Spain is a country that continues to surprise and let us tell you it's not all sunbathing and shopping! We're outlining our top 3 reasons to discover Spain along with our holiday suggestions to help you make up your mind.
Stunning scenery
From the dramatic, imposing mountains to the countless glistening beaches that dot its coastlines, Spain is a country full of natural beauty and inspiring landscapes. If breath-taking views and unique scenery captures your attention then our top suggestion is to experience a holiday to Tenerife where you can enjoy the inspiring its volcanic views and panoramic scenery. The largest of the Canary Islands, just south of Spain, Tenerife has a rugged, volcanic landscape as well as over 200 miles of coastline boasting a huge variety of flora and fauna.
Beautiful beaches
Did you know that Spain has over 5,000 miles of coastline and thousands of beaches? Wherever you go, you are never far from a beach. From undiscovered, hidden alcoves to popular tourist resorts, there's a beach for everyone and with over 300 days of sunshine each year you're guaranteed the weather to enjoy them! This beautiful country also has the most blue flag beaches in the world so now you've no excuse! With thousands of beaches to choose from, where will you go?
Fabulous food
For many people, one of the highlights of Spain is, of course, the amazing food on offer. The country's vibrant cities offer up Michelin-starred restaurants and lively tapas bars, while small-town cafés and restaurants offer up traditional dishes such as paella, seafood stew, and chorizo, made with love from family recipes.
Spanish cuisine is known for being delicious, healthy, and full of flavour, so there are many unique dishes available that will tempt your taste buds. If we've made you hungry, then you should take a holiday to Costa Brava, a Spanish foodie destination that should not be missed!
College professors these days face an ever-higher bar to grab the attention of their students, forced to compete with the stimuli of smartphones and laptops in large lecture halls. But when your professor is a social media star, it's a little bit easier.
Tatiana Erukhimova, who teaches physics at Texas A&M University, has managed to get her students, as well as future generations, excited about the science. Known as "Dr. Tatiana" to her students and online fan base, the professor performs physics tricks with boundless energy and enthusiasm. Videos of her theatrical demonstrations have racked up hundreds of millions of views across TikTok and other social media platforms.
In the kid-friendly videos, Erukhimova uses a range of everyday objects in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to marshmallows, bicycle wheels and hair dryers. She credits the university marketing team's videos of her lessons for her social media success. "This is just one of our ways to connect with people to make physics accessible to people," she tells NPR. As part of the physics department's extensive outreach program, she also puts on shows almost every week teaching physics to K-12 students. "The sooner kids are taught physics and taught it well, the better," she says.
It's clear she knows what it takes to get young people excited about a hard science. But it wasn't always that way. When she first started teaching college freshman classes almost two decades ago, she says she struggled to grab the attention of her younger students. She was used to teaching juniors, as she had for a few years prior to that. But when it comes to teaching a large lecture hall of 100-plus first-year students, first impressions are make or break.
"I did not grab their attention on the first day — that was my mistake," she says. "I missed this opportunity to bond with them from the very beginning, and then it took me a while to find my voice."
By the second semester, she found her footing, tweaking her approach to make her lecture halls feel smaller, and get her students engaged. The key, she says, has been to make herself approachable and her instruction personal.
The oil and gas industry may be emitting about three-times the amount of climate-warming methane than government estimates show, according to a new study from Stanford University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other organizations in Nature. Methane (甲烷) is the main component of natural gas and among the greenhouse gases heating the planet, which is produced when extracting crude oil.
Specific measurements varied from a low of less than 1%, or about what the Environmental Protection Agency estimates, at a site in Pennsylvania to a high of nearly 10% in New Mexico. Researchers found the higher percentages of methane released generally had something in common. "These are places where production is mostly focusing on oil," says Evan Sherwin, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. But oil and gas often come out of the ground together, and if there wasn't a. way to transport the less-valuable gas to where it could be sold, leaks were higher.
In Pennsylvania, by contrast, drillers are focused on producing natural gas, and there, very little of the methane was wasted. That complicates an argument many in the industry have made, generally in opposition to tighter government regulations on methane. They say drillers have the incentive to capture gas leaks so they can sell the fossil fuel. But that's not always possible, if industry hasn't built the pipelines and other infrastructure to get the gas to consumers. In this study, researchers estimate the industry releases about 6.2 million tons of methane a year, valued at $1.08 billion.
"Emissions of methane from fossil fuel operations remain unacceptably high," said Tim Gould, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, during a Tuesday call with reporters. The organization's Global Methane Tracker shows methane from the energy sector was near the record high level in 2023.
Despite that, the IEA concludes that if countries fully implement existing pledges on methane reductions, that would make significant progress toward achieving global climate goals. "2024 could mark a turning point and policies are starting to be put into place. Greater transparency is coming. Awareness is spreading and we have enhanced ability to track large leaks and act quickly to shut them down," Gould said. Gould said he hopes to have good news to share, about a reduction in methane emissions, next year.
Crossing paths with a wild boar (野猪) can pose fear and joy in equal measure. Despite 700years of extinction in Britain, the species' own tenacity and illegal releases from the 1980s have now led to several populations emerging. However, with impacts on both people and the countryside, their right to exist in Britain is heavily debated.
However, the boar's habitat-regenerating actions that benefit other wildlife, even if they are unloved by many. The few boar in England are threatened again by poaching and culling. Why is more not being done to prevent their re-extinction?
Naturalist, writer and science communicator Chantal Lyons addresses all these complex issues and explains what it might take for us to coexist with wild boar in her new book, Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain's Wild Boar. In this extract, she explains the history of the wild boar in Britain.
Most of the last millennium was not kind to the wild boar of Europe. But they endured when so many other large animals did not, and their star is ascendant once more. Their population status is rated as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which reports that the species now has one of the vastest geographical distributions of all land animals, partly thanks to humans.
And so, with hindsight, the return of wild boar to Britain was inevitable. If not intentional. There'd been mutterings among environmentalists for decades that the species should be reintroduced. The market got a taste for them.
More farms sprung up, buying in animals from the Continent, where they had never been extinct and the farming of them was already long established. By the early 1990s there were 40 registered breeders in the UK.
Despite thousands of years of trying, one of the qualities that has proven most challenging to breed out of the farmed pig is escapology. Life, as a certain fictional mathematician once said, finds a way. Our woodlands had been waiting for nearly 700 years. Answering whatever call was sounding in their brains, wild boar began to escape from the farms. Or, in some cases, seem to have been variously helped out by storm damage, animal rights activists, hard-up owners and shooters. Each freed individual was a spark. Something new, something hot and bright with potential. Not all those sparks took. But enough did.
How to manage sleep anxiety
Aside from the main symptom of not being able to fall asleep, or constantly waking up throughout the night, sleep anxiety has very similar symptoms to general anxiety disorders. Sleep deprivation can have a huge impact on your health and wellbeing, and sleep anxiety can make it difficult, even impossible, to have get a good night's sleep. Studies have shown that singular stressful events, like taking an exam, have little impact on your cortisol levels and they soon return to normal. This suggests that a night of tossing and turning the day before a job interview might be a one off, but facing stress every day — like being stressed about lack of sleep — has a significant impact on your sleep cycle.
The first step is to identify what's causing your lack of sleep. Is it stress at work, or in your relationship? Is it past injury? Is it bad dreams making you want to put off sleeping so they don't keep recurring? Try to understand why you find it a struggle to sleep.
If nightmares and sleep paralysis are stopping you from sleeping, you might think there's nothing you can do to calm your subconscious — but there are things you can try that can make your dreams more positive. . Studies have shown that people with a better "peace of mind" have more positive dreams, whereas symptoms of anxiety related to negative dreams. Cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT, teaches you to change the way you think in order to change your behaviour. It could help you understand how sleep anxiety is affecting your body and brain, avoid things that trigger your anxiety and make sleep impossible, and help change the negative way you view sleep.
Sometimes, less is more, and perhaps trying too hard to force yourself to sleep with a 20-step bedtime routine could be adding to the pressure and anxiety you're feeling, and have the opposite affect that you want. If you usually try to sleep in a warm room with a hot water bottle, try lowering the temperature. Sleeping in a colder room prevents cortisol levels rising, and helps your body release melatonin instead, which helps you sleep — this is why it's often so difficult to sleep during a heatwave.
A. These can be listed as follows.
B. If It's not working, it's time to try something new.
C. Take a comfortable sleeping position, ideally on your back.
D. This can help you deal with the anxiety surrounding it and then end the hatred cycle.
E. However, chronic stress and anxiety can make the increase in the hormone last a long time.
F. Try some mindful techniques as part of your bedtime routine as well as throughout the day.
G. These include a continual feeling of unease, increased heart rate, sweating, and tensed muscles
Recently, video clips of Zhang Jianna, a sanitation (环卫) worker, directing foreigners have gone viral online. Her 1 English and confident 2 in the clips have deeply impressed the viewers, 3 curiosity about how an ordinary-looking sanitation worker 4 such impressive English skills.
Behind the sensation 5 a decade-long journey of persistence. In 2012, Zhang Jianna took on the role of a sanitation worker in the embassy area of Sanlitun in Beijing's Chaoyang district. A special 6 while working has motivated Zhang to learn English by herself, a pursuit she continues with determination to this day.
"My goal is quite simple. I just want to help whenever someone is in need, whether asking for directions, inquiring about visa 7 , or telling them about the embassy area I am responsible for," said Zhang.
Thus, at the age of 40, Zhang has embarked on a personal 8 . Without a tutor, she began learning English from her children's textbooks, starting with basic words and phrases commonly used for giving 9 .
With no fixed study hours, she utilized every 10 moment. While others rested, she memorized vocabulary and practiced speaking. Upon arriving home after work, she would write down new knowledge points and 11 them until she thoroughly understood them. Over the years, she filled over a dozen notebooks with her notes. Her 12 posed her biggest challenge. "13 is key to learning English. Learn step by step, learn every day," Zhang said.
When asked about the greatest 14 of learning English, Zhang emphasizes self-confidence. "Growing up in a rural area without a college education, I sometimes feared being looked down upon. But every time I help a 15 in English, I feel incredibly accomplished."
Chinese Loong Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is a vibrant and festive celebration (mark) the beginning of the lunar calendar. This annual event is deeply (root) in Chinese culture, symbolizing renewal, family reunions, and guiding in of good fortune.
The festivities typically span 15 days, colorful parades, dragon and lion dances, and dazzling fireworks shining the streets. Families come together for plentiful feasts, exchanging gifts, and paying (respect) to ancestors. The air is filled with the sounds of joyous laughter and traditional music.
One of the (much) iconic features of Chinese New Year is the red decorations brightening homes and streets. Red symbolizes good luck and (prosper) in Chinese culture. People also participate in the tradition of giving and receiving red envelopes containing lucky money, known as "hongbao," as gesture of good wish and well-being.
As the Year of the Dragon, Loong Year is particularly auspicious, believed to bring strength, vitality, and success. People across the globe join in the festivities, creating a sense of unity and (share) celebration.
Chinese Loong Year is a time-honored tradition that (exceed) borders emphasizing the importance of family, cultural heritage, the hopeful anticipation of a prosperous year ahead.
1.典礼时间与地点；
2.典礼内容；
3.期待回复。
注意：
1.词数80 左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Rudi Gonsalves could barely contain his excitement as he sped downhill. It was the first day of his holiday in the Romanian ski resort of Poiana Brasov and he was 6,000 feet up one of its highest mountains, breathing in the cleanest air.
Weather and snow conditions were perfect. An experienced skier, he tackled the difficult "black" run with ease, knees gently bent to meet the uneven surface of the snow.
Rudi, a part-time youth worker from Epsom Downs, Surrey, regularly booked a winter holiday with his wife Sue. But Sue was scared of heights and could not overcome her sense of foreboding as the skiing season approached.
So this time Rudi, a keen sportsman and fit for his 57 years, had come alone.
As he snaked his way down the mountain on that March afternoon last year, snowflakes began to fall—lightly at first, then more heavily until the clouds blotted out the sun entirely, transforming everything into a ghostly whiteness.
He could just make out other skiers descending the slopes as fast as they could. I'd better stay close to them for safety, he decided. This could be tricky.
Straining to see ahead, Rudi was only vaguely aware of a looming outline lumbering up the mountain.
"Did anyone see me fall? Where am I?"
He looked around him, trying to get his bearings, but in every direction there was only the same vast whiteness.
Then he took out his gold watch, a treasured present from his wife. It not only told him the time, 1.54pm, it also seemed to give him strength.
It was getting dark when Rudi finally gave up his attempt to scale the mountain and decided to head downhill instead. He knew it would mean moving away from the best route back to his hotel, but there seemed to be no alternative.
Despair began to dog Rudi as he faced up to the reality of spending a night in the open. It was 5.30 pm and the temperature was dropping fast. He began to shiver, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. He felt very alone.
1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After three hours he was very tired, colder than he had ever felt.
He was barely aware of two horses drawing a wagon along the lane towards him.
