【推荐2】As a newly-added Olympic sport, surfing is attracting more attention than ever before. Here is a selection of the top surfing destinations across America.

Coastal Delaware offers plenty of fun waves along the shore of several cute towns. Due to the waves crashing close to the shore, Dewey beach is also a global skim boarding hotspot and happens to be the east coast capital for the sport. If you’re planning a visit, check out the popular “Summer Vibes” festival for some beach fun.

When world-famous surfer and Olympic Gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku, often referred to as “the father of surfing,” visited the mainland United States in the early 1900s, he rode his longboard off the coast of Atlantic City. The beaches here are wide and beautiful—and locals catch waves year-round.

Located a short distance from Manhattan, the Rockaways attracts new and experienced surfers from across the globe. Be sure to come prepared in winter with a wet suit, while summer brings much warmer water temperatures. Afterwards, explore the town as there’s plenty of cafes, boutiques, and restaurants steps from the sand.

Situated about 45 minutes from Orlando, Cocoa Beach is a renowned surf town that’s home to two of the world’s best surfers (Caroline Marks and Kelly Slater) and a favorite for surfers of all levels. This family-friendly town has lots of activities for everyone. When you’re not in the water, you can stroll the Historic Cocoa Village and its shops, cafes, and galleries.

【推荐3】The London Eye remains temporarily closed but in line with the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, we plan to reopen from 17th May. You can pre-book now. Further information can be found here.

What to Expect

The London Eye soars 443 feet into the sky and its views stretch 25 miles in every direction. Since opening in 2000, it has been used as a backdrop in countless films and is loved by Britons and visitors alike. This is the UK most popular visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year.

Each London Eye capsule holds up to 25 passengers comfortably. All capsules are fully air-conditioned and rotate (旋转) on a special device designed to keep everyone upright as the wheel makes a slow but progressive rotation. The full rotation lasts 30 minutes of an ever changing view of this dynamic city.

Opening Times

■ September to May 10:00 am—8:00 pm daily

■ June 10:00 am—9:00 pm daily

■ July 10:00 am—9:30 pm daily

■ August 10:00 am—8:30 pm daily

■ Not open on Christmas Day or during maintenance period.

Ticket Prices

Adult: January to March £15.00     April to December £15.50

Child (5-15 years): January to March £7.50   April to December £7.75

Child under 5 years: free

Senior (60 plus): £12.00

Booking line

■ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Sunday

■ Telephone: 0870 5000 600

【推荐2】Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you .

Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings and do not take any changes when crossing the road.

My next point is about litter. It is an offence to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put in your pocket and take it home, or put in a litter bin.

Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years of age.

I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.

Now, are there any questions?

【推荐3】Bringing goods into the UK

You are allowed to bring some goods for personal use without paying tax or duty.

You can bring goods from EU countries without being charged tax or duty if they are:

● transported by yourself; ● a gift or for personal use; ● bought with tax and duty included.

You can bring alcohol and tobacco from EU countries without restriction but an inquiry(调查) might be required depending on the amount of your goods.

You will be free of duty or tax on certain amounts of goods brought from outside the EU, as long as they are for your own use. Any goods that are beyond your allowance should be declared.

Alcohol & tobacco allowance:

Allowance for other goods:

The maximum value of other goods you can bring is £390. Any single item that is worth more than the allowance will be charged duty or tax on its full value.

The rate of duty or tax on items above the allowance is:

● 2.5% for goods worth up to £630;

● decided by the type of goods worth above £630 — check by calling the VAT, Customs.

Goods banned include:

● illegal drugs; ● offensive weapons; ● endangered animal and plant species;

● meat and dairy(乳制的) products from most non-EU countries.

Food and plant products restricted include:

● products containing pests and diseases; ● products grown outside the EU;

● products not for your own use.

【推荐1】If you start a sentence with, “If I were you...” or find yourself scratching your head over a decision when the answer is crystal-clear, there’s a scientific reason behind it. Our own decision-making abilities can become exhausted over the course of the day causing indecision or poor choices, but choosing on behalf of someone else is an enjoyable task that doesn’t suffer the same difficulties.

“The problem is decision fatigue, a psychological phenomenon that causes harm to the quality of your choices after a long day of decision making,” says Evan Polman, a leading psychologist.

Physicians on the job for several hours, for example, are more likely to prescribe antibiotics (抗生素) to patients when it’s unwise to do so. “Presumably it’s because it’s simple and easy to write a prescription and consider a patient case closed rather than investigate further,” Polman says.

But decision fatigue goes away when you are making the decision for someone else. When people imagine themselves as advisers, they feel less tired and rely less on decision shortcuts. “By taking upon the role of adviser rather than decision maker, one does not suffer the consequences of decision fatigue,” he says. “It is as if there is something fun about making someone else’s choice.”

“Getting input from others not only offers a fresh perspective and thought process, it often also includes riskier choices. While this sounds undesirable, it can be quite good. When people experience decision fatigue, when they are tired of making choices, they have a tendency to choose to go with status quo,” says Polman. “But it can be problematic since a change in the course of action can be important and lead to a positive outcome.”

To achieve a successful outcome or reward, some level of risk is almost always essential. “People who are susceptible to decision fatigue will likely choose to do nothing over something,” he says. “That’s not to say risk is always good, but it is related to taking action, whereas decision fatigue assuredly leads to inaction and the possible chagrin (懊恼) of a decision maker who might otherwise prefer a new course but is unfortunately hindered.”

“Just because you can make good choices for others doesn’t mean you’ll do the same for yourself,” Polman cautions. “Research has found that women negotiate higher salaries for others than they do for themselves,” he says, adding that people slip in and out of decision roles.

【推荐2】How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?

In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.

Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.

Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families, They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders — they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus keep what little food sources are available. Yong elephants may even eat the dung (粪便)of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.

During drought (干旱) they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!

As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt (适应) as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

【推荐3】The first men and women came to Britain over two and a half million years ago. As the climate got warmer at the end of the second ice age, tribes of hunters and gatherers of food, who used simple stone tools and weapons, made their way into Britain. It was normal for them to move from place to place so they could find new resources. But the British Isles only became islands separated from the rest of Europe about 8,500 years ago, when melting ice formed the English Channel!

3,000 years after Britain became an island, new tribes who came by boat from the mainland introduced farming. These tribes built earthworks for protection and as tombs for their dead. Many of these man­made hills can still be seen.

Later on, people learned to build stone monuments. The most amazing is Stonehenge, a circle of huge stones about 4,500 years ago. Stonehenge is the world’s most famous prehistoric (史前的) monument. We don’t know what it meant or what it was used for, though many different suggestions have been made.

3,000 years ago the climate in Britain became colder and wetter than before, and people had to move down from high ground. A bit later iron started to be used for tools and weapons instead of bronze. Knowledge of iron working may have been brought by the Celts, a new wave of immigrants (移民) who started to arrive from southern Europe in about 500 BCE.

What we know about the first people in Britain has been worked out by archaeologists from the remains they left behind them. Pytheas, a Greek, was the first person who could read and write to come to Britain. His visit was in about 330 BCE, over 2,000 years after Stonehenge was set up. Unfortunately, what Pytheas wrote has been lost, so we don’t have any written record of Britain until the Romans came, almost 300 years after he did!