2 . Reasons to Put on Your Rollerblades and Hit the Pavement

Rollerblading (旱冰) is great for building balance, strengthening muscles, and improving mental health. It’s also a cheap, fun, and eco-friendly way to get your daily exercise in.

It’s fun

We all know that we should be exercising several times a week, and picking a workout that is fun naturally motivates us to get up and get going.     1     The top benefit of rollerblading is exercise in ways that are fun, soul-filling, and mental health-improving.

It’s cheap

Rollerblading is also a great exercise choice because it costs very little.     2     There’s no need to pay for a monthly gym membership or expensive equipment. Rollerblades cost a lot less than a bike.

It’s eco-friendly

    3     Rollerblading is much faster than walking and can take you up to ten miles. Maybe that’s why some Viennese citizens are choosing to use this sustainable (可持续的) activity for their means of transportation.

Skater and climate activist, Gerhard Ladstatte explains why he started Friday Night Skating, a free street skating event. “We want to move without burning fuel.” People looking for an oil-free way to get to a workplace that isn’t too far from home, while combining daily exercise into their routine, can consider rollerblading to work.     4    

It’s good for your mental health

Like any form of aerobic exercise, skating is associated with a number of wellness benefits.     5     By fixing your attention on both the body and its surroundings, you can shift focus away from negative thought patterns and anxieties. Rollerblading can also increase self-confidence and positive feelings.

6 . Participating in photography competitions can bring you various benefits. The following are four great photography competitions you may want to attend this year.

Communication Arts Photography Competition

Most photo competitions come with cash prizes. This competition doesn’t. But it is still a respected competition. To be qualified (符合资格的), your images need to be first produced or published in a period from the previous March to this March. Each participant can present five images at most, and the images must be created for the same project. The winning images will spread worldwide in Communication Arts and on commarts.com.

Sony World Photography Awards

The competition provides winners with cash prizes as well as Sony equipment. Another great thing about this competition is its travelling exhibition. No matter which country you are in, you can always notice the winning images. Participants are allowed to present five to ten images. You will love this competition because it is free to enter, and you can choose from many different categories (类别).

Moscow International Foto Awards

The goal of the competition is to discover and recognize talented photographers worldwide and introduce them to the creative community in Russia. There is a discount on entry fees for students. Participants can enter up to twenty images, both individual images and photo series in any of its nine categories.

Nikon Small World

Being a long-standing camera producer, Nikon has been running this competition since 1975. This competition is all about photomicrography. Anyone can enter, and each participant can present three images. If you don’t feel like entering even if it is free, checkout the previous winners. The images are amazing, and that might just get you in the mood for application.

7 . Surf’s Up

Riding the wave can be the thrill of a lifetime. But what does it take to become a surfer?

Surfing—it’s addictive

Surfing is the most exciting watersport there is. Serious surfers must be very brave, love adventure and have lots of energy. Once they’ve experienced the excitement of a ride on top of the waves, they never want to stop.

Finding the waves

Many surfers travel around the world searching for the perfect wave, moving from one surf festival to another and checking weather forecasts to see where the really exciting waves are expected next. A surfer’s greatest disappointment would be missing the opportunity to surf in the best weather conditions.

The international sports

Hawaii is where the sports began—the place which most surfers see as their “true home”. They love nature and the excitement they get from the deep waters. Enormous waves crash along mile after mile of beautiful sand, and every surfer dreams of experiencing surfing in Maui or Oahu. Other greatest locations include Australia, the west coast of the US, the Caribbean, Brazil, South Africa, The Canary Islands, and Cornwall.

Two essentials: strength and fearlessness

It takes time for a beginner to learn the technique, but during a long hot summer, who minds practising? The professionals are in the sea every day, and then come back onto the beach to do some exercise. They need to be strong swimmers with good balance and plenty of courage to be expert surfers.

Never easy—but always enjoyable

It can take a few weeks or a whole summer for you to learn to catch a wave at the right moment, stand up on your board and stay there. It’s an amazing feeling when you look down and see your feet on the board and realize you are finally standing up on the sea, even if you aren’t very steady.

Tennis super star Naomi Osaka lit the 2020 Tokyo Olympics flame. The Games     1     (official) started, although a year late. A possible fifth wave (波) of COVID-19 in Japan’s capital put in doubt     2     or not they would go ahead. COVID-19 greatly influenced the event. There     3     (be) no fans and several athletes couldn’t attend the Games after testing positive (阳性的). Japan hoped the Games would show     4     (it) culture to the world. The opening ceremony (仪式) ended at midnight with     5     amazing fireworks show.

Only 950 people attended the opening ceremony. Attendees     6     (include) Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and the US First Lady Jill Biden. Emperor Naruhito declared (宣布) the Games open. President of IOC Thomas Bach said: “It is very     7     (difference) from what we imagined, but let us value this moment because finally we are all here together. Today is a moment     8     hope.” Naomi Osaka posted a message on Twitter after     9     (light) the flame. She said it was “undoubtedly the     10     (great) honour (荣誉) I will ever have in my life.”

10 . When 36-year-old Andy Duran decided to return to his favorite high school hobby-skateboarding— in January 2021，the only problem he expected to run into was his own ability to get back into the sport after the long break. However, the 340-pound skateboarder from Oakland, California, soon realized that was the least of his problems.

Duran’s problems began before he even stepped on a skateboard. “I couldn’t find any resources (资源) for fat skaters, what types of boards to try, or where to buy branded (名牌的) shirts in sizes 2XL or 3XL,” he says.

What Duran did find instead was an unfounded belief that fat people should not be skating. “I started to find people who were saying that if you’ re over 190 pounds you shouldn’t be on a skateboard, or that the board won’t support you,” he says.

Determined to do something to change that, Duran founded Chub Rollz— a skating and skateboarding community for overweight skaters. “If you feel like your size makes you feel uncomfortable about skating with others, you are welcome to skate with us,” Duran says.

Duran created a list of recommended (推荐的) products for fat skaters. He also held skating and skateboarding classes to teach beginners. He received a lot of messages from strangers expressing gratitude. “This means so much to me; I didn’t think I could skate,” said one. “A person at the skate shop laughed at me, but this club makes me feel like I can still do it,” wrote another.

Though encouraged, Duran believes a lot more needs to be done to change the idea that fat bodies can’t do and aren’t interested in the activity. He thinks that is simply not true. “I want to see more changes in communities. Maybe skate shops have more training for creating a more welcoming environment for all types of skaters or boards to be made in different sizes,” he explains.