1 . The sea has always amazed me. When I was a child, people called me a mermaid because I spend too much time underwater.

After growing up I went to London with one of my friends. I found a job but unluckily the relationship between us soon fell apart. I lived alone and couldn’t eat and had bad dreams because of the huge stress I suffered from. Finally I decided to return to my hometown--Cornwall.

One evening while walking near the harbour, I saw the most beautiful sunset. I imagined how magical it would be if a mermaid swam in the sea on an evening like this. Then I thought I could be that mermaid.

I did my first public swim as a mermaid three weeks later. I jumped into the water in the tail I bought and swam around the harbour. Soon some people noticed me in amazement. At first I thought that whenever I had time I would jump into the sea and surprise people. But now my appearances have developed into planned events.

I’ve found a secret cove (海湾) where I change into my tail and swim out to the sea. Rocks shelter me from view before I appear, so it seems like I have swum from the middle of the sea. I tell people officially online where and when I will apear so people can come and take photos. After my appearances, I swam back to my cove, where I change out of my tail.

Although I give business shows sometimes, my beach appearances are without payment. It’s a way of giving something pleasurable to my hometown that helped me recover. Besides, I have realized how much I need to be in and near the sea. It’s part of who I am.

3 . Inside а tiny shop in Manchester, Adam Birce carefully carves at а woodblock. He looks carefully at each piece to ensure they fit and match before gently setting them together. Adam Birce, the owner of Four Strings, restores stringed instruments like violins and his passion is in restoring and appreciating what has already been crafted and loved.

Birce started playing the violin in grade school and grew to truly appreciate it. He played semiprofessionally out of high school and later got his degree in music at Virginia Commonwealth University as a violinist. After graduating, he landed a job selling violins. “As fate would have it, I was asked by my employer to learn to fix violins 15 years ago,” he says. “I soon moved off on my own to do restoration.” Since 2014, he’s been on a mission with Four Strings to provide excellent fine-instrument restoration for the commonwealth.

Violin restoration isn’t a self-taught skill. Each summer for the past decade, Birce has traveled to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for up to two weeks to study under famous violin restoration expert Hans J. Nebel. Here, students learn everything from delicate edging repair to violin identification. “A lot of the work itself is learning as you go,” Birce says. “It’s a lot of problem-solving and critical thinking, like coming up with a woodworking context.”

How long а job takes varies. “Most are about 3-6 months for major work, unless a full top-to-bottom restoration is needed, which can take even longer,” Birce explains. “I leave that up to the client if they want to commit to that.” One of his longest jobs was working on a Scottish violin from the early 1800s that had been water-damaged. “I had to use every skill in my toolbox to fix it,” Birce laughingly recalls. “It was a very onerous job.”

If there’s one thing to be learned from Birce’s passion, it’s that each violin is unique in its own right. He compares the fine instruments market to the fine arts market. “A lot of these instruments are fine art,” he says. “I kind of say this is a Picasso I’m playing or a Degas. I’ve worked on a few, which is always a joy.”

5 . The British Council builds connections. understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to learn English, get a high-quality education, gain internationally recognized qualifications and eventually build networks and explore creative ideas.

We are looking for people who believe in the integrity and value of what we do. In return, you will get the chance to try new ideas, develop your skills, and think independently. You will be part of a rapidly changing organization with global influence and impact.

Location: London, UK

Role Purpose

·To maintain and improve professional development and academic quality in the teaching center

·To promote and ensure quality teaching and effective learning of English

·To provide learners with a rewarding and interesting English language learning experience. To support the wider aims of the British Council and its cultural relations mission

Requirements

Essentia

·A minimum of 3 years’ full-time(or equivalent part-time) teaching experience to children.

· High proficiency in English (IELTS 8.5, TOEFL 120 or equivalent

· Effective communication with young learners and their families

Desirable

· 2 + years’ experience as an IELTS examiner

· Experience in an operational or educational management position

Enquire about the post can be sent to BC Teacher Recruitment@ British council. org. cn.

6 . At Beijing’s Palace Museum, it sometimes seems that time stands still, but the clocks keep ticking at a small workshop there. This is where clock conservator (文物修复员) Qi Haonan works. .

As part of the fourth generation of conservators to repair and restore antique (古老的) clocks at the museum since 1949, Qi has returned more than 100 clocks to their former glory.

After having majored in mechanical automation during his university studies, Qi joined the cultural relics restoration department at the Palace Museum in 2005. “In the beginning, everything in the palace was new to me. It made me excited to even think about repairing antique clocks,” the 41-year-old told China Daily. But reality soon weakened his warmth. There is a rule at the museum: For the first year you can look, but not touch. From 8 a. m. to5 p. m. every day, he checked and took apart watches and clocks collected from his friends to practice. After a year of repeated work, he could finally get his hands on the clocks in the museum and get a better understanding of the job. To him, restoring such clocks doesn’t mean making them look brand-new. Through cleaning and restoration, he tries to keep them in their original form, bringing back their former function.

Qi still remembered the excitement he felt when the hands of his first repaired clock began to move. It was a French clock, which took him a month to restore. “What amazes me most about these clocks is that they combine the scientific advances, technological precision (精确) and trends in decorative art of their particular times,” Qi told China Daily.

Although the antique clock repairing special skills at the Palace Museum were listed as a national intangible (非物质的) cultural heritage in 2014, it was still a little-known skill and the specialty was in short supply of professionals. Until 2016, a 3-part TV documentary, Masters in the Forbidden City, made it possible to the public.

Qi started posting videos about the antique clocks on social media in 2019, giving viewers a look into the work. “With rising attention and influence, antique clock restoration can not only be further developed, but also expanded to more museums which house antique clocks and watches,” Qi told China Daily.

8 . From the time I was a young girl, all I wanted was to play outside. I used the ferns (蕨类植物) in my childhood backyard to raise myself up muddy Pacific Northwest slopes (斜坡), sat by the edge of the property’s wooded stream and imagined it was a winding river.

Hours were spent on horseback, prepared with bags and snacks to ride the same path over and over, always dreaming up a new experience. As an adult, my interests are consistent, though the landscape has shifted. For the last four years, I have had the opportunity to explore our Earth’s most remote cold water locations as an underwater videographer and ocean-focused naturalist, developing an appreciation and understanding for challenging corners of the globe. Though my travels have taken me from Antarctica to the Arctic, it’s the temperate in-between that captivates me. During the last four years, Southeast Alaska, particularly the Inian Islands in its incredible wildness and productivity, has stolen my attention. My name is Alyssa Adler, I am the Inian Islands Institute’s 2019 Scientist in Residence and National Geographic grant recipient for project Tall Trees in Cold Seas.

The natural beauty of the Inians is pure, but the environment works for it. Massive rushing tides (潮水) flood the Hobbit Hole twice daily, like an angry river. Sometimes I learn some meaningful and useful lessons the hard way. Transportation of extensive dive equipment required the help of people in Ketchikan, Gustavus and other places. These lessons only allow my respect for this region to the full, teaching me how to be successful. I need to learn and understand the power and network of Southeast Alaska, both in the water and out. It’s all worth it to roll into the salty Pacific Ocean, turn on my cameras as I sink to the seafloor, and shine my lights on early spring in the Inian Islands.

9 . In recent years, “patient escorts” has emerged as a new industry, and those who have taken on this career are known as “people who sell time”. Zhang Tian, a 26-year-old girl, is one of them.

“Get up at 6 a. m., arrive at the hospital one hour earlier to help patients check in, and accompany patients during consultations ... Being patient and energetic are the basic requirements for a hospital escort,” Zhang Tian said. “In fact, a hospital escort cares for not only patients’ physical health, but also their mental well-being.”

Zhang Tian used to work in the Internet industry but after hitting a wall in her career, she now has switched to being a professional hospital escort. Aware of her shortcomings, she accompanies patients in the daytime; while in the evening, she watches videos about medical science and reads all kinds of books on psychology and medical services.

The memory of her first task is still alive and fresh in her mind. “I received a phone call on September 9 from a man whose father was seriously ill and might need surgery. He wanted me to accompany his father through his consultation and treatment.” Zhang Tian said. Early the next morning, Zhang Tian came to the hospital in advance to help the elderly man queue up to check in, “Later, the family expressed their gratitude to me over and over again, which warmed my heart and gave me a sense of achievement,” Zhang added. As of now, Zhang Tian has already provided 15 accompanying services, mostly to those aged between 60 and 70, as well as those in their 20s.

Although in the eyes of others, this is not a decent job, Zhang Tian regards this job as her startup. “I actually think there will be a greater demand for such accompanying services in the future. I also want to expand my services in the future, such as cooking food for the elderly, chatting with the elderly, and traveling with the elderly,” She says.

10 . With thousands of options, how will you choose a career that’s right for you?     1     Fortunately, when you follow an organized process, you will increase your chances of making a good decision.

Assess yourself.     2     Your values, interests and soft skills, in combination with your personality type, make some occupations a good fit for you, and others completely inappropriate. Use self-assessment tools and career tests to gather information about your traits and generate lists of occupations that are suitable.

Make a master list of careers. You probably have several lists of occupations in front of you at this point — one generated by each of the self-assessment tools you used.     3    

Explore the careers on your list. At this point, you’ll be thrilled that you have managed to narrow your list down to only 10 to 20 options.     4     Find job descriptions and educational, training and licensing requirements in published sources. Learn about advancement opportunities. Use government-produced labor market information to get data about earnings and job outlook.

    5     Finally, after doing all your exploration, you are probably ready to make your choice. Pick the occupation that you are most satisfied with based on all the information you have gathered.

Realize that you are allowed to do it if you change your mind about your choice at any point in your life. Many people change their careers at least a few times.