1 . Alan Mathison Turing was born in England in 1912. Like many talents who go on to great things, Turing showed his incredible intelligence from a very young age. In fact, by the time he was halfway through primary school, Turing’s teachers had already realized he was a mathematical genius. He could do complex calculating in his head even though he had never been taught about it.

Fortunately, Turing was the opposite of Hawking, and he absolutely loved school. Proof of this is the extreme lengths he would go just to get to class. For example, on one occasion when there was a train strike, Turing even cycled 60 miles to attend. Now that’s devotion!

However, in spite of Turing’s scholarly attitude and his obvious genius, his teachers had their concerns about his future. This is because well-known schools in Britain like the ones Turing attended regarded the Classics, such as Latin and Greek as the most important, not subjects like maths and science. Turing’s proud teachers even wrote letters to his parents asking them to convince the young man to focus more on the Classics. Imagine how different the world might be if the young Turing had listened to his teachers! Thankfully, his love for all scientific and mathematical things meant there was no chance of that.

After finishing secondary school, Turing completed a degree in mathematics at King’s College Cambridge, and then obtained his PhD from Princeton University in the USA．It was during these university years that he invented the Turing Machine, which is considered by many people to be the earliest version of a computer processing unit. It sounds unbelievable that anybody could have invented something which was similar to a computer in 1936. But that just shows how far ahead of his time Alan Turing was, even when he was still a young man.

3 . Not long ago my daughter’s favorite shoes were cut with a knife. She cried. I took them to a shoemaker to get them ______ . The young apprentice (学徒) ______ at the cuts quickly and said, “I can do nothing except ______ the uppers.” The master looked at them and said, “If you trust me, I will ______ more cuts to both of the shoes.” I was ______ and asked why. He ______, “As if the cuts were made on purpose for special style.” I didn’t fully understand him, but I decided to ______ the shoes there.

Two days later, I went to collect the shoes. At first ______, I found there were indeed more cuts on each shoe, but all of them were ______ with red thread around. The shoes looked more unique and interesting than ever. I couldn’t help but praise his ______.

Another time, my wife’s white skirt had an opening. My wife checked it ______ and said, “I’ll mend it myself.” Three days later, seeing the skirt again, I was shocked: the ______ had been repaired by thin and white thread and it looked like a flower. I ______ with praise, “It’s just as beautiful as a piece of art!”

“I got the ______ from that shoemaker. Patches (补丁) are supposed to be ugly, but a skillful person can make it look ______.” replied my wife.

What she said set me thinking: perfection is ______ to achieve in everything; patches are unavoidable, so is human’s life, which will ______ in the form of injury, disability or disease. Now that you can’t ______ the existence of them, all you can do and have to do is to deal with the ______ by patches and try your best to bloom a most beautiful flower on the wound, and that is the ______ of life.

5 . I’m a strong believer in learning different languages, which makes you look incredibly good when you’re in a foreign country and can understand and speak the language. The following are 4 apps that will help you learn a foreign language! You can download them for free.

Babbel

Babbel’s lessons are mainly quiz-styled and use audio, pictures and words to help you with the grammar and vocabulary of your chosen language. It helps you use most of the skills needed to learn a language. Your skills are improved by carrying out different tasks, such as completing sentences with missing words, translating, placing words in order and so on.

FluentU

FluentU takes native language content like music videos, news and inspiring talks and turns them into language learning lessons. The videos all make use of interactive (交互的) subtitles (字幕) to ensure understanding, allow users to save material for later review, and make the experience more enjoyable. Clicking on a word or phrase brings up extra information, including example sentences and other video clips that use the language item.

Tandem

Rather than have you work through tasks and memorise different things, the app matches you up with people who share your interests but speak the language you want to learn. You can then have text, voice and video conversations with people to learn their native language, and in return they can learn yours, all by simply communicating with each other.

Busuu

This app is perfect if you want to learn English. There are all sorts of audio and visual learning aids. You’ll find yourself working through interactive tests and learning tools for the vocabulary and dialogue.

6 . Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal, or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

Different cultures emphasise the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example,business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work,it is necessary to spend a lot of time in“small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries—like the UK or France—people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.

Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realised that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a better chance to us to understand and learn from each other.

7 . This past Earth Day, people who usually celebrated by heading outdoors relied on virtual tours instead. It was a fitting opportunity to experience virtual reality (VR) technology that some experts had advanced as an eco-friendly solution to the problem of over-tourism. But will interest in travelling virtually last beyond the pandemic?

For years, travel agencies have used VR technology to market destinations to potential customers. Now, the impact of COVID-19 may allow it to shake off its image of being a “gimmick”, says Ralph Hollister, a tourism analyst at Global Data. Virtual travel experiences are seeing a surge in popularity. Valerity Kondruk, CEO of VR travel company Ascape, has seen app downloads grow 60 percent from last December.

Still, there is a big gap between using VR to “try before you buy” and treating VR like the destination itself. To start with, the technology is not mature yet. 360-degree VR videos are usually experienced through a headset or an app. The headsets are expensive, heavy, and uncomfortable to wear for more than 30 minutes. The apps have none of these problems, but simply are not as impressive. Limited sensations (感觉) are another hurdle. The videos focus on the sights and sounds of a place but cannot do much with its smell, touch or taste. Additionally, tourists are neither locals nor business travelers. They tend to be less directed in their explorations and more focused on new discoveries. This simply cannot be recreated in VR.

VR may never replace traditional travel, but it still offers various possibilities. Most importantly, it could help bring people to places that are otherwise inaccessible. Kondruk’s travel company, for instance, has been working with a major Vietnamese travel agency on recreating areas of the country where the government has limited tourist travel.

Ultimately, the impact of VR on travel will be determined by the gradual development of new technologies. So far, advances have been significant but not great enough to affect the travel industry or support a drop in travel-related carbon emissions after the pandemic has ended.

8 . I stood outside my front door catching my breath. After a lazy Christmas holiday, I had to recover from climbing stairs with carry-on bags and a suitcase. I looked up and blinked. Red tape crossed the door. I didn’t understand Hungarian, but the one English word said enough: “POLICE”.

Google Translate told me I would be arrested if I entered, so I didn’t. Finally, I called my rental agent. He went to the police station for more details.

My agent returned with authorization to enter. Not only were my files undisturbed, but so were the TV and printer. The burglars had taken a few items from the top drawer as well as a small amount of foreign currency in the bottom drawer. Somehow they hadn’t found the jewelry box in the third drawer.

I was in shock. My agent’s words were fuzzy, something about fixing the locks tomorrow and making a list for the police.

Then one day, I remembered that I’d left another jewelry box in the flat. My heart sank as I thought of another locket that had been in that box, a gold engraved one with a picture of my late honey Grandma inside. When I realized the box was missing, the whole experience seemed to crash down on me. I cried.

At the end of January, I received a registered letter from the police. The burglar hadn’t been found, and the case was closed. I slept with my purse by my bed. I hid my laptop when I showered. And then another challenge rose. I was unexpectedly laid off.

Then one July night, I reached into my third drawer, pulled out my jean shorts, and heard a small thud. I looked down and blinked: It was the tiny jewelry box I thought had been stolen six months earlier.

Inside was the locket with honey Grandma smiling at me, being there for me, telling me not to give up. I started to cry.

9 . Some of the Most Beautiful National Parks in the UK

Snowdonia

North Wales’s national park boasts mountain and sea views: Several of its peaks gaze across to Ireland and it has miles of sandy beaches. You can climb Wales’s highest mountain without working up a sweat by catching an old-fashioned train. Those who dislike excitement can choose zip lines, bounce down mountain bike trails or catch breaks at an inland surfing.

Cairngorms

The UK’s biggest national park is home to its mightiest mountains: Five out of six of Scotland’s highest peaks are found here. Lying in the heart of the Highlands, the Cairngorms mountain range still has vast areas of pure wilderness and is one of the chilliest places in the country. For much of the year, its peaks are blanketed in snow and you can ski there in winter.

Peak District

Sandwiched between Manchester and Sheffield, England’s oldest national park has two personalities: A tough and a gentle side. In the north are dramatic edges like Kinder Scout which rewards adventurous walkers with stark (荒凉的) views. Venture south for the lower, greener, grass-covered valleys of the White Peak. Walk along the Ecclesbourne Valley to experience both in one day.

New Forest

The New Forest is surprisingly old: William the Conqueror named it when he used to hunt deer and wild pigs here nearly 1, 000 years ago. Confusingly, this beautiful corner of southern England isn’t completely covered in woodland either—it also has acres of wild land and miles of pebbly (布满鹅卵石的), muddy coast. The terrain is gentle, and you’re guaranteed a sighting of its free-walking horses.