Through connecting with people and the outdoors, a cycling holiday can boost both your physical and mental well-being. We have researched the best routes for the perfect cycling holiday here and even if two wheels is not your usual mode of transport, you'll be sure to find your next cycling destination here.
Camel Trail
Stretching 27. 8 km from Padstow to Wenfordbridge, the Camel Trail in North Cornwall is not only a fairly flat cycle, but is also home to some breathtaking views of the coast and family-friendly camping spots. With 96% of the route traffic free, you'll certainly have a great time on this cycling holiday, whether you're a green hand cyclist or an expert on two wheels.
Tissington Trail
One hundred percent traffic free, the Tissington Trail is 21. 3 km long, making it a safe and simple trip for families. The Tissington Trail follows an old railway line which still has the former station platforms.
Marriott's Way
Marriott's Way is about 26 miles, winding its way through glorious countryside and picturesque villages. There is an abundance of wildlife—you might see kestrels, hares, orchids and if you're very lucky, otters—ancient churches, local food pleasures and artwork to enjoy along the way. The Marriott's Way cycling trail best suits families and friends who are keen riders with its steepest slope.
Lagan Towpath
Explore Northern Ireland's natural beauty with the Lagan Towpath cycling and walking trail.
It is 100% traffic free, so you'll only ever bump into other families and walkers, making it one of the safest routes to try. Make the most of the holiday by spending a day or two in Northern Ireland's capital, Belfast, before departing on the 21. 3 km bike ride down Lagan Valley.
Inside а tiny shop in Manchester Adam Birce carefully carves at а woodblock. He looks carefully at each piece to ensure they fit and match before gently setting them together. Adam Birce, the owner of Four Strings, restores stringed instruments like violins and his passion is in restoring and appreciating what has already been crafted and loved.
Birce started playing the violin in grade school and grew to truly appreciate it. He played semiprofessionally out of high school and later got his degree in music at Virginia Commonwealth University as a violinist. After graduating, he landed a job selling violins. "As fate would have it, I was asked by my employer to learn to fix violins 15 years ago," he says. "I soon moved off on my own to do restoration." Since 2014, he's been on a mission with Four Strings to provide excellent fine-instrument restoration for the commonwealth.
Violin restoration isn't a self-taught skill. Each summer for the past decade, Birce has traveled to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for up to two weeks to study under famous violin restoration expert Hans J. Nebel. Here, students learn everything from delicate edging repair to violin identification. "A lot of the work itself is learning as you go," Birce says. "It's a lot of problem-solving and critical thinking, like coming up with a woodworking context."
How long а job takes varies. "Most are about 3-6 months for major work, unless a full top-to-bottom restoration is needed, which can take even longer," Birce explains. "I leave that up to the client if they want to commit to that." One of his longest jobs was working on a Scottish violin from the early 1800s that had been water-damaged. "I had to use every skill in my toolbox to fix it," Birce laughingly recalls. "It was a very onerous job."
If there's one thing to be learned from Birce's passion, it's that each violin is unique in its own right. He compares the fine instruments market to the fine arts market. "A lot of these instruments are fine art," he says. "I kind of say this is a Picasso I'm playing or a Degas. I've worked on a few, which is always a joy."
Gardeners such as Prince Charles who claim that talking to plants encourages them to grow have long been seen as a little silly. But scientists have discovered evidence which suggests the Royal may actually be right and they could be listening to him. Biologists at Tel Aviv University in Israel have found that flowers can act as a plant's "ears" to help them detect the sound of approaching insects.
When the researchers played recordings of flying bees to evening primrose flowers, within three minutes the sugar concentrations in the nectar (花蜜) of its flowers increased. The fluid, produced to attract pollinating (授粉) insects, was on average 20 percent higher in flowers exposed to the buzz compared to those left in silence or exposed to higher pitched sounds. Professor Lilach Hadany, who led the study, said: "Our results document for the first time that plants can rapidly respond to pollinator sounds in an ecologically relevant way."
However, Prof Hadany said a plant's ability to respond to pollinators may be weakened in city environments or beside a busy road. While plants require water, sunlight and the right temperature to grow, it is widely believed they do not have senses in the way animals do.
But the study, published on the open-science website BioRxiv, suggests the efforts of gardeners who talk to their plants may not be in vain."Plants' ability to hear has implications well beyond pollination — plants could potentially hear and respond to herbivores, other animals, the elements, and possibly other plants," Prof Hadany added.
A month-long experiment conducted by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2009 found female voices appear to speed up the growth of tomatoes. The research offers a possible explanation — women's voices were at the right frequency for the plants to hear.
Recently, the Norwegian island of Sommary announced that it was getting rid of time to become the world's first time-free zone. It sounded extremely pleasant—to leave the clock behind and do what you wanted whenever you wanted to. Unfortunately, the idea turned out to be a clever strategy to attract public attention by Norway's tourism agency rather than the real deal. But it raises a fundamental question—can we live totally without time?
"From a consciousness viewpoint we simply can't lose our awareness of time, as it's closely connected to our sense of self," explains German psychologist Marc Wittmann. "Many cells in our body possess their own autonomous clock. If those clocks get out of sync (不同步), however, it could cause problems." Canadian scientist Holly Andersen agrees, believing it's not possible to have conscious experience without the passage of time. Think about how your personal identity is built over time and filed away as memories. "These memories make up who you are over time," says Andersen.
While we can't give up the concept of the passage of time at such fundamental levels, day in day out forcing our bodies to stick to an abstract concept of time that ignores natural rhythms may lead to physical problems. A typical example is Daylight Saving Time (DST)—where we move clock time one hour forward relative to the cycle of daylight. There are a number of studies suggesting that switching to DST disturbs our internal body clocks, leading to less sleep, worse performance in tests and learning issues.
The clock, it seems, isn't always good for us. So, how can we live in a world ruled by clock time? "Giving yourself permission to do something without any time limit can help restore some of your body's normal rhythms. If possible, wake up naturally or go for a walk until you feel you're done. You don't have to have a life where you meditate (冥想) for ten hours a day," says Andersen. "But letting go of time restrictions on your actions for a twenty-minute period can be very healthy."
Have you had a meltdown lately? An emotional meltdown isn't exactly a medical disease. It's a popular term used to describe a situation where we are overcome emotionally of hit a breaking point.
How do you feel after you've had a meltdown? Do you feel embarrassed about your behavior? An occasional meltdown doesn't mean something is "wrong" with you. It may just be an indicator of a challenging time for you.
While most people would rather forget a meltdown as quickly as possible, it can be a learning experience.
If you feel embarrassed about revealing your emotions in public, you might examine how you feel about your feelings. Why isn't it okay for you to be angry, or to be sad, or to need something from someone else?So, be kind to yourself.
If your meltdown involved raising your voice at other people or behavior like throwing an object in the presence of others, apologize and come up with a plan to manage your emotions differently the next time you're upset or stressed. If you find this type of behavior is common for you and you're having difficulty managing it on your own, consider reaching to a psychologist.It damages another person's attitude and eats into their health.
Your experience serves a basis for reflection. Be kind to yourself and find some helpful ways to deal with meltdowns:
A. It can happen to anyone.
B. Are you a happy person?
C. Learn from every meltdown.
D. There are some negative effects about meltdown.
E. Shaming yourself about your emotion is not helpful.
F. Are you anxious about possible consequences for your outburst?
G. Having an emotional meltdown is never an excuse for abusive behavior.
Anuar Abdullah is a 61-year-old diving instructor in Malaysia. When he isn't 1 , he's back out in the water2 , studying, and restoring coral reefs (珊瑚礁).
Now, as climate change becomes an3 threat, governments, corporations, and others are coming to him for4 .
Abdullah has no degree in marine biology or5 training—just an amount of experience. In just the past decade, thousands have6 him for advice on how to grow corals, and he now has around 700 active volunteers and has already 7 hundreds of acres of coral reefs.
In 2017, Thailand's government asked Abdullah to 8 the restoration of one of its most famous tourist attractions, Maya Bay, because it had9 half its coral population.10 were kept out of the site for three years while Abdullah led a team of 120 people in11 new corals.
In 2021, after Typhoon Rai, the island of Cebu in the Philippines asked Abdullah to save what was12 of the shoreline's coral reefs. And earlier this year, Abdullah launched a new effort to build the world's largest coral nursery in the Red Sea. There was a13 on the nursery at the U.N. climate change summit (峰会), COP27, but Abdullah did not attend. He 14 conferences, he says. And he had15 to do.
The world's biggest kite, shaped like a dragon and stretching over 280 meters,(fly) high on Sunday in the skies over the Chinese city of Weifang. The city in the eastern province of Shandong is birthplace of kites and home to the Weifang International Kite Festival since 1984.
The highlight of this year's edition was the "Chinese Giant Dragon", four meters in(high) and 3.6 meters in width and is the widest of its kind in the world. "It took 28 experienced workers 48 days to design and complete the kite. Fifty-five people(require) to fly it," said Zhang Huagang, general manager of Weifang Tianshun Kite Productions and one of the kite makers.
According to Zhang, the giant dragon kite,(use) traditional Chinese techniques, "refers to our nation's wishes for prosperity and fortune". The kite festival, now in its 38th edition, opened on Friday the presence of hundreds of amateurs and professionals, flooded to the city from near and far to display their creations at the event.
This year's festival features a record 1,628 kites in (vary) forms by 500 participants (divide) into 188 teams from over 31 provinces and regions from across the country.(addition), a 1000-drone demonstration attracted more than 100,000 viewers.
注意：1．写作词数应为80左右；2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Alan,
……
Yours,
Li Hua
Mr. Taylor checked again: water, food, bandage, medicines, a compass, and a map wrapped in plastic... Bingo! He put all that he prepared for the coming hiking into his backpack.
Mr. Taylor was fond of hiking, this time in particular, for it was the first time for him to hike with his two sons, Harry and Joel. Joel liked reading books about explorers and Harry joined the hiking club in his school this term. It will be an unforgettable experience, definitely, he whispered to himself unconsciously a smile spreading over his face.
Harry and Joel, however, argued for the first three miles of their hiking trip. Harry accused Joel of wearing smelly old shoes. Joel blamed Harry for using all of the bug spray（喷雾防虫剂）.Harry told Joel he smelled terrible. Joel called Harry a coward（懦夫）.
"Will the two of you just quiet down and enjoy our hike together?" their father said. "You're missing all of the beautiful scenery!"
It was true. Neither Joel nor Harry had taken notice of the bear their father had spied at the start of their trip. They hadn't looked up at the eagle he pointed out overhead. Worst of all, they hadn't paid any attention to the turns and twists along the way while they continued their argument.
"Joel threw a stick at me!" Harry screamed. "That's not true!" Joel shouted back.
Mr. Taylor could no longer contain his anger. "And both of you need to stop arguing!" he erupted. As he turned to face them, his left foot caught on a root. He slipped backward and down muddy bank, falling into the river that ran alongside the path,
Harry and Joel raced to their father's assistance. They helped him up out of the water, and then dragged his wet backpack up onto land.
Fortunately, their wet-through father found himself just slightly injured.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
But his glasses came off when he fell in the water.
Paragraph 2:
"Just calm down." Mr. Taylor shouted, "Without my glasses, we need to work together to find our way. "
