Hiking on mountains offers both physical challenges and sweeping views. The author of America's Great Mountain Trails, Tim Palmer, shares some favorite paths with us.
Algonquin Peak, New York
The Adirondacks were one of the first areas in the country to attract outdoor vacationers, Palmer says. "The trails there have been hiked for centuries." But this outing near Lake Placid still delivers, reaching the top of New York's second-highest mountain. "You start out in the forest and end up above tree line. It's a big climb with a long view across an ocean of peaks."
More information: www.visitadirondacks.com
Humbug Mountain, Oregon
This southeast Oregon peak is among the state's tallest, rising directly from the ocean, which rewards visitors with dramatic Pacific views. Palmer, who lives in the region, says the state park trail offers old-growth forest scenery and a good mountain hike. The area doesn't get a lot of snow, making it possible to climb in all seasons.
More information: www.stateparks.Oregon.gov
Wheeler Peak, New Mexico
The highest peak in New Mexico dominates the Sangre de Cristo Range near Taos. Hikers on the 8-mile out-and-back trail through Carson National Forest sometimes see bighorn sheep. "It's a long walk above timberline （林木线） with grand views of the very southern end of the Rocky Mountains," Palmer says.
More information: www.fs.usda.gov
Youghiogheny Loop, Pennsylvania
Whitewater rafters know the challenging rapids on the Youghiogheny River, but the area is also ideal for hiking, Palmer says. "There are waterfalls and rapids and trees that have been growing for 100 years and longer. It's one of these great hikes that most people can do."
More information: www.dcnr.pa.gov
Sammie Vance is an extraordinary kid. She was just named one of People's Girls Changing the World in 2021, and she is only 12 years old.
The seventh grader from Indiana is collecting bottle caps to upcycle （升级改造） them into benches for her school and neighborhood parks. But these benches are more than just for sitting. There are many kids in her school who have trouble finding friends.
Sammie learned about buddy （同伴） benches at a camp she attended one summer. At the camp, there were benches set up for children feeling lonely. They would sit down, signaling to other kids that they were in need of a friend.
She loved the idea and told others, "This would be really cool to have them at my school." Then she sprang into action by initiating a meeting with her president and the Parent-Teacher Association to present her idea.
Sammie used a comic strip （连环画） she created to show how a simple bench could help classmates understand when one of their own needed a friend. The adults were surely impressed by her initiative but were more impressed with how she planned to make the benches.
Sammie continued her efforts and expanded her project to collect more benches for other schools. She made an online page where she calls for others to follow her journey and make bottle cap donations.
Today, Sammie has helped fix 200 recycled benches in schools and neighborhoods and she has no plans to stop. She knows first-hand that a young age has no limitations to impacting the world. "I just look forward to making a difference," she said, "and inspiring other people to make a difference."
Are you sleeping restlessly, forgetting little things, and feeling depressed and lonely? Don't worry. We've all been there. You're probably just stressed out.
Stress isn't always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport, or have to speak in public.
But when it's continuous, the kind of situation most of us face daily, it actually begins to change your brain. Chronic （长期的） stress, like being overworked or having arguments at home frequently, can affect brain size, its structure, and how it functions, right down to the level of your genes.
As levels of cortisol （皮质醇） rise, electric signals in your hippocampus （海马体）, the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and stress control, decline. When the hippocampus weakens, so does your ability to control your stress.
That's not all, though. Cortisol can literally cause your brain to get smaller in size. Too much of it results in the shrinking of the part of your brain that regulates behaviors like concentration, decision-making, judgement, and social interaction.
It also leads to fewer new brain cells being made in the hippocampus. This means chronic stress might make it harder for you to learn and remember things, and also set the stage for more serious mental problems, like depression and eventually Alzheimer's disease.
It's not all bad news, though. There are many ways to change what cortisol does to your stressed brain. The most powerful weapons are exercise and getting into deep thoughts, which involves breathing deeply and being aware and focused on your surroundings. Both of these activities decrease your stress and increase the size of the hippocampus, and therefore your memory improves.
So don't feel defeated by the pressures of daily life. Get control of your stress before it takes control of you.
As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas is becoming harder to find. If you're lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it's unusual to find places in a city that are relatively wild.
Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.
The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then examined these submissions, coding (编码) experiences into different categories. For example, one participant's experience of "We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while" was assigned the categories "sitting at beach" and "listening to waves."
Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a "nature language" began to emerge. After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.
Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.
"We're trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives. And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it," said Peter Kahn, a senior author of the study.
It is so important to make sure you take care of your body, mind and soul every day, not just when you get sick. Here are some of the top, most practical ways for you to take care of yourself and keep yourself healthy.
Talking about your feelings can really help you to keep your mental health in good shape. It can also help you to deal with times when you happen to feel the most troubled.
Stay active. On top of this, it can help you to feel better overall. Exercise keeps your brain and your organs healthy and it also provides you with a significant amount of benefits when it comes to your mental health.
Eat well. Your brain needs to have a lot of nutrients to stay healthy. It will be very good for your physical health as well as your mental health. If you don't feel as though your diet is good right now then this is understandable, so you do need to make a positive change.
Stay in touch. There is nothing better than being able to catch up with someone in real life, but unfortunately, this is not always possible. You can give them a call and you can also drop them a note.
Ask for help. If you feel as though things are just getting too much for you or if you feel as though you cannot cope then you should ask for help. Rely on your friends, your family, or even local support.
A. Discuss your feelings.
B. Nobody is superhuman.
C. A balanced diet is good for you.
D. Express your concern and anxiety.
E. Regular exercise can help you to concentrate.
F. Your water intake is the best one for you to focus on.
G. If possible, you have to keep the lines of communication open.
I dropped a clay cooking pot on my feet. More accurately, I slipped down the back steps of my house on a rainy night, 1 the pot into the air. I managed to stay upright （挺直的） and 2 on my backside with my feet in front of me, but the pot also landed upright and on my feet, breaking in two. The hot juices I was trying to throw into the outdoor dustbin 3 in the air, and then rained down upon me. At the very moment, I could 4 the headline: "Woman Dies Doing the Dishes After Dinner."
Life didn't stop because I got 5 .However, my daily routine slowed down. I6 less urgent appointments. Though I hated the 7 in my plans, I soon realized it left me a gift: spare time. I rediscovered long-forgotten 8 . I read a book just for pleasure. I caught up with friends and family members in e-mails and texts. I 9 with my watercolor set. And my 10 came alive again.
When I was forced to slow down, I realized how 11 my lifestyle used to be. So I decided something had to 12 . Now I try to leave some 13 for activities and practices that bring me joy, like going for walks or enjoying a meal with friends.
Every time I cook in my new pot, I remember the 14 of slowing down. And I never ever walk down 15 stairs with a pot in my hands.
Whenever I tell people that I teach English at the Berlin Zoo, I almost always get a questioning look. Behind it, the person is trying to figure out who exactly I teach ... the animals?
Since June 2017, right before the (arrive) of the two new pandas, Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, I have been helping the panda keepers at the zoo to feel more comfortable and (confidence) speaking English. And who do they speak English ?
Not the pandas, even though language used for the medical training instructions is actually English. They talk to the flood of international tourists and to (visit) Chinese zookeepers who often come to check on the pandas, which are on loan from China. They also need to be ready to give (interview) in English with international journalists. This is they need an English trainer.
So, what are they learning? (basic), how to describe a panda's life. It's been an honor to watch the panda programme develop to see the pandas settle into their new home. As a little girl, I (wish) to be a zookeeper when I grew up. Now, I'm living out that dream indirectly by helping the panda keepers do their job in English.
Every girl dreamed when she was young and Cindy was no exception. Her favorite ballet was Swan Lake and she had read dozens of books from the library or in the bookstore on how to become a ballerina. She anxiously hoped that one day her dream would come true. She had taken ballet lessons and all her teachers confirmed that she was a good student and full of potential, which made her look forward to the future.
One day she saw an advertisement that a famous ballet would be performing in her hometown. Her thoughts ran wild, "I must meet up with the leader of the troupe and show him my skills," she murmured to herself. She dressed herself in her ballerina costume and managed to avoid the guards and hide in the dressing room to wait, with her heart pounding. It was uncertain whether she could see the leader.
Luckily, the leader entered and she bravely approached him and handed him a bunch of red roses. And in her excitement, she pricked （刺） her finger on the thorns but she did not make a big thing about the pain. The leader observed her action, nodding his head slightly, as she told him her dream. "All right, you dance and I will give you my judgment."
But half way through the dance he stopped her and said with an impish （顽皮的） smile Cindy didn't notice, "I'm sorry you're not good enough!" On hearing this, Cindy was too ashamed to ask the leader the reason and ran away crying, as fast as her legs could carry her without a brief stay. Shaking his head in disappointment, the leader said to himself, "Persistence matters more than talent."
Three years passing, she was still chasing her dream. Then one day she heard that the same ballet was performing in her town again. Bitter memories of the leader's harsh words came flooding back to her. This time she was determined to find out why the leader told her she was not good enough while all her teachers thought otherwise.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右； 2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The leader glanced at Cindy and said in peace, "I remember how you pricked yourself but you carried on bravely." …… At the thought, she ran after the leader immediately. |
