The freezing Northeast hasn't been a terribly fun place to spend time this winter, so when the chance came for a weekend to Sarasota, Florida, my bags were packed before you could say “sunshine”. I left for the land of warmth and vitamin C(维生素C), thinking of beaches and orange trees. When we touched down to blue skies and warm air, I sent up a small prayer of gratefulness. Swimming pools, wine tasting, and pink sunsets(at normal evening hours, not 4 in the afternoon) filled the weekend, but the best part - particularly to my taste, dulled by months of cold- weather root vegetables- was a 7 a.m. adventure to the Sarasota farmers' market that proved to be more than worth the early wake-up call.

           The market, which was founded in 1979, sets up its tents every Saturday from 7:00 am to 1 p.m., rain or shine, along North Lemon and State streets. Baskets of perfect red strawberries; the red-painted sides of the Java Dawg coffee truck; and most of all, the tomatoes: amazing, large, soft and round red tomatoes.

Disappointed by many a broken, vine-ripened(蔓上成熟的) promise, I've refused to buy winter tomatoes for years. No matter how attractive they look in the store, once I get them home they're unfailingly dry, hard, and tasteless. But I homed in, with uncertainty, on one particular table at the Brown's Grove Farm's stand, full of fresh and soft tomatoes the size of my fist. These were the real deal- and at that moment, I realized that the best part of Sarasota in winter was going to be eating things that back home in New York I wouldn't be experiencing again for months.

Delighted as I was by the tomatoes in sight, my happiness deepened when I learned that Brown's Grove Farm is one of the suppliers for Jack Dusty, a newly opened restaurant at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton, where - luckily for me - I was planning to have dinner that very night. Without even seeing the menu, I knew I'd be ordering every tomato on it.

Madame Tussauds—London

    Welcome to Madame Tussauds—a 125-year-old museum loved by visitors for its life-like waxworks of famous folk from the past and present, plus interactive exhibits. The following are three ticket options we'd like to recommend to you.

Option 1: All Inclusive Open Dated Ticket

    Why not treat your friends and family to our All Inclusive Tickets? Ticket is valid (有效的) for one visit with all of the following fantastic features:

● Valid for one year from date of purchase—perfect for a gift!

● Priority Access admission in true celebrity style

● Your very own hand made of wax(蜡).

    With your ticket you can enjoy the heroic new experience in three floors of multisensory fun featuring a mix of interactive themed areas, realistic wax figures and an ALL NEW Marvel Super Heroes 4D film adventure.

Option 2: Late Saver 50% off

    If you book online in advance and arrive at Madame Tussauds later in the day, your tickets can cost as little as £14.00. That's 50% off the standard on-the-day price!

    The last admission into Madame Tussauds is 5:30 p.m in off-peak periods and 6 p.m in peak periods. This gives you loads of time to fully enjoy the attraction.

    This ticket is available for online purchase only. Tickets are subject to availability at all times and only a limited amount are available each day, so be quick!

Option 3: Top 3 London Attractions

    Combine your visit to Madame Tussauds with a flight on the World famous London Eye and SEA LIFE London Aquarium, and save 25% on your adult and child tickets, or 33% on your family ticket when you book your tickets at least the day in advance!

    Please note: Child ages are 4—15. Under 4s are free. A family ticket consists of 2 adults and 2 children, or 1 adult and 3 children.

    Please note: Your combined ticket only gives priority admission to Madame Tussauds and Sea Life London Aquarium—all others are general queue flights.

For more ticket options, please visit our website at : www.madame-tussauds.com

The Advantages of Hobbies

    Hobbies provide entertainment and a chance lo continuously learn something new and develop a skill set. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Hobbies are praised as a key to stress reduction.Becoming lost in the mental concentration or physical action which you are deeply interested in helps you shift focus from the parts of life that are stressful. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And in turn you are more peaceful when working on other work.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Many people set goals with their hobbies that provide them satisfaction when these goals have been achieved.These goals can be simple,like improving a golf score,writing a certain number of pages for a novel each day or seeing an entire collection of classic films.

    Hobbies provide a sense of community when you meet other people who enjoy similar activities. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} More populated cities typically have numerous clubs or groups for people to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about a particular hobby.Becoming a member of one of these organizations allows greater growth within your hobby,as well as a chance to make new friends.

    Having a hobby can develop a talent that makes a person feel proud and satisfied.For example,a tennis hobby developed at a young age can lead lo a career as a professional athlete one day. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}For example, writer Vladimir Nabokov also collected butterflies,which allowed him to do better in his chosen fields because he used learned skills from one to improve the other.

A.There are a variety of hobbies.

B.Hobbies provide a sense of achievement.

C.Some hobbies affect other aspects of your life.

D.Focusing on something enjoyable can calm the mind.

E.They also provide many other social and health benefits.

F.Having a hobby increases the chances to interact with like-minded people.

G.Some hobbies containing physical activities offer an enjoyable way to stay healthy.

    Astronauts on shorter shuttle missions (使命) often work very long days. Tasks are scheduled so tightly that break times are often used to finish the tightly that break times are often used to finish the day's work. This type of scheduled is far too demanding for long missions on the International Space Station (ISS). ISS crewmembers usually live in space for at least a quarter of a year. They work five days on and two days off to mimic the normal way they do things on Earth as much as possible. Weekends give the crew valuable time to rest and do a few hours of housework. They can communicate with family and friends by email, internet phone and through private video conferences.

    While astronauts cannot go to a baseball game or a movie in orbit, there are many familiar activities that they can still enjoy. Before a mission, the family and friends of each ISS crewmember put together a collection of family photos, messages, videos and reading material for the astronauts to look at when they will be floating 370 kilometers above the Earth.

    During their mission, the crew also receives care packages with CDs, books, magazines, photos and letters. And as from early 2010, the internet became available on the ISS, giving astronauts the chance to do some “web surfing(冲浪)”in their personal time. Besides relaxing with these more common entertainments, astronauts can simply enjoy the experience of living in space.

    Many astronauts say that one of the most relaxing things to do in space is to look out the window and stare at the universe and the Earth. Both the shuttle and the ISS circle the planet several times each day, and every moment offers a new view of the Earth's vast land mass and oceans.

    Five people are talking about working from home.

Chris: I'm a language graduate and I've been translating from Italian to English for most of my career. We've been in Milan for nearly 20 years and I've been working from home for 12 years, since my first child was born. I've found that my work-life balance has been easier to manage since I started working from home—and it needs to be easy to manage when you've got children.

    Miranda: I'm a writer and I've been working from home for the last 18 months. I must say it's been pretty difficult. For one thing, I've been paying a lot more for heating. And I've missed the office gossip. To be honest, it's quite lonely. I almost wish I could go back to my old job.

    Jordan: Working from home has really changed my life. I love it. I love being my own boss. I've been working from home as a website designer since I left my last job in 2004. I have a bit more time these days. I've bought myself a new guitar and I've been taking guitar lessons for the last six months.

    Ahmed: It's not for everyone, but I like working from home. I do contract(合同) work in design. The best thing is that I don't have to commute(通勤) to work on crowded trains. I've had lots more time and I've been learning a new language since I started working from home in January. I've always wanted to learn Spanish.

    Rageh: I'm German but I've been living abroad for five years. I've been working in marketing for a pharmaceutical(制药的) company near London and I've been working from home part of the time since January. I work from home three days a week and commute to the office twice a week. I was very lucky to get this opportunity. When I work from home I get up late and work late in the evenings. I've never been a morning person.

    When your dream is to become a footballer, nothing should get in your way—even if you have no feet.

    Gabriel Muniz, an 11-year-old Brazil kid, was born without feet. Although his family thought he would have serious difficulties living a normal life, he started walking before he was one year old. His mother would go after him, expecting him to keep falling, but he never fell. It took him a while to make the jump from walking to playing football, but he did make it. And, in fact, there's nothing he loves more than playing football. In his school, the skillful youngster (年轻人) is not only the best player in his school team but also the captain of his gym team.

    He knows that his disability means he'll never be able to play for a professional (专业的) football team. So Gabriel is hoping that football will one day become a Paralympics (残疾人奥运会的) sport. He proved to everyone there he could go head to head with any other boy. Watching him play is unbelievable. He's fast and he's got a big bag of tricks—he's very skilled and he does everything he can to copy his hero, Messi so much that he is invited to go to Spain to meet his hero Messi and show his talent in the Barcelona Football Club.

    His coach says he is proving the disability only exists (存在) inside our heads.