Do you often feel lonely? What do you do when you feel that way? Hide yourself away and spend your time reading, watching TV or walking around?

You might think that feeling lonely is just like feeling happy, sad or scared — that it's just one of your various moods. That is true. However, if you let yourself be lonely for too long without dealing with it, you could be making a serious mistake.

    Doctors have known for some time that feeling lonely is bad for the mind. It can lead to mental health problems such as depression, stress and reduce confidence. “Being lonely means not feeling connected or cared for, but it's not about being mentally alone,” Lisa Jaremka, scientist from Ohio State University, US, told Live Science in January. And there's growing evidence that not having friends is connected with physical illness as well.

    In 2006, for example, scientists studied 2,800 women who had cancer. They found that those who had few friends or family were five times more likely to die of their disease than women with many social contacts. Also, even healthy people had a better chance of falling ill if they felt left out by others, according to the BBC.

    The results have scientists thinking that loneliness might hurt the immune system(免疫系统), which protects the body from diseases.

    Hoping to prove this theory, Jaremka and her research team put volunteers(志愿者) through a stress test. During the test, volunteers were asked to make an unprepared speech in front of a group of stony-faced people. The researchers found that volunteers who said they were lonely in their daily lives felt more stress during the test. And their blood samples showed that all the stress had managed to cause harmful changes to their immune system.

     “Loneliness has been thought of in many ways as a chronic stressor(慢性增压器) — a socially painful situation that can last for quite a long time, ” explained Jaremka, who led the study.

    The number of people suffering from loneliness is increasing all over the world. However, solving the problem is easier said than done. It won't work to just “tell anyone to go out and find someone to love you”, said Jaremka. “We need to create support networks.”

    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.

    I have many new teachers in high school, but Lori Runkle, my English Language and Composition teacher, is my favorite teacher.

    Ms. Runkle enjoys getting to know more about students, so I have many chances to talk with her after class. I have always wanted to become a journalist (新闻记者). Since Ms. Runkle used to be a journalist back in the United States, she has introduced many helpful journalistic writing skills to me.

    Although she is my teacher, Ms. Runkle and I are more like friends. She often invites my classmates and me to take part in different activities outside of school. For example, I went to listen to a journalist's speech, which helped me better understand current events (时事).

    Not only does Ms. Runkle talk with me outside of school, she is also a great teacher in the classroom. English Language and Composition is a really hard subject for a second language learner. We felt worried in the beginning, but Ms. Runkle really makes an effort to help us out. In class, Ms. Runkle always encourages students to question everything to keep us active. One part of class I love the most is when groups of students are required to give speeches on events that are happening in the world. It requires a lot of deep thinking and I really learn quite a lot from it.

I love Ms. Runkle very much. She not only helps me to get good scores, but also acts as a good friend and always gives me advice on life.

    Robots make me nervous—especially the ones which seem to think for themselves. I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, felt the same way.

Gates said in an interview with the social networking and news website Reddit: "I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence. First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent．That should be positive if we manage well. A few decades after that, though, the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern."

    Well, maybe I don't have to worry about my computer and kitchen equipment yet. After I use them I can always pull the plug. But in the future, machines might find a way to prevent us from switching them off. There's a terrible thought!

    Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil like some we've seen in sci-fi movies. What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient. That's what philosopher Nick Bostrom from Oxford University believes. He says that machines are indifferent to humans and in pursuit of their own goals，the destruction of people might be just additional damage. Bostrom gives us an example: A machine which might have its only goal to produce as many paperclips as possible might look at human bodies as extra material for paperclips and go after you. Because it is, well, a machine, it would not take pity on you.

    It's a good thing that American writer Isaac Asimov thought about how far robots can go and left us his three rules of robotics. They state that a robot may not hurt a human being or allow the human being to come to harm.

I'm glad my machines at home are "dumb". All my cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room. Let's hope they don't create an appliance which wants to take over the world!

    It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about AI Herpin. AI Herpin, it was said, never slept, Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.

    AI Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping, In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.

    The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.

    Herpin died at the age of 94.

Are you tired of your daily routine? If so, have a look at our fascinating range of holidays. 

Activity Holidays

Our activity holidays are for people who love adventures. We have a huge variety of water, snow or desert holidays. We'll take you scuba diving in the Red Sea or white-water rafting in Canada. If you prefer snow, you can try skiing in the Alps. For those who like warmer weather, we also have sandboarding. 

Culture Holidays

Our culture holidays will help you discover ancient civilizations: India, Thailand, Egypt and many more. Visit temples, palaces and ancient ruins just remember to bring your camera! 

Wildlife Holidays

We organize small-group tours to get closer to nature. Meet the famous turtles of the Galapagos Islands. Look for tigers in India, or take an elephant safari(观兽旅行)in Sri Lanka. You can stay in a range of accommodation, from tents to tree houses. 

If you're interested in our tours, please give us a call or come directly to our travel agency on weekdays. Our phone number is 905-8872. Our address is 18th Garden Road, Wandsworth. Please feel free to send us an email at any time if you have any questions. Our email address is Alextravelling@gmail. com.