The Best National Parks to Visit in Winter
While most parks tend to draw families in the summer and fall, there are also ideal spots for adventurous winter trips.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
The country's oldest and best-known national parks takes on an almost otherworldly atmosphere in winter: the air filled with rolling steam, the strong colors of hot springs, the surrounding white landscapes, let alone the impressive wildlife during this time, like bison, wolves, and playful red foxes. Just book a guided hiking tour to get a ranger's perspective on the park and local people.
Joshua Tree National Park, California
With its giant red rocks and unique trees, you'll feel like stepping onto a foreign planet as you spend hours hiking the Panorama Loop or Maze Loop. The park is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, featuring virtually zero light pollution and the country's best views of a starry sky.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
A significantly lower number of visitors in winter means you can take in unblocked views of the South Rim, and get to see the rare beauty of the Grand Canyon dusted with snow. For those adventurous and daring, it is recommended to hike the Bright Angel Trail and take the chance to see the canyon's wintertime wildlife, including mule deer, elk, and bald eagles.
Virgin Islands National Park, St. John
Surprise! Not all wintertime national park trips need to involve snow. Virgin Islands National Park is most famous for its white-sand beaches. You can also hike inland to visit old sugar plantations, or venture out to the water to swim along with sea turtles and manta rays. You will definitely enjoy a different winter here.
After a difficult academic year, we all deserve a wonderful summer holiday, a time for relaxation and celebration. Of course, a big part of any celebration involves food. Many of my holidays, birthdays, days out and good memories are defined by the amazing food that was involved. The sunny weather and long days bring with it a whole selection of meals, recipes and snacks to be enjoyed.
The first thing that summer calls for is a barbecue. Although I don't have a barbecue at home, a portable barbecue (烧烤架) will do the trick and this means that you can enjoy a slightly charred burger wherever you are. Picnics are also a must for summer and I often find they are the most fun when treated like a potluck (百家饭), with each person bringing along their personal favourites. Cocktail sausages and mini Scotch eggs are always my guilty pleasures. As someone from the Suffolk coast, fish and chips are essential. It truly feels like summer when I sit on the beach with chips wrapped in paper on my lap. The coast is the best place to get a seafood treat with fish being caught fresh daily. Besides, you can finish your day with a walk along the beach. Finally, we can't forget the drinks. Pimms in the sun, well balanced by lemonade and summer fruits, is always delicious. And I find that nothing reminds me more of post-exam celebrations than a pint (品脱，为容量单位) in a beer garden.
The thing about summer food is that it often becomes food associated with summer memories. Picnics, barbecues, and fish and chips on the beach are more than just delicious meals — they are a way to socialise and have fun with friends and family. Part of the fun comes from lazing in the sun afterwards, swimming in the sea, and playing heartily, which is why our food memories are so powerful.
Scientists recently discovered that pictures on cave walls at Creswell Crags are the oldest known in Great Britain. But they didn't find out in the usual way.
Archaeologists (考古学家) often date cave art with a process called radiocarbon dating. The technique can measure the age of carbon found in charcoal (木炭) drawings or painted pictures. Carbon is an element found in many things, including charcoal and even people. But in this case, there was no paint or charcoal to test. People carved the pictures of animals and figures into the rock using stone tools. The scientists had an "aha!" moment when they noticed small rocks stuck to the top of the drawings. The small rocks must have formed after the drawings were made.
"It is rare to be able to scientifically date rock art," said Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at Britain's University of Bristol. "We were very fortunate that some of the engravings (雕刻) were covered by stalagmites (石笋)."
When a test proved that the stalagmites formed 12,800 years ago, the scientists knew the art underneath them had to be at least that old. And some of the animals shown are now extinct — another clue that the art is quite old.
The artists came to Creswell Crags. This place is one of the farthest points north reached by our ancient ancestors during the Ice Age. At that time, much of the North Sea was dry, so people could move about more easily.
Some tools and bones found there are 13,000 to 15,000 years old. They show that the travelers hunted horses, reindeer, and arctic hares. Their artwork is similar to art in France and Germany. It tells scientists that the Creswell Crags artists must have had a close connection to peoples several thousand kilometers away — another important evidence of understanding how humans spread out across the world.
To understand the effect of ice melting (融化) around the world we first have to understand what an ice sheet actually is. Covering 5.4 million square miles in Antarctica (南极洲) and 656,000 square miles in Greenland, an ice sheet is actually a huge land of ice from the Ice Age. These sheets form in areas where snow that falls in winter does not melt entirely over the summer. This ice, home to different species of animals, is now melting at a rate that cannot support the life it currently holds.
Many of these creatures rely on ice sheets as land for resting, hunting and protection, yet as the size decreases, they are forced out of their homeland in search of other land on which to live. Often this means journeys to search for food and an imbalanced ecosystem happens when different species are forced together onto the coast.
Since the 1990s, the deer population has dropped by 56 per cent-climate change has caused warmer temperatures over winter setting off rainfall instead of snow, which freezes more quickly underfoot and makes it harder to walk and search for food. In the summer, frozen layers of land melts and releases trapped diseases which bring death to animals. A similar situation has fallen on the polar bears who suffered a 40 per cent population loss between 2001～2010.
Quite apart from these problems, the threat of sea levels rising if the ice caps were to disappear is approaching. If the Greenland Ice Sheet melted, the sea level would rise around six meters, and if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted, sea levels would rise by around 20 feet. As a matter of fact, sea levels have risen about eight inches since 1880, three of which we've gained over the last 25 years. This seemingly small amount has already caused dangerous flooding, loss of farmland and more deadly storms.
While we're still a long way from losing the ice sheets all together, we've already lost too much and if we don't take climate change seriously now, we will certainly hit the point of no return.
We know that bully happens a lot and that it can make people feel miserable. And school violence happens all the time.
Bully is where a person or a group exercise control over another against their will, often leaving the victim feeling powerless and alone. Bullying can take many forms. Children, young people and adults can instigate bullying and be bullied in schools. Bullying is harmful to all involved, not just the person who is bullied, but to those who do the bullying and those who stand by. It can lead to self-doubt, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, self-harm and sometimes even suicide. Children might bully because they may not have been taught that it is wrong to bully. They are copying older brothers and sisters, friends or people they observe. They don't know of more appropriate ways of mixing with their school friends.
How does bullying affect people?
New research has found that more than half of young people in the UK have been bullied. Of those who have been bullied, 58% said it made them want to miss school, 44% said it made them avoid social events, and 37% said it had affected their school work. Racism is when people are treated badly because of their skin colour, culture or nationality. Around 32% of students said that they had heard something racist at school.
What can I do to help?
If someone you know is being bullied it is important to tell a teacher. You could also talk to your parents or an adult whom you trust. If the person doing the bullying is someone you know, you could talk to them and explain what they're doing is wrong. It's important to support the person being bullied.
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A. What is bullying? B. What is cyberbullying? C. There are many things you can do to fight against bullying at school. D. There is no shame or harm in being different. E. You should tell them that they're not alone. F. The study also found a big problem with racism. G. They may think that it is just a bit of fun. |
Paul O' Sullivan was around his Baltimore apartment one evening, feeling bored. Having nothing better to do, he logged on the social network to find out how many others1his name. Moments later, many Paul O'Sullivans popped out. On a whim (一时兴起), he decided to2friend requests to them all.
Many of his fellow Paul O'Sullivans ignored him but a few felt too curious to resist his invitation. He3that four of them were all musicians. Wouldn't it be funny if he asked the other musical Pauls to4a band? So they did.
Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be5. Shaky Wi-Fi and other technical difficulties meant they often failed to work6at the same time and speed. To7this, Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul write and record a basic track (乐曲), then e-mail it to Manchester Paul.8he records a bass (低音的) track, he e-mails it back to Baltimore Paul.
Later Pennsylvania Paul adds the drumbeat. Round and round the9goes until they released their first original song, "Namesake", which is about long-distance relationships, just like theirs.
10, months later, Baltimore Paul had to stop due to health issues. The other Pauls didn't 11their friendship. They made sure Baltimore Paul never felt alone. It was about four years before Baltimore Paul was12enough to start making music again. They created a music video for "Namesake" in 2020, which pulled in more than 20,00013in its first two weeks online. Now, a new source of joy for the Pauls is to spend time with each other in person.
"What are the odds (可能性)," says Baltimore Paul, "that a random14would lead not only to new music but to lasting15as well? Some things are just meant to be".
Just Aristotle put it, "We are what we repeatedly do." In many aspects, our lifestyle is the result of the choices that we have made. So forming good habits is very important, especially for teenagers. That's because bad habits, if (leave) unchecked, could lead to more serious (one) when we become adults. The good news is that we can change our bad habits if we understand how habits work. (prevent) harmful habits from dominating our life, we should make use of the "habit cycle" to kick bad habits and develop good habits. First we can facilitate a positive change by (examine) our bad habit cycles and trying to adapt them. Aside from this, we should also form good habits on purpose. Gradually, we will (reward) by our actions.
Many of us try to change bad habits quickly. But if we are not successful straight away, don't become pessimistic. As matter of fact, the most successful way to change is not suddenly, over a period of time. As the Chinese saying goes, "A journey of a thousand miles (begin) with a single step." As long as we repeatedly take many small steps, we are sure to get rid of bad habits and build a (health) life.
On a Sunday morning, Tony woke up to a quiet house. Usually Mom was awake making breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, but not today. At the sound of his mom coughing, Tony knocked on her bedroom door and asked with great concern, "Mom, are you OK?" "Honey," Mom said weakly. "I have a terrible cold. You can have cereal (燕麦) for breakfast and watch cartoons. I'm going to stay in bed."
Tony poured some cereal into a bowl and ate the pieces dry. Mom must feel very bad if she was staying in bed all day. How could Tony help? First, he wiped up the crumbs (碎屑) of cereal he left on the kitchen counter. He also put away the cereal box neatly, so the kitchen looked just as it did when he woke up. But what else could he do? Tony thought. Sunday was the day when mom did laundry (要洗的衣物). Tony loved to watch the clothes spinning (快速旋转) in the machine. That should be fun! He ran to his room to get the laundry basket, in which there was his mother's favorite white dress, among other clothes and a pair of red socks.
Tony opened the door to the washer and put the clothes inside. He had watched Mom do laundry lots of times, so he knew where to find the washing powder and how to pour it into the machine. Finally, he closed the door and pressed the big button that said "START". Tony looked through the round glass window. Water was pouring in, and the machine was starting to spin, making his clothing tumble (翻滚) around. That was easy!
Tony watched cartoons until he heard the washing machine beep (发出哔哔声). That meant the washing was done. Tony opened the door to take out the damp clothes. He took out a few at a time and moved them into the dryer(脱水机). Everything seemed clean, and Tony felt proud. Then he pulled out a pink dress.
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。
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But as far as he could remember, there was no pink dress in the laundry basket. Tony nervously knocked at his mom's bedroom door again, with the pink dress in his arms. |
