If you're looking for some thrills, Britain's theme parks are great places to spend a summer's day. Here's our guide to four best theme parks in the UK and the reasons you'll love them.
Thorpe Park, Surrey
Thorpe Park is probably Britain's scariest theme park. Built on an island in an artificial lake, it offers several aquatic-themed rides including Tidal Wave, Colossus and Nemesis Inferno. Another big attraction is Derren Brown's Ghost Train, a high-tech version of the fairground rides that terrified generations of British children.
Cost: Tickets start from £30
Crealy Adventure Park, Devon
Beautiful English countryside and some fun rides: what's not to like? CrealyAdventure Park is home to the 12-metre high Twister rollercoaster offering 310 metres of twists and turns. It also offers more wet and soft thrills in the form of the Tidal Wave log flume, which drops you and your fellow riders 40 feet into a pool of water.
Cost: Tickets start at £16
Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
This theme park is home to the UK's tallest rollercoaster, looping(环形)coaster and suspended looping coaster—so if you are an adrenaline junkie then this one is for you.
Cost: Tickets start at £27
Chessington World of Adventures, Chessington
You can combine a visit to this theme park with a visit to Chessington's famous zoo (home to more than 1, 000 animals)—but the thing to do at Chessington is to challenge yourself to go on the Dragon's Fury spinning coaster that has a vertical turn.
Cost: Tickets start at £28
Sharon Holland and her husband, Jer, are travelling around the world and saving money at the same time—by swapping houses with strangers to keep the bills low. They only have to pay for their flights, meaning they save hundreds of pounds on their holidays each year.
The couple's occupation allows them to enjoy long periods of school holidays. Both work as school Deputy Principals, which allows them to take their children, Cian, 23, Miah, 13, and Faye, 11, abroad up to four times per year. On average, they pay£1, 250 per year for flights.
Sharon, from Cork, Ireland, has exchanged her home with a stranger 40 times in the last 13 years and says she's never looked back. She said: "I couldn't imagine travelling any other way now. Swapping our Irish Georgian farmhouse for another house abroad is amazing. There are home-style houses, modern city apartments and beautiful architectural period houses too. Every holiday is different and staying in someone else's house makes our experience more rewarding and enjoyable. We are able to meet more locals and understand the culture more than we would if we were to stay at a hotel. We bring our laptops during the summer weeks as we are both responsible for timetabling and school planning but this can be done at a distance".
Sharon has visited various cities in America, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, the U. K and their home country of Ireland. "But our favourite place is Italy. We have been lucky enough to visit there six times. Over the years, every experience has been great—from taking in the architecture to the food. We have made some wonderful happy memories for less", adds she.
A simple gel (凝胶) collects water out of thin air! This innovation works well in dry climates, promising drinking water to those living with water shortage.
The gel was invented by a team of scientists and engineers at the University of Texas. Combining two simple ingredients, the gel is inexpensive to produce. Just one kilogram of gel can absorb up to six liters of water in a dry climate. For those living in a climate with relative humidity (湿度), one kilogram of gel can collect up to 13 liters of water a day.
"This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get water in the hottest, driest places on Earth," said Professor Guihua Yu. "This could allow millions of people without easy access to drinking water to have water producing equipment at home that they can easily operate."
Countries are currently using available bodies of water to create drinking water, according to the study. These include removing salt from ocean water and using water purification technologies. Yet there are plenty of small water drops in the atmosp here that can be harnessed as a reliable resource.
Researchers have collected fresh water from fog and dew (露水), but that only serves areas with high humidity. With one third of the population living in dry places with very low humidity, a workable solution is of great importance. Scientists have been able to obtain water from desert air, but these methods have low yields (产量) and use lots of energy. In fact, this gel is a great improvement from previous water harvesting technologies. The maximum water harvested has been 5. 87 liters in places with relative humidity.
This new gel doubles this amount, uses no energy and is simple to operate and it can be molded into a shape or size that best suits the user. Scientists are planning on making a thicker gel that will increase the yield, which is most important in making this technology a practical solution to drought (干旱). Easy-to-use and inexpensive, the hope is that this super gel will offer access to clean drinking water to dry places around the world.
The world's first named heat wave hit Seville, Spain, pushing temperatures past 110degrees Fahrenheit and earning the most severe tier (级别) in the city's new heat wave ranking system. Heat wave "Zoe" has brought burning temperatures to the southern part of the country for the last few days, particularly the area where Seville is located.
Zoe is the first named heat wave to hit Seville since it officially used a new system last month to name and rank heat waves, similar to hurricanes (Climate wire, June 22). Only the most severe heat waves get names, named this year in reverse (颠倒的) alphabetical order. After Zoe come Yago, Xenia, Wenceslao and Vega. The worst of the heat is expected to begin tapering off (减弱) today, but it has already posed a significant risk to human health.
Seville's new ranking system takes a three-tiered approach to categorizing heatwaves, with Category 1 as the lowest ranking and Category 3 as the most severe. The system has specific criteria for each category, involving not only daytime temperatures, but also nighttime lows, humidity and the heat's expected effects on human health.
Spain has been struggling with extreme temperatures for much of the summer already. High heat broke local records around the country last month, and the first two weeks of June were the hottest on record in the country. Across the continent, this year was Europe's second hottest June on record. Extreme heat returned again earlier this month. Cities across Spain broke monthly temperature records and wildfires broke out on the landscape.
Climate change is causing heat waves to become more frequent, more severe and longer-lasting all over the world, increasing the risks to human health. Seville's new naming and ranking system is intended to raise public awareness about the dangers of extreme heat.
I left Denmark for the United States for a research abroad experience during my Ph. D. I hadn't made any friends by that point so I decided to ask another Ph. D student in my office whether they'd meet up outside work. He looked at me, smiled, and then uttered "Yes."I had finally conquered my shyness and dared to step out of my comfort zone.
My university encourages Ph. D students to spend time abroad, so I planned from the beginning to work at a U. S. university for six months.But I was also afraid that my shy self would keep me from getting to know people, leading to a level of sadness and loneliness that would eventually force me to abandon the adventure and go back to Denmark.
Finding myself in a foreign country without my habitual life terrified me. My sister advised me to go to campus every day. So later, every weekend, I would plan outings with at least one person, whether it be going out for a meal, visiting a museum, traveling to another city, or going on a hike. I suddenly felt much less lonely. Even little interactions at work helped me feel part of a community. By the end of my time in Atlanta, I felt so comfortable that I actually had mixed feelings about going home.
I returned to Denmark last May, feeling fulfilled by my time abroad. I was able to travel to new places, meet interesting people, and learn new professional skills. I encourage every young scientist to do a research stay abroad—and to have the courage to open up to people while you're there.
A. The advice made a huge difference.
B. It was a little thing, but it was a victory.
C. The initial few months in America were difficult.
D. I had wanted to make more efforts to get to know people.
E. I built up a small group of friends—from both within and outside the office
F. I also came to appreciate the benefits of stepping outside my comfort zone.
G. I was excited to travel, improve my English, and expand my scientific network.
A baby giraffe born with a leg abnormality has been fitted with special leg braces(支架) to help her walk.
The giraffe is named Msituni. She1from a condition called carpal hypertension(腕骨高血压). It 2the young animal's front legs, which was especially3to a giraffe. The abnormality was putting a lot of4on her joints and bones. Zoo workers5that she could die if they did not quickly correct the6.This is because it could7the giraffe from getting food and from being able to walk around.
Zoo officials8experts to treat the giraffe. The medical team had a lot of9. fitting people with braces to correct leg problems. But they had10treated an animal before. Ara Mirzaian was a member of the medical team. He found the situation strange and11went online to start learning as much as possible about giraffes.
The team12models of the giraffe's legs. It took the team about a week to13the braces, which were made of a14called carbon graphite(碳石墨). After 10 days in the special brace, the problem was15. In total, Msituni was in braces for 39 days from the day she was born. She16in the animal hospital the whole time.
Mirzaian said he planned to17a picture in his office of the baby giraffe wearing her special brace so that the children he treats might be18 to wear their own braces. "It was the19thing to see an animal like that walk in a brace," he said. "It feels20to know we saved a giraffe's life."
Xiechi Lake, also known as Yuncheng Salt Lake in China's Shanxi Province, (become)popular on social media websites in the past few years.
Now, China wants to transform that online(popular) into real-life tourism. "As the Chinese 'Dead Sea', floating here isunforgettable experience, and one you can't find anywhere else," reads a tourism
Advertisement(sponsor) by the Yuncheng Salt Lake Tourism Development Company. Yuncheng Salt Lake is a sulfate(硫酸盐)lake. "If the sulfate in your water is greater than the calcium(钙), all the calcium is used up,leaves you with large amounts of sulfate and you have a sulfate lake," explains geography professor Bernie Owen. Xiechi is also a "closed basin" lake,(mean) it doesn't flow out to a river or ocean, which explains how its salt content stays so high. It is possible for salt lakes to freeze over, although not as(quick) as other lakes—after all, think about what happens when we spread salt over icy roads. Saltwater freezes at(low) temperatures than fresh water.
In an effort(boost) Xiechi Lake's international profile, China is reportedly taking steps to get it recognizeda UNESCO World Heritage site.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Today I'd like to sharing my volunteering experience at the Olympic Games. My main task was to help the athletes communicate reporters and medical staff. The languages in the great need were Russian, German, Chinese and Japanese. I could speak all the four language. During the competition I was free to watch the games, but I could talk with other volunteers, sharing with them their joy of volunteering. Before the competition, the players were interviewed where we worked. When the players entered the room, everything got crazily, especially when they win. Everyone wanted to ask them questions. And I will never forget the days when I spent with those kind people.
