【推荐1】How to save money when booking a summer holiday

Recent headlines have not been kind to those of us who like a bargain getaway. With the price of hotels, self-catering and package holidays all rising, there’s been a barrage of bad news.     1     But these straitened times also give you an opportunity to sharpen your holiday booking skills.

Where should you begin?

If you want to spend less this summer, it’s all about being flexible, having an open mind and double checking all your costs.     2     The three points are: transport, accommodation and daily costs. Nail all three, and you’re on track to stay within your budget.

What dates should you avoid?

Beginning your holiday on a weekend can cost you more, with Saturday being the most expensive day for starting a trip. Instead, choose to depart midweek to save a few pounds.     3     However, going away in the last week of August can offer much better value, thanks in part to schoolchildren in many countries having already returned to school.

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If you have your heart set on a specific hotel in a specific resort and you’re happy with the price you’re being offered and have the means to book it, get it booked. Last-minute package deals can still pop up if agents are looking to fill spots, but you’ll have a lot less choice and there is always the chance that you won’t find anything that works out and you’ll end up stuck at home.

How can you protect yourself from problems down the line?

Take out cover on the day you book to ensure that you’re protected if your trip is canceled, or if you’re unable to travel.     5     So you can be confident it’s the right choice for your individual needs.

【推荐3】You’re chatting with a friend and want to recommend a good book.     1     It feels like it’s on the tip of your tongue, but the harder you try to remember, the more you can’t. We’ve all been there, and everyone knows how hard it is to remember all of that information in your head. Luckily, there are some things you can do to improve your memory.

·Repeat important information out loud.     2     When you repeat something out loud, you aren’t technically memorizing it. You’re actually creating a pattern and sound that will make the information easier to remember in the future.

·    3     Turn the TV off while you study and get off the phone while you’re driving. When you do different activities at the same time, your attention is divided, which will make it hard to process the information necessary to remember what you’re doing.

·Take notes and write things down. Taking notes will help you memorize the information, even if you never look at your notes again!     4     So you’re better off sticking to pen and paper if you really want to remember your friend’s birthday or an important meeting.

·Take a short walk. There’s a lot of scientific evidence that taking a walk will jog your memory. If you are trying to remember something, spend a few minutes walking around your neighborhood to see if it helps.     5     At best, you’ll remember the name of that life-changing book from grade school!

【推荐1】You may have heard video game characters deliver lines like “Shatter (击碎) the darkness with thunder!” But it’s refreshing to hear it in an unexpected place — the classroom. Xia Zhendong is a physics teacher working at a senior high school in south China. Now in his 30s, Xia has won the hearts of millions of online viewers with his classroom experiments.

In one video, Xia pointed a self-made “thunderbolt wand (魔杖)” toward a hanging light tube in his classroom and said, “Shatter the darkness with thunder.” Suddenly, an electric arc (弧线) emerged from the tip of the wand, illuminating the tube. After the cheers from his students, he went on to explain the science behind it—static electricity (静电) and point discharge (尖端放电).

“The idea came when I enjoyed playing a popular game on my smart phone,” he said. In his spare time, he likes to try out what students are interested in to get closer to them. Apart from the “thunderbolt wand”, Xia has done many other creative experiments. Once, he lit steel wool with a battery to show the heating effect of electric current. Another time, he used a “laser weapon” to pop balloons while explaining the principles of lasers.

For Xia, physics is supposed to be fun. So, when he saw his students struggle with physics, he decided to make a change. “Circuit diagrams (电路图) are abstract, and I want them to actually see the electricity through lightning to realize that knowledge is not just on paper. You can see it and even touch it,” Xia said. Now, Xia has also started free live classes online. “I hope that through online classes, more students can also have access to fun physics lessons. And their parents can also join in. I hope that physics could make them feel happier,” Xia said.

【推荐1】There is no cycling race more celebrated than the Tour de France. Stating from the Eifel Tower in Paris, this 8-day race winds on stone-covered roads, up mountains and finishes at the top of la Planche des Belles Filles. Huge crowds cheer on the riders every year and the 2022 race was no exception. Except for a brief time period between 1984 and 1989, there hasn’t been a Tour de France for women riders until now.

“The biggest race is the Tour de France,” said professional cyclist Ayesha McGowan. “Whenever I tell people what I do, they always ask, ‘You mean you ride in the Tour de France?’ I’d have to inform them that women didn’t have one where I could compete. But now I don’t have to do that anymore.”

On July 24,2022, when the men’s race finished, the Tour De France Femmes began. The route to this race actually began in 1955 when a special woman’s race occurred. It wouldn’t return until 1984. The women’s version lasted until 1989 and then was replaced by an unofficial version that was discontinued in 2009. Four yeas later, professional cyclists Kathryn Bertine, Emma Pooley and Chrissie Wellington started advocating for an official women’s race. The result is the new Tour de France Femmes.

While women have their own race, the prizes for the women aren’t equal. The female winners will receive eight times less than the men. There isn’t parity in other aspects, either. Women riders ride a shorter distance than what men can ride in a day. It was broadcast live at the set time like men’s but only for two hours, much shorter than the men’s.

The race ended on July 31, lasting eight days, with 39-year-old Dutch rider Van Vleuten wining the eighth and final stage. “I’m proud to be the first winner of this new version,”she said. “I hope it’s a big start and we can build this into as influential an event as men's in a few years’ time. It’s a milestone to vin he first one.”