Dreaming of summer picnics filled with family and fun? We’ve come up with 4 of the top picnic areas across the US.

Cumberland Islands, Georgia

A few hours south of Savannah, this national seashore is a picnic paradise. It’s an unspoiled place in the Deep South with over 50 miles of hiking trail. Covered in Spanish moss (苔藓), the trails are lined with trees and since it’s still a rural area, the stars line up for a spectacular show at night and creates the perfect evening starlit picnic opportunity.

Giant Park, Chicago

If you are looking for delicious food in Chicago, go for a taste of a 20-day, lake-front, foodie festival that happens in October each year. Grab a spot near the fountain to enjoy your picnic, appreciate the city scenery and lake views and relax with family and friends. If you are there on July 4th, be sure to plan the day to include the fireworks display at the Navy Pier.

Cranberry Islands, Maine

Here, you’ll enjoy natural picnics with island views. The islands are a delightful group of islands about 20 minutes offshore from Acadia National Park. You can visit the islands by private boat or ferry service. Bring a picnic basket along for the ride as it’s a romantic picnic area to take your special someone or go for a family outing to visit the islands.

Big Sur, California

The Point Lobos State Reserve is a small gem. Besides the coastal wildlife there are rare plant communities, and unique geological (地质的) formations. It’s good to have a picnic there. We recommend bringing a telescope, because much of the wildlife can be seen only at a distance.

Mrs. Jones was my first patient when I started medical school — and I owe her a lot.

She was under my care for the first two years of my medical training, yet I knew very little about her, except that she was thin, perhaps in her mid 70s. It might seem rather negligent not to know the basic facts of my patient, but I had a valid reason — Mrs. Jones was dead, and had been dead for about three years before I made a patient of her. Mrs. Jones was the dead body that I dissected (解剖) over the first two years of my medical training.

Of course, her name wasn’t really Mrs. Jones, but it seemed a little impolite to be conducting research into someone’s body without even knowing its name, so out of courtesy, I thought she should have one. “Me and Mrs. Jones, we’ve got a thing going on.” went the song coming out of the radio as I unzipped the bag of her on my first day — and so she was christened (命名).

As the months passed, I soon forgot that Mrs. Jones had, in fact, once been alive. One day, though, she suddenly became very human again. I’d been dissecting Mrs. Jones a good 18 months before I got around to the uterus (子宫). After I’d removed it, the professor came up to me, “If you look at the opening carefully, you’ll see that the angle indicates that this woman has had several children, probably three.” I stared at it, and I suddenly felt very strange. This woman, who had given me something incredibly precious that I’d begun to take for granted, wasn’t a dead body. She was a person, a mother, in fact.

At my graduation, the same professor came over to congratulate me. I explained the story about Mrs. Jones to him, and recalled what he’d told me about her having children and how that had affected me all those years ago.

“Well,” he said, “at the beginning of your training you had a dead body and managed to turn it into a person. Now you’re a doctor, the trick is to have a person and not turn them into a dead body,” and he laughed, shook my hand and walked away.

A long time ago, and still in some countries today, the dollar and penny did not even exist. Actually, trading a cow for two pigs is still the norm (常态) for many cultures. So how is it that we get to use paper and coins?

The biggest challenge for ancient cultures was to have a system that would allow people to exchange products with each other. However, the problem came up when one person was in need of something immediately that they didn’t have a product to trade. For example, a farmer that needed wheat only had fruit to exchange but the fruit wasn’t ready to hand over for another two months. This is what started the idea of a “common currency”. The farmer could buy what he needed with “currency” and just as important, the value of the goods he was exchanging was standardized. He did not have to worry about giving anything in return now or later; his deal was complete. Thus “money” was born.

Over time, each country has developed its own currency and something that might cost 1,000,000 lire in one country might be 1 dollar in the US currency. Most countries also frequently use powerful political people as the “face” of their currency. The US currency is the best example of this. Can you name all the presidents that currently appear on not only paper money but also coins?

The real excitement, however, is the future of how we buy things. People have started to use debit cards (借记卡) that allow you to pay using your bank account rather than cash. That has given way to something called Mondex. Mondex allows you to “wave” your card past any special device that can read these cards. You no longer have to insert, swipe (刷) and then punch in numbers, which could cause security problems.

Abandoned around 900 years ago soon after its decoration started, Ta Keo (塔高寺) has been revived by Chinese and Cambodian experts.

The Angkor (吴哥窟) complex spreads over an area of 400 square kilometers. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992. However, due to heavy rains, stealing and lack of protection for centuries, most temples of Angkor were seriously damaged.

In order to better protect and conserve these pearls of human civilization, China joined ICC-Angkor, an international campaign launched by Cambodia and   UNESCO in 1993. From Chausay Tevada to Ta Keo, the Chinese team has earned trust and established a good reputation.

“Its unfinished status shows the construction procedures of temples in Angkor. This gives Ta Keo irreplaceable value in the study of Angkor’s architecture,” said Jin Zhaoyu, an engineer from the CACH (中国文化遗产研究院).

Such uniqueness, however, presented greater challenges. Compared with Chausay Tevada, it covers a larger area and has more risks including unsteady stone structures, a poor drainage system and fallen key parts.

“Because the construction is unfinished, many fallen parts are not carved, leaving little information of its relations with other parts,” said Jin.

Jin showed archives of those fallen parts, each with its ID file, picture and dimensions. He said, “Every stone is unique. If one stone is in the wrong position, the gap will grow wider as you restore it and an accurate restoration will be impossible.”

To better understand the temple’s structure and precisely restore it, the team applied the most advanced technologies, including 3D laser scanning and mapping, structural research and drone recording, to build a complete digital model of Ta Keo.

Jin demonstrated the 3D model system, with which they restored the temple hundreds of times. “I can measure the dimensions of every stone and every gap in computer, and search the right stone that can fit in the gap,” Jin said.

This is much easier said than done.   Dozens of Chinese experts from various fields worked together with Cambodian colleagues to overcome a string of obstacles. It took them eight years to restore Ta Keo.

How to Express Gratitude to Your Loved Ones

Write “thank you” cards. “Thank you” cards aren’t just meant for your teachers; you can give them to anyone who has influenced your life in a positive way. You can write these cards to your best friend, and     16    .

Do favors for your friends. If you want to express your gratitude, then you shouldn’t do favors for your friends just because they’ve helped you out recently or because you want something in return. Instead,     17    .

Listen. Just sit down with the person, shut off your phone, make eye contact, and take the time to really hear the person out, instead of interrupting or planning your response in your head.

    18    . Don’t compare the person’s experiences with your own unless you really think it will help.

Tell your family members how much you thank them. You may be taking your family members for granted without even realizing it. If you want to show your family members how much they mean to you, then all you have to do is     19    , and to show that you appreciate all of the love, rides, food, help, and any other offerings they have given you.

    20    . Another way to express gratitude is to thank a person in front of other people. You shouldn’t do this in a way that makes the person embarrassed, but you should make it clear how much the person means to you and how hard he or she has worked for you.

Jerry is the guy you can’t help loving. He was always in a good mood and always had something _________ to say. He was a natural _________. If someone was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling him how to _________ the bright side of the situation.

Seeing that really made me _________, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You _________ be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry, you have two _________ today. You can choose to be merry or sad. I choose to be merry. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to _________ or to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.’” “Yeah, right, but it’s not that easy,” I _________. “Yes, it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. The bottom line: It’s your choice _________ you live life.”

Several years later, I heard that Jerry was attacked and shot by two __________ robbers. Luckily, he was found quickly and __________ to the hospital. After timely surgery and intensive care, Jerry recovered. I saw him six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he __________ and showed me the scars.

I wondered what __________ his mind at that time. He replied, “__________ I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or to die. I chose to live.” “Weren’t you scared? Did you lose __________?” I asked.

Jerry continued, “The medical staff __________ me into the emergency room and from the expressions on their faces, I read, ‘He’s a __________ man’. I knew I needed to take action. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘I am choosing to live. __________ me as if I am alive, not dead.’”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing __________. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, __________, is everything.