When I was a boy there were no smart phones, and our television only got one channel clearly. Still, I was never bored. The fields, hills, and woodlands around my home were the perfect playground. I can remember once hiking to a nearby lake. At the backside of it I was amazed to find an old dirt road that I had never seen before. It was full of muddy tracks and deep woods bordered it on both sides, but exploring it still seemed like a fine adventure.
I walked on and on for hours. I was sure my guardian angel was whispering in my ear "Turn around and head back home", but I was stubborn, so I walked on. There was still neither a car nor a house in sight. I noticed that the sun was starting to go down and I grew scared. I didn't want to end up trapped on this road, and I was worried that it would be dark before I could make my way back to the lake again.
I continued to walk on with something growing inside of me. My heart was pounding and my legs were aching. I was almost in tears when I turned one last curve and saw something in the distance. It was a house that I recognized. I jumped up and down and laughed out loud. It was still over a mile away, but my legs felt like feathers and I hurried back to my house in no time. I walked in with a big smile on my face just in time for dinner.
I remembered this recently when I saw a sign that said "All roads lead home". It is true. In life, all roads, no matter how they twist and turn, can lead us home again. What is important, though, is how we travel them. Are we going to go forth in fear or are we going to go forth in faith? Are we going to make this life a terrible trip or are we going to make this life a joyful journey? The choice is ours.
People have been told to stay separated — at least six feet apart— and to practice what state and local officials call "social distancing". Some have been asked to work at home. But as people try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, the resulting chaos and fear are bringing both large and small communities closer.
Simple acts of kindness are sprouting up online and in public, as neighbors, students, teachers, and others begin to connect those who can pass this long and isolating time smoothly, and the people who may not have the means to get through.
For Jesse Farren-James, helping out has taken the form of organizing trips to the supermarkets for supplies, and use of her membership card if anyone needs to buy large quantities. She posted the offer in a Facebook group for the community residents（居民）, and some people came and turned to her. "I just feel so lucky that I have so many people in my life to rely on and so sad that not everyone has that," she wrote in the group. In another interview, Farren-James said the "community is coming together" and "there are so many good and amazing people" offering to help where they can.
Also, parents in Dorchester have gathered together online. In a Facebook group called DotParents, parents have been raising money to buy food and supplies for students and families in the community. Lisa Graustein has been organizing this activity. On Thursday, she used the more than $2,000 raised by neighbors to purchase food in a restaurant supply company. A group of volunteers packed the food and planned to distribute to schools for those who may need it.
"Food shortage is real in our city and this crisis is going to be severe." Graustein said. "But here's something we can do that deal better with the hard time". This idea is spreading. She said friends in four other states had being running similar campaigns.
Next, she wants to find a way to get landlords（房东）to temporarily abandon rent for residents in financial difficulties because of the outbreak.
Road Trip Apps You Need Before You Leave
Best App for Route Planning
Ever wonder how delivery drivers manage to hit so many different places in a relatively short amount of time? It's because they're using an app like Road Warrior to plan their routes to be as efficient as possible. However, while many other route planning apps only take things like traffic into account, Road Warrior includes lots of other time-sucking details. The subscription (订购) options start at $10 per month.Best App for Gas Prices
Gas prices have been something of a catastrophe (灾难) recently, so travelers are naturally focused on finding the lowest rates whenever possible. Gas Buddy is one of the most popular apps for locating affordable gas, especially on long road trips. Simply enter the starting point and destination, and then watch as all of the cheapest gas prices along your route appear suddenly. Like many apps, there is a free version (版本), as well as a premium (额外) option with added features.Best App for Planning Sightseeing
For people who aren't totally focused on getting from point A to point B in the fastest time possible, the Road Trippers app is a must-have. Users can plan their trip from start to finish with as many as 150 waypoints/stops when using the premium version of the app, which costs $29.99 per year. It won't let you miss the famous sights along the way. It estimates fuel costs, allows for RV drivers to customize (定制) routes friendly to their particular vehicle and lets the user cooperate with friends who are also on the road.Best App for Family Games and Entertainment
Sure you could listen to music or watch movies, but sometimes it's fun to throw it way back with classic travel games. The Plates Family Travel app is a modernized version of the classic license plate (车牌) game. There's also a map feature that shows you exactly where you saw all the license plates on your road trip. This app is available for Apple or Google devices for free.
Confidence is at the heart of every successful person and it holds the key to success. Regardless of how knowledgeable you are in your professional field, your success will be limited if you lack confidence. Actually, confidence isn't what you're born with, but something learned over time.
Know yourself. Take a long look in the mirror and make an honest and accurate judgement of your strengths and weaknesses. Continue to build upon your strengths, as this will increase your confidence. We all have areas in our professional and personal lives that need to be improved. Instead, it only holds back your success and keeps your confidence low.
Whether you like it or not, people make judgments about you based upon how you dress. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. How you dress directly shows how you feel about yourself. Research shows that you will feel differently about yourself if you are wearing a business suit or sweat pants and a T-shirt. Therefore, be highly aware of your appearance. Dress in a manner that reflects who you are.
Go step by step. You can increase your confidence by seeking out one new challenge at a time. Move on to the next one when one challenge is successfully achieved. Success builds upon itself, therefore success brings success—all fueled by increased confidence!
A.Dress for success.
B.Put pressure on yourself.
C.Forgetting them does not make them go away.
D.Research shows confident people always seek out new challenges.
E.Meanwhile, take an effective method toward improving your weaknesses.
F.The following are three key tricks you may learn to increase your confidence.
G.What you wear will unintentionally show your weaknesses to those around you.
Going on vacation every week might sound like the very unattainable dream.. All you need to do is get in the habit of treating your weekend like a vacation, suggests Cassie Mogilner Holmes, a professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. We asked experts to share their favorite tips for adopting a vacation mindset at home.Get creative about making time
. Some people have to bear weekend schedules packed with work. You could still make the best of a Thursday evening, Holmes suggests. Or, spare an hour on Sunday morning for chores, but protect the rest of the weekend as your vacation time.
Decision scientist Nika Kabiri recommends doing something totally new so you can disconnect from the same old routines governing your life. Among her favorite ideas: Drive to a part of town you've never been to before, go for a city walk, and grab lunch at the first cute café you see. Or take a bike or boat tour of your city. Don't put extra pressure on yourself
Treating your weekend like a vacation doesn't mean it needs to be a delicate affair. If your "vacation" encounters a few unexpected affairs or lasts for only a few hours, don't be annoyed. .Don't put pressure on yourself to have this "perfect vacation". It's meant to be fun. Plus, there's always another one just a few days away.
A.Act like a tourist.
B.Go for a city walk.
C.It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
D.Just ignore the work and continue to have fun.
E.All the experiences make you feel the weekend vacation-like.
F.But a simple mindset shift can make it happen with no travel involved.
G.Not everyone has Saturday and Sunday or any two continuous days off work.
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 pat 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.
The Chinese character zhen(振), meaning "vitalize",(name) the nation's most popular character related to domestic affairs this year, while the character wei, meaning is "risk" or "crisis", was chosen as (hot) for international topics. The characters are among a list of popular words, as well as phrases, (collect) in an annual assessment organized by agencies including the Ministry of Education's National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center and the Commercial Press publishing house.
Organizers explained that "vitalize" represents upward trend and a gesture of trying to make an effort, and that's the spirit one should havethe face of challenges and obstacles, it's a country or an individual. Meanwhile, it pointed out that internationally, the world's path has come to a crossroads amid wars and conflicts, sluggish economies, a (wide) gap of development and a worsening environment. Organizers called for looking for opportunities hidden in these (crisis) and using dialogue and cooperation to handle differences in order to build a fair, better world.
In addition to characters, gaozhiliang fazhan, or high-quality development, was chosen (be) the key domestic phrase of the year, while ChatGPT was named the annual phrase in international topics.
When I was an international student in China, I was lucky to experience Chinese New Year. The build-up was exciting as everywhere(decorate) with red.
Some fellow students and I decided to travel from Xi'an to Guilin for the festival. Travel during that time is quiteadventure—many people journey home (see) their families and everywhere is very busy.
On the eve of New Year, we watched the CCTV New Year's Gala. Although we didn't really understand everything, it was good to be lostthe atmosphere of the occasion! At New Year, families make (taste) dumplings together as part of the celebrations. On New Year's Day, and for several weeks afterwards, you can hear firecrackers and fireworks everywhere, and the air (smell) strongly of dynamite(火药) and smoke. This was adventurous for us!
Being in China during New Year somewhat meant (lonely) though it was a great experience. I can (absolute) explain it with how international students in the UK might feel at Christmas if (have) no loved ones around them.
Overall, my first Chinese New Year was an amazing experienceI'll never forget.
