1 . This collection of annual events along the world’s coastlines is worth penciling in your diary.

Festa de Yemanjá, Brazil

It is an annual national party in the country’s oldest city of Salvador. Honouring the Afro-Brazilian Yoruban heritage and the history of the Bahia state capital, this cultural event sees street parades and performances as crowds are dressed in white. The food stands in the city give out fresh cakes to mark the occasion.

Biennale de Dakar, Senegal

Art takes centre stage in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, each summer season for the event. Founded in 1990, the event is the biggest and most exciting in the African art calendar. The energetic capital city makes an amazing backdrop for introducing African artists to a global audience and inviting international artists onto the streets of the city.

Printemps de la Sardine, France

The French town of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on the Atlantic coast is recognized as the sardine (沙丁鱼) capital of the country. Here, the arrival of the little fish kickstarts the party that takes over the town each spring. From tastings and walking trails to sardine-focused menus at local restaurants and discussions about their role in literature, the two-week celebration lets the delicious local speciality become a focus.

Rock Oyster Festival, the UK

With musical performances from the likes of Nile Rodgers, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Groove Armada and more, the three - day festival also showcases some of the best chefs and restaurants from around Cornwall as well as cooking demonstrations (展示) and masterclasses. Well-known chefs such as Olia Hercules and Andi Oliver share their stories, while over at Mussel Beach, there’s a celebration of live fire cooking.

3 . My parents had purchased an Island Packet 445 ten months prior, and the day to board this boat had finally come. I was 11 years old and knew absolutely nothing about this cruising (海上航游) lifestyle my father had been speaking so highly of for the previous five years. The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to leave my home. My father was excited, my mother nervous, my brother disinterested, and I sullen. I was not at all eager about this change in my lifestyle.

The first three months on the boat had not been very easy. What my dad called an adjustment period I called a nightmare. But, after three months of traveling, we had a lucky break. In La Paz, there was another cruising boat with a 13-year-old boy aboard. Two weeks later, Glen and I could be seen endlessly boogie boarding (趴板冲浪) the crashing waves to the beach. After meeting Glen, cruising for me began to get better and better. At some point during these months, I decided to give this cruising idea a chance.

One year later, we continued touring through the South Pacific. I was learning new skills and learning how to work independently. I often took a five-hour watch during the dark hours of long passages. This was quite a bit of responsibility to hand over to a 13-year-old, especially considering I was in charge of adjusting sails as the conditions changed, and keeping an eye and ear out for any problems. Almost everybody in the cruising community treated me as an adult while still understanding I was a child, thereby giving me the flexibility to make childish mistakes.

As of this writing, my family has now been aboard for three years. We have plans to return to Canada in 12 months and, similar to how I opposed moving onto the boat, I am now completely opposed to moving off it. I have so much fun and learn so many things on this boat that I can’t imagine ever returning “home”, a place I hardly even remember.

5 . French schools once prized the nutritional value of wine. So commonly was it served to children that in 1956 the government banned wine in school canteens—and even then, only for the under-14s. France was the world’s biggest wine producer last year. A bottle of wine has long been to the French meal what fast driving is to the German motorway: an ordinary habit, national right and personal pleasure.

No longer. In 2022 roughly 10% of French people drank wine every day, down from half in 1980. Back in 1960 the French drank an average of 116 liters of everyday wine per person. Between 2000 and 2018 that shrank from 28 liters to just 17. A glass of wine is an increasingly rare sight at the lunch table.

What is going on? It is not simply price. A bottle of Bordeaux can still be found in a French supermarket for under €3. Some village co-operatives sell local produce straight from the vat for €l.90 a liter—less than fresh orange juice. A better explanation is that a beer-drinking trend is challenging Mediterranean habits. The French now tell polls that they prefer beer to wine. Beer accounts for more than half of all alcohol bought in French supermarkets. Even in southern France, some cafes serve imported Belgian or German beer on tap.

Most important, a health-conscious younger generation is drinking less. A quarter of French 18- to 34-year-olds say they never drink alcohol. Fully 39% of under-35s say that they do not drink wine, next to only 27% of the over-50s. Le dry January has entered the national vocabulary. No- and low-alcohol drinks are spreading. A younger generation is rejecting old Mediterranean habits. In an attempt to “speak to Generation Z by adopting its codes”, Pernod Ricard, a drinks giant, runs a marketing campaign with the slogan “Drink more…water”.

Of course, consumption of high-quality wine remains strong. But the decline of cheaper stuff has wider consequences for France. Last summer the government allowed €200m to buy surplus low-end wine that producers could not sell. In some areas, farmers are tearing off lesser vines (葡萄藤) altogether. Less alcohol may improve health, but not necessarily the mood or landscapes of rural France.

6 . How can one person enjoy good health, while another person looks old before her time? Humans have been asking this question for thousands of years, and recently, it’s becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the differences between people’s rates of aging lie in the complex interactions among genes, social relationships, environments and lifestyles. Even though you were born with a particular set of genes, the way you live can influence how they express themselves. Some lifestyle factors may even turn genes on or shut them off.

Deep within the genetic heart of all our cells are telomeres, or repeating segments of non-coding DNA that live at the ends of the chromosomes (染色体). They form caps at the ends of the chromosomes and keep the genetic material together. Shortening with each cell division, they help determine how fast a cell ages. When they become too short, the cell stops dividing altogether. This isn’t the only reason a cell can age — there are other stresses on cells we don’t yet understand very well — but short telomeres are one of the major reasons human cells grow old. We’ve devoted most of our careers to studying telomeres, and one extraordinary discover y from our labs is that telomeres can actually lengthen.

Scientists have learned that several thought patterns appear to be unhealthy for telomeres, and one of them is cynical hostility. Cynical hostility is defined by high anger and frequent thoughts that other people cannot be trusted. Someone with hostility doesn’t just think, “I hate to stand in long lines”; they think, “Others deliberately sped up and beat me to my rightful position in the line!” — and then get violently agitated. People who score high on measures of cynical hostility tend to get more heart disease, metabolic disease and often die at younger ages. They also have shorter telomeres. In a study of British civil servants, men who scored high on measures of cynical hostility had shorter telomeres than men whose hostility scores were low. The most hostile men were 30% more likely to have short telomeres.

What this means: aging is a dynamic process that could possibly be accelerated or slowed — and, in some aspects, even reversed. To an extent, it has surprised us and the rest of the scientific community that telomeres do not simply carry out the commands issued by your genetic code. Your telomeres are listening to you. The foods you eat, your response to challenges, the amount of exercise you get, and many other factors appear to influence your telomeres and can prevent premature aging at the cellular level. One of the keys to enjoying good health is simply doing your part to foster healthy cell renewal.

8 . Ghanim Al-Muftah was born on 5th May 2002 in Qatar. Due to a rare disease, he was born without legs. He has to go through many operations every year.

At a young age, the boy became a(n) ________ for not just kids but even for adults. In medical cases as serious as his, there are few chances of ________. He showed extraordinary strength and willpower, which not only helped him live a ________ life but helped him go beyond majority of the children of his age.

He is not just a boy who survived a terrible physical disability, but he ________ difficulties and behaved excellently in his life. Ghanim ________ millions of people through his Twitter and Instagram. According to him, social media is a very ________ platform. Social media is what helps him spread his message and ________ the world that disability is simply an excuse for not performing to the full potential.

He is an example for the world and especially for those ________ with physical disabilities. Ghanim did not make his disability an excuse to ________. Rather, he used his weakness to develop a strong ________. A surprising fact about Ghanim is that he is fond of sports and actively ________ in swimming, skateboarding, and ice hockey.

The world can learn a great deal from the young boy. At his young age, he was able to ________

9 . Whenever he can, 15-year-old Elliot Morgan practices basketball in his backyard. He says it’s a good stress-reliever. But it wasn’t that long ago that he didn’t have time for this new hobby. “There were times in the summer when I would spend four or five hours a day on my phone,” he says. When school started in the fall, Morgan found himself scrolling (划屏) as soon as he woke up. “I realize I start to avoid workouts because I’m on my phone,” he says. “It’s affecting my focus.”

It has become clear that social media is a key player in many drivers of unhealthy habits. Social media apps are designed to encourage overuse, and teenagers are more likely to be influenced because their brains are at an important period of development that makes it harder to be free from temptation (诱惑). All of this makes limiting use more challenging — even for families who set rules.

“It’s a really big problem,” says Elliot’s mom, Alyssa. She was shocked when she discovered Elliot had bypassed parental controls and was spending five hours a day on social media. “I asked him, ‘Can you just take a look and see? Just tell me what you think. Does this feel good to you?’” she says.

Elliot hadn’t realized how many hours he was on social media. And he was at a loss. With his mother’s help, he tried to start cutting back. After several months, he decided to delete (删除) social media apps altogether. “After that, I actually sleep enough and feel better,” he says. He’s now closer with his friends because they spend more time talking instead of scrolling. And joining school clubs has also helped him reduce time on his phone.