The UK has a whole host of things to do for free or at a low price and there are a number of websites devoted to bringing you the best. Take a look at our guide to some of our favorite UK cities.

If you live in or near London and have access to the Internet, you’ll discover many choices of free entertainment. The Londonist is an amusing website that offers daily and weekly breakdowns of the free and cheap events in the city. Categories include art, comedy, music, food and drink, theatre, festivals and talks. Head over to Londonist.com for the latest schedule of affordable entertainment. Time Out’s website (Timeout, com/London) also has lots of information about free fun in the lively capital.

Find out why the 60s really cemented(巩固) London as counterculture capital of the UK in our shop.

Manchester is probably one of the top creative centers of England (if not the UK). If you need any further convincing evidence, then head over to Creative Tourist, where you can find bags of daytime and nighttime entertainment that’s easy on the pocket. While you’re there you can also check out Liverpool and Sheffield.

Manchester is a historical city, which has shaped life in Britain. Take a look in our shop.

If Manchester is the creative center of England then Glasgow has to be the creative center of Scotland. You can visit Scotland’s Center for Design and Architecture at The Lighthouse, or go over to the Gallery of Modem Art, and then there’s the wonderful and strange Hunterian Museum. For a lowdown on the best free of Glasgow, take a look at VisitScotland.

For a look at Glasgow’s picturesque qualities click here.

Earlier this month, 6-year-old Isaac went on vacation to Fort Walton, Florida, with his family. While they were there, his mother Garrett learned about LuLu, a restaurant that offers food to customers with food allergies(过敏).

At LuLu, Isaac could eat a salad and a bowl of chicken soup with rice. “Isaac looked at me as if asking, ‘Is this OK?’ ” Garrett said. Once his mom gave the OK, Isaac enjoyed for the first time the experience of eating at a restaurant. “That look on his face was like, ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done,’” Garrett added.

Garrett and her family rarely eat out because of Isaac’s food allergies. When they do, she cooks something for Isaac at home before they leave and brings it with her to the restaurant. “It’s not fun and it feels unfair,” she said.

Their night at LuLu marked a celebration for Isaac. Garrett shared the moment on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving Isaac this wonderful experience,” she wrote in her post.

Barnett, the restaurant’s manager, said, “When customers tell the staff that someone in their group has a food allergy, I assist with the order by passing it to the kitchen, ensuring it’s cooked in a separate station and delivering the finished food to the guests. We have been improving this process over the past ten years since our allergy program was started.”

On Garrett’s Facebook post, LuLu thanked Garrett for sharing her story. “Thank you for sharing your experience with us,” the restaurant wrote in a comment, “We are excited to see your son so happy!”

Garrett is hoping her post’s popularity will convince other restaurants to be more considerate. “LuLu takes it seriously as we take it — nothing could make us happier than that,” she said.

Does your local high school have a student newspaper? Only 1 in 8 of New York’s public high schools has student newspapers – and many of those are published just a few times a year. A few more are online, which can leave out poorer schools.

Rebecca Dwarka, an 18-year-old senior who works for her student paper said, “Facebook is the new way of finding out what happened. Nobody wants to actually sit down and read a whole article about it. This makes a ‘whole article’ sound a little like a long sentence in lonely places.”

I am not nostalgic about high school student newspapers and never worked for mine. I put out what was then called a personal magazine with a group of friends because we wanted to write about peace, war and rock ’n’ roll without school officials warning us not to make jokes about the local officials.

School newspapers are in decline because students now find out what happened on social networking websites. This is a little discouraging because it proves that for millions of Americans, journalism is becoming a do-it-yourself thing. Every citizen can be a reporter.

When something happens, we look for social media messages. Facebook posts and Tweets have become the means by which citizens and reporters can prove, deny, pass on stories and express opinions without the press’ challenging, researching or slowing the message.

But truly good journalism is a craft, not just a blog post. It requires seeing something carefully and it uses an eye for details to help prove a larger view. And even journalism that conveys an opinion tries to be fair. If school newspapers begin to disappear, I hope there are other ways for students to learn that.

Chinese retail giant Alibaba has developed a new automated(自动化的) vehicle which is easy to mass-produce and could serve a number of functions. These could include delivery messenger or automated coffee selling machine, it said.

The Cainiao G Plus can travel at up to nine miles per hour, reports The Verge news site. It was showed at a conference where Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced a 100bn yuan ($15.5bn) would be put into smart logistics(物流).This includes devices such as warehouse robots as well as delivery aids.

AI expert and author Calum Chace described the G Plus as being like the “ugly big brother” of a delivery project developed by UK firm Starship Technologies. Starship has been working on this project for several years, so the Alibaba project looks to be behind as well as ugly, he said. “But that won’t matter. Anything to do with artificial intelligence is put in the first place for China, which has set itself the target of overtaking the US as world leader in AI by 2030”.

China benefits from having free access to large amounts of data, essential for training algorithms(算法), he added, probably a disadvantage in Europe since the introduction of GDPR law, designed to protect privacy.

“Don’t bet against the Chinese pulling ahead in any AI-related competition, be it self-driving cars, facial recognition, or delivery projects,” Mr Chace said.

The G Plus vehicle is fitted with solid state Lidar – the laser sensors which form an important part of the system autonomous vehicles use to be aware of their surroundings.

Solid state Lidar is cheaper and easier to produce than the traditional system, which involves spinning multiple lasers in circles to help build up a 360-degree image of what surrounds the vehicle. There are various developers creating their own versions but essentially it uses fewer lasers and a tiny swinging mirror.

Last month BMW said that its autonomous vehicles will be fitted with solid state Lidar when they will be launched in 2021.

Basic first aid is a very valuable skill to have when going on a camping trip.     16    

Cuts. With small cuts, you need to be careful to keep the area of the wound clean to avoid getting infected.      17      If the cut has not stopped bleeding, raise the wounded area above the heart and place pressure on the area to stop the bleeding.     18      It should be held in place with tape, but should not be too tight.

Blisters. Blisters can turn a fun walk in the woods into a terrible experience.     19    

Change your bandage and socks and keep the blistered area clean. Make sure that you pack different size bandages and first aid cream.

Sprains. If you have got a heavy pack on your shoulders, it can be very easy to twist your ankles. Walking sticks can be a traveler’s friend.     20      A good ACE bandage should be packed in case of a sprained ankle. This can help fix the sprained area until you can get medical attention.

After seeing the above dangers and treatments, it’s also helpful to pack a small basic first aid kit for your trip. Make sure that you include items that are unique to you and fit your environment (bleeding, bruise, snake bite, etc.).

Joy to the World

Lights, decorations and Christmas trees filled the stores. Many people were there because Christmas was only two days ____.

Thirteen-year-old Joy had just ____ her Christmas shopping. Joy went out of the store and ____ her classmate, Nick, the least ____ student in school, who wore strange clothing and had a face only a mother could love.

“What are you doing for Christmas?” said Nick with a smile that showed all his yellow teeth.

“I’m buying presents and having dinner with my ____ ,” said Joy, trying to be polite. “What about you?”

“My parents are away,” he said. “I live with my uncle, who doesn’t like me very much.”

Joy wasn’t sure how to ____ , so she said goodbye with an awkward(尴尬的) smile. She felt sorry for Nick since he must feel ____. But it wasn’t really her problem.

On Christmas Eve, Joy’s family were busy around ____  for the holiday. Joy’s parents were cooking in the kitchen. Joy was a child for holiday cheer, dancing around the house.

After dinner, the family got into their car and _____to church for the Christmas Eve service. When they walked into the old building, they were _____   by the flow of beautiful songs. A man stood up with Bible and  _____  the story Joy had learned on her mother’s knee. It was about a baby named Jesus who came to live on Earth to help people who ____   him.

Joy’s thoughts kept turning back to Nick. It must be ____ to be lonely on Christmas, a day that celebrated God’s Son coming to Earth. Tears started to run down her ____, but she brushed them away.

Joy lay awake that night _____  everyone else was sleeping like a baby. She was thinking of ways to help Nick. ____ she heard parents get up, she  jumped out of bed. She found them in the kitchen and told them about Nick. Then she asked, “Can we invite him _____ today?” “Sure,” answered Joy’s mother, who was always happy when _____  came. Her father smiled.

When Joy called Nick later that day, he was excited. After getting his uncle’s _____he joined them for dinner. To her surprise, Joy enjoyed spending time with him.

Joy came to understand _____  Christmas cheer is a joy to Nick, even to the whole world.

Traditional Chinese culture is beginning to attract the attention of the world. Kung fu,     41     (especial), has had a great effect     42     the millions of people who first learned about China through it. Sometimes, they may come to China and learn about some other     43     (aspect) of this culture. Other Asian nations have long known about the     44     (great) of ancient Chinese culture. Their own cultures are     45     mix of native ones and those Chinese characteristics. Korea and Japan long ago adopted Confucianism, something that continues today even as it     46     (challenge) by pop culture. This strength comes from the ideas     47     (give) in the Four Books of Confucianism, which were built upon the idea of an even     48     (much) ancient period included in the Five Classics. From them, the West learns     49     is uniquely Chinese, for example, feng shui.

So far China has taken steps     50     (increase) this spread of its culture byestablishing Chinese Cultural Centers in such places as the United States and Europe.