Amazing Railway Stations in the World

Railway stations are not usually among people’s ideal places to spend a day. The noise and crowd are enough to make people run away as soon as possible. However, there are some railway stations, which offer more than just chaos (混乱).

Kanazawa Station

It was with the upgrade of the 1898 station that Kanazawa Station caught attention from architects around the world. Even though it raised some eyebrows upon opening because its rather modern architecture didn’t suit to the old castle city, the Kanazawa Station in Japan is one of the grandest railway stations in the world.

St. Pancras International, London

Known as the “church of the railways”, the St. Pancras International was opened in 1868. It has gone through renovation (革新) many times since then but has kept its old charm. Famous for its Victorian architecture, it is decorated with many artworks. Its facade (正面) is occupied by the Renaissance Hotel. The station also houses a large number of shops and restaurants.

Gare du Nord

It goes without saying that one of the most beautiful cities in the world has one of the most beautiful railway stations as well. The Gare du Nord, opened in 1864, is a brilliant achievement of architecture. The 23 female statues in the facade stand for the destinations (目的地) served by the railway line.

Grand Central Terminal

Designed by the architectural firms of Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore, this railway station in New York is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. The Grand Central Terminal draws over 20 million visitors in a year, making it one of the top ten tourist destinations.

A car needs gas to run and your body also needs food to work for you．Eating the right kind of food is very important．It can keep your body strong，so take care of what you eat． There are four main food groups altogether．The dairy products group has food like milk，cheese and sour milk．The other three groups are the meat and fish group，the fruit and vegetable group，and the bread and rice group．Each meal should have at least one food from all the four main groups．With all these food together you will be given enough energy during the day． It is easy to get into bad eating habits．You may eat your breakfast in a hurry to get to school on time．Or you may not have time for a good lunch．It may seem easy to finish your supper with fish and chips all the time．But you will find yourself tired during these days and you can not think quickly． Watching what you eat will help keep your body healthy and strong．It is also good to take some exercise．It will help you eat more if you take a walk or play games in the open air．Having a good eating habit with some exercise is the key to your health．

In addition to the official basketball world, various other types of basketball are practiced around the world.

l  Wheelchair Basketball

Wheelchair basketball was invented in 1946 by former American basketball players, who, after wartime injury, wanted once again to experience the excitement of a highly athletic sport within a team environment. It is now played in more than 80 countries by over 25,000 men, women and children with a physical disability which prevents them playing competitive basketball on their feet.          

/://www.iwbf.org

l  Beach Basketball

Beach basketball is an exciting, non-stop action game played in the sand. The game was born more than forty years ago on the physical education fields of Gulf Shores School. This kind of basketball, invented by Philip Bryant, has grown from an extremely effective skill improvement game to a very popular, widespread competitive sport.

/://www.beachbasketball.com

l  Street Basketball

Street Basketball or streetball is mainly played as a leisure(休闲) game, but streetball players can also compete against each other. There are no specific streetball rules and the game is played outdoors; the players make up their own rules to play. Streetball is very popular among younger players and allows players to publicly show their own individual skills.

/://www.streetball.com

l  Deaf Basketball

Basketball for the deaf (unable to hear in one or both ears) men and women has been played since the early 1920s. The game today has exactly the same rules as FIBA.

/://wwwdibf.org

l  Bankshot Basketball

Bankshot is a new game of skill and challenge that is often described as “mini golf, but with a basketball.” Bankshot is the only sports system that allows the able-bodied and athletes with a disability to play together at the same time. This game is about no running, jumping, or body contact（接触）and relies on the shooting skill.

/://www.bankshot.com

Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age. The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity(长寿) may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.

“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.

“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.” What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.

They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.

The team has yet to find why ageing（衰老）takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.

The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

One night, Pilar was in a deep sleep when she was woken by her cat Inti. Inti was meowing wildly outside Pilar’s bedroom and throwing himself against the closed bedroom door. When Pilar opened her eyes, she saw that her bedroom was filled with smoke. As she escaped her house with Inti in her arms, she saw that a fire was burning in her kitchen. Pilar could easily have lost her life, but Inti would not let that happen. Even though Inti could have escaped the house through a cat door, he wouldn’t leave Pilar.

As amazing as this story is, it is not as uncommon as you may think. Take the example of Charlotte Lee and her horse, Thunder. One summer night, the whole family was asleep with the windows open. It was normally very quiet where they lived. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Charlotte woke up from her sweet dream, and the noise continued. Then she heard a horse running fast towards the house. The next thing she saw was Thunder standing outside her window, neighing(嘶叫) and shaking his head. She knew something was wrong. Charlotte quickly got everyone out of the house before the earthquake hit. Thunder has saved her life.

There are also stories of wild animals coming to the rescue of humans. One animal known to be a friend of humans is the dolphin. Once, Todd Endris was surfing with his friends when he was attacked by a 13-foot(4-meter) shark. In the middle of the attack, a group of dolphins came to his rescue by forming a protective ring around Endris until he could get safely to shore. Without the help of the dolphins, there is little chance that Todd could have escaped.

No one is sure why animals have so often come to our rescue. However, it is clear that humans and animals enjoy a close relationship. It is important that we care for them as much as we can.

Are you sick of going to bed late and waking up tired? Then grab your hiking boots and a tent. A new study suggests that camping in the great outdoors for a couple of days can reset your body clock and help you get more sleep.

The body clock is an internal system that tells our bodies when it’s time to go to sleep and when it's time to wake up. Scientists track this clock by measuring the amount of melatonin (褪黑激素)circulating in a person’s blood at any given time.

In a healthy sleeper, melatonin levels rise a few hours before bedtime, stay high through the night, and then settle back down when it’s time to wake up.

In our modern society，however，most of us stay up many hours past sunset and would probably sleep in many hours after sunrise if we could. And the trouble is，your melatonin levels may still be high when your alarm clock goes off in the morning, which leads to fatigue. It may also have other health consequences as well, such as diabetes (糖尿病)，overweight and heart disease.

Professor Kenneth Wright of the University of Colorado in the US wanted to see if our body clocks can be reset by a short stay in nature. His team recruited (招募)fourteen physically active volunteers in their 20s and 30s. Nine went on a weekend camping trip, while the other five stayed home. At the end of the weekend, the researchers reported that in just two days, the campers’ body clocks had shifted so that their melatonin levels began to rise more than an hour earlier than they did before they left on the trip. By contrast, the body clocks of the group that stayed home shifted even later over the course of the weekend.

“This tells us we can reset our clocks fast,” Wright said.

Therefore, if you want to change your sleep patterns you could try to increase your exposure to natural light during the day and decrease the amount of artificial light you see at night. And if that doesn’t work，there’s always camping.

Volunteering Is Fun

   One afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so bored．Instead of feeling sorry for myself，I wanted to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering．I searched on my computer and found a website where I could volunteer on a farm in France．

   My time working on a farm was a new experience for me．It was basically a free holiday as food and accommodation were provided．However，it was not your typical holiday as I had to look after fifteen horses and sleep at the top of a tower in a castle! I was an awful farmer but it did not matter because I made some great friends．

   However，you do not need to go abroad to volunteer．I have had plenty of adventures at home as volunteering can become a hobby．For example，I love singing so I had a good laugh waving my arms in an attempt to conduct my local choir．I did slowly improve and it felt great to conduct the choir in a concert．At university，I organised a concert for charity with my friends．It was really fun finding bands and raising money for a cause we believe in． 

   It is true that you feel good volunteering but there are also other advantages．I once volunteered as a server at a charity sports event where the organizers gave me cupcakes to thank me for my services. I also volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe（衣柜）．

   While this is all fun，my favourite aspect of volunteering is creating and sharing stories．My terrible attempts at farming have given me hilarious stories to tell! Talking to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world．I feel thankful to have had so much fun with many nice people thanks to volunteering．

Hilton English Language Center

Information for New Students

CLASS TIME: 8:30 a.m.—10:00 a.m.，10:30 a.m.—12:00 a.m.，1:30 p.m.—3:00 p.m.

The Language Center is open Monday to Friday．Each class has one afternoon free per week．On the first day，go to the lecture hall to check your timetable．

SELF-ACCESS: The language laboratory (Room 1110) is open Monday to Friday from 3:15 p.m.to 5:00 p.m. for all full-time students．

You can learn how to use computers for language games or word-processing（文字处理）．There are tapes for students to borrow to practice their English．Go in and ask the teacher to show you．If you plan to take public examinations，there are dictation and listening comprehension tapes for you to practice with．There are cloze exercises on the computers．Ask your class teacher for a list of past exam essays．Students can borrow tapes to take home but they must be returned after two days．

ATTENDANCE（出勤）：All students are expected to attend classes as it is required． Students who do not attend classes will be reported to OSS．Eighty percent attendance is required for students to receive their certificates（证书）when they finish their courses．It is also required by OSS for an extension to your visa．

BOOKS: If students are given course books，the books are their responsibility．If a book is lost，the student will be expected to pay for it．

If students wish to buy books，there is a bookshop in the college specializing in English books (Room 3520)．

Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.

Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.

But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.