Elizabeth Mitchell's new “Liberty's Torch” is the fascinating story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be. The Statue of Liberty's rough history is explored in “Liberty's Torch”.

    Frederic Auguste Bartholdi is an all-but-forgotten figure in American history. He was, however, responsible for one of the most enduring symbols of the United States: the Statue of Liberty. A Frenchman from Alsace, he designed and built the Statue of Liberty which stood on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. How this statue came to be is the fascinating subject of Elizabeth Michell's new book “Liberty's Torch”.

    The power of Mitchell's narrative is convincing(令人信服的). We recognize the Statue of Liberty now as a symbol of hope and opportunity for a nation of immigrants. At the time, though, people could not see that－nor did they even imagine that. Instead, the construction of the statue was born of one man's desire to set up a great monument.

    For this reason, perhaps, “Liberty's Torch” relies on Bartholdi as the connecting thread. Bartholdi went to Egypt to make photographic copies of the main monuments. On the boat, Bartholdi met and began a lifelong relationship with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who would build the Suez Canal. Maybe it was this friendship, or maybe it was seeing Egypt's huge monuments, but finally the trip inspired Bartholdi's dream to create the largest statue ever built. Failure to bring this to completion in Egypt, followed by his exile (流放) from Paris, led Bartholdi to sail to America.

    By explaining the Statue of Liberty's hard history and showing Bartholdi's brave spirit, Mitchell has done a great service.

    Do you love traveling? If the answer is yes, then have you ever thought about why? You may argue that traveling can help you enrich your knowledge, especially geographical and historical learning. It will provide more chances for you to enjoy food and try on clothes that you otherwise cannot possible have. A famous English author Francis Bacon (1561-1626) makes a point when he says that, “Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.”

    Evidence of leisure travel can be traced as far back as ancient Babylon. This year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the 1 billionth tourist will cross an international boundary before the end of this month. That means that one in seven people on the planet traveled this year, something that would not have been possible a few decades ago. Around 20 years ago only the rich could travel.

    While the US and France remain the two largest destinations for world travel, experts say much of the explosive growth in tourism has been to countries like Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and the Ivory Coast, which weren't even on the world tourism map a decade ago. The top five destinations in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, are Paris, London, New York, the Mediterranean, Turkey.

    Several factors have led to the boom in world travel. The prosperity (富裕) of people in Asia is one factor. People in Asian developing countries have lifted their incomes above middle-class levels in the past few years. And a lot of them have used their new wealth to travel. In addition, travel costs have been reduced thanks to the rapid development of transportation, and competition between airlines to give customers the best prices.

    In the four months since I last posted articles on my blog, I've been spending a lot of time studying Chinese. I wanted to pass the HSK. From the beginning of my program, the HSK was the end goal of my Chinese learning this year. Luckily, I passed it and now I have one and a half months to go home and stay with my family.

It's really exciting to learn Chinese in an environment where I can study very fast. What's more, I can see my own progress in different ways. When I got here eight and a half months ago, I only knew a few of the 150 words tested in the HSK 1.However, until now, I've taken and passed the 2500­word HSK 5.

    I remember a time around January. I thought my Chinese had reached the point where I was comfortable in my day­to­day conversations. So my progress would slow down greatly. However, it turned out that I was totally wrong. The conversations I can have now far surpass(超过) the ones I was having in January.

    Today I hit a language­learning landmark(里程碑) that was particularly exciting for me: I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Chinese. It might not seem that exciting, but it was for me because it's the first full book I've read in Chinese. And it's the third language I've read Harry Potter in. I'm especially proud because I spent about seven months reading the first 35 pages, but in the last month and a half, I managed to read about 150 pages. My next challenge is to read a novel written by a Chinese author, rather than one that I've already read many times in English!

    Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up my language­learning progress over the next month and a half, because I know I'll probably never have another opportunity to learn a language like this.

    Do you want to learn a new language？If you do, go to the country where people speak it and learn it from the locals.

Is forgiveness against our human nature? To answer our question, we need to ask a further question: What is the essence of our humanity? For the sake of simplicity, people consider two distinctly different views of humanity. The first view involves dominance and power. In an early paper on the psychology of forgiveness, Droll (1984) made the interesting claim that humans' essential nature is more aggressive than forgiving allows. Those who forgive are against their basic nature, much to their harm. In his opinion, forgivers are compromising their well-being as they offer mercy to others, who might then take advantage of them.

The second view involves the theme of cooperation, mutual respect, and even love as the basis of who we are as humans. Researchers find that to fully grow as human beings, we need both to receive love from and offer love to others. Without love, our connections with a wide range of individuals in our lives can fall apart. Even common sense strongly suggests that the will to power over others does not make for harmonious interactions. For example, how well has slavery worked as a mode of social harmony?

From this second viewpoint of who we are as humans, forgiveness plays a key role in the biological and psychological integrity of both individuals and communities because one of the outcomes of forgiveness, shown through scientific studies, is the decreasing of hatred and the restoration of harmony. Forgiveness can break the cycle of anger. At least to the extent the people from whom you are estranged accept your love and forgiveness and are prepared to make the required adjustments. Forgiveness can heal relationships and reconnect people.

As an important note, when we take a Classical philosophical perspective, that of Aristotle, we see the distinction between potentiality and actuality. We are not necessarily born with the capacity to forgive, but instead with the potential to learn about it and to grow in our ability to forgive. The actuality of forgiving, its actual appropriation in conflict situations, develops with practice.

        Hotpot has a long history of over 1,000 years in China. It used to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (favor) only in winter, but recently hotpot has been appearing on tables all year round.

        {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the delicious flavor, there are two other important reasons for the Chinese to like hotpot. First, it is a great way {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (socialize) – people gather around the pot, chatting, eating, drinking {#blank#}4{#/blank#} having fun. Second, hotpot is a healthy meal. Boiling is better than frying, with bone nutrients {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (release) into the soup. In addition, eating hot pot can warm the body in winter, and increase perspiration (排汗) to help cool the body in summer. Some seasonings (作料) used in hotpots can help relieve some minor {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(illness) like colds, blocked sinuses and headaches.

        Chongqing Hotpot is the staple dish of the city. Hotpot restaurants in Chongqing are everywhere – if you look up on the street you are in, chances are that you {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (stand) exactly near a hotpot restaurant.

        {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (usual), the taste of food can reflect the attitude and status of life there. As a {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (symbol) food in Chongqing, it reflects that people there have the sense of integrity and embrace the diversified culture. Almost everything {#blank#}10{#/blank#} is eatable can be cooked in hotpot, so eating hotpot is a must when you come to Chongqing!