UNESCO World Heritage Sites were created to celebrate and safeguard the most unique places around the world. Below are my 4 favorite UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Cinque Terre, Italy
With cars banned here, you'll really get to feel the unique history and character of the Cinque Terre's five centuries-old coastal villages. The breathtaking views of harbors far below the wild coastline along with the rich colors will definitely make it a memorable holiday.
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious monument and it contains impressive remains from the Khmer Empire (9th to 15th century). The site has dozens of iconic temples like Ta Prohm (a magnificent temple ruin hidden in the jungle). Hosting more than two million visitors annually, this artistic masterpiece is a must-see site.
Petra, Jordan
Petra's rock-cut architecture has contributed to its nickname, the Rose City, based on the color of the stone it was carved from. The delicate constructions of temples and tombs along with the remains of churches and temples are only a couple of reasons why this world-famous site is a must-visit destination.
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Yellowstone's vast wilderness includes mountain ranges, lakes and waterfalls. One of the main reasons for tourists to visit Yellowstone is to observe the amazing wildlife like grizzly bear, bison, bighorn sheep wander the plains and valleys.
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That morning, I dropped our eldest at kindergarten and returned home to let our two younger children play while I worked on my medical report. It was wonderful, but it hit me that my career in hospital wasn't making a difference in anyone's life. I needed something that would stretch my limits and push me to grow. My career enabled me to work from home. I could work from home, and become a foster（领养）mother, providing safety for a child who needed it desperately.
On Monday morning, I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had googled for the nearest Department of Children' Services. The man on the other end was receptive to my questions and explained the next step of training, involving eight weeks of classes designed to prepare and educate foster parents. We continued through all the classes, the home visits, background checks, and seemingly endless steps.
Five long months after we were approved, the phone rang. In the middle of the night, I woke my husband and rushed to East Tennessee Children's Hospital—Our placement was waiting for us in the emergency room, sick and lack of nutrition. It didn't take long for us to realize the full depth of her suffering. Six months later, her half-brother came to us by our request. We now had five children under our care.
On August 12, 2016, our family of seven walked into a small courtroom. The children's lawyer and social worker were there. With just a few words, our adoption was finalized. These two amazing children weren't going home, because they were already home. We are their forever family, and they are our forever children. We may not be able to change the entire world, but we have changed the world entirely for our new children.
According to a new US study, couples who expect their children to look after them in old age should hope they have daughters because daughters are twice as loving as sons generally.
The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, from Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can get away with and often leave it to female family members.
Her analysis of the family networks of 26, 000 old Americans concluded that gender（性别）is one of the most important things that decide whether or not people will actively care for their elderly parents.
In a paper presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, she concludes that simply having a sister makes men likely provide less care. Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been recording those people over 50s for the last decade, she analyzed that women provide an average of 12. 3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.
"Sons reduce their relative caregiving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother."
"This suggests that sons pass on parent caregiving responsibilities to their sisters. "In the UK, the 2011 Census showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities, a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.
But many are doing so at the risk of their health. The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full-time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts who are not carers.
Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels(管), including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. As she says, "While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can really cause physical changes in the brain."
The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a pediatrician(儿科医生), believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. "Babies need movement that stimulates their five senses. They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to associate physical activity with higher learning," says Margaret.
Older people can beef up their brains as well. Scientists from 11 universities studied a group of seniors ranging in age from seventy to seventy-nine. Their study showed a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for infants (婴儿), exercise for older people should involve some complexity. Learning some new skills or motions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time.
For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main goal is to increase the brain's flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as three hours of exercise a week.
Being first in your class is a goal that you can work toward, but you must set it for yourself from the first day of high school.
Read beyond assigned reading. Following your course outline and doing all of your assigned reading are important. But to pull ahead to first rank, you also need to read books that can provide that extra information you need. Prepare an extra credit report based on what you learn.
Don't just physically sit in the chair. Be a part of group discussions, and volunteer for extra projects and teams. Take leadership roles whenever they're offered. If the class has a debating team, take part in it often and come prepared with notes and references for every debate.
Ask for help when you see you need it. Balancing different classes and assignments can make it difficult to keep up in every subject. If you feel that you are having trouble grasping certain topics, don't struggle until your grades begin to slip. Turn to the teachers if necessary. Show an interest in your classmates. Your teacher will notice.
Ask your teacher for extra credit assignments, particularly if you receive a disappointing grade in a subject. Don't merely accept the mark. Do everything you can to raise it.
Stay physically fit. Eat well, drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep. Spend time outdoors and away from your studies. But be disciplined(有条理的). Schedule a study period for each day and stick to it.
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A. Finish your homework in time. B. Participate in teamwork in class. C. Get plenty of exercise either through team or individual activities. D. Try these tips along your way to help you get that first rank in your class. E. Concentrate on what your teacher explains so that you can grasp the main points. F. Similarly, if you do well in a subject, tell your teacher you're available to help others. G. If you're studying World War Ⅱ, for instance, read biographies of the important players. |
In a national spelling contest in America, an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her1voice, the judges were not sure whether she spelled the right word. They talked it over and2decided to simply ask her what she had said. By then, the girl knew she had misspelled the word. Instead of lying, she told the truth that she had said the3letter—so she lost the contest.
As the girl walked off the4, the entire audience stood, clapping to applaud her honesty. Later, dozens of newspaper reporters wrote about this5, even though it cost the girl the contest. But the fact is that she6the biggest contest that day: the contest of her character.
Probably the biggest test of our character and honesty is what we would do if we knew we would never get7. This young girl could easily have8and nobody would have known it but herself. But it's been said, "If you9, you make yourself cheap." This young girl was10enough to prize her own character more than the prize from a spelling contest. She knew the11she made in that moment will have a long-lasting influence in her future.
Should the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or12to the policeman? Should the13change received at the store be forgotten or14? Nobody will know. But we have to live with ourselves, and it is always better to live with someone we15.
Crosstalk, Xiangsheng in Chinese, is a (tradition) Chinese comedic performing art and one of China's most popular cultural forms．It's (general) believed that crosstalk developed sometime in the Qing Dynasty. After the People's Republic of China (found) in 1949, this art became increasingly popular. Today, it is important part in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and other countless shows in China．
There are four (skill) in crosstalk: speaking, imitating, teasing and singing. Most of the time, is performed by two actors—one serves as the leading actor while the other plays a supporting role. However, sometimes it is performed as a monologue(独白), is completed by one person mainly telling jokes, and at other times it is performed by more than two actors, (call) group performance. Crosstalk is humorous and its language is lively and rich puns(双关语)．
Jump into a taxi in Beijing, and chances are that your driver will be listening to a radio broadcast of a crosstalk show. These days, more and more foreigners are becoming interested in (study) the art of crosstalk. Crosstalk is a huge part of Chinese culture and it appears as if it's getting even bigger．
Mother's gift
I grew up in a small town where the primary school was a ten-minute walk from my house．When the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home．My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me．
One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always．I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed my lines so hard with me. But no matter how easily I acted at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator's part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
I didn't tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practise my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.
It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions（蒲公英）in the grass in bunches, as if a painter had touched our landscape with a bit of gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. "I think I'm going to dig up all these weeds," she said, pulling it up by its roots. "From now on, we'll have only roses in this garden."
"But I like dandelions," I protested. "All flowers are beautiful—even dandelions."
My mother looked at me seriously. "Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn't it?" she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. "And that is true of people too," she added. "Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that." Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled reassuringly．
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"But you will be a beautiful narrator," she said,
After the play, I took home the flower.
