A Four One-day Trips in the UK

The First Light Pavilion, Cheshire

It’s a newly-designed visitor centre at the Jodrell Bank Observatory. It is inspired by the Lovell Telescope and is designed to act like a sundial (日晷).Visitors can experience a meteor shower (流星雨), operate a radio telescope and launch a digital satellite there.

£8.50 adults / £6.50 children, jodrellbank.net

Clifford’s Tower, York

This 800-year-old tower is all that remains of York Castle. It was a treasury (财宝库) and prison, but its inner space was damaged by fire in 1684. Now, after a £5 million project by English Heritage, the ruin is reopening. Walkways will replace the lost first floor. A new roof floor will provide views of York Minster, the city and the North York Moors beyond.

£8.10 adults / £4.80 children, english-heritage.org.uk

The Rig Climb Experience, Greenwich

The Cutty Sark, one of just two surviving tea sailing ships in the world, is launching a new experience. For the first time, visitors will be able to step from the main deck and arrive at the top platform. Visitors will hear tales of life at sea in the 19th century and the tough conditions sailors had to work in.

£21 adults / £12 children (includes general entry to the ship), rmg.co. uk/cutty-sark

The Intelligence Factory, Buckinghamshire

A newly-restored building at Bletchley Park is opening as the site’s biggest ever exhibition space. The Intelligence Factory in Block A will focus on the years 1942-1945 when 9,000 staff members helped win World War II. The permanent exhibition will include objects, personal stories and interactive elements, showing how operators handled huge amounts of information. There is also a space for temporary exhibitions — the first is on data visualisation.

£21 adults / £12.50 children, bletchleypark.org.uk

Reggie Carrillo is an environmental activist who lives in the Southwestern U.S. city of Phoenix, Arizona. He recently said that climate change affects the temperatures of city neighborhoods. “To understand climate change, to understand the urban heat island effect, you have to understand the history,” said Carrillo. He wants to share his knowledge with his neighbors to cool his community.

In Phoenix, some neighborhoods do not have many trees and open spaces. Temperatures are as much as seven degrees Celsius higher than in other areas of Phoenix with more trees. Those parts of the city were built with mostly roads and buildings but not much green space. That has helped create what Carrillo and others call an “urban heat island”.

Carrillo has learned about the city’s history by attending the Urban Heat Leadership Academy run by groups trying to conserve natural resources. It gets involved in cities like Phoenix and Atlanta, Georgia by planting trees and building community gardens.

The academy helps teach people like Carrillo about why their living areas are so hot. It also teaches them how to organize activities that will help cool things down. It is making public art to teach people about climate change and is giving out small trees for people to plant.

In Phoenix, Carrillo has learned that people who live in poor parts of the city often sleep with their windows closed on hot nights because they are worried about crime. He said “the rest of us need to know what people experience” so organizations like this can “combat the problem.” Carrillo hopes to build a walking area that will be known as a “cool corridor”, a place that has local plants that can help reduce temperatures.

Summer temperatures in Phoenix can be dangerous. Last summer, the highest temperature was over 46 degrees Celsius. The heat was blamed for over 300 deaths. So they are planting fruit trees including peaches, apples and oranges to get enough food in another part of Phoenix each day. What a great project!

A French power producer, HDF Energy, expects its hydrogen energy power station in Namibia to produce electricity by 2024. And HDF Energy announced the plan for the southern African country publicly recently. This plant in Namibia would be Africa’s first. HDF Energy is also considering new projects across Africa.

The project is expected to cost about $181 million. Once operated, it will supply electrical power, 24 hours a day throughout the year. It will increase the electricity supply to Namibia, which imports 40 percent of power from neighboring South Africa. Namibia is one of the world’s sunniest and least densely-populated countries. It wants to use its great potential for solar and wind energy to produce green hydrogen power. And Namibia wants to become a renewable energy center in Africa.

Hydrogen power is considered clean when it is made with reproducible power. It is seen as an important way to reduce carbon-based fuels in the energy industry. The project will use solar panels(电池板)to produce electricity. Electrolyzers produce hydrogen which can be easily stored by using electricity to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water.

Another company named Hyphen Hydrogen Energy is in talks with Namibia’s government to secure an agreement for a planned hydrogen project. European Union says they also plan a deal with the country to support its green hydrogen industry. The German government has already agreed to invest $41.8 million in Namibia’s hydrogen plan. European nations are trying to reduce their dependence on Russian energy. Obeth Kandjoze, director-general of Namibia’s National Planning Commission said EU financial support was likely to be limited, but a financial deal could bring in other investors.

One Thing You Can Do Right Now to Help Your Heart

Many diseases and medical conditions are caused by things out of our control. Yet experts say you can control and even prevent many risk factors that increase your chances of dying.

An unhealthy lifestyle can put you at great risk of heart disease and stroke. Poor diet and a lack of physical exercise both increase your risk of heart disease.     31    

But there is something else you can do. And it is free and easy. Smile! Anand, a heart disease specialist at University of Missouri, advises his patients to smile. “When we smile, the chemicals that are released are more positive.”

    32     These prevent blood from flowing to the heart or the brain. The most common reason for these blockages is a build-up of fatty deposits on the inner walls of the arteries (动脉).

When you feel stressed or under pressure, your body releases many natural hormones (荷尔蒙) that will increase your heart rate and blood pressure and also increase sugar in the bloodstream. If you are truly in danger, these hormones can help you.     33     However, when people are stressed for long periods of time, they may not make the best decisions about what to eat. They may overeat, smoke or drink too much alcohol. They may not get enough exercise or sleep.     34    

Dr. Anand says a smile may be one way to help. It does not involve drugs. It is not invasive (有扩散危害的) like a surgical operation. It is free and it has no bad side effects. Once smiling, people are relaxing.     35     Probably this just may provide a little extra protection to everyone’s heart health.

Sincere and moderate (适度的)praise is the best social lubricant (润滑剂),which has more power than complaint or criticism. My experience in January 2019 _______the wonder of praising.

I was in the back seat of a taxi,_______my mother’s hand like a 5-year-old. But in fact, I was already 28 years old, still_______ and hoping my mom would make it all right. Actually, my mom was always the heroine in my life.

We were coming home from the _______, having survived spinal surgery (脊柱手术) a week earlier, and heading to the tiny apartment in San Francisco. Each time the taxi bounced over the steep hills, I felt as if my bones were _______. I doubted I would get hurt again during the_______.

I was about to open my mouth to _______at the driver or at least complain, when my mother said _______,

“Thank you! You’re the best driver I have ever seen.” She continued, “These hills must be very hard to drive on. And I’m so_______. My daughter just had spinal surgery and is so________. Because of you, she’s going to get home safe. Thank you. You are ________.”

In the mirror, I could see the driver smiling proudly. All of a sudden, I felt a flash of________, but before I had a chance to disapprove of my mother’s praise, a(n) ________ happened. The driver slowed down. He stretched his neck left and right to ensure a smooth ________ before making each turn. Indeed, he drove us home like the best driver I’d ever seen.

At that moment, what my wise mom had done clearly ________ that she was really certain of the power of praising.

Where would you find the largest impact crater (陨石坑) on Earth? South Africa, Siberia, Antarctica, or Mexico. South Africa’s Vredefort crater is the world’s largest     51     (know) impact crater.

An impact crater, as the name suggests,     52     (form) when something like an asteroid crashes into something else like Earth. This more recent phenomenon was not caused by an impact but it is one of 17 craters that     53     (appear) mysteriously in the Russian arctic since 2013.

Scientists don’t know     54     this happened. They do know the hole’s about 150 feet deep. After it was discovered last summer, they flew a drone inside the crater to capture dozens of     55     (image) from which they built a three-dimensional model. That helped researchers to learn more.

Methane (甲烷) gas somehow accumulates in the permafrost of Siberia. They’re not sure whether the gas comes     56     deep inside the Earth or near its surface but they believe that as the methane builds in a cave in the ice it forms     57     mound (土堆).And that mound grows until it finally explodes, blowing off ice and     58     (leave) behind the crater.

Scientists are using computer technology     59     (predict) where this will happen next. These craters appear in     60     (scarce) populated areas. They’re usually discovered by accident or during helicopter flights of the area.