2 . 4 Ways to Get That Vacation Feeling in Two Days

Going on vacation every week? It might sound like the _________ dream. But a simple mindset _________ can make it happen—no travel involved.

A few years ago, Holmes and her colleagues began _________ the importance of taking vacations. In a series of experiments, Holmes’ team _________ 441 U.S. workers to either spend the weekend like any other, or treat it like a vacation. When they were back at work on Monday, people who had adopted a vacation mindset reported being happier and less stressed.

“What was somewhat surprising is that the effect wasn’t driven by people spending time all that _________,” Holmes says. “It was this mindset that allowed them to be more present, _________ being in “doing” mode, it allowed people to settle in and be in the moment.

We asked people to share their favorite tips for adopting a vacation mindset at home.

Not everyone has Saturday and Sunday off work and actually some people often find their weekend schedules fully _________. You could still apply the philosophy. For example, devote an hour on Sunday morning to the _________, but protect the rest of the weekend as your vacation time.

Focus on what makes a vacation different from a __________ weekend. “Does it mean turning off your email notifications? Spending money carelessly? “Maybe it means being able to spend time with people you don’t normally get to see, or giving yourself a break on a workout,” Holmes says. “It’s helpful to make a list of those things and be able to __________.”

Decision scientist Nika Kabiri recommends doing something totally new so you can disconnect from the same old routines __________ your life. Among her favorite ideas: Drive to a part of town you’ve never been to before, go for a stroll, and grab lunch at the first cute café you see. “The spontaneity（自发性）is what makes experiences like this feel vacation-like,” Kabiri says.

Treating your weekend like a vacation doesn’t mean it needs to be a complicated affair. If your “vacation” encounters a few problems or lasts for only a few hours—don’t worry. “It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” Kabiri says. “Don’t put pressure on yourself to have this ‘perfect vacation.’” It’s __________ to be fun. __________, there’s always another one just a few days away.

3 . A skywell, or "tian jing", is a typical feature of a traditional home in China. ________ a northern Chinese courtyard, or “yuan zi”a skywell is smaller and less exposed to the outdoor environment. They are________ seen in homes dating to Ming and Qing dynasties, which were designed to________different generations of relatives.

Although a skywell's size and design vary from region to region, it is always rectangular and located in the Core of a house, either________by rooms on four sides or three sides plus a wall. Skywells were designed to cool buildings before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Because outdoor air is often cooler than indoor air, the ________breeze travels down the walls to the lower storeys and create air ________ by replacing warmer indoor air,   which rises and leaves through the opening.

The main purpose of a skywell is to allow in light, improve ventilation (通风) and ________ rainwater. In Huizhou, a skywell is small but tall, and the rooms around it can ________ sunlight on hot days, enabling the bottom of the skywell to stay cool. ________ hot air inside the house can rise and escape through the opening above the skywell, which“works just like a ________”

As a(n) ________ space between indoor life and the outdoor environment, a skywell acts as an effective heat buffer(缓冲)to shield residents from the hot air outside. But the largest part of skywell's cooling effect actually comes when there are bodies of water in the enclosure.

Evaporated water cools hot air, a process known as evaporative cooling which is ________ in Huizhou skywells. In the past, Huizhou families collected rainwater in their skywells because they believed this could safeguard and boost their wealth. Skywells therefore have channels around them to ________ rainwater coming from the roofs.

Though existing in China for hundreds of years, in recent times they have often been forgotten by people who prefer modern________. Over the past two decades, however, due to a ________ of traditional Chinese architecture, skywell buildings have been making a comeback.

4 . The part of the environmental movement that draws my firm’s attention is the design of buildings. Today, thousands of people come to ________ building conferences, and the idea that buildings can be good for people and the environment will be increasingly ________ in years to come. Back in 1984 we discovered that most manufactured products for decoration weren’t designed for ________ use. The “energy-efficient” sealed commercial buildings constructed after the 1970s energy crisis ________ indoor air quality problems caused by materials such as paint, wall covering and carpet. So for 20 years, we’ve been looking for ways to make these materials ________   for people and the planet.

Home builders can now use materials, such as green paints, that release significantly ________   amounts of chemical compounds, which people believe don’t ________ the quality of the air.   ________, our basic design strategy is focused not simply on being “less bad” but on creating ________ healthful materials that can be either safely returned to the soil or ________ by industry again and again. For example, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer has already ________ a carpet that is fully and safely recyclable.

Look at it this way: no one ________ to create a building that destroy the planet. But our current industrial systems are basically causing these conditions, whether we like it or not. So   ________ of simply trying to reduce the damage, we are ________ a positive approach. We’re giving people high-quality, healthful products and an opportunity to make choices that have a ________   effect on the world. It is not just the building industry, either. Entire cities are taking these environmentally positive approaches to design, planning and building.

7 . “It will be marvelous. It will be spiritual.” This is the ________ tagline that Virgin Galactic used in 2004 to attract potential customers to its planned space tourism services. It promised that, within five years, it would take a total of over 3,000 passengers on life-changing trips in its spaceships. On July 11, 2021, after a last 90-minute delay, Virgin Galactic finally began its fulfillment of that original ________. For four minutes, its six temporarily weightless passengers, including the firm’s British co-founder, Sir Richard Branson, saw the planet against the blackness of outer space.

Back on the ground, Sir Richard called the experience “magical”. He may have ________ the fact that he was able to reach space earlier than Jeff Bezos, a fellow billionaire but much wealthier. On July 20, Bezos would go slightly higher, for slightly less time, in a vehicle that had been built by his own spacefaring company, Blue Origin.

The two tycoons (大亨) are among a growing number of ________ who believe that space tourism’s time has come. Suborbital (亚轨道的) tourism is part of a broader space economy that has rapidly grown over the past decade ________ technological advances. However, it is highly ________ that this will be true.

For now, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic will offer ________ suborbital flights to paying customers. Blue Origin is focusing much more on the development of a large new rocket that will be used for the launching of satellites, on selling advanced rocket engines to other companies, and on bidding (投标) on NASA contracts such as the recently announced plan to send humans back to the moon. ________, Bezos doesn’t see Blue Origin as a provider of services to adventure-seekers.

Even this 4-minute suborbital travels have a(n) ________, apparently. A major survey found that nearly two in five people with a net worth of over five million dollars would consider paying $250,000, Virgin Galactic’s current price, for a ticket. The business could be ________, once regular flights begin to offset (抵消) the rockets’ development costs. But how fast and by how much is ________. Without tourist-friendly destinations to visit (the capacity of the International Space Station is strictly limited), orbital tourism, with its far higher ticket prices, will not be a huge earner.

Another challenge — and the industry’s biggest remaining uncertainty — relates to ________. History has shown that a disaster, ________ in the early stages of an industry, can set progress back by years. NASA ________ its plan to send the untrained to orbit in 1986 after a school teacher was killed along with the rest of the crew in the Challenger tragedy. It was another 15 years before the next untrained person would ________ the journey on a Russian craft.

8 . The Louvre: The World’s Best Museum

Paris is a playland for lovers and a painter’s dreams. There is no better place to ______the Louvre, the world’s best museum of art. But what makes this museum so worthy of that ______?

The building itself is a good place to start. As with most museums, large palaces or other traditional architecture are used to ______ museums of art and of natural science. ______ the Louvre, the main building used today was formerly the castle of King Philip Augustus in the 12^th Century. Not until 1546 did King Francis I begin to ______ and expand the castle. Subsequent kings did the ______. Not only did these kings add to the buildings, they also ______ within their rooms the finest art. After the French Revolution, the Louvre was opened to the public. In the 1980s, a controversial see-through glass pyramid-shaped structure was ______ by the architect I. M. Pei (贝聿铭). After centuries of continuous construction and the accumulation (积累) of art ______, today the Louvre offers a world-class collection of both French and foreign art.

The outer shell of a museum, ______, no matter how artistic or historic, cannot alone make a museum truly great. The inner collections are of great ______ to both the art researcher and art lover alike. The Louvre does not disappoint them. Three of the greatest works of art are here: the statues Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo accompany Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. These alone attract art ______ from around the world. Other major painting collections include works from the middle ages and Renaissance (文艺复兴时期). The treasures of the French royalty are on ______ here. Greek, Roman, Egyptian as well as early Christian collections can also be appreciated. This clearly is not a museum to be seen in one morning.

Finally, the site of the museum contributes to the magic of the Louvre. The castle built by King Philip Augustus was situated on the right bank of the Seine, overlooking the splendid scenery. Today this location is within walking distance of major Parisian tourist attractions, like the Royal Palace, and the National Library. One could easily spend a whole week ______ the heart of Paris centered around the Louvre.

Taken altogether, the Louvre holds its own as one of the best museums. Its varied buildings, ______collection of works of art, and the delightful site of the grounds overlooking France’s most famous river all make the Louvre a must-see attraction.

10 . “Chinese tourists have overtaken (超过) Germans as the world’s biggest-spending travelers after a decade of rapid growth in the number of Chinese vacationing abroad,” the United Nations World Tourism Organization said.

Chinese tourists, known for travelling in organized tours and ________ luxury fashion abroad, spent $102 billion on foreign trips last year, 41 percent more than the year before, ________ deep-pocketed travelers from Germany and the United States.

Tourists from other fast-developing economies with a growing middle class, such as Russia and Brazil, also ________ spending in 2012. In decline-hit Europe, however, French and Italian tourists controlled their holiday ________.

“The impressive growth of tourism spending from China and Russia reflects the ________ into the tourism market of more middle classes from these countries,” said Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the UN World Tourism Organization, which is based in Madrid.

The German Travel Association said it was to be expected that the Chinese tourists would ________ overtake Germans in spending, given that the country had more ________ than North America, Russia, and Europe put together.

“But that they have overtaken us already is ________,” said Juergen Buechy, president of the German Travel Association.

“The Chinese make more long-distance trips than Germans, who ________ go to Mediterranean (地中海) destinations, meaning that the ________ vacation spending per holiday was greater,” he added.

China is the world’s fastest-growing tourist-source market, ________ higher spendable incomes in the world’s second-largest economy and looser foreign travel restrictions.

Chinese tourists made 83 million ________ trips in 2012, compared with 10 million in 2000.

“Hotels, tour companies, restaurants and even taxi drivers will need to improve ________ of Chinese cooking, culture and language if they are to ________ them away from favourite destinations such as Thailand and the Maldives,” European tourism officials have said.

Other countries in the top 10 posted growth in travel spending. ________, only Russia came close to China’s huge growth, with a 32 percent increase in vacation budgets (预算).