research from psychology professor Nathan Hudson and his colleagues, however, challenges this expectation of a fixed personality. With the right psychological strategies and enough effort, they say, many people can successfully shape their desired personality.
Their interventions (干预) typically involve recommending regular activities that reflect the personality traits(特征) people wish to adopt. Introverts who wish to be more outgoing, for example, might have the goal of introducing themselves to a stranger once a week, or making small talk with the cashier in the supermarket. Someone who wishes to be more organized and disciplined might be asked to carefully double-check an email before sending it, or to write a to-do list before going to bed.
While these tasks may seem insignificant, the aim is for the thinking patterns and behaviors they produce to become habitual. And the evidence so far suggests it works remarkably well. In one 15-week trial of 400 people, participants accepted an average of two challenges each week. After they completed those tasks, their traits shifted in the desired direction, according to a personality questionnaire (调查问卷).
The unexpected personality change should be good news for anyone who wishes they were a bit more sociable, organized, or happy-go-lucky. Another potential benefit is that awareness of this research could help improve mental health.
People always believe negative feelings are just part of who they are, and there is little they can do to change them. But what if educating people about their potential for personality change could place them on a more positive track? To test this idea, Harvard professor of psychology, John Weisz, and his partner selected a group of 100 teenagers who had previously shown signs of anxiety or depression. They took a computerized course that explained the science of brain plasticity(可塑性), and were then given worksheets to strengthen what they had learned.
When Weisz checked in on the teens' mental health nine months later, the students reported a significant decrease in their anxiety and depression compared with those who had instead taken part in a course on "emotional expression".
Whether you are struggling with serious issues or simply want to polish off your rougher edges, remember that character is within your own hands and you have the power to become what you want to be.
A comerstone of environmental policy is the debate over protecting nature for humans' sake (instrumental values) or for nature's (intrinsic values). We propose that focusing only on instrumental or intrinsic values may fail to resonate (引起共鸣) views on personal and collective well-being, or "what is right," about nature and the environment. It is time to engage seriously with a third class of values, one with diverse roots and current expressions: relational values. By doing so, we reframe the discussion about environmental protection, and open the door to new, potentially more productive policy approaches.
In philosophical terms, relational values are preferences, principles, and virtues associated with relationships, both interpersonal and as required by policies and social norms.
Relational values can apply to interactions with nature. Some people's identities are rooted in long-term care and stewardship, such as volunteer river-keepers, gardeners or farmers. Other people and social organizations hold worldviews that value kinship(亲属关系) between people and nature. They subscribe to the concepts of "Mother Nature," "Mother Earth," and so on. Also, many people believe that their cultural identity and well-being originate from their relationships with human and nonhuman beings, connected by particular places. Caring for and attending to places can be extremely important for maintaining cultural practices and core values. According to these views, the value of the land is not independent of humans.
Therefore, environmental policy and management should always consider the kinds of relationships people already have with nature, and how these might be engaged to lessen the negative effects of human lifestyles on ecosystems and enhance positive ones. For example, the bond between parent or teacher and child can serve as a channel for social norms, encouraging respect and passion for nature, through activities including fishing and hunting, gardening, hiking, or bird-watching. It is also possible to develop values and relationships through long-term and repeated experiences with peer(同伴) groups, by laboring on the land or taking part in outdoor adventure. Bonding is strengthened through play, struggling, suffering, and celebrating together.
Relational values are finally receiving attention. If activists, researchers, policymakers, and private-sector leaders internalize this message, perhaps environmental decisions will better account for our relationships with nature and many concepts of a good life. Attending to such values is key to the real inclusion of diverse groups in environmental protection, and to achieving social-ecological relationships that provide fulfilling lives for present and future generations.
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Tom's wife usually does the shopping, but she had the flu so Tom went instead. Selecting the fruits and vegetables went fine, but when he got to the bread section, he had trouble, because there were over 60 varieties to choose from. Tom compared different types and examined the differences. After 10 minutes of careful consideration, he picked one that seemed like the perfect choice. However, he had to repeat the process for the rest of the shopping list. By the time he had finished and paid for everything, he was tired and upset.
Why did Tom have this kind of experience? According to behavioral economics research, although having some options makes us feel good, once we get beyond that small number, the more choices we have, the less happy we feel.
The cause of our unhappiness has its root in one typical judgment error we make—our natural reactions prefer avoiding losses to making gains. This is probably because of our evolutionary(进化的) background; our minds evolved for the savanna(热带草原) environment, not for our modem shopping context. Due to this, when we have lots of options, we feel anxious about making the wrong choice and losing out on the best one.
Digging into research on factors that make a shopping trip an unhappy experience helps us improve our buying decisions. When choosing what to buy, the number one technique involves satisficing instead of maximizing.
Maximizing behavior refers to finding the perfect option when shopping. Maximizers compare all available options to make sure that they get the best deal in terms of performance, price, and so on. They have high expectations, and they hope that the product will meet their expectations.
It's the opposite for satisficers. They set certain minimal criteria (最低标准) that need to be met, then search for the first available product that meets the criteria. They look for products that are "good enough" instead of "perfect". When they focus on "good enough", their brain automatically highlights the positives, and lowers the expectations.
Research shows that maximizing behavior results in less happiness, less satisfaction, and more regret than satisficing.
To be happier, satisfice and limit your choices. Make a short list that compares a reasonable number of options and doesn't include every product available. After all, there's no such thing as the perfect deal.
注意：
1. 词数不少于80；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
……
Yours,
Li Hua
