Antarctica is the center of important scientific research. However, with an increasing number of day, scientists have to leave their work to greet a group of tourists who are taking a vacation in this continent of ice. Even though their desire to enjoy this vast and beautiful landscape can be appreciated, Antarctica should be closed to tourists.
Tourists in Antarctica can damage scientific research and hurt the environment. When tourist groups come, they take scientists away from their research. The work is difficult and some of the projects can be damaged by such simple mistakes as opening the wrong door or knocking against a small piece of equipment. In addition, tourists in Antarctica can also hurt the environment. Members of Greenpeace, one of the world’s leading environmental organizations, complain tourists leave trash on beaches and disturb the plants and animals. In a place as frozen as Antarctica, it can take one hundred years for a plant to grow back.
The need to protect Antarctica from tourists becomes even greater when we consider the fact that there is no government here. Antarctica belongs to no country. Who is making sure that the penguins, plants and sea are safe? No one is responsible. It is true that the number of tourists who visit Antarctica each year is smaller compared to the number of those who visit other places. However, these other places are controlled by local governments. They have an interest in protecting their natural environments. Who is concerned about the environment of Antarctica? The scientist, to be sure, but not necessarily the tour companies that make money from sending people south.
If we don’t protect Antarctica from tourism, there may be serious consequences for us all. We might lose the results of scientific research projects. It’s possible that these results could teach us something important about the causes and effects of climate change. Some fragile plants and animals might die and disappear forever. This could damage the balance of animal and plant life in Antarctica. We know from past experience that when things get unbalanced, harmful changes can occur.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mental health conditions, including everything from depression and phobias (恐惧) to anorexia (厌食) and schizophrenia (精神分裂症) are shockingly common. In the UK, one in four people experience them each year, so it is likely that you, or someone you know, has sought help from a professional. That process usually begins with a diagnosis. Then you start on a treatment tailored to your condition. It seems an obvious approach, but is it the right one? “For millennia, we’ve put all these psychiatric (神经病的) conditions in separate corners,” says neuroscientist Anke Hammerschlag at Vrije University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. “But maybe that’s not how it works biologically.”
There is growing evidence that she is correct. Instead of being separate conditions, many mental health problems appear to share an underlying cause, something researchers now call the “P factor”. This realization could thoroughly change how we diagnose and treat mental health conditions, putting more focus on symptoms instead of labels and offering more general treatments. It also explains puzzling patterns in the occurrence of these conditions in individuals and families. Rethinking mental health this way could be revolutionary.
At first glance, the idea that different mental health conditions with distinct symptoms share an underlying cause seems unrealistic. The key to understanding it lies in its name. “P factor” has intentional parallels with one of the most famous concepts in psychology. More than a century ago, British psychologist Charles Spearman noted that children’s performance on one kind of mental task, say verbal fluency, was correlated with their mental skill in other areas, like mathematical reasoning, spatial manipulation and logic. In other words, children who are good at one thing tend to be good at another, while those who struggle in one area tend to struggle in others. Using a statistical tool called factor analysis, Spearman showed that this is because these different mental abilities are all linked to an overarching cognitive capacity, which he named general intelligence, or the “G factor”.
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A Hot Pot of Debate
The strong smell of the famous Sichuan cooking floods into local streets, whose hot pots of chili (红辣椒) and oil boil like restless volcanoes (火山). Along with all the flavours, however, a wave of panic is in the air. Sichuan cuisine (美食) is facing a crisis.
It seems surprising to hear such concern, since Sichuan cuisine has been conquering the world and gaining considerable popularity abroad as China’s favourite out-of-home dining.
But according to some old and experienced cooks, the rapid growth has worsened the cuisine, drowning the tastes of dishes in large amounts of chili and oil with menus being narrowed to spicy (辛辣的) dishes. Many cooks now are pursuing spicier and spicier food, ignoring the great variety of the cuisine. Thus, the simplification of tastes has created a crisis, sending a strong shocking wave into the time-honoured but complex traditions. Early this year, I watched a young cook add green vegetable to Kung Pao Chicken, which should be a wonderful mix of chicken, peanuts, red chilies and spices.
However, voices from many young cooks throw light on the new demands on Sichuan cuisine in the modern time— ”There’s no survival without innovation.” They hold the view that we do have to maintain the tradition, but it’s not a display in a museum. What makes sense is that although Sichuanese cooking is classified as one of the eight great cuisines of China, its roots are quite shallow, so after over several centuries of trade and migration, outsiders brought in a variety of new ingredients and cooking techniques. These influences combined only several generations ago to create an unusually tasty cuisine.
I believe the attractiveness of Sichuan cuisine is that it’s a big melting pot. Whatever is attractive in other cuisines, it can be absorbed and adapted to Sichuan cuisine. It’s not right to judge who is right and who is wrong, but it is clear that we should preserve the essence of tradition, while meeting modern expectations as well.
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Trunkster’s No-Zipper Suitcase
If you are looking for a more efficient suitcase, try Trunkster! Trunkster is a zipper-free suitcase with intelligent features. It is very different from the traditional suitcases in many aspects.
First, if you use a traditional zipper suitcase, it will be tough when you want to get something out of your luggage quickly. That is because you have to lie it down and unzip it just to get a sweater out. But with the help of Trunkster, that problem can easily be solved. Trunkster bags open with a sliding door, and you just need to push a button to unlock it. That’s very convenient, right?
Second, Trunkster is equipped with a digital scale. When travelling by plane, you have to face the weight limit. Weight restrictions vary from airline to airline, and often even by the route. With the help of the Trunkster armed with a digital scale, you will not be put at risk of going beyond baggage weight limit. Trunkster features a heavy-duty sensor protection system, which can remind you of the real-time luggage weight so that you can make the best use of your luggage.
Third, with the help of GPS installed in Trunkster, it can be easily tracked wherever it is. As a result, you don’t need to worry about losing your bag, whether it’s unexpectedly gate checked or you’re checking for a long journey. You only need to use the specific app in your smartphone to position your luggage.
Finally, USB charging is available to the users. No longer will you be one of those desperate people wandering around a plug at the airport. Trunkster’s power bank is removable so that it can be used independently of Trunkster wherever you are.
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One of the most frequently repeated issues in protecting cultural heritage is the difficult relationship between the interests of the individual and the community.
Ancient Romans established that a work of art could be considered part of the possessions of the whole community, even if privately owned. For example, sculptures decorating the façade of a private building were recognized as having a common value and couldn’t be removed, since they stood in a public site, where they could be seen by all citizens.
The statesman and general Agrippa placed the Apoxyomenos, a masterpiece by the very famous Greek sculptor Lysippos, in front of his bathroom. Emperor Tiberius deeply admired the sculpture and ordered it be removed from the public view and placed in his private palace. The Roman people rose up and forced him to return the Apoxyomenos to its previous location, where everyone could admire it!
The term “cultural heritage” typically raises the idea of a single society and the communication between its members. But cultural boundaries are not necessarily well-defined. Artists, writers, scientists, craftsmen and musicians learn from each other, even if they belong to different cultures, far removed in space or time. Just think about the influence of Japanese prints on Paul Gauguin’s paintings; or of African masks on Pablo Picasso’s works.
Let’s take another example, that of the Mona Lisa painted in the early sixteenth century by Leonardo da Vinci. From a modern point of view, whose national heritage does the Mona Lisa belong to?
Leonardo was a very famous Italian painter, that’s why the Mona Lisa is obviously part of the Italian cultural heritage. When Leonardo went to France, to work at King Francis I’s court, he probably brought the Mona Lisa with him. It seems that in 1518 King Francis I acquired the Mona Lisa, which therefore ended up in the royal collections: that’s why it is obviously part of the French national heritage, too. This painting belongs to the cultural heritage of all mankind.
Cultural heritage passed down to us from our parents must be preserved for the benefit of all. In an era of globalization, cultural heritage helps us to remember our cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect and renewed dialogue amongst different cultures.
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Spending time together is very important for a family. Parents can use this time to really get to know their children, and children love spending time together with their parents.
Whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, families can always come together at the table. Mealtime can feed more than just the baby alone. Family relations can be promoted as well. Eating breakfast together is a great way to start the day. Eating dinner together every night allows families to share the happenings of the day and plan for tomorrow.
Everyone loves a good movie. Get a bowl of popcorn and gather on the couch together for a family movie night once a week. After a week or two, family members begin to really look forward to this relaxing and quiet family time. You can also gather your family together for a story. Kids just love bedtime stories. This allows parents to spend a bit of time with their kids, too. Children will fall asleep much more easily after having a story read to them. This little bit of family time is beneficial in a lot of ways.
Pack up your tent and head for the hills. Going camping is a great way for family members to have some of that special time together, and a great way to enjoy a holiday too! Games are fun for both kids and adults. There are so many games to choose from! This is a wonderful way to bring family members together as games make family time so fun!
Enjoy your family time and have fun with it. You’ll remember the special time for the rest of your life.
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These days there is so much tempting technology to look at: smartphones, tablets, computer games and TV screens. Much of our children’s entertainment and education comes from using them, so it’s no wonder that children spend so much time staring at them. But even if the saying that looking at a screen for too long gives them square eyes isn’t true, there is still some concern that it can affect their eyesight.
So, should we be worried? Certainly for children who spend hours glued to a screen there is a concern that their health might be at risk, and their eyesight is worsening too. Although there’s not much evidence to prove this yet, recent findings have opened our eyes to the issue.
Chris Hammond, consultant ophthalmic（眼科的）surgeon at St Thomas’ Hospital, says, “We know that short-sightedness is becoming more common. It has spread greatly in East Asia, Singapore, South Korea, where about 90% of 18-year-olds are now short-sighted.” Annegret, expert at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says lack of natural light seems to be the key issue. She’s suggested that children in East Asia study a lot, using computers, smartphones or tablets, and they go outside less, which could be a cause of short-sightedness and an increase in their weight. Wearing glasses is one solution, but it’s not ideal（理想的）.
This leads to a dilemma: achieving short-term academic success or protecting your long-term eyesight. It’s always going to be a challenge to drag children away from their screens and it’s likely that more and more studying will be done online, through a screen.
But despite that, Professor Hammond says, “In countries like urban China, where 10% of children in each class per year are becoming short-sighted from about the age of six, there’s an argument for saying we should be trying to prevent it.” It’s evidence we can’t turn a blind eye to. So, maybe it’s time to hit the “off” button and get our children outside.
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Hobbies can help a teen do physical exercise, develop social skills, reduce stress, and learn some valuable lessons, and of course they can be a source（来源）of fun! However, many teens are unwilling to start a hobby. We may ignore some great hobbies for teens already. If you are a parent, you just need to recognize and provide that interest for your teen. You can guide your teen to explore their interests and take up their perfect hobbies.
One way to help a teenager take up a hobby is to ask them what makes them feel good. Many teens may only focus on their weaknesses or things they have failed in. Instead, they should devote themselves to anything that they enjoy doing or that makes them happy. For example, a teen may be interested in music, sports, computers, crafting, role playing games, or science. As long as he feels good while doing it, it can turn into a hobby.
Maybe a teen has been wanting to try something for a long time. Don't ask "What do you want to do?" because it is a too broad question. You should ask "What would you like to do today?” or "What do you want to do this weekend?" You might also try saying, "Let's do something you are interested in today. What would you like to do?" If your teen wants to cook or likes to be outside, you may be close to figuring out a good hobby for them.
Teenagers spend much of their life away from the eyes of parents and don't always offer information about it. As a result, sometimes adults are not totally aware that adolescents（青少年）are developing hobbies. A child may be developing his own hobbies away from home, so you may not have to encourage them to adopt new ones. Instead, you can support their current hobbies.
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Dianna Nyad had an Olympic dream when she was in high school because back then she was very interested in swimming and she was the champion of various games. However, she could not realise her Olympic dream when she was diagnosed with a serious illness. Instead of losing herself in disappointment and desperation, she took up marathon swimming as a new career. As a long-distance swimmer, she would compete against herself and the obstacles brought by distance,danger, cold and exhaustion.
After ten years’ devotion, she came to the top and became one of the worlds best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1975 she became world famous for swimming around Manhattan Island. A few years later, she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida, USA.
In 1978, Nyad made an attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. The journey was full of unknown dangers. She was confronted with all kinds of obstacles for about two days in the water, and then she had to give up halfway for the sake of her own safety. No one looked down on her. Instead, the world was impressed by her bravery and strong desire to succeed. For Nyad her strength of purpose was just as important as reaching Florida. That was how she defined success. It did not matter that her swim turned to be short: she believed she had touched the other shore.
After retirement, Nyad did not stop challenging herself and trying new things. She started to travel the world as a reporter,publishing books and making public speeches to inspire more people, which seems to be her duty right from the beginning when she swam the waters of the world.
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The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a short life span as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe’s colonial ruling caused a sharp decrease in language kinds, reducing at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting national languages. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media, national governments have tried to reduce minority languages.
This process of language standardization has been improved by industrialization and scientific progress, which have created new methods of communication that are fast, straightforward and practical. Language kinds came to be seen as a difficulty to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism (单种语言) became an perfect choice.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have led to the danger to “small” languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that “no longer exists” in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are clear. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural functions for language inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of “the first language”. As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism (多语种) is the most right solution. The destruction of the first will lead to the loss of the second. Creating a language without any links to a people’s culture and way of life stifles the expression of their language gift. A language is not only used as the main instrument of human communication, it also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter.
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