The Museum: The Charles Dickens Museum in London is the world's most important collection of material relating to the great Victorian novelist and social commentator(时事评论员). The only surviving London home of Dickens (from 1837 until 1839) was opened as a museum in 1925 and is still welcoming visitors from all over the world . On four floors, visitors can see paintings, rare editions, manuscripts(手稿),original furniture and many items relating to the life of one of the most popular and beloved personalities of the Victorian age.

Opening Hours

The Museum is open from Mondays to Saturdays 10:00—17:00; Sundays 11:00—17:00.

Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.

Special opening times can be arranged for groups , who may wish to book a private view.

    Admission Charges: Adults: £5.00; Students: £4.00; Seniors: £4.00; Children: £3.00; Families: £14.00 ( 2 adults & up to five children)

    Group Rates: For a group of 10 or more, a special group rate of £4.00 each applies. Children will still be admitted for £3.00 each.

    Access: We are constantly working to improve access to the Muse um and its collection. Our current projects involve the fitting of a wheelchair ramp（波道）for better access, a customer care kit and an audio tour for visitors with impaired(受损的)vision. Our Handling Sessions are also suitable for the visually（视觉上地）impaired. The Museum has developed an online virtual（虚拟的）tour through the Museum. Click here to visit all the rooms in the Museum online.

    Hire the Museum: The Museum can be hired for private functions, performances soirees(社交晚会)and many other social occasions.

    Find Us: The Museum may be reached by using the following buses:7,17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 243. And by these underground services: Piccadilly Line; Central Line. For a map, please click here. T he British Museum and the Foundling Museum are within walking distance.

    Gemini Television is a large independent broadcaster（广播公司）. They have had success in television with mini-series and situation comedies. Recently the company has decided to move into film--making.

    They have received some film projects from directors working in different countries.

    Title: Hands up for Happiness

    Genre (类型): Romantic(浪漫的) comedy

    Plot(情节): Two pairs of twins, one Italian and one Russian, meet and start relationships. They have problems telling the difference between each twin. Will they end up with the right person?

    Cast(演员阵容): Unknown actors as need to be real twins.

    Special features: Very romantic locations, e.g. Venice, St. Petersburg.

    Budget: $40-50 million at most.

    Audience: 20-35 year olds.

    Title: Alien Attack

    Genre: Science fiction

    Plot: Story takes place 500 years in the future. The Earth is attacked by aliens. A small group survive the attack and try to save the planet. Will they succeed before the aliens reproduce?

    Cast: To be decided (by the director).

    Special features: Shocking special effects, exciting visually.

    Budget: $60-80 million at most.

    Audience: 15 upwards.

    Title: Exit Strategy

    Genre: Thriller

    Plot: A woman picks up the wrong bag at an airport and is mistaken for a foreign agent who has secret documents. She is tracked around the world by criminals, government agents and the real owner of the bag.

    Cast: Major Hollywood star as lead actress (undecided).

    Special features: Many locations around the world, lots of twists and turns in the story, strong possibility for a follow-up, and for turning the lead character into a female James Bond (a character from serial films).

    Budget: At least $100-120 million.

    Audience: 15 upwards.

    Title: Midnight Sun

    Genre: Action / Adventure

    Plot: A story of family honour, revenge(复仇) great love and of good vs. bad. A young Japanese man brought up in the USA returns to the country of his birth. He discovers the dark secret of the family, and the reason he was brought up in the USA. His search for the truth leads him to the Philippines and to the beautiful princess Satsuki.

    Cast: Young, unknown actors.

    Special features: Excellently designed fight scenes.

    Budget: $50-70 million at most.

    Audience: Worldwide, but probably over 18 due to violence.

    In recent decades, social isolation has been recognized as a major risk to our health and long life. It's twice as bad for you as being overweight and nearly as bad as smoking. The rising number of people who say they are affected, across a wide range of ages, is shocking. In reality, you can suffer the ill effects of loneliness even if you are not socially isolated.

Comedian Robin Williams made a striking observation in 2014: "I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Tracking large groups over time indicates that perceived（感知的）social isolation carries its own risk for morbidity（发病率）and mortality.

    The perception of isolation—from others of being in the social aspect-is not only a cause of unhappiness, it also signals danger. Fish have evolved to swim to the middle of their group when predators（捕食者）approach, mice housed in social isolation show sleep disruptions and reduced slow-wave sleep and prairie voles（田鼠）isolated from their partners then placed in an open field explore their surroundings less and concentrate on avoiding predators.

    These behaviours reflect an increased emphasis on self-preservation in the social aspect. For instance, fish on the edge of a school are more likely to be attacked by predators because they are easier to isolate and prey upon. Such observations reflect a more general principle that perceived social isolation in social animals activates neural（神经系统的）, neuroendocrine（神经内分泌的）and behavioural responses that promote short-term self-preservation. However, these responses bring a cost for long-term health and well-being.

    The range of harmful neural and behavioural effects of perceived isolation documented in adults include increased anxiety, hostility and social withdrawal; fragmented sleep and daytime tiredness; increased vascular resistance and changed gene expression and immunity; decreased impulse control; increased negativity and depressive symptoms; and increased age-related cognitive decline.

    Sadly, to date, attempts to reduce loneliness have met with limited success. A series of randomized controlled trials showed that they had only a small effect. Among the four types of interventions（介入）examined, talking therapy that focused on inappropriate thought processes had the largest impact. Social skills training, social support and increased opportunities for social contact were much less effective.

    The third week of SEAL training means Hell Week. It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats（泥滩） and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing-cold mud, the howling wind and the increasing pressure from the instructors to quit. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having broken the rules, was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit—just five men and we could get out of the extreme cold.

    Looking around the mud flat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up--eight more hours of freezing cold. The chattering teeth and shivering moans (呻吟）of the trainees were so loud that it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo (回荡）through the night--one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two, and two became three, and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew that if one man could rise above the great suffering then others could as well. The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing—but the singing went on. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little less bitter and the dawn not so far away.

    If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world it is the power of hope. The power of one person, Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala, can change the world by giving people hope.

    So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud.

    With the Blinkist app, you can get the key learning from the best nonfiction books in minutes. Start with the 4 most-read books.

    Thirteen Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do by Amy Morin

You can't escape misfortune in life. But you can change how you respond to it. Do you struggle to get over your failures? Getting over these obstacles can have a great influence on your everyday life. Morin shares how her most successfully cured patients overcame these difficulties.

    How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

    Would you worry about something? Why can't you stop worrying? Fortunately, there would be a way to deal with those worries. By defining the source of your stress, you can get over it. Carnegie came up with a timeless formula that helps you deal with any over thinking situation.

    Finding Your Element by Ken Robinson

    We're supposed to graduate from high school at 18, enter university, become a professional person, get married and have children. This lifestyle may be limiting and keep us away from opportunities in which we might get better. Everyone has potential. If you don't know what yours is, it just means you haven't discovered it yet. Or perhaps you have it, but it was dismissed early in life. Find out how you can break free of society's strict rules and find your calling in life.

    Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

    Do your emotions hold you back? Would you do better if your emotions were removed and you became unfeeling, logical creatures? Did you know if your pulse rate rises above 100 bpm, you're believed too emotional to think rationally? You probably let feelings cloud your judgment more often than you know. Goleman explains how you can avoid letting your emotions rule you and make better decisions in life.

    What's fiercer than a lion? The honey badger (蜜獾), one of the toughest mammals in Africa and western Asia. Honey badgers stand less than a foot high. They are only a couple feet long. They weigh just over 20 pounds. Yet they have a reputation for toughness that is far greater than their size.

    So what makes the honey badger so tough? They have speed, but so do many animals. They aren't stronger than lions, so how do they stop them? The thing that sets the honey badge apart is their skin. Their skin is thick and tough. Arrows, spears, and bites from other animals can rarely go through it. Not only is their skin thick and tough, it is also loose. This allows them to twist and turn to fight back while another animal is attacking them.

    Honey badgers have long, sharp claws. These claws are good for attacking and even better for digging. Honey badgers are some of nature's most skilled diggers. They can dig a nine-foot tunnel into hard ground in about 10 minutes. They love to catch a meal by digging up the holes of frogs and snakes. They also use their digging skills to create their homes. They live in small holes in the ground and defend them fiercely.

    You don't get a reputation like the honey badger by running from danger. The honey badger is a fearless and tireless fighter. They will attack any creature that threatens them, man included. Because of the honey badger's reputation, most predators (食肉动物) avoid them. Some animals use the honey badger's reputation to their advantage. Adult cheetahs (猎豹) have spotted coats, but their kittens have silver manes (鬃毛) and look like honey badgers. Some scientists believe that their coloring tricks predators into avoiding them.

    You might be wondering: "If honey badgers are so tough, how did they get a name that makes them sound like a piece of candy?" The answer makes sense. Since honey badgers have such thick skin, bees rarely harm them. So honey badgers love to attack beehives(蜂窝). Honey badgers run after honey so aggressively that beekeepers in Africa have to use electric fencing to hold them back. There's nothing sweet about that.