【推荐2】The chance of a snowy holiday season in most American cities is practically impossible this year, so any festive atmosphere to be enjoyed will have to be the imaginary sort. Luckily, there are books for that.

Any reader of fairy tales knows Andersen’s responsible for the snowy scenes in "The Snow Queen", the story of children Kai and Gerda, who must face the goddess-like woman who controls all snowflakes after Kai is kidnapped.

It’s a beautiful yet tragic novel about an Indian family immigrating to America, only to face entirely new hardships. Sharma’s novel isn’t entirely set in the wintertime, but his poetic descriptions of winter weather as lovely yet isolating make it a great choice for a December read.

Go ahead and give up movie adaptation that has been produced recently and read or re-read the classic itself. You know the story: a scientist driven by his ambition discovers a method for creating life, and spends two years cobbling together a living creature, who later feels anger about him.

Dillard’s first book is, as its title suggests, about her change from being a self-centered child to being an adult more concerned with the world around her than with her own personal concerns. Her parents are key figures in the story. One famous scene takes place during what the author calls “a big snow” in 1950.

【推荐3】Venice International Film Festival

The Venice International Film Festival takes place every year in late August or early September at the historic Palazzo del Cinema, in Venice, Italy; its main award is the Golden Lion.

Cannes International Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival is a famous film festival. It has been held annually in Cannes, in the south of France, since 1946 with a few exceptions. Given massive media exposure, the festival is attended by many film stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe.

The most famous award given out at Cannes is the Golden Palm for the best film; this is sometimes shared by multiple films in one year.

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards are the most prominent film award in the United States. The awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Awards are nicknamed "Oscars", which is also the nickname of the statuette (小雕像). The name is said to have been born when Margaret Herrick saw the statuette on a table and said, "It looks just like my uncle Oscar!"

Berlin International Film Festival

It is one of the "A" festivals in Europe. The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the "Berlinale", is held annually in February and started in 1951 after an initiative of the American, who was stationed in part of the city after World War Ⅱ. The jury (评审团) always place special emphasis on representing films from all over the world. The awards are called Golden and Silver Bears (as the Bear is the symbol of Berlin).

【推荐1】The FDA has begun testing frozen berries for hepatitis A (甲肝) and norovirus (诺如病毒). The research, which started in November and is expected to last for 18 months, was prompted by four frozen-berry-related outbreaks in the U. S. between 1997 and 2018. The three hepatitis A outbreaks in the U. S. caused 405 people to get sick and 53 were in hospital, while the one norovirus outbreak made 136 people ill, according to the FDA.

The concern is that people don’t always cook the frozen berries before using them. Cooking would reduce or remove the pollution. Experts say the hepatitis A and norovirus could come from ill farm workers or polluted water or surfaces, like a harvesting basket. However, the FDA has given no specific guidance about how to prepare frozen berries meanwhile.

Frozen-berry virus outbreaks have been a bigger problem in Europe than in the U. S. , but this country needs to take action, too, according to DonSchaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers University. His lab's recent research found that viruses can survive for two years frozen.

“Just because there have not been outbreaks, you should still keep a close eye on it,” he said, “Washing is not going to be 100% effective. What you really need is good agricultural practices on farms to make sure sick workers are not working on farms and highquality water is used.”

【推荐2】Many studies have hinted(暗示) that alcohol, in moderation, can do a heart good. But new research suggests that moderate drinkers are no more likely than non­drinkers to have clear arteries(动脉).

The scientists looked at almost 2,000 patients who underwent CT test. Overall, there was no association between people’s drinking habits and their heart diseases. Researchers said an advantage of the new study is that it used objective measurements.

“No prior studies have assessed the relationship between alcohol consumption and the presence of heart disease,” said lead researcher Dr Julia Karady. “We could not find any relation between the presence of heart disease and alcohol consumption,” Karady said. At the same time, she added, there was no evidence that heavier drinking raised the risk of heart disease.

However, groups like the American Heart Association(AHA) warn against excessive drinking, because it can raise blood pressure and contribute to heart failure and other problems.

In general, “moderate” is defined as no more than one glass of alcohol a day for women, and no more than two a day for men. But those studies do not prove that alcohol, itself, protects the heart—in large part because alcohol also carries risks.

【推荐3】On Monday, a scientist and doctor Robert Winston is to formally ask a question in congress about what assessments the government has made “for requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to heave a licence and third-party insurance”. The letter below is the entirely imagined response I would like the government to make to him.

Dear Robert,

You ask what assessments we’ve made for your proposal about obliging cyclists to have licences and insurance. The brief answer is: none. Nor do we have any plans to do so.

Why? Again, the short answer is this: it’s a silly and pointless thing to suggest, as evidenced by the fact that practically no countries or territories anywhere in the world require cyclists to be licensed, or to have compulsory insurance.

I suppose it’s only fair if I explain why I think it is such a non-issue. It’s pretty simple: such a plan would achieve pretty much nothing, while causing significant problems. More widely, any sensible governments will do everything in their power to get more people cycling, not to put pointless obstacles in their way.

Let’s just take one example. As I’m sure you know as a doctor, one of the problems facing our nation is that the National Health System is likely to collapse under the caring for an increasingly overweight population. Inactive living is central to this. Even a fairly brief daily bike trip can have miraculous benefits for people’s health.

Next, how would such rules even work? Would the licensing and insurance be just for adults, or also children? How would the system even be enforced-would it also require all bikes to be registered with number plates?

Finally, what would you hope to achieve by this? If you believe licensing transport users stops wrongdoing, can I point to you the data showing how a third of drivers admit to using handheld phones while driving, despite the law forbidding it.

So, to summarize：your plan would be to introduce a hugely new administrative scheme that would most likely have limited effect on the behaviour of averagely law-abiding (守法的) transport users who rarely harm others, while putting people off from this beneficial type of transport.

I’m afraid I just don’t get it.

【推荐1】Welcome to the 4-Day Wonderful Life Experience

This 4-day sightseeing tour covers the most famous elements（元素）of China: the historical sites, natural scenery, unique culture, and lovely giant pandas.

Your guide will meet you at the arrivals hall. An experienced driver will transfer you to your hotel. Your guide will help you to check-in.

You may start your first day wandering through Tian'anmen Square and arrive at the Forbidden City to have a little adventure in the previous home to emperors. After lunch at a local restaurant, you'll explore the centuries-old hutongs to get a taste of the locals' lifestyle: making dumplings in a local family's home, trying your hand at Chinese writing brush, or applying Peking Opera facial makeup.

Freshen up in the morning and start your day at Summer Palace, enjoying the 300-year-old royal garden. Take a pleasant boat ride on the lake and take a walk in the long corridors（走廊）to view the beautiful paintings on the ceilings.

After enjoying some Beijing Roast Duck for lunch, we'll go on our tour to visit the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Walk through the watchtowers, enjoying a wonderful view of the wall winding across the mountains. The cable car to a good section of the Great Wall is included.

At 7 in the morning, you will be driven to the airport for your flight to Xi'an. Your guide will be waiting for you and will transfer you to your hotel.

Everything in Xi'an is about history. The Terracotta Army, with each figure being unique, has guarded Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb since 210 BC.

After lunch, you'll visit the 600-year-old ancient city wall. Walking along Xi'an City Wall provides a good view of the city.

In the morning, you'll get onto a high-speed train to Chengdu, where you can get close to giant pandas. You will get very close to them and learn more about them during the Panda Keeper Program in Dujiangyan Panda Base. Under the guidance of an English-speaking member of staff, you will clean the panda enclosures, feed a panda by hand and make cakes for them.

After the tour, the driver will transfer you to the airport at 9 pm, and take you all the way to the security gate for your convenience.

China visas provided PLUS a free dinner or snack tour

Valid: Nov.20, 2019-Dec.2, 2020

Please click here for more detailed information.

【推荐2】Pale Horse, Pale Rider

Katherine Anne Porter was a celebrated American journalist, essayist, short story writer and novelist. Her works deal with dark themes including justice and the unforgiving nature of the human race. Pale Horse, Pale Rider（ 1939）is her short novel set during the influenza pandemic（流感大流行）of 1918, which killed five times as many Americans as did World War I. Its main character, Miranda, is a young reporter who falls in love with a soldier； the book's fever-dream style captures the experience of the disease.

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton was one of the most successful novelists of his generation. The Andromeda Strain（ 1969 ）is his best-selling techno-thriller that begins when a military satellite crashes to the earth and releases an organism that kills almost everyone in a nearby small town. Then things get bad.

Love in the Time of Cholera

Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a major Latin-American author of novels and short stories, a central figure in the so-called magical realism movement in Latin American literature. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1982. Love in the Time of Cholera ( 1985 ) is his great Colombian authors attractive tale of a 50-year courtship, in which lovesickness is as stubborn as disease. ^u My best, " he said of it. " The novel was written from my soul."

The Road

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. The Road (2006) is his beautifully written, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set after an unspecified extinction event has wiped out most of humanity. An unnamed man and a boy travel on foot toward a southern sea, having to avoid cannibals(食人者)and despair. The Road is a specially moving story¹ of a journey.

【推荐3】Imagine this scene: it’s blowing outside, and you snuggle (蜷伏) up on the sofa under a warm quilt, chatting and recalling with your closest friends.

That content, cosy feeling has a name in Danish —hygge. And, as Denmark recently won the title of “the happiest country in the world”, the concept of hygge is known to more and more people interested in finding ways to understand this concept.

Hygge —originally from a Norwegian word meaning well-being — doesn’t have an exact equivalent (等同物) in English. It’s often translated as coziness, or as blogger Anna West told the BBC, “coziness of the soul”. But, as professor Maren Spark explains, “Hygge was never meant to be translated. It was meant to be felt.”

Basically, hygge involves creating a warm, cosy atmosphere and enjoying it with your loved ones. Danish winters are long and dark and so achieving hygge is particularly relevant during this season. A typical Hygge activity during winter could be enjoying delicious homemade food and light-hearted conversation with friends —preferably in the warm glow of candlelight, or maybe sipping a glass of wine in the hot tub after a day spent skiing.

However, hygge isn’t only limited to the cold winter months —it can also describe that warm, fuzzy feeling you get after a walk through a forest with friends on summer’s day or a family barbecue in the park. Hygge is meant to be shared.

【推荐1】The summer before my senior year of high school, I was eating in a dining hall with some other high school students, and one girl asked me, “Do you live in a teepee (圆锥形帐篷)?” It was such a silly question that, at first, I thought she was joking! I said, “Are you serious?” She said, “Oh, wait, I’m sorry. Is that something I shouldn’t ask?” She wasn’t trying to be rude, so it didn’t bother me. I just said, “No, I have a house with electricity and running water. I’m not disconnected from the world!” But the truth is, I did grow up differently.

I’m a Native American, and I’m from a reservation in California. A reservation is a place that’s reserved for Native American tribes (部落) by the federal government.

People often have misconceptions about what living in a reservation means. In reality, though, my life probably looks a lot like yours. But there are ways that my life has been different. The reservation is an hour from town, and there’s a big connection to the land. Our house is surrounded by a mountain, a river, and a farm. We have 23 animals including 10 chickens. It’s not just for show! We collect eggs from the chickens, use manure (粪肥) from the animals to fertilize soil, and pick fruits and vegetables from our garden.

I’ve also learned how to hunt and fish. When hunting for deer, my tribe has two rules: never shoot a female deer, because she might be pregnant; if you kill a deer, find a way to use all of it.

Going to college has been a big change for me. There were only 25 people in my graduating class, and now I go to school with thousands. In my reservation, I was surrounded mostly by Natives, but at college, the Native population is only 0.07%. It’s intimidating but also exciting.

I’m studying to become a vet — there aren’t any in my reservation. If an animal gets sick, you have to drive an hour to get help. My goal is to open a veterinary clinic that will help my reservation develop.

【推荐2】Recently whenever I turned on my computer or my mobile phone, news about the great effect of Hurricane Harvey（哈维飓风）on thousands of people caught my eye. I saw many unfortunate events. However, there was also lots of bright news that showed the goodness of mankind. As a reporter, I reported many human-interest stories when doing my job, That’s why the story about the guys in the bakery（面包店）caught my eye.

When the workers at a Mexican bakery chain in Houston were trapped inside the building for two days, they didn't sit there feeling sorry for themselves. They used their time wisely after flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. While waiting for the eventual rescue that came on Monday morning, the four workers decided to make as many loaves of bread as possible for people around the neighborhood. They talked to their manager about their plan over the phone and the manager agreed.

The flood water rose in the street outside. They took advantage of their emergency power supply to bake bread. They used more than 4,200 pounds of flour（面粉）to create hundreds of loaves and sheets of sweet bread. Although the water kept rising, they continued baking to help more people. By the time the manager managed to get to them, they had made so much bread that they took the loaves to lots of emergency centers across the city for people affected by the floods.

The store manager, Brian Alvarado, told The Independent, “They've done more than they should have done. And what they had done has lit a light for people. I feel lucky to have them work in the bakery.”

Whenever a disaster occurs, nobody should feelforlorn. Instead, we should stay hopeful and take positive action to save ourselves and help others. Our acts of kindness will make a big difference to the people in the world as well as the world itself.

【推荐3】On March 2, at the meeting held ahead of the yearly session of the CPPCC National Committee(全国政协大会), interpreter(口译员) Yao Mengyao caught the attention of many with her “quick reaction and correct translation, ”Xinhua noted.

Yao began her studies in English in primary school where she would listen to English tapes.

Like Yao, Zhang Lu is a regular interpreter for China's top leaders, including Premier Li Keqing and former Premier Wen Jiabao. Her effortless but on-point translations of ancient poems mentioned by former Premier Wen won praise.

So how do interpreters reach their top positions?

The reason for their success is largely hard work. Other than when they go out on visits with Chinese leaders, the interpreters follow a very strict schedule. Zhang called this schedule“an unshakable plan”. They listen to foreign media such as BBC, VOA or CNN through TV or radio for their training.

It is reported that a month before the two sessions(两会), the interpreters get notice of the spokesperson they are going to interpret for. They then make full use of this month to prepare themselves. They try to predict the questions that might be asked and consider the sayings the spokesperson might use when they answer the questions.

In truth, there is no secret to their success: It’s all a matter of skill and hard work.