Wildlife of Madagascar
Put yourself in Madagascar's rich and unique ecosystems, seeing animals including these not found in the wild anywhere else in the world.
Day 1: Arrive into Antananarivo
On arrival, drive to the Relais des Plateaux Hotel and enjoy an evening meal. The name Antananarivo means "City of the Thousand", referring to the 1,000 Merina tribe soldiers used by a king as protection of his city. More familiarly, it is known as Tana. Split into two parts (upper and lower towns), it is full of colourful markets, ancient stone steps and historical sites.
Day 2: Antananarivo: Andasibe
Head for Andasibe National Park. This 4-hour journey is an adventure, with the drive taking in huge mountain highlands and traditional Merina villages, with rice fields stretching away into the distance.
Andasibe is one of Madagascar's most popular wildlife parks and offers great opportunities to see some of the country's excellent wildlife, including the unique indri (大狐猴). The pack's popularity is reflected in the high-quality accommodation and guiding available.
After lunch, venture into Andasibe National Park for the first time. It is one of the best places to see the largest lemur—the indri.
Day 3: Mantadia
Head out early for a tour of Montadia National Park, mainly covered by towering primary forest, which is sadly becoming less and less in Madagascar. Ranging in altitude from 800 to 1,260 metres, the park has a great variety of species and some good paths with beautiful views across the forest.
Day 4: Mantadia to Kirindy
Drive to the airport for a flight to Morondava, followed by a road trip to Kirindy via a stop at the iconic Avenue of Baobabs, where ancient baobabs (a kind of tree) line either side of the road. Check into Relais du Kirindy, and take a night walk in search of night-time wildlife.
It is early. 5:30 a.m. I am seated in a restaurant near my gate, considering breakfast. You are seated at the bar. I hear the waitress tell you that she is forbidden to serve alcohol until 6 a.m. You look at your watches and say you'll wait.
Then a young girl appears and sits between the two of you. From the way you interact, I guess that she is your daughter. I watch her spin(旋转) on the bar stool (凳子). Then she jumps up and enters a newsstand. In a few minutes, she returns with a purchase. You check your watches. I watch your daughter put her head down on the bar for a few moments. At 6:00, the waitress ceremoniously(隆重地) serves you beer. Your daughter twirls（转动）again.
And then I wonder judgmentally "What is going on here? What are you doing here at a bar at 6:00 a.m. with your young daughter at your side?" My next thought, in an effort to be more charitable, is "What happened that made you want to drink at a time and in a way that would likely raise a lot of eyebrows?"
Adults, of course, are free to do as they choose. But you are here with your young daughter. Has it crossed your mind that you are quite possibly influencing her future drinking behavior?
For better or worse, many life lessons are "caught" rather than taught. Kids have a way of learning the things we never get around to talking about with them — and they learn from watching us. From the time they learn to walk, our children are observing and imitating us. The truth is that the best way to teach children any healthy behavior is to model it ourselves.
To the parents at the bar, look into the mirror hanging over that bar and try to see what I see — a beautiful young girl, watching you and looking for clues on how to best live her adult life. You are her most influential teachers. Teach her well.
Make Up Your Mind to Succeed
Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure. The generation born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores and performance were played down because "everyone's winter." And their report cards sounded more positive than ever before. As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweek, PhD, calls them "the overpraised generation."
Dweek has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years. Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it. Here's how they work:
A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent is genetic - you're a born artist, point guard, or numbers person. The fixed mind-set believes it's sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame. When things get difficult, it's quick to blame, lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.
On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible. Because the ego (自尊) isn't on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame. When faced with a difficulty, it's quick to rethink, change and try again. In fact, it enjoys this experience.
We are all born with growth mind-sets. (Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to live in the world.) But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise. Dweek's book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth. But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure.
If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly first. These are the words of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. Joel's opinion is that we've all grown up with the expression "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." Personally, I grew up hearing it as "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." Yet, as Joel says, nobody does it right the first time. Joel explained that it's this kind of thinking that prevents us from innovating(创新) in our own lives. We're frightened to death to try new things, because we think we have to get it right the first time.
This is an innovative farmer's wisdom. It resonates(和……类似) well with what I've learned from master teachers as well as with research on perfectionism. Let me speak briefly of both of these.
I have been fortunate to have a number of mentors(导师) in my development as a teacher. One of my favorites is a retired biology teacher from the University of British Columbia, Lee Gass. Lee explained to me that it's not until we know that we don't know, it's not until we admit our ignorance, even celebrate our ignorance, that we can learn anything at all!
When we learn to see that it is through admitting our ignorance and trying even though it won't be perfect or even "right" the first time that we can learn anything, we really start living.
Some of the research stresses the harm of not taking this attitude in our pursuit(追求). Perfectionism is often said to be the enemy of the good. It's also the enemy of even trying.
I for one take this farmer's advice to heart. I do try my best to do things as well as I possibly can, but I recognize that it's the creative process where we learn, if we stay at it long enough. If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly first.
Should you listen to music when you work? Some will say they love it, claiming that it improves their performance; others will say they cannot work effectively with music playing in the background. It just depends on what sort of work you're doing.
In a recent study, we brought participants into our lab with a variety of tasks. They included an easy task — searching through word lists and crossing out（删除） words containing the letter "a" and a more difficult task — memorizing word pairs and recalling the partner to each word. Some participants completed all of the tasks in silence, whereas others completed the tasks with instrumental music that was either loud or soft, and either simple or complex, the latter meaning music with more instrumental tracks.
We found that participants who listened to simple music or no music performed about the same on the easy task. Contrarily, participants performed worse on the more difficult task when they listened to any music, regardless of complexity or volume, compared to those who didn't listen to any music.
Not surprisingly, we typically need to use fewer of our mental resources when we perform easy tasks, whereas demanding tasks require more brainpower. However, because we might be less engaged during easier tasks, there's a greater risk of drifting off（迷迷糊糊地）to sleep. Music might give us the extra boost we need to get refreshed. Listening to music can become overkill (过犹不及). So we have to strike a balance between the type of music and the type of task.
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A. What should we make of these findings? B. Several key findings emerged（出现）from our study. C. However, difficult tasks already demand a lot of our mental resources. D. Our research has found that the effects of work may depend on our personalities. E. We want to develop a more comprehensive framework that could be applied broader. F. However, participants who listened to complex music performed best on the easy task. G. Interestingly enough, our research has found that both of these perspectives can be true. |
COVID-19 entered my life in the form of an e-mail. My friends and I were in a small café as I read that our university had been1down for the following week.
It was three days later when the reality hit. I watched my friend throw all her2into a suitcase and take the next flight out of the country. Her3words: ‘‘better locked out of Venice than locked in'' caused fear and4inside me. I wondered: ‘‘Will I be able to graduate from school?" and "What if everyone leaves and I am alone and5in Venice?''
I turned to my roommate and the6and rational (理性的) voices of my parents. I decided to stay. We all thought it would be two weeks, maybe three and then life would return to7and our semester (学期) would go on as planned.
Things changed so fast, I felt like a8out of water, turning between thoughts and ideas every time I read another news9. Every day my phone delivered new information that made me uneasy. Life was10, but life was continuing.
Then Italy went into a full lockdown and I was restricted to Venice. Two days later, I joined the few11exchange students for pizza but we were told we must only enter two at a time and stand a metre away from each other.
I am taking12of this time to do yoga on the roof, take Italian lessons on YouTube with my roommate, cook on our hotplate and spend afternoons studying and writing on my balcony.
I have learned things that I could have13learned in a lecture hall. I have learned how to step back and let go of14my semester abroad could have been and instead15the small things that fill me with happiness.
As I tried describing Thanksgiving Day to my in-laws (姻亲）in China, I could already see their eyes cloud over with(confuse) and sense the questions forming in their minds. So I attempted (translate) the holiday through things they were familiar with. I described the roast turkey as something similar to Beijing duck. I compared the annual Thanksgiving show to the(year) Spring Festival Gala (联欢会) on Chinese New Year's Eve. And I characterized entire celebration as an American version of Winter Solstice (冬至) in China. Though my in-laws (nod) and smiled as much as they could, I recognized that even these explanations were a poor substitute(替代). No words could fully describe the Thanksgiving celebrations I had known in the US.
This (be) the kind of disappointment you face in cross-cultural communication. all the differences, we can still sit down together and have heart-to-heart (discussion) about each other's traditions. So in the spirit of my American holiday, I silently gave a moment of thanks for (have) in China such great in-laws, cared enough to listen to their foreign daughter-in-law talk. about Thanksgiving Day.
Charles Rose lived in the country with his father, who taught him to read and to write. Mr. Rose told his son that, when his morning lessons were over, he might amuse himself for one hour as he pleased.
There was a river near by. On its bank stood the hut of a poor fisherman, who lived by selling fish. His careful wife kept her wheel going early and late. They both worked very hard to keep themselves above want. But they were greatly troubled for fear that their only son should never learn to read and to write. They could not teach him themselves, and they were too poor to send him to school.
Charles called at the hut of this fisherman one day, to inquire about his dog, which was missing. He found the little boy, whose name was Joe, siting by the table, on which he was making marks with a piece of chalk. Charles asked him whether he was drawing pictures.
"No. I am trying to write," said little Joe, "but I know only two words. Those I saw upon a sign, and I am trying to write them."
"If I could only learn to read and write," said he, "I should be the happiest boy in the world.".
"Then I will make you happy," said Charles. "I am only a little boy, but I can teach you that."
"My father gives me an hour every day for myself. Now, if you will try to learn, you shall soon know how to read and to write."
Both Joe and his mother were ready to fall on their knees to thank Charles. They told him it was what they wished above all things.
So, on the next day when the hour came, Charles put his book in his pocket, and went to teach Joe. Joe learned very fast, and Charles son began to teach him how to write.
Some time after, a gentleman called on Mr. Rose, and said," Charles did not always amuse himself. I often see him go to the house of the fisherman. I fear he goes out in their boat.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1 The moment the gentleman left, Mr. Rose went in search of his son.
Paragraph 2 The next day, his father took him to town, and gave him books for himself and Joe, with writing paper, pens, and ink.
