A Four-day Trip to Italy

A full day to explore one of Italy's most undervalued but beautiful cities, including the Cathedral San Petronio's observatory; Palazzo Archiginnasio and Anatomical Theatre. Welcome to the talk “Vital Forces: Soul, Mind and Body in the Human and Animal Worlds" from Andrew Spira and dinner with wine at a local restaurant.

In the company of Andrew Spira, a full day of exploration of this wonderful city includes the Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica; Pazzi Chapel and monument to Galileo in Santa Croce; and Galileo Science Museum. A lecture from David Wootton.

During your final full day in Florence? Andrew will guide you around the Cathedral Museum—a wonderful experience due to the amazing housing of the Cathedrals treasures including works by Michelangelo, Brunelleschi and the original Gates of Paradise. A lecture from David Wootton.

On the last day, there is a morning visit to the “off the beaten track” Museum of Communication and well transport you to Bologna airport. You have to pay your own fare home after you get off the plane. You are welcome to spend additional time in Bologna and our operating partner Travel Edition can help you with additional nights accommodation visits and alternate travel arrangements.

Price: £ 1,825

The main things to visit: From astronomic, architectural, medical and mathematical perspectives, during the trip, you'll look at the wonderful collections, buildings and churches that show the rich knowledge of the Renaissance while enjoying these beautiful cities.

To book: call UK+44(0) 207 251 0045 or email us

The guide: Andrew Spira, a historian

Regnante and her husband, Tingley, knew they were in trouble when they found that they had to stay at the airport on the night before Thanksgiving with a grounded plane and 30 turtles （海龟）. The two rescuers were part of a volunteer effort to save hundreds of sea turtles that were washed up close to death on the beaches of Massachusetts.

The couple urgently needed to find temperature-controlled accommodation for the endangered sea turtles. They were in the rescuer race to save the smallest sea turtles in the world? at a little over 2 feet long, and they had been found with very low temperatures. Every year, hundreds of the turtles follow warm ocean currents north from their hatching sites in the Gulf of Mexico, become trapped in the cold Atlantic and are then rescued from Cape Cod by volunteers. who take them to wildlife centres along warmer coastlines.

Regnante is a volunteer with Turtles Fly Too, a charity that provides air transport for the stricken turtles. On Wednesday, she took off with the turtles from near Boston in a plane piloted by her husband. They were bound for New Orleans but storms forced them to change course and refuel twice. Then, at Chattanooga. Tennessee, a stone damaged the propeller （螺 旋桨）.“It was just one thing after another,”   Regnante told The New York Times. just kind of wanted to say, 'Guys, it's going to be OK'."

For turtles, being out of the water and in transit for a long period was stressful. Luckily, a happy ending was delivered. Two heated trucks were sent nearby, where the turtles spent the night. On Thanksgiving morning, Regnante and Tingley drove them to a handover point in Alabama from where the turtles were taken to their new home.

“Turtles Fly Too does whatever it takes to make the mission happen." Leslie, president of the charity, said. “When challenges arise, we'll be quick to make adjustments.”

A study from 1976 tells us how and why relationships with our neighbors can be so good for us. Surprisingly to scientists at that time, results showed that connection with family members-even one's own children—had little influence on feelings of well-being or willpower. Meanwhile, friendships, especially those with neighbors, predicted lower levels of loneliness and worry, higher levels of feelings of usefulness and respect within the community.

The study suggests that acquaintance and friendship with neighbors are more effective at increasing well-being since they are based on nearness, common interests and lifestyle choices. The neighborhood relationships are also developed voluntarily. Family ties, on the other hand, are often characterized by a sense of responsibility, physical distance, and personal disharmony. Later studies confirm the importance of close friendships for people over 65, highlighting the particular importance of frequent connection.

More recent studies show that neighborly support is associated with better well-being for individuals in mid- to-late life. Data about neighborly relationships and general well-being from 1,071 adults aged 40-70 from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the US was collected in 1995, and again from the same individuals in 2005.

The study found that those who had little connection with neighbors at the time of both samples, as well as those who experienced a reduction in connection with neighbors over the years, experienced downward trends in well-being, as indicated by feelings of sadness, nervousness. restlessness, hopelessness and worthlessness.

It is important to note here the difference between friendship and neighboring or relationships with neighbors. While friendships are based on common affection, neighboring, at its core is an instrumental relationship that is catalyzed by nearness. But it doesn't have to be this way. Where neighbors are also close friends? the potential benefits are clear. While both friendship and neighboring are beneficial to well-being, they are most effective when the types of support and assistance from both coincide.

Some people must carefully pay attention to everything they put in their mouths in order to control their weight. By contrast, others can eat French fries to their hearts' content and achieve the same result. How do some people manage never to gain weight?

"Perception, one of the most important factors, has nothing to do with the body type because our personal feeling is always wrong. We often feel that some people who eat more don't put on weight. Actually? those who appear to eat whatever they like without gaining weight aren't eating more than the rest of us," said professor Kathleen Melanson. "For example, your friend who eats ice cream on a daily basis might eat less at another meal- or snack less throughout the rest of the day.”

“Physical activity can also make a difference, but it doesn't have to be a gym workout. There's little evidence to suggest that—without exercise-some people were born to burn significantly more calories than others," said Dr Ines Barroso, a researcher at the University of Cambridge. But there may be physical differences that allow some people to naturally control the number of calories they consume without exercising much self-regulation.

A lot of nervous system signals and hormones （激素）that circulate in our blood interact to tell us when we're hungry or full. This is called the appetite regulatory system, and it may be more sensitive in some people than others, Melanson said. One important hormone involved in this system is leptin （瘦素）.It helps regulate how much food we want to eat over longer periods of time, not just for our next meal. So a person with a more sensitive system might go back for seconds and thirds at a party, then feel full for the next few days and eat less.

Genetics can also play a role in a person's tendency to gain or lose weight. Researchers have identified over 250 different regions of DNA that are associated with obesity, according to a 2019 study published in PLOS Genetics.

Suppose you are hiking with friends in the mountains on a hot summer day. and you come to a clean stream. The water in the stream looks so inviting, and you suddenly realize that you're thirsty.     16     The answer is as clear as the stream water ： don't drink it! Most mountain freshwater contains tiny living things that you can't see and isn't safe to drink, even if it looks pure.

You'll be safe if you take your own water with you on outdoor adventures. If you can't carry all the purified water you'll need, you have some alternatives.     17     That's because boiling kills the harmful tiny living things, but it may not remove dangerous chemicals from the water.

    18    These chemicals make the water safe to drink, but they often give a bad taste. Another method for purifying freshwater is to use filters （过滤器），but experts caution people to choose carefully since not all filters make water absolutely safe to drink.

If you find yourself running out of water, you can preserve your “inner water" by staying out of direct sunlight, covering your skin and wearing a hat, so that you don't lose too much water through sweating.     19    

In an emergency, if you have to drink untreated water, avoid water that is near shores. Drink from an upstream source of water, if one is available.     20     If you develop a stomachache a few days later, visit a doctor as soon as possible.

While on a recent family vacation, 10-year-old Haylee was swimming carefree in the ocean waves. Suddenly, the young girl found herself____caught in a strong tide which was quickly pulling her further out to sea.

Her mother was walking along the ______ when she heard her daughter's cry for help.

The mother instinctively   _____       she had to quickly reach her daughter. She _____ out to try to rescue Haylee but was also __ in the strong current. The waves were now __ them both. Time was essential as the pull of the _____ grew stronger.

Kevin, who was also at the beach _____ with his wife-to-be, suddenly heard screaming. He then __ two people in the ocean struggling desperately to keep afloat. He ____ into action and swam towards them. Upon ____ the mom, Kevin just told her to give him the daughter because he could see the little girl was ____ . Kevin was able to reach young Haylee and bring her _____ to the shore.

“If it weren't for him coming to grab my daughter from me, there was no way we both would have made it," said the mother _____

After returning home, the mother and daughter could not stop thinking of the ______young mysterious man who came to their rescue. They searched for his identity _____with the motivation to somehow express their____. The mother posted about the rescue on a Neighborhood Facebook group in the hope of locating their ____ . Her strategy worked—remarkably, she _____ with Kevin shortly after the post.

They offered to contribute to Kevin's coming____. hoping to somehow pay it forward. Kevin felt their safety was more than enough reward. "That girl being saved was enough for me," he said.

“The number of children according to National Health Service (NHS) with serious mental health problems     41     (be) at an all-time high,“ say doctors.

It is warned     42     the pandemic could create a "lost” generation who will be affected by “lifelong“ mental illnesses. Doctors blamed the crisis     43     school closures cancelled exams and lockclowns.

NHS figures revealed that the number of youngsters     44     (take) to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services was 4,615 per 100,000—the    45    (high) on record. The figures are up nearly 20 percent from last year.

Dr Bernadka Dubicka said, “Landmark occasions in the lives of these young people will be lost. This adds to a perfect storm of a mental health crisis, meaning children may not get     46     help they need and even    47    (potential) leaving the generation lost to poverty and lifelong mental illness.”

She also wrote in the Daily Telegraph that half of the college's child psychiatrists have reported a surge in     48     (emergent) or urgency. And NHS research also shows that one in six children now have a mental health issue, up from one in nine three    49    (year) ago.

Dr Dubicka added, “The school closures, cancelled exams and empty lecture halls     50    （have） a strong effect on our communities long after COVID-19 is written in the history books. "

I am very honored to be invited to take part the planning of the school music festival. Now, I’d like to know more detail about it.

To begin with, when and where were we starting the planning of the music festival? Beside_, I'd like to know more about a theme of this year's music festival. More importantly, I'd like to recommend perform some Chinese traditional music what has been gaining wide popularity among foreign students. I believe such performances will be surely make the music festival more meaningful. Thank you again for your invitation, but I'm looking forward to you reply.