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    Nowadays, the Internet is usually one of the first places a lonely heart turns to as the following story shows.    

    A 63-year-old retired woman in Zhengzhou, made headlines two days after she posted an advertisement on her Wechat(微信) page, in which she said she wanted to find a young female companion for a trip to Sanya, China's Southern Hainan island, a local newspaper Dahe Daily reported. In the advertisement, the Chinese dama (Chinese term for middle-aged and elderly women) surnamed (a person's last name) Li said she is in good health, and she was particularly looking forward to a sea trip this winter.

    "I have a daughter who works in Canada, and I don't want to disturb her. My husband rarely has time to travel with me. But I'm afraid of traveling alone, so I am looking for a sweet, happy young woman, aged between 19 and 25 to travel with me. Hope she could chat with me, take photos with me."

    At the end of the advertisement, Dama Li showed her sincerity by saying she would be responsible for all the costs of the trip, including accommodation(膳宿) and air tickets, plus an iPhone 7 as a gift. Dama Li told Dahe Daily that she did not expect her advertisement to receive so much attention. "My phone keeps buzzing all the time. "However, some people question the truth of Li's advertisement. They say it might be organized by travel agencies aiming to promote(促进，推销) Sanya tourism, or even served as a promotional advertisement for real estate（房地产） on the island. Li denied those doubts and said all she wants is just to find a sweet "daughter".

    But Li's advertisement for a daughter has also received as many online mockeries(嘲笑) as positive feedback.

British Women Writers in different periods of time

The English Renaissance

    The English Renaissance began in the later part of the fifteenth century and lasted until the 1660s. Among the most famous women writers of this period is Aphra Behn, who is seen as the first professional woman writer in English. She wrote a number of plays that dealt with topics such as racism and slavery. A good example is Oroonoko published in 1688. Aphra Behn's works include also the plays The Amourous Prince, The Town Fop, The Dutch Lover and her only tragedy, Abdelazer.

The neoclassical period

    Among the well-known women in Bristish literature during the neoclassical period, from 1660 to the end of the eighteenth century, is Anne Finch. She wrote poetry and tried to express all that she saw and experienced. Two other women are recognized for their contribution to neoclassical British literature: Mary Astell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a philosopher and a feminist writer. She is best known now for her theories on the education of women.

The Romantic period

    Jane Austen is one of the most famous women writers that worked during the Romantic period (1798-1832). Her works include several novels, most of which focus on marriage as a way for young women to secure social standing and economic security. Her most famous novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Another famous woman writer from the English Romanticism is Mary Shelley. She is the author of Frankenstein, History of Six Weeks Tour and The Last Man.

The Victorian period

    The Victorian period, between the 1830s and 1900, was the time when the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell lived and wrote. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte produced many British literary classics. Charlotte's novels include Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette and The Professor. Mary Anne Evans adopted the male pen name George as she wanted to set herself apart from the feminine genre of cookbooks and domestic moral tales. Her most famous novel is The Mill on the Floss published in 1860.

    Good manners are important, but you can easily make a social blunder when you visit a foreign country, because sometimes good manners in one place are bad manners in other places.

    Suppose you visit some friends in Mongolia and they ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like your food. But in some other countries, if you give a loud “burp”, you are supposed to say, “Excuse me, please.”

    In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia it is bad manners to be seen eating together. People show their good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.

    What are manners like in an East African town? The people try not to see you. When you are visiting a friend, he may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.

    If you visit a friend in Arabia you should walk behind other tents until you come to his tent. If you pass in front of other tents, you will be asked into each one. The people will ask you to eat with them. And it is bad manners if you say no.

    Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners help people show that they want to be friends.

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My decision to travel around China lay merely with my curiosity about the place. Before coming here, China seemed alien to me —-a place that expected to be hugely dissimilar from my own British culture.

After travelling from Beijing up to Xi'an, I wanted to challenge myself by choosing a smaller town—-Xiahe in Gansu Province. I arrived in Lanzhou at around 5 am, but there were no buses to Xiahe. I managed to spot a policeman and attempted to explain my destination to him in simple English, praying that he would understand. I wasn't sure that he did but I just followed him anyway as I had no choice. He took me on a bus and I didn't know where I was going. Luckily, I met a student who explained to me in English that the policeman was taking me to another bus station where I could take a bus to Xiahe. During this conversation a third man said he was also a policeman and would help me buy tickets. But as he was not in uniform, I was a little doubtful. The uniformed policeman told me it was OK to go with the third man, so I got off the bus with the so-called policeman who at this point, disappeared and I was left in the middle of nowhere. I stood panicking. Around one minute later a police car came and stopped right by me. It was the un-uniformed policeman. I got into the car and he dropped me directly at the bus station, and helped me buy the ticket.

    This is one of many experiences that I have had in China. I realized that however different this culture was, there was one thing that would always stand out—kindness. In the west we seem to lack the foundation of trust, yet in China it seems that there will always be someone to answer your questions and lead you the right way.

    Planning to get away? Think passport first

    If you're planning to get away from it all this year, you should think passport first. Checking you have a valid passport before you book your trip takes minutes but could save you the trouble and cost of not being able to go.

    Renewing (更新) your passport before it runs out

    You can renew your passport up to 9 months before it can no longer be legally used. So take the time now and save the tears later.

    Applying for a passport for the first time

    Our eligibility (资格) checks mean that it takes a minimum of one week to issue (颁发) a passport. So make sure you don't leave it to the last minute, and apply in plenty of time.

    Help with your application is just around the corner

    Selected Post Office branches and Worldchoice travel agents offer a Check and Send service that helps you with your application. It's convenient and you should receive your passport within 2 weeks.

    If you need to apply for or renew a passport, you can either:

    Pick up a Passport Application Form at Selected Post Office branches and Worldchoice travel agents.

    Or call the Application Form Request line on 0901 4700 100 or visit www.passport.gov.uk

    If your need is urgent, call 0870 521 0410 for an appointment at one of our offices. We can't guarantee to see customers without an appointment.

    From 14th January a guaranteed same day (passport renewals only) or one week service will be available from passport public counters.

    Calls will be charged 60p per minute and the cost per call should not normally be more than 90p.

    Calls are charged at national rates.

    In our increasingly fast-paced, technology-driven world, most adults do not get the 8-10 hours of sleep every night. Things are even worse for those with young children. A recent study showed that 86% of parents in the UK complain of tiredness and about 26% get less than 5 hours of sleep every night. To give tired parents a little relaxation from their tight schedules (时间表), David Lloyd Clubs, a chain of gyms and fitness centers in Europe, has introduced a napping (小憩)class!

    As the name suggests, the hour-long group class, described as a way to " refresh the mind, improve moods, and even bum the odd calorie (卡路里)", does not involve any hard exercise. Instead, the members are guided through 15 minutes of light stretching (伸展)to help them relax. Then, they are encouraged to lie under the blankets of a comfortable bed, cover their eyes with an eye mask, and take a nap for 45 minutes. With music playing in the background and the room set to the perfect temperature, they can be assured of the best possible sleep. The class is now being offered at just one place. If popular, they will be expanded (延伸)to other David Lloyd Clubs.

    Do you know the good points of nap? A study conducted by Pennsylvania's Allegheny College found that midday naps not only help participants feel well-rested, but also enable them to deal with stress better. A follow-up study carried out at the University of California at Berkeley concluded that a 45-minute nap in the middle of the day helps to improve the learning abilities. The good news is that you do not have to make a trip to the U. K. to join this latest exercise fashion. You can get involved with the comfort of your own bed. So, go ahead and encourage your entire family to try a napping class.