1 . Four of the world’s greatest national parks

Home to the world’s largest lizard (蜥蜴), the Komodo dragon, Komodo National Park is made up of 29 islands in the centre of the Indonesian archipelago (群岛). The park’s three main islands of Komodo, Rinca and Padar make ideal destinations for divers, as the surrounding coral reefs support a vast amount of oceanic diversity. With over 1, 000 species of fish, 260 species of coral, and countless sea animals, this is an ideal spot to swim with sharks, whales, dolphins and more.

In the world’s oldest desert, the landscape moves. The golden dunes shift as winds blow and seasons pass. Visitors come to explore the dunes and it can be a real adventure. Jump in a 4×4 or hike across the sands on foot for a multi-day trail and you’ll soon find yourself deep in the Namibian wilderness. You’ll need a permit and doctor’s letter to take on the longer hikes, but one-day hikes give anyone a chance to see more of the Namib.

As New Zealand’s oldest national park, Tongariro National Park is home to three active volcanoes. And here’s the Tongariro. Alpine Crossing, a 19.4-kilometre hike that takes you across beautiful landscapes. This park also draws in skiers during the winter seasons. The biggest ski area, Whakapapa, covers 5.5km² and has 15 lifts in all.

This park is home to Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain. With a height of 3,718 metres, Mount Teide is also the third largest volcanic structure on the planet. Besides, Teide National Park possesses unique plants. The most unusual among the 139 recorded species is red bugloss, which has become the symbol of the park.

Many of us are eager for the warmth of a hug nowadays. Humans biologically need touch, and a good long hug is one of the best ways     1     (get) it. Our need for a hug goes all the way back to the     2     (survive) of our species. When we’re born, we can’t care for ourselves and we need to be comfortable with being held in order to survive. We     3     (reward) when we have a comfortable hug. It is     4     rush of feel-good hormones called oxytocin (催产素). When we can’t hug, we don’t get those good hormones.

We may not know     5     we’re getting from greeting our friends and family with a hug; we just enjoy it. It is not until those experiences are taken away     6     we feel pain and sadness. Some people grow up in more formal families     7     hugging isn’t common. Others may experience abuse that makes hugging     8     (please). In both cases, when children don’t experience healthy touch, their development will be affected. Kids who didn’t grow up     9     (hold) miss out on that sense of safety and protection. They may act out or separate from     10     around them. Sometimes, the opposite may also be true. Some children may hope for any form of positive attention that they didn’t get at home.

6 . No matter how friendly your tone is or how honey-sweet you are in a conversation, when you start your sentences with one of these words (or both), the message to your recipient is “You are wrong.”     1     They are “No” and “But”.

These words don’t say, “Let’s discuss this” or “I’d love to hear what you think about this” to people. They say. “You are wrong and I am right.” If your conversation companion is also eager to win at any cost, you will have a potential battle on your hands. The result?     2    

Are you interested in a little test to see how competitive your co-workers are? Try this. For one week, keep a scorecard of how many times each person uses “No” or “But” to start a sentence.     3     And, if you drill a little deeper, you’ll see patterns emerge. For instance, some people use these words to gain power. You’ll see how much people dislike it, consciously or not, and how it kills rather than opens up discussions.

    4     Practically without even thinking, I keep count of their use of these two little words. It’s such an important indicator! If the numbers pile up in an initial meeting with a client. I’ll interrupt him or her and say. “We’ve been talking for almost an hour now, and do you realize that you have responded 17 times with either ‘No’ or ‘But’?”

Stop trying to defend your position and start monitoring how many times you begin remarks with “No” or “But”.     5     For example, “That’s true, but…” (Meaning: You don’t really think it’s true at all.) Another expression is “Yes, but...” (Meaning: Prepare to be contradicted.)

A Firefighting Drill

9 . Born from the accessibility of mass air travel, modern international tourism has been popularized as “holiday-making” in regions that offer comparative advantages of sand, sun and sea. Travel is often portrayed (描绘成) as a tool for personal growth and tourism as an economic motor for destination countries and cities. There is a tendency to assume that tourism is good for everyone involved.

Today the big bang of tourism drives over 1.2 billion tourists across international borders annually. Many popular places are literally being loved to death. Recent protests in ports of call like Venice and Barcelona against disturbances created by cruise ships show the unfortunate consequences of emphasizing quantity over quality in tourism.

Uncontrolled tourism development has become a primary driver of social and environmental disruption (破坏，混乱). Tourism studies provide much documentation of the many negative social impacts of tourism and resulting resentment (怨恨) that local populations direct toward visitors.

Resentment toward tourists typically develops in mature, heavily visited destinations. Protests in heavily visited destinations suggest that traditional tourism has overstayed its welcome.

Residents often become frustrated when the benefits of tourism are not felt locally. Although it can generate foreign exchange, income and employment, there’s no guarantee that multinational hotel chains will allocate (分配) these benefits equitably among local communities.

On the contrary, when people stay at large resorts or on cruise ships, they make most of their purchases there, leaving local communities little opportunity to benefit from tourist spending. These forms of tourism widen economic and political gaps between haves and have-nots at local destinations.

In recent decades, local residents in destination communities also have found themselves negotiating new cultural boundaries, class dynamics, service industry roles and lifestyle transformations. For example, data show that tourism activity corresponds to increased social problems as local residents adopt the behaviors of tourists.

What does all this mean for the everyday traveler?

First, all tourists should make every effort to honor their hosts and respect local conditions. This means being prepared to adapt to local customs and norms, rather than expecting local conditions to adapt to travelers.

Second, tourism is a market-based activity and works best when consumers reward better performers. In the information age, there’s little excuse for travelers being uninformed about where their vacation money goes and who it enriches.

Informed travelers also are better able to distinguish between multinational companies and local entrepreneurs whose businesses provide direct social, environmental, and economic benefits for local residents. Such businesses are in love with the destination and are therefore deserving of market reward. In the long run, being a responsible traveler means ensuring net positive impacts for local people and environments. With the information available at our fingertips, there has never been more opportunity to do so.