Your adventures start here! Plan to broaden your horizons with these one-of-a-kind destinations and escapes closer to home.
Discover Bangladesh
We are specialists in tours of Bangladesh, a beautiful country still relatively untouched by tourism. Our 27-day tour package visits the very best sights and attractions in the country for just £2,130 per person. There is a maximum of six people in each group. Single supplements are also available: join any of our scheduled tours and reduce your cost. Read travellers' recent experiences on our website and discover how good we are! Email: hasan@nijhoom. com for more details.
Nijhoom Tours nijhoom.com T:00 88 01758 897959
Incredible Japan
Enjoy the wonders of Japan on a unique trip full of exciting discoveries. Explore vibrant Tokyo with its energetic city life and relax in peaceful Kyoto surrounded by tranquil temples. In spring, gaze upon graceful Mt Fuji as you sit among delicate cherry blossom or find yourself captivated by the breath-taking gold landscape on an autumn adventure. No trip is complete without sampling a variety of some of the world's best cuisine, from delicious fresh sushi to crispy tempura. Fully Escorted Tours to Japan from£3,690.
Wendy WuTours wendywutours.co.uk T: 0808 278 1657
Challenge yourself in Europe
From reaching the highest mountain sleeping spots on hut-to-hut journey in the Alps to enjoying a week discovering the Italian Lakes with a spectacular Alpine rail journey included, at KE, we have. been creating small-group walking, hiking and cycling holidays throughout Europe for over 20 years. Reserve your place on a 2024 adventure now from just £2000.
KE Adventure Travel keadventure.com T: 017687 73966
Yukon and Alaska walk
Canada's northwestern corner is a vast territory that meets the Arctic Circle and the Arctic Ocean. Homeland of First Nations and Inuit, Yukon is one of North America's largest remaining wild lands, and a place where the unexpected occurs. Grand American Adventures specializes in small-group adventure tours to the Americas, with unrivalled knowledge and experience. Book your Yukon and Alaska Walk tour from just £2,499 pp.
American Adventures grandamericanadventures.co.uk T: 0333 003 8232
Rene Compean was no stranger to Angeles National Forest. But after venturing along a new path last April, the 45-year-old mechanic was lost.
As the day faded into dusk, following several hours of aimless roaming, his concern turned to fear. With no flashlight, only a liter of water and a power bar in his backpack, and less than ten percent battery remaining on his cell phone, Compean was unprepared for anything more than the two-hour trek he'd planned. Compean climbed to a spot, some 7,000 feet above sea level, where he found at least one bar of signal. "SOS. My phone is going to die. I'm lost."He texted a friend, attaching a photo showing where he was. All Compean could do then was wait and hope. But he wouldn't sleep. After spotting two mountain lions and a bear, he spent the night on high alert.
Sixty miles away in Ventura County, The sheriff's search-and-rescue teams had spent the previous night unsuccessfully looking for Compean, so they released the photo to the public, hoping someone might know the location.
Ben Kuo, then 47, has an unusual hobby to identify where movie scenes or television shows were filmed. When he saw the blurry image of Compean's legs surrounded by an endless landscape of rocks and vegetation, he instinctively pulled up a satellite map on his laptop. Then he narrowed his search to the surrounding area. The first thing he noticed in Compean's photo were patches of greenery. After comparing it to the satellite map, Kuo realized something: "He's got to be on the south side because there's not really any green valleys on the north side."
That finding tightened his search, leading him to an area that resembled the landscape in the image. The final step was cross-referencing the original photo with 3-D images of the area from Google Earth. The locations matched!
Soon, a search-and-rescue team helicopter was in the air, hovering above Compean. After spending 27hours alone in the wildness, Compean cried, "I'm safe." Compean's story probably would have ended very differently had a total stranger with strong satellite skills and a sharp eye for de tail not taken action.
Twenty-two years ago, I won a Nobel Prize, together with Tim and Leland Hartwell, for our work on how cells control their division.
The prize changed our lives. Suddenly you become a public figure being asked to do all sorts of things: to give lectures, quite often on topics you know little about; to sit on committees and reviews you are not always well qualified to be on; to visit countries you have barely heard of. It is like having a whole new extra job, with upwards of 500 requests a year.
A recent study suggests that in general the extra commitments that Nobel winners take on result in fewer papers after their awards. There may be some truth to this given the extra demands on one's time, but of course prestigious awards also allow new projects and research to be undertaken.
What effects did the Nobel Prize have on my subsequent career and work? It has certainly helped me to get scientific leadership positions. Within a year of getting the prize I was offered and accepted the presidency of Rockefeller University in New York. Having the prize also helps to get things done. For example, I have been involved in the merging of two separate cancer research charities to form Cancer Research UK. And it has helped me support causes I care deeply about. I became an ambassador for Ukraine education and science to help raise money for schools in that shattered country. Moreover, having a Nobel does help attract high-quality research colleagues. I have just started three excellent new PhD students. It is a privilege for me to be able to pursue curiosity-driven research at this late stage of my career.
However, one thing I am glad to say that the Nobel Prize did not influence was peer review from my fellow scientists, assessing the suitability of my own research for publication, and my grant applications for funding. My rejection rates have remained essentially the same before and after the prize. And that, of course, is exactly how it should be.
When a severe heat wave covered California in July 2006, it killed an estimated 650 people. But it may be tough to recall because heat waves don't typically have names. They are already the deadliest weather-related danger, yet they remain invisible killers that few people take seriously. What if the most life-threatening heat waves did have names?
This summer, as many experience high temperatures fueled by greenhouse gas pollution and El Niño, there has been new openness to the idea of naming heat waves. People in Southern Europe have dubbed the July heat wave Cerberus. The results of a survey of more than 2,000 people found that people who knew the heat wave was named Cerberus were also more likely to take actions to stay safe, including drinking more water, spending more time indoors and warning others about the risk.
Though more research is needed, this suggests that naming heat waves, combined with stronger messaging, can not only help change people's perception of the risk, but prompt them to take protective action. It would be more effective to broadcast that Heat Wave Zoe, a dangerous Category 3 event, will start tomorrow and here's what you can do to protect yourself, your neighbors and co-workers. Names, after all, are easier to remember than numbers or weather forecasts.
But the World Meteorological(气象学的) Organization opposes naming heat waves on the grounds that it would confuse and distract the public. And the National Weather Service has no plans to rank or name heat waves either, saying that heat and its health impacts vary so dramatically across different regions and seasons that even coming up with a standard definition of a heat wave is impossible.
There's nothing to lose by trying out a pilot program to name the most dangerous heat waves. It's pretty clear the current approach to these disasters is falling far short of what's necessary to protect lives. We need other ways to call attention to it and warn the public of the danger. It's hard to make progress fighting an enemy with no name.
Cruise through many neighborhoods or parks around the world, and you will find no shortage of well-mowed expanses of grass. Lawns(草坪) do look attractive. Additionally, they can require environmentally questionable practices to maintain. Researchers and landscape architects are increasingly considering alternatives that are more sustainable, demand fewer resources and help people connect more intimately with nature. Here follows an edited excerpt of the conversation between researchers MariaIgnatieva and Marcus Hedblom.
Why did lawns become so popular?
They were like a special frontier that separated cities and towns from the wilderness. A lawn was always a symbol of how a civilized society should be. That's why it was so powerful. And of course, they are also important for recreation.
What environmental problems are lawns causing?
Lawns are homogenizing the environment, not only in terms of biodiversity but also visually. You compare countries' and cities' urban landscapes around the world, and they look exactly the same. Mowers burn fossil fuels and emit gases that heat up the atmosphere.
You have to find your own local solution. We can take inspiration from the natural plant communities around us. In suburban and rural areas, that might mean having a meadow or prairie. In other places, it might be a savanna like environment or mountain plants. You can have a "grass-free" lawn; with only low-growing plants that create the same effect as a lawn, and you can walk on it.
How can we persuade people to ad opt these alternatives?
When people see them, they appreciate them and like them. We also have to try to change the minds of decision makers, including politicians. We need to show the public there are different ways of handling our urban environment and making it better.
A. So it is all about education.
B. What are these alternatives?
C. And it is understandable fondness.
D. What are the inspirations of lawns?
E. However, they choke out biodiversity.
F. Lawns came to be seen as a symbol of civilization and a way of life.
G. Lawn upkeep takes resources, fertilizer and pesticide that enter groundwater and runoff water.
I was first going into this final day, the Junior Sled Dog Championship. We'd trained two years and wanted to beat Blake. I knelt down to pa t Kenai and my hands 1 from nerves and excitement. Kenai tipped up his face to lick my chin. "You are 2 , aren't you?"
Just before the count down started, Blake shot me a 3 grin, hands trembling too. Then I heard, "Go!"4 I could yell "Hike!", Kenai leaped forward. The rest of the dogs 5 after. We started last. We flew down the long hill. Then we 6 a corner. I leaned to keep the sled steady. Kenai saw Blake's team before I did. His tail flew up, and he 7 . Seeing his tongue still flopping forward, I let him go all out. We closed the 8 . A bridge later, we inched closer. On the next hill, Kenai drew even with Blake's sled and then we passed it.
9 our sled hit a branch. The runners caught. I lost my 10 and fell off the sled. Witnessing the sled come to a stop, I struggled through the deep snow to Kenai. I 11 . His shoulder was bleeding.
"Kenai! No!" My voice came out a howl. Kenai 12 to stand. He looked at me, his blue eyes13 to keep on. He would do it, too. For one frozen moment I saw myself on the winner's stand with the trophy(奖杯). But no. I bent and gently 14 Kenai in a blanket.
The race vet examining Kenai, I watched Blake accept the trophy. Kenai squirming in my lap, I leaned over upon him. Just at that moment, I felt a warm tongue on my wet cheek. I smiled and realized that I had the 15 that really counted.
I remember that every year in lunar December in my hometown, Xinyang, each family begins to prepare bunches of bacon and sausage hanging from yard to yard (embrace) the upcoming New Year. Walking in such a street view and sniffing the smell of pickled bacon(腊肉),I always have a sense of (happy).
Xinyang, located on the boundary between the north and the south, is rich in rice, wheat and fertile land due to its unique (geography) position and climate. Therefore, it cultivates the characteristics of Xinyang people who have a good appetite delicacies. According to relevant records, the history of Xinyang's pickled bacon dates back to the Ming Dynasty, the locals learned to keep its special taste by preserving it in a special bean. People in Xinyang love their life so much that even during (tough) times, they still inherited the soul of taste and made delicious pickled bacon. Actually, Xinyang's pickled bacon is made in seemingly simple way by drying the meat in the shade but it brings out the flavor of the food (it) and stays with our memory for long.
You'll never become fully conscious of how much you value it until you (tear) apart from it. Such is Xinyang's pickled bacon, one of my unforgettable memories of my hometown despite time (tick) by.
内容包括：1. 倡议目的;
2. 活动内容;
3. 呼吁参加。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80 个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Dear teachers and schoolmates, …… the Students' Union |
Rising to reach for the book on the desk in the living room, Gudrun fell over her little brother, who had crawled out from underneath her chair. "Arnar! Why do you always have to be right under me?"
The five-year-old giggled. "I was hiding," he said, "and you found me."
"I'm not playing," Gudrun scolded. "I'm knitting. And it's time for you to go to bed." Her parents had gone out for the evening, leaving Gudrun in charge.
"Let me hide once more,"Arnar begged. "Then I'll go to sleep, I promise."
Gudrun couldn't help smiling. "Oh, all right." She turned back to her knitting. "I'll look for you when I've finished this row."
"Here's a clue,"Arnar called as he skipped away. "Look for me where I always am."
But Gudrun was already absorbed in her work.
Gudrun wasn't sure what had awakened her in the middle of the night. Was it the urgency in Mamma's voice or the frightening and low rumble that rolled through her room? Gudrun found herself suddenly wide
awake, drawn to the window by a strange and unfamiliar brilliance outside. "An eruption," Mamma said as she began to gather Gudrun's clothes. "Maybe Helga fell, maybe a new volcano. We must leave the island quickly."
"Tonight? How?" Gudrun asked, her heart pounding. "Where will we go?"
"We're lucky. The fishing boats will take us to the mainland." Mamma turned to face Gudrun."Pabbi has already gone to the harbor. I'm going to help Margret." Their elderly. neighbor lived alone. Mamma proceeded, "can you dress Arnar and take him to the harbor by yourself?"
"Of course," she declared. Everyone would help tonight. Icelanders had always worked together to survive in a land ruled by volcanoes, glaciers, and ocean.
Gudrun dressed and ran to her brother's room."Arnar!"she cried, "Wake up!" Hearing no response, Gudru n hurried to the bed and pulled back her brother's thick cover.
注意： 1. 续写词数应为150 左右; 2. 开头已给出。
Paragraph1:
Arnar wasn't there!
……
Paragraph2:
There, curled around a worn stuffed bear, was Arnar, sound asleep.
