Why I've taken a break from holidays

    It is now close to four years since I last took a holiday. This is because I have come to the conclusion, over the course of my adult life, that I am not very good at it. You might think this sounds like saying you're not very good at drinking tea or listening to music. What could possibly be difficult about the natural act of putting your working life on hold for a couple of weeks and going somewhere warm to do nothing?

    I was a model holidaymaker as a kid. However, the problems started during my twenties. A trip to the south of France was ended after just two days, mainly because I had an urge to check my e-mails. Similarly, my honeymoon was cut short by 48 hours—not because my wife and I weren't enjoying ourselves, but because we were missing our cats.

    So what is my problem? On the surface, I'm probably a bit of a homebody. And I just find the pressure of being on holiday too severe: it always feels like having a gun held to my head and being forced to have fun. Somehow, packing a list of possessions and meeting a scheduled flight has none of the excitement of suddenly deciding to take a day off and driving somewhere for the fun of it.

    Thankfully, I'm not alone. This summer, most of my friends have decided not to have a break. And a recent survey (调查) proved the downside of holidays, with the results showing that nearly two thirds of people found that the calming effects of a holiday wore off within 24 hours, as stress levels returned to normal. And this year The Idler magazine published its Book of Awful Holidays. Here you will find a list of the five most ecologically-damaging vacations it's possible to take, along with 50 painful holiday experiences voted for on The Idler website.

    What interests me is what the concept of a “holiday” says about our lives. For me, the point of living is to have a life you enjoy for 52 weeks a year. The more I like my life and the better I structure it, the less I want to go away. Maybe I'm an unusual person for not liking holidays, but I just feel the time when I'm not working is too valuable to waste on them.

    Denali National Park, Alaska

    History

    Within Denali National Park, the Toklat River will always have a special significance, as it was the location where naturalist Charles Sheldon built a cabin and was so moved that he fought to preserve the land. He moved back east and spent nine years lobbying (游说）to create Alaska's first national park.

    When to Visit

    To avoid the crowds, visit in June, but keep in mind that there are up to 21 hours of sunlight in Alaska in summer. If it seems like a bit much for your taste, try visiting in late August or September.

    If you visit to climb Mount McKinley, May and early June are the best times to climb.

    Major Attractions

    It is difficult not to see Denali's largest attraction towering 20,320 feet high. Mount McKinley can even be seen up to 70 miles away on a clear day. If you brave the climb to the top, you will be rewarded with charming views of the Alaska Range.

    Sable Pass is a prime spot to view grizzly bears. Closed to off-road foot traffic, the area is popular for bears feeding on berries, roots, and even occasionally on other mammals.

    Beginning at just below the summit of Mount McKinley, Muldrow Glacier flows 35 miles through a gorge and across the tundra. Twice in the last hundred years, the Muldrow has surged (涌动）, most recently in the winter of 1956-1957.

Accommodation

    Five campgrounds are located within the park, and many are open from late spring to early fall.Note: reservations are strongly recommended during summer. Riley Creek campground is open all year round, and all but two (Sanctuary and Wonder Lake) offer RV (可供居住的大篷车）sites.

    Also within the park are a few lodges (旅馆）—North Face Lodge, Denali Backcountry Lodge and Kentishna Roadhouse.

    Did you know that the color of uniforms can influence the performance of an athlete? It may sound strange, but a study suggests this might be true.

    Two British scientists studied the results of four sports in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where the athletes had been given either a red or a blue uniform. They discovered that when there was a big difference in the score, color had no influence on the result. But if it was a close match, the athlete in a red uniform was more likely to win. Then they looked at the uniforms of the soccer teams at the Euro 2004 tournament. Again, teams wearing red won more games.

    The two scientists got their idea from earlier studies of wild animals. It had been discovered that when a male show red on its body, it sends a signal of its power and strength. For example, in many kinds of monkey, the more the male shows off its red scare, the more females it can attract

    Based on this fact, the British scientists thought that the idea might work for humans, too. According to them, when an athlete sees a competitor in a red uniform, he gets a feeling that his competitor could be stronger than him. And that kind of feeling may have a bad influence on the player's performance in the actual game.

    Although the idea is Interesting, most people don't accept that color signals in the animals world can really be useful to humans in sports. They think that it is unreasonable to develop an Idea based on such a small number of examples. Much more research has to be done to prove the influence of uniform colors on the performance of athletes.

    In a research carried out in the UK, it was found that only four out of every five employees were happy at work. Surprisingly, it wasn't the pay or the love for the work that made people happy. Instead, friendly, supportive colleagues and a good manager have been found to be the primary causes of happiness at work. So how do you develop a sense of joy on the job? Here are some suggestions.

    Happiness is a state of mind, so staying happy at work is completely based on a positive attitude towards your job. Focus on the bright side of the work rather than keep talking about what makes you unhappy.

    Challenge yourself and take charge of your own growth in your career. Boredom is one of the primary factors that cause people to change jobs. Find new challenges and it's a great feeling to take control over what you do and see a task through.

    Having co­workers you like and enjoy working with is a feature of happiness in the workplace. Talk to people, get to know them and try to get along well with them in the workplace. Meeting new people and getting fresh views can help you to keep yourself interested in your work.

    Complete your tasks, no matter how disagreeable or tough they might be. This gives you a sense of achievement and encourages you to work towards your goals in future.

    Sitting and staring at your screen all day long isn't going to help you. Instead, take breaks and go outside for some time. For example, go out for a few minutes to feel the breeze (微风). Eat your lunch outside or work for a few minutes during that hour, which helps you stay happy at work.

    Sherlock: The Abominable Bride.

    Release date: January 1, 2016

    Price: $8

    Plot: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel back to the Victorian era to solve the case of “The Abominable Bride”

    The Revenant

    Release date: January 8, 2016

    Price: $6

    Plot: In the 1820s,a frontiersman，Hugh Glass，sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

    The Fifth Wave:

    Release date: January 15,2016

    Price: $6.5

    Plot：Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope-if she can only trust him.

    Kung Fu Panda 3

    Release date: January 29, 2016

    Price:Adult$7.5   Child（aged six &up）$3.5

    Plot：Po reunites with his biological father and travels with him to a secret sanctuary of pandas where, to his surprise, he does not fit in. There he meets Mei Mei, an overly eager panda, who had been promised to Po through an arranged marriage when they were children. To make matters worse, an evil ancient spirit called Kai begins terrorizing China and stealing the powers of defeated kung fu masters. Now, in the face of incredible odds, Po must learn to train a village of clumsy, fun-loving pandas to become a band of Kung Fu Pandas.

At Englands University of Plymouth, Professor Eduardo Miranda has been programming pairs of robots to compose music. Miranda's robots have simple " vocal cords" (声带)and are programmed to sing and to listen to each other. The robots' unique warbling sounds (颤音) do not perfectly match the human voice, but each machine is exactly sharing music with the other in a new and unique way.

Each robot is equipped with speakers, software that mimics the human voice, a mouth that opens as it "sings," a microphone for ears, and a camera for eyes. The robots also move. Miranda hopes that by studying his robot vocalists, he can discover something about how and why humans create, perform, and listen to music.

When the robots sing, first one robot makes six random sounds. Its partner responds with more sounds. The first robot analyzes the sounds to see if their sequences (序列)) are similar. If they are, it nods its head and commits the sounds to memory, and the second robot notices and "memorizes" the musical sequence, too. If the first robot thinks the sounds are too different, it shakes its head and both robots ignore the sounds. Then the process continues.

Miranda set up an experiment in which he left the two robots alone in his study for two weeks. When he returned, his little warblers had, by imitating each other, not only shared notes but combined them. The product of their cooperation was far from symphonic, but the robots had begun to combine the notes into their own self-developed "songs".

With the help of his warbling robots, one of Miranda's goals is to create music that no human would ever compose. Miranda believes the robots are ideal for this purpose because they would not be influenced by any existing musical styles or rules.