【推荐3】There is no doubt that when you receive a compliment, you feel good and when you receive a criticism, you feel upset and want to refuse it.

You shouldn’t be surprised by your reaction to the negative comment, as it’s human’s survival mechanism to avoid being criticized. Clearly, we don’t want to be seen as failures, so we’d rather shut our eyes and cover our ears than have to take any criticisms from others.

Imagine you’re learning to play the guitar, and you have just done your first public performance. Your teacher says, “You did well,” which may not be as useful in helping you improve your performance skills as “Your timing needs some work.” So I believe that criticisms are better than compliments.

No one would argue that healthy nutrition is a bad thing. However, too much food or drink — no matter how healthy they may be — can make us ill. Too many compliments take us away from our original enthusiasm of enjoying an activity. We start doing the activity only for the sake of receiving self-satisfying praise. Without the expectation of praise, our enthusiasm to complete things begins to be lost.

Launched in 2010, Microsoft KIN only lasted on the market for 48 days. It was very obvious that most 15 to 30-year-olds preferred Androids, BlackBerrys and iPhones to the Microsoft KIN. If criticism and feedback from the target group had been received while the phone was in development, Microsoft KIN could have avoided the huge embarrassment and its final failure.

Just to be clear, I’m talking about constructive criticism, which I like to think of as “healthy criticism”. The right kind of criticism is honest feedback that will benefit you. Feedback forces you to reconsider your actions and the way you work. If you use constructive criticism wisely, it can guide you away from bad practices, giving you support and courage to move forward to be a better person in the future.

【推荐1】Turf houses are, quite simply, half underground houses with a grassy roof. They date back over 1,000 years to the 9^th Century, when building a turf house was the traditional way in Iceland.

Iceland’s resources then consisted of plenty of wetlands and volcanic stone, but relatively little woodland compared to settlers’ home countries.     1    

Like many traditions, turf houses survived, but developed. In the 14th Century Viking-style longhouses (thin, long, shared spaces) gave way to individual, smaller buildings.     2     Turf houses made way to more modern, recognisable buildings in the 20th Century, but they still exist as museums and heritage (遗产) buildings today.

    3     Due to the difficult climate, it was essential that the houses should be well-insulated (保温). Besides, the lack of availability of wood and the richness of other suitable materials including lava rock and turf made turf houses available. Turf provides great insulation for buildings compared to those made of wood or stone alone.

From the turn of the 20th Century, Icelanders increasingly moved into larger city settlements, leaving turf houses behind.     4     Modern turf houses tend to operate as museums, though some offer short-term holiday accommodation.

While the number of turf houses in Iceland reduced greatly in the 20th Century, the rapid growth of Iceland’s tourism in the last 20 years or so has encouraged Iceland to reexamine the value of traditional buildings.     5     The Turf House Tradition was listed as potential nominees (提名) for UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Iceland, which included just six places of importance.

【推荐2】Lying on the north-south axis (轴线) line of Beijing City, Bell and Drum Towers were built in 1272 and rebuilt twice after two fires. In one period in history they were the time-telling center of the capital city during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1271-1911).

Bell Tower

The Bell Tower is 47. 9 meters high. This brick-and-stone-made building has two floors. Located on the second floor, the bell is the largest and heaviest in China. It is 7. 02 meters high, with a weight of63tons (吨). It was made of copper (铜), and you can hear its clear sound from far away.

Drum Tower

Situated 91 meters south to the bell tower, it was placed on a 4-meter-high stone and brick groundwork. It is 46. 7 meters high. It is a two-floor wooden building. There was one big drum and 24 smaller ones before, but only the big remains now.

On New Year’s Eve 1990, the bell was rung again and the drum was rung on New Year’s Eve 2001 after being silent for so long. Since then, the drum and the bell have sounded 108 times every New Year’s Eve.

【推荐2】Chinese people have appreciated the beauty of lanterns for years. Like a lighthouse that lights up the way home, it is customary to admire the charm of lanterns during Lantern Festival and Mid -Autumn Festival.     1     .

Lantern shows are held throughout the country on such occasions. Yuyuan Lantern Show in Shanghai and Qinhuai Lantern Show in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province, are two notable shows.     2     . On such occasions, ice sculptures create a fairy tale of light and color.

Mentioning Chinese lanterns would not be complete without mentioning a city in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, Zigong, often praised as the City of Lanterns. The custom of enjoying lanterns on festivals began in Zigong as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907).     3    . To add to their beauty, Zigong artisans also use a variety of materials, such as silk, paper, bamboo, straw, cocoon and even porcelain.

Lantern production is now a driving force for the local economy, as most of large-scale lanterns used in festive shows are produced in Zigong.     4     . Visitors crowd into Zigong to enjoy lanterns, as well as a variety of other recreational activities.

The skillful hands of Zigong craftsmen have also taken this national intangible heritage abroad, staging views of color and delight at lantern shows in more than 70 countries and regions worldwide.     5     .

For the Chinese, lanterns have not only lit up the night, but also brightened hearts that long for home.

【推荐3】In early February, an old stove with rich vivid images (zaotou painting) took center stage at a village Spring Festival gala in Haiyan county, Zhejiang province.     1     . They feature historical and legendary figures, animals and flowers, which are painted in bright colors and have a way of drawing attention from admiring viewers. Zaotou is a part of a kitchen stove in the shape of a square or rectangle, on which are some images showing the beauty of nature and humanity.

    2    . In ancient time, villagers would hire bricklayers (瓦工) to build a mud stove in their new home and then painted pictures on a day of good fortune.     3    . They whitewashed (粉刷) the mud-made stove with lime-water, sketched out the patterns based on the shape of the stove, applied the final coat of paint and even created a three-dimensional effect.

At first, simple tools had been used to produce such art, including a selection of brushes, rulers, and paint. With people’s aesthetic appreciation growing, watercolors were used, mostly red, yellow and blue, the three auspicious (吉祥的) ones to the Chinese people.     4    . No matter what material is available, the stove painting is always symbolic and harbors good wishes for the owners.

Now many people are devoted to the inheritance and popularization of zaotou painting and more and more support has been received from various sides including local authorities.     5     .