【推荐1】The Forbidden City, widely regarded as one of the most popular destinations at home and abroad, houses amazing Chinese cultural and historical relics, for which the Forbidden City is always well-known. But Masters in the Forbidden City does not just focus on the stories of the past.

Instead, the documentary movie, which came out in Chinese cinemas on Dec. 16, focuses on ordinary people—the restorers of relics and antiquities.

The stories are told at a slow and relaxed pace, reflecting the restorers’ work. Restoration of cultural relics and antiques can be time-consuming, and sometimes boring. Yet these restorers’ patience and peace of mind are especially precious in a society where everything is changing so fast.

“If you choose this job, you have to put up with hours of work sitting on a chair. You need to be quiet and get used to being quiet,” says Wang Jin, an ancient clock repair expert.

A touching part of the documentary is the spirit of craftsmanship (工艺)in the restorers. “Years of humdrum work requires not only skill, but also faith and spirit,” China Daily commented, “Looking for preciseness and perfection, devoting yourself to work, patience, endurance, loneliness... All these qualities come from the craftsman spirit.”

But unlike the popular idea of serious experts who sit around being serious, the documentary shows off the enthusiasm of the restorers. They play their guitars and make jokes about each other after a long day of restoration work.

One scene that has been very popular with Internet users features a young female restorer riding a bicycle through the empty Forbidden City on a Monday. While she is doing this, a narrator says, “The last person to do this was Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.”

Masters in the Forbidden City has proved wrong many people’s ideas about antique restorers, allowing them to realize that they are not old, dull professors, but people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s who can be quite pleasing to the eye.

【推荐2】Real financial security and freedom is not in our job but in our passion. It’s easy to define and evaluate a man by his pursuit. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your dream and the universe will open doors where there are only walls.”

In life, we’ll always be found doing any of these two things: either making a living or making a difference. Pensions (养老金) and salaries stop many from pursuing excellence while passion unlocks hidden potentials that equip us for challenges and opportunities. A job helps us make a living while passion enables us to make a difference.

I want to sincerely help to adjust and clarify the misguided belief among workers that a job is a means of livelihood. Rather, it should be a means to fuel our passion. The earlier you realize this basic truth of life, the more clearly you’ll be able to position yourself in living a life of impact and value.

The success of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) shows how meaningful it is to pursue your passion instead of your pension. Its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, didn’t realize this until he was given his first social security check of 105 dollars. But he decided that there surely was something to do for himself and other people instead of living on that small pension. He was determined to engage himself in what brought him impact and value. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s special recipe for fried chicken, he invented “finger-licking” seasoning with eleven spices and herbs. Despite much rejection, he managed to round up some investors and promote company’s rapid expansion to more than 6,000 locations. Sanders’ life pointed towards two facts about making a difference: one, there is no age that is too old to make a difference; two, there is nothing too small or insignificant to make a difference with, as long as it is your passion.

【推荐3】When you are looking for jobs, one thing that cannot be ignored is how much you could earn.     1     which career path should you take? A new list released by Careercast, com, a leading US careers website, has given the important information for the US.

    2    . Being a surgeon, for instance, requires more than ten years of preparation, from undergraduate studies through medical school and a residency program （住院医生项目）in the US. Being a lawyer also requires a postgraduate degree and the passing of state bar exams （州律师考试）in the US, reported Careercast.

These jobs are not easy to get in China, either. To be a doctor, you have to finish five years' college study and complete a yearlong internship. To be qualified as a lawyer, the first step is to pass the National Judicial Examination, one of the hardest exams in the country with a pass rate of about 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Justice.     3    

High pay also means high pressure. To be an air traffic controller earns a lot. You don't need a graduate degree.     4       Air traffic controllers have to pay a lot of attention to detail under the highest of pressure.

    5     What you consider a great job may be as unique as your personality. Your future job is probably different from your friends and you will get a good payment.

What we do

EFP Courses provide courses in English language and British culture. Our courses are aimed at students aged between 12 and 17 who are at pre-intermediate level or above in English. The courses are held in Guildford, a historic town near London

Typical structure of a one-week course

● up to 25 hours of English run by native speakers, qualified in teaching English as a foreign language and specialist drama teachers

● 2 full-day sightseeing trips to London and Oxford (at weekends)

● full board (全食宿) with local, English-speaking families

When we run the courses

EFP courses can be organized only during British state school terms. For this academic year, courses can be booked between now and 23 May and between 30 May and 30 June. We welcome you to book from 3 September 2016 to 25 October 2016 and from 31 October to 20 December 2016.

Why choose EFP courses

● in addition to our standard English classes, we also run drama and expression English classes, taught by specialist drama teachers

● we expose our students to British culture for the entire length of the course

● we tailor courses to each group’s needs, creating a unique experience for our students. Note that any changes to our courses are made within reason and only if all participants from a group share the same language level. Please see further details on our website.

Length of a course

EFP courses run for either one or two weeks depending on the specific requirements for your group.

How to apply

Please register your interest by sending an email to info@efpcourses.co.uk. By contacting us before you make any travel arrangements you ensure that we can put your group up on the dates that you require. For more details, please visit www.efpcourses.co.uk.

See you in Guildford soon!

【推荐3】☆America’s Living Natural History Museum

●On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park for all to enjoy the unique hydrothermal wonders. As development spread across the West, the 2.2 million acres of habitat within the park became an important sanctuary for the largest concentration of wildlife in the lower 48 states.

☆Things you can do

●An amazing experience awaits you here. Yellowstone is a seasonal park, so plan your visit by learning about the current conditions, operating seasons and hours, road conditions, lodging and eating options, and available activities.

●Hike a trail: Lace up your boots, grab your bear spray, and explore nearly 1,000 miles of trails.

●Watch wild life:Bring some binoculars or a spotting scope and enjoy animals from a safe distance.

●Take photos:Best practices & tips for shooting in Yellowstone.

●Bike in the park:Enjoy the scenery on two wheels.

●Ride a horse:Bring your own stock or take a guided ride.

Contact the park!

We welcome all of you to come to Yellowstone.

Mailing Address:PO Box 168 Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190﹣0168   Phone:307﹣344﹣7381

【推荐1】Even for a civilization as advanced as the Harappan, a second drought was perhaps one too many. The climate disaster may be what drove the ancient society to disappear step by.

The Harappan started in the Indus valley around 5200 years ago, strongest around 2600 BC. Much about them is unknown. Yet archaeological remains tell the story of the people, skilled in trade and city planning, and particularly good at controlling water. Their huge cities, complete with excellent systems for underground water and public baths, existed long before the Roman Empire.

But by 1900 BC, their society seemed to be on the fall, and by 1300 BC, the Harappan civilizations had broken down. Several ideas have been put forward to explain the downfall, including invasion and climate change. One recent study refers to a major drought in the northern half around 4200 years ago. This event was recently considered as the start of the Meghalayan period. It is thought to have broken up climate systems around the world, including the summer monsoon rainfall the Harappan depended on.

Nick Scroxton at University College Dublin, Ireland, and his team are now challenging this idea after studying 10 ancient records. They found some facts of a sudden drought starting around 4260 years ago. The study suggests the Harappan faced a sharp decrease in winter rain. “The civilization suffered, that's for sure,” says Scroxton. But that wasn't the end of the Harappan. “Their politics might change, the crops might change, the location of their cities changes, but they adapt,” says Scroxton.

Some 300 years later, however, just as the winter rains were starting to recover, a hottest drought kicked off. This was a slowing reduction in the sum monsoon rains over several centuries. Scroxton and his team say this second drought changed the Harappan into a poor society that disappeared at last.

【推荐2】Earthquake in Central China Kills 14

BEIJING﹣A magnitude （级别） 5.7 earthquake shook part of central China on Saturday，killed at least 14people and injured nearly 400，the official said．

The official Xinhua News Agency said the quake happened around 6：00a．m．local time，with the epicentre（震中） in Ruichang，a city of 420，000 in Jiangxi province．

Hundreds of homes collapsed（倒塌） and thousands were damaged，Xinhua said．"The earthquake this morning was quite scary，"said a shopkeeper in Ruichang reached by telephone who would only give her surname﹣Zhou．

Many people in Ruichang were staying outside for fear of aftershocks （余震）．She said she felt a milder trembling of the earth around 9：00p．m．

Tents were set up outside a hospital treating some of the 377 injured．

The United States National Earthquake Information Centre reported the quake was magnitude 5.5．

【推荐2】People from all walks of life tend to become more personal and hide less of themselves when using email. Researchers from Open University in Britain have found in a recent study that there are good reasons for this.

The team of researchers asked 83 pairs of students, all strangers to each other, to solve a problem. They had to discuss this question: If only five people in the world could be saved from a world disaster, who should they be? The pairs of students had to talk over the problem either face to face or by computers. Dr. Johnson said, "They told their partners four times as much about themselves when they talked over the Internet as when they talked face to face. When the computers were fitted with cameras so that students could see each other, this limited the personal side of the conversation."

Generally the information was not extremely personal. It was mainly about things such as where they went to school, or where they used to live. But some students discussed their love stories, and personal childhood experiences.

Dr. Johnson believes that emailing encourages people to focus on themselves. And when they do this, they become more open, especially if there are no cameras. "If you cannot see the other person, it becomes easier to talk about yourself. This is because you are not thinking what the other person is thinking of you. So emailing has become the modern way of talking," said Dr. Johnson. However, this style of talking is not completely new. "In the 19th century people started to use the ‘telegraph’ to communicate. Now the same kind of thing has happened and people ended up speaking more freely."

Dr. Johnson thinks that emailers need to know about these effects of emailing, especially when they start work in a company. " If you don’t know about it, you could find yourself saying more about yourself than you wanted to."

【推荐3】Railcards

Want to save on the price of your train tickets? Then you'll need to buy a National Railcard. The first step is to pick the right Railcard, but worry not! We'll walk you through each type and help you find the one most suited to your needs.

The Network Railcard

Spend £ 30 on a Network Railcard for the year and look forward to 1/3 off your train tickets during off-peak (非高峰)times. Enjoy discounted travel across 16 counties (郡)in the South East, even including the whole of London! It is a great option for anyone who doesn't fall into any of the other Railcard categories, as people of any age can hold one.

The student Railcard

At the cost of just £ 30, this Railcard is of excellent value for money. Whether you have an early morning lecture or you're rolling home in the early hours after a night out, you can still get 1/3 off on all passenger rail services within the UK! The only requirement for this railcard is that you need to be within the ages of 16 and 25.

The Millennial railcard

This railcard is available for all who are between the ages of 26 and 30, regardless of peak or off-peak times. However, it is currently only available digitally, with users being required to download the Railcard app and show ticket inspectors during train ticket checks. Costing just £ 30, the new railcard can be used across the UK.

The Disabled Persons Railcard

Any passenger with a disability is eligible(符合条件的) to apply for one. It only costs £ 20, making your overall discount for the year even better! The most important thing is that any types of tickets can be purchased throughout the UK rail network. Besides, it can also get you discount on London attractions.