Nobody can deny the charm of Christmas. Get into the festive spirit with our top recommendations for Christmas markets across Europe.
Edinburgh Christmas Market
For celebrating Christmas, Edinburgh is a perfect choice for a festive getaway. The Christmas market stretches over the city, packed with Christmas crafts, delicious treats, and fantastic events. It's also usually the longest-running market in Europe. There are also light shows at the castle, a special program at the zoo, and a variety of performances to choose from.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Market
There's a range of markets to spoil every visitor in Cologne, such as the Cologne Cathedral Christmas Market, located next to the city's most iconic building. It's a great opportunity to wander around the stalls (摊位) while admiring the amazing Gothic architecture of the cathedral itself, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Salzburg Christmas market
A true winter wonderland with often snow covering, Salzburg is the picture-perfect Christmas market destination. Check out the choral singing in front of the cathedral and try some of the traditional gingerbread, roasted chestnuts, and other sweet treats.
Budapest Christmas market
This Christmas market offers over 100 stalls serving Hungarian treats ranging from warming goulash to delicious Beijgll, a rolled cake with poppy seeds or walnuts. There's plenty to keep you entertained, with ice skating and Christmas concerts. Climb to the top of Fisherman's Bastion if you want to see the city in all its festive glory.
Robert Kurtz finds himself right in the middle of a composting (堆肥) revolution. Kurtz is a manager at Rust Belt Riders, a composting company based in Cleveland, Ohio. Its goal is to meet the challenge of climate change by recycling as much food waste as possible.
"If we're going to meet the climate goals, we have to deal with food waste," Kurtz said. "It's a huge part of the problem." Wasted food winds up in landfills. As it breaks down, it creates methane (甲烷), which traps heat in the atmosphere and fuels climate change. The average family in the U.S. spends $1,500 per year on food that doesn't get eaten. Businesses waste food too. That's where Kurtz's job comes in.
Every day, Kurtz contacts grocery stores, restaurants, and other food-service businesses to tell them about the harmful effects of food waste. Then, he offers to help them cope with their extra food. So far, Rust Belt Riders has persuaded 300 companies and 2,800 households to do differently with their food waste. The company's seven trucks and 30 employees pick up their clients' extra food. Then they compost it, turning it into soil. Compost soil is much more than just dirt. It's made up of five ingredients that combine to help plants grow. That's why Kurtz and his colleagues offer a second service: They sell the composted, nutrient-rich soil to people and businesses that need it.
In addition to households and businesses. Rust Belt Riders has teamed up with local schools. At Dentzler Elementary, in Parma, Ohio, Rust Belt Riders helps the kitchen staff compost its food leftovers. The 500 students place their food waste into bins during lunch periods. The bins are then collected by Rust Belt Riders.
"This program has created a space for all students to become environmental supervisors (监督人) in their own cafeteria when they might not otherwise have the opportunity," says Emily Cass, a farm-to-school coordinator at Dentzler.
A new study has shown that playing an instrument or singing in a choir may promote your brain. It explains why generations of parents have told their children to practice their musical instruments. Parents have good reasons to lay emphasis on their children's musical education since learning an instrument is not only associated with cognitive (认知的) performance but also intelligence scores in children. But does this musicality translate to better cognition later in life?
A recent study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry investigated this question by asking middle-aged and older people to complete a questionnaire on their lifetime musical experience before completing cognitive thinking tests. The results showed that musical people had better memory and executive function — the ability to stay focused on tasks, make a plan, and have self-control — than those with less or no musicality.
A good memory is important for playing a musical instrument, such as playing music from memory, and this seems to translate to people's cognitive performance. Similarly, executive function is required when playing an instrument, and it translates to improved cognitive performance too.
Although most people in the study played an instrument for only a few years, this finding was similar, regardless of which instrument people played, or the level of musical proficiency (熟练) people acquired.
What makes a difference, however, is whether people still play an instrument or only played in the past. Those who still play an instrument show higher cognitive performance. This makes sense as continued engagement in cognitively stimulating activities should result in continued brain health benefits while having played the guitar for three years at primary school might not have such a big impact on our cognitive performance later in life.
Robots with artificial intelligence (AI) have been tested in care homes in the UK and Japan. Initial tests show that the robots reduce loneliness and improve the mental health of elderly residents.
The robot, called Pepper, was developed for a project called CARESSES. which is trying to create robots that behave and speak like the people they're helping. To do this, Pepper uses a new type of AI that gives it "cultural competence," or the ability to adjust how it speaks to different people, taking things like age, culture and religion into account.
The robot is autonomous and can remember things about the people it talks to, ask questions and make suggestions for activities. It can play the radio and is also able to remind people about important dates or to take medication.
The test project, which ran from 2017 to January 2020, was funded by the European Union and the Japanese government. The study found that older adults who spent up to 18 hours over two weeks with the robot saw a significant improvement in their mental health and a small decrease in loneliness. However, only 45 people participated, so more research is needed to confirm the results.
"This study is groundbreaking because it is the first and largest ever investigation into the use of autonomous social robots for older adults in care settings," said Dr. Chris Papadopoulos of the University of Bedfordshire, one of the universities that worked on the study. "Poor mental health and loneliness are significant health concerns and we have demonstrated that robots can help relieve these." However, according to users, there were some problems, like distracting head and hand movements, not enough cultural awareness, and surface conversations.
Papadopoulos said that Pepper is still being developed and it would take two to three more years of research and development before similar robots could be used in care homes. He also said Pepper wouldn't replace human careers, but could help to improve the mental health of the elderly.
Resilience refers to the ability to recover quickly from difficulties, setbacks and failures. Resilient individuals are able to bounce back from tough situation, often strengthened and more powerful than before. Research has shown that for certain people, resilience may seem to come naturally. . Here are some techniques you can employ.
Believe in yourself
Having confidence in your own ability to cope with the stress of life can play an important part in resilience. Always remind yourself of your own strengths and accomplishments. . When you hear them, practice immediately replacing them with positive ones, such as, "I can do this," "I'm a great friend/mother/partner," or "I'm good at my job."
Having caring, supportive people around you acts as a protective factor during times of crisis. While simply talking about a situation with a friend or loved one won't make your trouble go away, it allows you to share your feelings, get support, receive positive feedback, and come up with possible solutions to your problems.
Embrace change
. By learning how to be more adaptable, you'll be better equipped to respond when faced with a life crisis. Resilient people often use the event as an opportunity to branch out in new directions. While some people may feel upset by sudden changes, highly resilient individuals are able to adapt and make progress.
Everyone can learn to be resilient and it doesn't involve any specific set of behaviors or actions. . Resilience may take time to build, so don't get discouraged if you still struggle to cope with different problems.
A．Be willing to share
B．Develop a strong social network
C．Therefore, they get out of trouble easily
D．Don't be afraid of the negative comments
E．Flexibility is an essential part of resilience
F．However, it can also be learned later in life
G．It can vary dramatically from person to person
Ghunta was born into a poor family in a rural part of Western Jamaica. He, together with his brothers and sisters was 1 by a single mother, who often had to make 2 choices about how to make use of their 3 resources, including the choice to send his oldest sister to school, and to keep Ghunta at home. When he finally 4 school, he struggled to catch up on his reading skills for lack of 5 to books.
By the time he entered sixth grade, he could only spell his name, but unable to recognize words or read with 6 . The obvious gap in studying made Ghunta shy and lonely. The situation was further 7 by some teachers who made him feel worthless.
However, when Ghunta was about 12, a young teacher-in-training decided to launch a special reading program for 8 students. Ghunta was the first student to be 9 . That teacher, who was incredibly kind to him, had a profound impact on him. "She did not ask anything of me, 10 that I work hard and believe in myself," he recalled.
Under her guidance, Ghunta's reading skills 11 improved, and he began to have faith in himself. His life took on a new 12 and a passion for writing was burning within him. Today, Ghunta is not only a published author but also an award-winning poet. With hard work, dedication and 13 of a kind teacher, it is possible to 14 hardship and achieve our dreams, no matter how 15 the journey may seem.
A fisherman from USA caught a very rare bright blue lobster (龙虾) off the coast of Maine and (choose) to set it free back into the ocean. But the (photo) of it went viral on the social media.
While the shells of lobsters are generally red or brown in color, the blue shell is a result of a genetic mutation (突变), causes the lobster to produce more of a particular protein than others, (lead) to the rare blue color. Because blue lobsters are (extreme) rare, fishermen Believe it's a sign of good luck to catch one.
Yellow, orange and crystal-colored lobsters are considered even (rare) than bright blue ones. According to the lobster Institute, yellow lobsters account for about one in 30 million of the total population, while the chances of catching a crystal lobster are believed to be one in 100 million. Blue lobsters may not be the most unusual, they are undoubtedly the best to look at.
Many restaurants in the UK have agreed to spare the rare blue lobsters and give them a new place (live). "I felt responsible. Something so rare doesn't require a place on the menu. Every species (deserve) a fair chance at survival," Said Austin Hopley, a chef at "The Hare", "It is extraordinary finding and worth saving to try to educate the public about the amazing creatures in the ecosystem."
注意：1．词数80左右，文章首尾已给出，不计入总词数；2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear John,
I am writing to share some feedback and suggestions regarding the cafeteria.
……
Best regards
Li Hua
It was 2002, and two months earlier, my mum, Debbie, bad moved my two older sisters and me 4000km away from our old home and my grandma Mary, 62, for a new job.
Before the move, Grams, as I called her, lived with us, and she and I shared a bedroom. She'd help me get ready for school each morning, and on weekends she'd take me shopping or to the horse races. We're like two peas in a pod (形影不离). Everywhere we went, people knew Grams for her outgoing personality and I missed it desperately.
"I want to move back with Grams," I told Mum one day. Aware of our special bond, she told me to call Grams and see what she thought. "I'd love that. Krissy!" Grams exclaimed down the phone line. So at 15, I flew back to live with her. We became properly best friends. watching old movies or dancing to music together. Grams was very stylish, often giving me fashion advice, and she also taught me how to cook.
When I attended high school, I bccame a bit wild, staying out late. But when I came home, Grams always welcomed me with open arms. "Remember, Krissy." she told me, "No matter where life takes you, family is what matters." It was her unconditional love that got me through my teenage years and kept me from going completely off the rails.
When she reached her early 70s. Grams began exhibiting some strange behavior. One day, I noticed she'd turned on the oven. "What are you cooking, Grams?" I called out. "I'm not cooking anything," she responded in confusion from the living room. This forgetfulness became a pattern of dangerous behavior. One day, we even found her barefoot in the snow. Eventually, she confessed that something didn't feel right in her mind. "It's like I'm not here in this world with you," she told me sadly.
I took her to the doctor and the result was heartbreaking. "Your grandma has Alzheimer's disease," the doctor told us, "she'll need 24-hour care." Helpless, we checked her into assisted living. However, it seemed that my once lively grandma was very depressed there, which grieved me a great deal.
注意：1．所续写短文的词数应为150左右；2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
I decided to quit my job to look after her.
Paragraph 2:
As I shared the videos of our daily life online, unexpected support and likes poured in.
