2 . 4 YouTube Channels That You Need to Watch

Driven by the motto “Seek Discomfort,” Yes Theory aims to spread a message of positivity and fearlessness through pursuing projects and missions that help bring people outside their comfort zones. There is no doubt that many of us may feel too scared to pursue ambitious goals, which is why Yes Theory takes on some of the most daunting (令人望而却步的) adventures to show people that discomfort helps achieve a great life.

Being a graduate of Harvard, Nuseir Yassin, also known as Nas Daily, makes an effort to provide a YouTube channel that highlights the “most incredible humans on planet Earth.” His videos often feature individuals who are creating change in the world, and he also covers some of the most important topics of discussion like climate change.

TED-Ed is one of the most famous YouTube channels when it comes to learning and inspiration. The channel has no specific video producer as it features presentations from people all around the world. These videos feature a wide variety of topics, and there is no specific subject that the channel focuses on. Instead, it provides insight into anything that can benefit the viewers, and it truly is a great resource to use if you would like to learn something new.

Be Inspired is a YouTube channel that provides videos to help people improve their overall well-being. These videos include a wide variety of topics such as sleep, stress, economics, jobs, setting and achieving goals, and creating plans. The channel also includes short and inspirational videos that help people realize the mistakes they are making and ways to solve them.

3 . Four Best Films for You

Dune

Now at last we have a big-screen Dune that may actually do justice to Frank Herbert’s science-fiction novel. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the film runs for 155 minutes and still only covers the first half of the book.

The French Dispatch

It’s the 10th film of Wes Anderson, a writer-director. In The French Dispatch, he takes his meticulous(一丝不苟的)style to new extremes, so barely does a frame go by that isn’t ornamented(雕琢)with a split screen. It tells three short stories set in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blase, and supposedly drawn from the pages of a New Yorker-style magazine in the mid-20th Century.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Now that Marvel’s superheroes have saved the universe, their next job is obvious: they have to save the multiverse. In the third of the Spider-Man blockbusters starring Tom Holland, the teenage accidentally opens a portal (大门)to numerous parallel realities. “What people will be really surprised about is that it’s not fun, this film,” Holland told Total Film. “It’s dark and sad, and it’s going to be really affecting.”

Ron’s Gone Wrong

The first cartoon from a new British studio, Locksmith Animation, Ron’s Gone Wrong is a family comedy. The film’s co-writer and co-director, Sarah Smith, said, “In our movie, Barney ends up with Ron, a robot, who’s completely broken, who doesn’t agree with him and doesn’t know anything about him and they have to build this relationship from that point.”

4 . For those in the Midwest, the holidays aren’t the holidays without a little snow. Luckily, Michigan almost always delivers. But snow or not, these destinations really bring out the holiday spirit.

Frankenmuth

Residents of Frankenmuth never have to say goodbye to Christmas from the beginning to the end of the year. That’s thanks in part to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, who thinks of itself as the world’s largest Christmas store at 320,000 square feet. In addition to offering every kind of Christmas décor imaginable, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland holds holiday events like Santa visits (daily from Nov. 25-Dec. 24) and holiday sing-alongs (Dec. 22 and 23).

Dearborn

This city is well-known as the home of the Ford Motor Company, and the Henry Ford Museum brings history to life during the holidays. Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village (Dec. 2-4, 9-11, 16-18, 20-23 and 26-30) offers the smell of chestnuts roasted on an open fire and the sound of sleigh (雪橇) bells. Santa is on hand for visits, of course, and he even brings his reindeer along. Holiday treats are for sale, ice skating is available and kids of all ages will enjoy a ride in a horse-drawn wagon or a Model T car.

Christmas

Visiting Christmas isn’t for the weak heart―it’s in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, all but guaranteed to be snowy in December. Those who desire to have a try are rewarded with a “Welcome to Christmas” sign complete with Santa’s smiling face and the Christmas Mall, which has a post office for postmarking holiday cards.

Dexter

It might be difficult to believe there are multiple Michigan cities with a marathon race―in December, but it’s true. Dexter hosts the Holiday Hustle 5k and 1 mile (Dec. 10) for both runners and walkers. Participants receive free hats and all 5k or one mile finishers receive holiday-themed medals.

5 . A Midsummer Night’s Dream may be one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays—but its latest version from the Royal Shakespeare Company will be unlike any seen before. Titled Dream, the 50-minute online production will let audiences remotely guide the leading character Puck through a virtual forest.

In 2016, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest used high-tech to create a 3D digital image that was projected above the stage. The difference this time is that everything in the play—the performers and their surroundings—will be shown virtually.

Seven actors will perform in a specially-built studio. They will be surrounded by a 360-degree camera set, made up of 47 cameras with every movement almost immediately presented digitally, which is presented to viewers online. With its much-reduced characters, Dream is not a complete production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, rather, it is a story inspired by it, focusing on Puck and the fairies (精灵).

Up to 2,000 audience members for each performance can become part of the show and will be invited to guide Puck through the forest. On screen, the chosen audience will appear as a cloud of tiny fireflies (萤火虫). By using their mouse or finger on the screen of a smart device, they will be able to move their firefly across the screen, and Puck will be at their beck and call to go through the virtual space. For viewers watching at home, the virtual fairies moving through a digital forest will look more like a video game than the average Royal Shakespeare Company show.

“Without the fireflies—the audiences—Puck wouldn’t be going anywhere,” said E.M. Williams who plays the role. “The audiences are very much the fuel and the energy of the show.”

8 . Become A World Ride Ambassador

Do you like challenges? Interested in going on a World Ride mountain biking trip? Looking to make more connections within your local bike community? If so, World Ride is looking for YOU!

For its second year, World Ride is looking to have 20 ambassadors help us spread our mission around the world!

The duties of ambassadors are as follows:

·Each ambassador is asked to raise $600 for World Ride over the course of this year

·Active on social media and/or in your bike community and willing to recommend us to your friends, family and followers

·Willing to volunteer at/organize World Ride events in your area

·Be inclusive of all riders and working on creating an inclusive bike community

Ambassadors can be anyone! We are an organization that encourages everyone to apply!

Benefits of being a World Ride ambassador:

·Discount codes and prizes from our sponsors

·Discounts and possibly goodies(好东西)from World Ride

·Discount on one World Ride trip per year

·A network of amazing ambassadors from around the world

·Ability to meet and plan trips with other ambassadors

Additional notes are below:

We’ve preference for experienced fundraisers. Don’t have experience? Have no fear! World Ride provides training to ambassadors on how to fundraise!

For fundraising this year, we set up a fundraising rewards system. The more you help us, the more you receive!

Applications are now open. The deadline for applying is February 18. Get in touch if you have questions about our ambassador program!

Xiechi Lake, also known as Yuncheng Salt Lake in China’s Shanxi Province,     1     (become) popular on social media websites in the past few years.

Now, China wants to transform that online     2     (popular) into real-life tourism. “As the Chinese ‘Dead Sea’, floating here is     3     unforgettable experience, and one you can’t find anywhere else,” reads a tourism advertisement     4     (sponsor) by the Yuncheng Salt Lake Tourism Development Company. Yuncheng Salt Lake is a sulfate (硫酸盐) lake. “If the sulfate in your water is greater than the calcium (钙), all the calcium is used up,     5     leaves you with large amounts of sulfate and you have a sulfate lake,” explains geography professor Bernie Owen. Xiechi is also a “closed basin” lake,     6     (mean) it doesn’t flow out to a river or ocean, which explains how its salt content stays so high. It is possible for salt lakes to freeze over, although not as     7     (quick) as other lakes — after all, think about what happens when we spread salt over icy roads. Saltwater freezes at     8    (low) temperatures than fresh water.

In an effort     9     (boost) Xiechi Lake’s international profile, China is reportedly taking steps to get it recognized     10     a UNESCO World Heritage site.

10 . A baby giraffe born with a leg abnormality has been fitted with special leg braces (支架) to help her walk.

The giraffe is named Msituni. She ________ from a condition called carpal hypertension (腕骨高血压). It ________ the young animal’s front legs, which was especially ________ to a giraffe. The abnormality was putting a lot of ________on her joints and bones. Zoo workers ________ that she could die if they did not quickly correct the ________. This is because it could ________ the giraffe from getting food and from being able to walk around.

Zoo officials ________ experts to treat the giraffe. The medical team had a lot of ________ fitting people with braces to correct leg problems. But they had ________ treated an animal before. Ara Mirzaian was a member of the medical team. He found the situation strange and ________ went online to start learning as much as possible about giraffes.

The team ________ models of the giraffe’s legs. It took the team about a week to ________ the braces, which were made of a ________ called carbon graphite (碳石墨). After 10 days in the special brace, the problem was ________. In total, Msituni was in braces for 39 days from the day she was born. She ________ in the animal hospital the whole time.

Mirzaian said he planned to ________ a picture in his office of the baby giraffe wearing her special brace so that the children he treats might be ________ to wear their own braces. “It was the   ________ thing to see an animal like that walk in a brace,” he said. “It feels ________ to know we saved a giraffe’s life.”