—I'm looking forward to being paid for a journey to Tibet with my friends.
As we close out the final days of this year treat yourself to a deliciously distracting new book — a book that you can dip into and out of throughout the holidays. Read up, rest up, and enjoy yourself.
Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and beyond
A must-have guide for yoga-loving mamas, Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond offers helpful relaxation techniques and breathing exercises that are tailored to each pregnant (怀孕的) woman. The book also lays out valuable techniques for labor and staying in touch with your body as it continuously changes.
Mindfulness Activities for Kids
We could all use a little more peace in our lives. Uniquely suited for children and parents to do together, the 40 mindfulness exercises recommended here — from pausing to fully enjoy a tasty sandwich to taking chalk walk together — will not only teach children calm and gratitude, but also bring grown-ups and their littles closer together.
Before She Disappeared
Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who devotes her time to solving cold cases especially those involving people of color. A new investigation brings her to Boston, searching for a Haitian teenager who disappeared months ago. But as Frankie starts asking questions, someone else will stop at nothing to keep the answers hidden.
Oak Flat
Lauren Redniss' Oak Flat tells the story of the land near the San Carlos Apache Reservation through an Apache family fighting to protect the land, which the U. S. government and two world-power mining enterprises are attempting to seize and destroy for its copper resources. Visually striking and deeply reported, Oak Flat tells a larger story of endless westward expansion and native resistance.
More than 30 years ago, there was a well-known boxer named Eugene Hart. Hart was heavily favored to win his next round against an ungifted boxer, Antuofermo. It was said that the only thing that Antuofermo could do was “he bled well". However, here was an important thing. He had good qualities that you couldn't see.
During the fight, Hart controlled Antuofermo, knocking him down and giving him a good beating. Antuofermo absorbed the punishment that was dealt to him by his naturally superior opponent, and he did it so well that Hart became discouraged. In the fifth round, Hart began to tire, not physically but mentally. Taking advantage of the situation, Antuofermo attacked and knocked Hart down, thus ending the fight.
When the fighters went back to their temporary restrooms, only a thin curtain was between them. Hart's room was quiet, but on the other side he could hear Antuofermo's coach talking about who would take the fighter to the hospital. Finally he heard Antuofermo saying, "Every time he hit me with that left hook (左勾拳) to the body, I thought I was going to quit. After the second round, I thought if he hit me there again, I'd quit. I thought the same thing after the fourth round. But he stopped hitting me there."
At that moment, Hart began to weep. He was crying because for the first time he under- stood that Antuofermo had felt the same way he had and even worse. And the only thing that distinguished the guy who was talking from the guy who was crying was perseverance (毅力). The coward (懦夫) and the hero had the same emotions. They're both humans.
The important question to ask yourself here is this: How does each man respond to the tough situation that they are experiencing? Maybe you are in a tough position right now or, if not, one might be coming. How will you react? Like a hero or a coward?
Plastic-Eating Worms
Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills(垃圾填埋场), and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms' chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物) and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass — apparently broken down by enzymes (酶) from the worms' stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.
Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food — beeswax — also allows them to break down plastic. "Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, "she explains, "The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond. "
Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物)?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team's findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process — not simply "millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic."
Happiness is not natural. It's a mere human construct. It's a state of contentment discouraged by our genetic design because it would lower our guard against possible threats to our survival.
Chasing happiness is like chasing a shadow, but the positive thinking industry claims to know its secrets. Self-help was popularized by Norman Vincent Peale, an American minister. He invented "positive thinking", a concept now deeply rooted in our culture and steadily growing in influence.
Popular films and books are full of supposedly inspirational statements about how all you need to do is believe in yourself and then you'll be able to achieve anything in life. This is simply, and obviously, not true. I don't think there is a need to explain that many obstacles and misfortunes in life are unavoidable, or cannot be overcome. Our ancestors knew this, and many philosophical and religious traditions are based on the acceptance that being alive is a very challenging task, which comes with significant amounts of suffering. It goes without saying that we should do all we can to maximize our sense of wellbeing and minimize our suffering, but the end result cannot be a state of sustained happiness. We are not designed that way.
It could be argued that positive psychology blames those who are suffering for their suffering, as it is based on the idea that unhappiness is entirely avoidable. It follows therefore that an unhappy person must be inadequate and incompetent. Positive psychology encourages people who are struggling with a particular goal to persevere in the face of unfavorable possibilities, which is much more punishing psychologically in the long run than accepting defeat.
I believe that coming to terms with life as it is, and not as the happiness industry tells us it could be, will make us happier, and we will feel more at peace with ourselves and with the world. Unfortunately, the devil always has the best tunes.
The man who could see the future
The ability to predict the future is a rare talent. American author Isaac Asimov (1920—1992), one of the great science fiction writers of his age, had such a talent. Now that we're here, let's see what he got right.
Asimov thought computers would cause a revolution comparable to the induatrial revolution of the 19th century. Specifically, he said that "mobile computerized objects" would be an important part of everyday life. Here, he clearly predicted our world of smartphones, tables and other devices. He also had a great deal to say about space exploration.
How did Asimov develop his special sense of future developments? He read the newspapers and magazines sold in his parents' candy store. His scientific interest gained sharper focus at Columbia University in New York. Asimov went to study chemistry, but became bored with pure laboratory science. Instead, he thought hard about the social implications(作用) of science. He wanted to communicate his ideas to the public.
Asimov had his finger on the pulse(脉搏)of both scientific and social change. He had a clear vision of what was coming around the corner for humanity in his works like the Galactic Empire series(《银河帝国系列》). "His predictions are absolutely fascinating," Calum Chase, an English writer, told BBC News. "He was a genius."
A. As a smart boy, Asimov taught himself to read at the age of five.
B Space exploration really can make our life more convenient and comfortable.
C. Back in 1983, he was asked to predict what the world would look like in 2019.
D. On the role that computing would play in the future, he was amazingly accurate.
E. Asimov has developed a great interest in computer programming since childhood.
F. As an author, his books would feature the theme of social change caused by technology.
G. The International Space Station proves his prediction that we would not simply visit space but seek to stay there.
British Cycling had recently hired Dave Brailsford as its new director. At the time, professional cyclists in Great Britain had1 nearly one hundred years of mediocrity (平庸). In fact, their performance had been so poor that one of the top bike companies in Europe 2 to sell bikes to the team because they were afraid that it would hurt sales if other professionals saw the Brits using their bikes.
What made Brailsford different from previous coaches was his philosophy of searching for a tiny improvement in everything they do. The whole principle came from the idea that if you 3 everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, improve it by 1 percent and you will get a 4 increase when you put them all together.
Brailsford and his coaches began by making small 5. They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable. They asked riders to wear electrically heated overshorts to 6 ideal muscle temperature while riding and used biofeedback sensors to 7 how each athlete responded to a particular workout.
But they didn't stop there. They 8 to find 1 percent improvements in overlooked areas. They hired a(n) 9 to teach each rider the best way to wash their hands to reduce the 10 of catching a cold. They even painted the inside of the team truck white, which helped them 11 little bits of dust that would normally slip by 12 but could affect the performance of the 13 tuned bikes.
As these and hundreds of other small improvement 14, the results came faster than anyone could have 15. Just five years after Brailford took over, they dominate the road and truck cycling events in all the important events.
Stage schools often act as agencies to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name "stage school" are those few places children attend full time, with training for the theatre and a general education.
A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy (them). After all, what lively children wouldn't settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?
Then of course there is time for the children (make) a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much (profession) work at such a young age. the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 (limited) to 40 days in the year and those over 13 to 80 days.
The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens those who don't make it? While all the (lead) schools say they place great importance on children (get) good study results, the facts seem to suggest this (be) not always the case.
1）位于北京市区东部，占地面积约为4平方公里；
2）是世界上第五个环球影视主题乐园，于2021年9月正式开园；
3）拥有七大主题园区，两大主题酒店，并包括一些全球首发的游乐设施；
4）首创引入中国文化；
5）推荐他来玩。
注意：
1）词数100左右（开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数）；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
北京环球主题公园：the Universal Studios theme park
游乐设施：recreational facility
Dear Tony,
I'm glad to hear from you and I can't wait to introduce the Universal Studios theme park to you.
……
Yours,
Li Hua
