Interested in exploring two million years of human history and culture in one place? The British Museum is a good choice. In this guide, find out what you need to know to visit the British Museum. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Pro Tip: Bookmark this post in your browser (浏览器) so you can easily find it when you’re in London.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day (to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays). A booked time slot will get you guaranteed entry.

It’s free to visit the British Museum, but there are also priced special exhibitions. For example, “Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt” is on until February 2023 and tickets cost £18 for adults.

There are more than 60 galleries exhibiting items. Here are our recommendations on what to see.

A knowledgeable guide will cover the exhibits in a more reasonable time so you have a memorable visit.

A variety of themed audio guides in their app are available for anyone interested in self-guided tour.

You can purchase the full bundle per language for £4. 99 (introductory offer) or themed tours per language for£1.99–£2.99.

Great Court Restaurant, Hakkasan and Zeo’s London are museum’s restaurants where you can enjoy delicious food and drinks at a reasonable price. Apart from those above, there are also the Court Café and the Montague Café inside the museum. Also, there are other options not too far beyond the museum gates, in case you are seeking more inspired dining.

I was ten years old when I started watching lawn tennis. Having developed interest in tennis, I started following and gaining knowledge about the game. The play of the 100th seed was the best according to me until I asked my father who is the number 1 ranked player in the world, to which he replied — Roger Federer.

That was it! I watched his play at Wimbledon and really couldn’t stop admiring this personality. His silky smooth movement, flawless serve, unreachable powerful forehand, amazing footwork—all of it was pretty amazing. I started playing tennis because of him; he was undoubtedly my role model. I followed his career off the tennis court and learned things about him that really made me a better person in life.

There is a feeling of joy in each stroke that Federer plays and a feeling of excitement in each thing he does whether it is giving an interview, doing a press conference, practicing on court or mere signing the tennis balls for fans. There is never a dull moment when he is around, which inspires everyone to be happy and joyous in life in whatever they do. One of the most important things about him which inspires me is his sense of humor.

Federer first congratulates his opponents and never shies from telling them they played wonderfully well, and that luck was on his side today or that he had a good day, instead of attributing the victory to his hours of hard work and training. He always looks for opportunities to praise others.

Another admirable thing about Federer is his love for the game. It teaches me that it’s great to do what you love. You can excel in any profession if you love it from your heart; it then becomes no more a profession but a thing of joy from which you can get satisfaction and fulfilment each day you practice it. It is no more a duty but a sense of fulfilment（成就）.

He is the most respected player in the game and everyone feels privileged to play against him, and some don’t even mind losing to him! This kind of respect is not gained in a few days but in many years by achieving perfectionism both on and off the court, by inspiring and motivating generations to come and becoming a part of history, by not just getting awards on the court but also by being a good man. Federer’s energy motivates me to keep moving on and on in my life, fighting difficulties with a smile and cherishing good moments as well as not so good.

Make me a chili pepper lover! People who often chow down on chili peppers may live for longer and have a significantly reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (心血管疾病) or cancer, research from Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute suggests.

Previous studies have found that capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their characteristic kick, can have anti-inflammatory (消炎的), antioxidant, anti-cancer and blood-glucose regulating effects when eaten. To further investigate the effects of consuming chili peppers, the researchers gathered together the health and dietary records of more than 570,000 patients in the US, Italy, China and Iran, published in four previous large-scale scientific studies.

They found that those who ate chili peppers regularly had a 26% reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) death, a 23% relative reduction in cancer death, and a 25% relative reduction in all-cause death, compared to those who rarely or never ate them.

“We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk reduction of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality. It highlights that dietary factors may play an important role in overall health,” said senior author Dr. Bo Xu, a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute.

“The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown,” he added. “Therefore, it is impossible to convincingly say that eating more chili pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer. More research, especially evidence from randomized controlled studies, is needed to confirm these new findings.”

Additionally, as the precise amount and type of chili pepper consumed varied across the four studies used in the research, it’s tricky to determine exactly how much and what type of chili peppers may provide the health benefits. However, the researchers are continuing to analyze the data in the hope of uncovering more concrete evidence.

You may feel like a master multitask er as you drink your morning coffee, catch up on email and tune into a conference call. But did you know for most people, in most situations, multitasking makes us less efficient and more likely to make a mistake.

This might not be as apparent when we’re doing simple and routine tasks, like listening to music while walking, or folding laundry while watching TV. But when the stakes are higher and the tasks are more complex, trying to multitask can negatively impact our lives — or even be dangerous.

So-called multitasking divides our attention. It makes it harder for us to give our full attention to one thing. For example, attempting to complete additional tasks during a driving simulation led to poorer driving performance. It can also affect our ability to learn, because in order to learn, we need to be able to focus. Dr. Kubu, a neuropsychologist, says, “If we’re constantly attempting to multitask, we don’t practice tuning out the rest of the word to engage in deeper processing and learning.” Another pitfall (缺陷) is that trying to do too much at once makes it harder to be mindful and truly present in the moment — and mindfulness comes with a plethora (过量) of benefits for our minds and our bodies. In fact, many therapies based on mindfulness can even help patients suffering from depression, anxiety and other conditions.

Choosing to focus on one task at a time can benefit many aspects of our life. Take surgeons for example. “People assume a surgeon’s skill is primarily in the precision and steadiness of their hands. While there’s some truth to that, the true gift of a surgeon is the ability to single-mindedly focus on one person and complete a series of task over the course of many hours.” Dr. Kubu explains. But surgeons aren’t necessarily born with this ability to monotask. Rather, they develop and perfect it through hours of practice. It is true that we perform best one thing at a time. Why not give it a try?

Perseverance (毅力) is the secret of success.     16     Even if a person is not very talented, nor highly knowledgeable, but of an average merit (优点), still he can succeed in life simply by his perseverance. Every action has its reaction. So hard labour has no alternative. It must yield (产生) results.

A person who is highly intelligent, and a scholarly genius, but is lethargic (懒散的) by nature, and reluctant to diligence, can hardly prosper in life, because he does not know how to use his brain and labour in the right direction.     17     Say, the lofty monuments, the palaces, the cities, the buildings etc. — all were built only by long and hard labour. “Rome was not built in a day”. It is through perseverance of thousands of diligent men that such magnificent structures can be standing.

    18     Science, architecture, literature, music — in every aspect of life — perseverance is the root cause of success and glory. Shakespeare did not compose such substantial works just in a day. He had to work hard during days and nights with tremendous perseverance to create such great masterpieces.

Modern scientists also work hard for years to succeed.     19     If one looks at his own life, he can very well understand that whatever he has so far gained, he has gained it only by his hard labour, and not by chance or magic, or by someone’s grace.

Therefore, perseverance must be practised from the very childhood so that the noble habit becomes a part and parcel of one’s life. With that great advantage or goodwill, a man can walk easily on the risky road of his life’s journey.     20    

Growing up as a kid in the UK, I was fascinated by insects. Wanting to _________ them, I started building little houses for ants, using little pieces of wood and _________.

I then progressed to _________ little cups from silver foil (银箔) for the imaginary friends I visualized living in my garden’s depths. My mother, seeing my creations, _________ me by saying that my ability to make things small could _________ great achievements.

As the years went by, my designs became more _________. And I used many different _________, such as diamond fragments, eyelashes (睫毛) and even spider web threads.

I sometimes worked for 16 hours a day without breaks, and it took me up to three months to _________ a sculpture. I had to hold my breath during the sculpting process. It wasn’t actually a（n）_________ process—I could only enjoy it once I had finished it.

My sculptures have taken me to __________ places. In 2012, I met the queen, giving her a tiny crown on the head of a pin. In 2013, I __________ my first Guinness World Record for creating the smallest sculpture made __________. It was a 24-carat gold motorbike that fitted inside a drilled out hair. In 2017, I __________ my record with a sculpture of a human fetus (胎儿) that measured 0. 078mm by 0.053mm.

Later in life, I was diagnosed with autism (自闭症), which I now view as a special ability. It has __________ me to strive for excellence, and I share this message by leading workshops for children with __________ learning styles, helping them to make their own small figures from a modeling clay called Blu-Tack.

The world of tiny sculptures is where I find __________. Although I’ve attempted larger works, I’ve realized that the __________ and precision of small sculptures are what I __________ love. It’s a reminder to __________ the small moments in life, where great __________ and beauty can often be found.

Before moving to the city of Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Robin Gilbank had     41     (limit) knowledge about the city despite a keen interest in Chinese culture.

“Like many foreigners     42     had never been here, I knew nothing about the historic city except for terracotta warriors at that time,” recalled the 41-year-old scholar from North Yorkshire in Britain.

Enchanted by its profound history and distinctive culture, Gilbank applied     43     a teaching position at Northwest University in Xi’an in 2008. “Shaanxi boasts (拥有) many famous writers. So I decided to translate their works into English so as to provide a new window for the world     44     (get) a glimpse (一瞥) of the real and diversified life here,” said Gilbank.

    45     (work) with Hu Zongfeng, dean of School of Foreign Languages of Northwest University, Gilbank travels     46     (wide) in Shaanxi and learns the dialect from locals to have a deep understanding of customs. They have translated over 30 Chinese novels into English.

The past decade witnesses his deeper friendship with the     47    (native) and the centuries-old city. In 2018, he was awarded as one of the 40 most     48     (influence) foreign experts during the past 40 years since the initiation of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China in 2013, China     49     (open) wider. Gilbank’s experience is a microcosm (缩影) of the story of     50     increasing number of foreigners settling down in Xi’an. They are kick-starting a new journey in the open and livable city with a population of 13 million.