2 . Seasonal city breaks: 4 of the best pre-Christmas European getaways to start your festive spirit.

Zagreb, Croatia

The Croatian capital takes the Christmas seriously, with street decorations, outdoor concerts and a traditional Christmas market. Most of the action is centred on Ban Josip Jelacic Square, which has a history of more than 3 centuries, and European Square. The two squares have market stands and live music performances given by popular musicians.

The recommended hotel: President Pantovcak — Doubles: £200 (a parent and a kid with a 10% discount)

Malaga, Spain

Start your day at the Casa Aranda before diving into the Atarazanas Market. In the afternoon, take your pick of the city’s cultural spots the Picasso Museum, or the Centre Pompidou Malaga. Then head to Calle Marques de Larios, the main shopping place, at dusk when the Christmas lights are switched on: the sight attracts visitors from all over Spain.

The recommended hotel: Room Mate Larios — Doubles: £250 (a parent and a kid with a 20% discount)

Le Touquet, France

From 30 November, the trees lining the avenues of this city are decorated with fairy lights, and there are facilities, like a skating spot and horse-drawn carriage rides. The pedestrianized (步行的) street Rue St. Jean is lined with stores selling everything from chocolates to jewellery. Join the locals in gathering cheese at the Marche Couvert and wines at the excellent Le Touquet-Vins.

The recommended hotel: Hotel Bristol — Doubles: £180 (a parent and a kid with a 10% discount)

Aarhus, Denmark

Head to the Latin Quarter for independent stores, cafes and a great Christmas market. Shop for Scandi homeware (家居用品) and fashion on Stroget, the city’s important shopping street, before heading to the rooftop of the historic Sailing Department store, for a glass of wine with views of the city lit up for Christmas.

The recommended hotel: The Mayor Hotel — Doubles: £200 (a parent and a kid with a 20% discount)

LiZiqi has made a name for    1    (her)in her videos that highlight a traditional Chinese way of life in the rural area of Sichuan Province. Her videos cover    2     (vary) crafts   related   to traditional culture,     3     (range) from making paper and ink to building her own bread kiln (窑) with blocks. Nothing seems impossible with Li’s hands as they work their magic to bring these things into existence.

Li,     4     was born in 1990, has lived with her grandparents in Mianyang, Sichuan, since the age of 6 after her father died. Life was difficult for her during her youth as she and her grandparents had little to live on. Li herself said that she was     5     (financial) supported to continue schooling. She started to work in the city at 14 and would not have returned to her childhood home but for her grandmother falling ill in 2012. After returning home, Li opened    6     online shop to   sell mostly food   products. To increase sales, she began making short films in 2016 about how these products    7     (create).

A Weibo user remarked, “ Li’s success lies    8     her passion for life.” Another one wrote, “Thank you for giving me an opportunity    9     (appreciate) the landscape in the countryside.” Li is not without criticism. Some people have expressed skepticism because it is unbelievable    10     she looks so perfect after a long day of work in the fields.

Nuseir Yassin was a Harvard graduate in economics and was once an IT expert in Venmo, earning thousands of dollars a year. However, he     1    (prefer) doing something outdoors to staying in the office. Soon after saving enough money, he quit the job and started touring the world and was greatly attracted     2    the beauty of the nature.    3    (record) his travels, he set up a Facebook page called Nas Daily. It was     4    (amaze) that over 12 million people follow and pay close attention to his vlogs. He went to remote places, and made videos about people’s stories. It was for this reason     5    his videos made a strong     6    (impress) on the viewers. In 2019 Nas Daily set up its TikTok channel (频道)     7    (official) and grew to 40 million followers. Since 2019, two companies     8    (found) by Yassin in order to reach more people with     9    same interest. He said he was lucky to make     10    (he) dream come true while making money from it.

6 . Print newspapers dominated the early 1900s, but in November 1922, the dawn of radio news arrived when the BBC launched its first daily radio service. It marketed itself as news by and for social elites, and broadcasters were required to use “received pronunciation”. News shifted to television broadcasting in the 1950s.

The creation of the World Wide Web in the 1990s changed things again. The Internet has become a key site for sharing information, and news is more accessible than it has ever been before. Crises can be reported from on the ground by people who directly understand them. Stories can be shared with the click of a button which can be dangerous. In the time it takes for a story to move from a news site to Facebook to your WhatsApp group chat, context lost and facts go unchecked.

In 2016, we witnessed a BBC watershed moment for the news landscape. Negative coverage was the order of the day in the general election. Clinton was criticized for everything from her speaking style to her use of emails. As Clinton was being attacked in the press, Donald Trump was attacking the press, claiming that it was trying to “influence” the election in her favor. The news is not about what’s ordinary or expected, but what’s new and different, better yet when filled with anger and conflict. Following the election troubled by dishonesty and misinformation spread largely on social media, Oxford Dictionaries announced “post-truth” as its international word of the year. Frequency of the word’s usage rose by 2,000 percent that year.

With so much information at our fingertips, the massive volume news can be overwhelming. Couple this with the increasing uncertainty about what is true and what is not, it is perhaps no wonder that recent years have seen the birth of the “slow journalism” movement. First coined in 2007 by Susan Greenberg, it invites us to slow down and really pay attention to what’s happening around us.

This app is widely used in U.S. schools, and it is believed to be the best foreign language learning app around the world. It offers instructions for learning Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. However, the app does not come cheap as it costs around $250.

If you are looking for a cheaper language learning app, then this is just the suitable choice for you. This app will cost you around $40, and even though it is not as useful as Tell Me More, it is still a very good app for the purpose. The disadvantages are that there is very little focus on grammar and there is a clear lack of interactive activities(缺乏互动性活动)for users so it does not result in fluency(流利).

This app provides learning material for up to 33 different languages, and it is widely considered as the best app for learning Spanish as well. It will cost you around $30, and this is a very reasonable price for such a highly recommended(推荐)and loved language learning app. The learning courses are highly interactive, and the ever present speech recognition feature ensures(保证)that you are getting the pronunciation right when you speak.

This is a foreign language translation app that you can make use of, and it will cost you around $30. So, it is safe to say that the level of performance will be similar to that of Talk Now! This app is designed more for the use of children for its interesting videos.

9 . Toronto is a city of neighborhoods, so wherever you are in Toronto, you’re bound to find yourself surrounded by shopping, dining and culture experiences unique to that specific area.

Toronto’s CN Tower

It’s one of the world’s tallest structures at 1,815 feet and the glassed-in elevators offer visitors a sense of just how high that is. In the tower’s 360 Restaurant, diners sit on a floor that performs a full cycle every 72 minutes, guaranteeing different views of the city with each bite of meal. Plus, if you order dishes at the restaurant, your entry to the CN Tower is free.

The Fairmont Royal York Hotel

It is one of Toronto’s oldest and most storied hotels. Since opening in 1929, it’s stood as one of the largest hotels in the British Commonwealth with 1,600 rooms. It’s also home to more than 300,000 bees, who live on the hotel’s rooftop and produce honey for the Fairmont Royal York’s dining facilities.

The Toronto Islands

North America’s largest urban car-free community offers plenty of green space and beaches for visitors of all ages. Those looking for exercise can explore the islands by bike while checking out the breathtaking views of Toronto’s skyline; visit the rental facility near the Centre Island ferry dock.

St. Lawrence Market

Voted the world’s best food market in 2012, the St. Lawrence Market complex consists of two buildings. The north building plays host to weekly Saturday fanner’s markets, while in the south building, open every day except Sunday and Monday, meat, baked goods, jewelry…are on offer. One of Toronto’s most iconic (标志性的) breakfasts —the pea-meal bacon sandwich is considered a signature dish.

10 . Four Summer Camps

WILDLIFE CAMP

Love animals? Love the outdoors? Wildlife Camp is calling your name. Strengthen your appreciation of Tennessee’s wild life and outdoor scenery by spending the week with us. Enjoy fishing, boating, hiking, watching birds, and outdoor cooking.

Ages:9-12 years

Dates:July 8-12

Time:9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Fees:$ 125+ $ 50(activity fees)

Contact:Outdoor Murfreesboro, 615-217-3017

CHEER CAMP

Come to get in the cheer spirit at Cheer Camp. We will have experienced cheer instructors to teach the beginner or more advanced cheerleader. Your cheerleader will be learning cheers, singing, and dancing. The fun week will end with a show for all family and friends to see what their cheerleader has learned.

Ages:8-14 years

Dates:July 22-26

Time:8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Fees：$ 65+ $ 10(activity fees)

$ 50+ $ 10(activity fees) (City Citizen)

Contact:Sami Maxey, 615-427-6289

PIONEER CAMP

Let out your Pioneer Spirit! Pioneer crafts, games, local history, hiking on the greenway, gardening, the farmers’ market field trip, and dress-up day.

Ages:8-11 years

Dates:July 29-August 2

Time:9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Fees:$ 65+ $ 10(activity fees)

Contact:Shelia Hodges, 615-8900-0355