Reading books can help us see the world through different eyes. Russia, as one of the most important countries in the world, has great books and great writers. Let's learn about some of them.
Leo Tolstoy "If you want to be happy, be happy." said Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), one of the greatest writers not only in Russia but also in the world. Tolstoy wrote some of the best books including Anna Karenina, War and Peaceand The Death of IvanIlyich, which are still popular today. |
Maxim Gorky Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov(1868-1936) came from a Russian working- class family. So he got a deep understanding of the dark side of Russian life, which he showed in his stories, novels and plays. The sadness of his early life led to his pen name, Gorky, which means sad. Among his most famous works is the autobiographical (自传体的) trilogy (三部曲) — My Childhood, In the World and My Universities. |
Alexander Pushkin No writer in Russia is loved more than Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837). As one of Russia's greatest writers, he is seen as the founding father(创始人) of the modern Russian language. His works show the life of poor people, and poor people's fighting against the system. His most famous works are the plays Boris Godunov, EugeneOnegin and Ode to Liberty. |
①Do you sometimes feel different, alone or left out? Teenagers don't usually like to be alone. Simply having to eat alone in the cafeteria is enough to make them feel upset. They are afraid of being called "a loner(独来独往的人)".
②But being a loner doesn't always mean being strange or disliked. Actually, it has become a lifestyle in many countries among young people who consider being alone to be a part of everyday life.
③In South Korea, there are a growing number of people who describe themselves as "honjok".The word comes from"hon"(alone) and "jok"(group). These people eat alone, travel alone, and enjoy being by themselves.
④In Japan, people have had a strong loner culture over the years. There are solo(单人的)karaoke bars and solo cafés. Ramen(拉面) restaurants for solo diners are especially popular. There are clapboards(隔板) between two seats in a line against the wall. Diners can't see the faces of other people.
⑤Knowing that you are not alone in being alone may make you feel better. But more importantly, you can try to find strength in your aloneness.
⑥Aloneness gives you time to look inside yourself or do other things without distraction(分心). "It's hard to feel lonely when you're trying to learn a new skill, practice a hobby, or try out a new recipe(食谱)," wrote US lifestyle writer Adrienne Breaux.
Cici, a chocolate labrador (拉布拉多犬), guides her trainer walking across the street. Her trainer says, "Right." Cici makes a 90-degree turn. She notices a little bird under a tree. Her trainer pulls her back and Cici goes back to work. Her trainer gives her a piece of dog food.
Cici is being trained to be a guide dog. Guide dogs help people who are blind or disabled. It can take up to two years for a puppy(幼犬) to become a guide dog.
So how do trainers make sure their dogs are the right ones for the work? Jim Alloway heads Pilot Dogs in Columbus, Ohio. He and his team test the puppies before starting to train them. He says, "We don't want to waste our time on a dog that won't be happy to be a guide dog and won't be safe for their owner." In one of the tests, trainers drop a box on the floor near the puppies. Do the puppies ignore(忽略) the noise? Do they run away? More than half of all dogs tested fail. They end up doing some other service work or become family pets.
Once a puppy passes the tests, trainers begin teaching the dog basic orders like "come" and "sit". It's not easy. Puppies are still babies and they get tired. They don't always follow the rules. To teach a dog to come when it's called, trainers wait until the dog is already standing in front of them. Each time the trainer says "come", the dog gets a piece of dog food. It takes months of practice to teach a puppy to follow the order.
After practicing inside, ____. The dogs learn to guide their human partners down sidewalks and around people. They learn how to cross streets safely and how to get onto buses. They learn to keep away from danger and ignore people who want to pet them.
Many of us like to watch and post short videos. But can we share whatever we like, even with the wrong information?
A blogger(博主) said sorry for one video she posted on Feb. 16th, 2024. In the video, she said that she found a student's homework book in Paris and said the student's name was Qin Lang. Many Internet users checked the student's name, grade, and school. They found out the video might not be real. In a latest video, the blogger was finally honest about the fact that there was no such student and she made up the whole story.
Some people might think it's not a big deal if you make a video with the wrong information. They believe that saying sorry will fix everything. But it's not that simple.
As early as 2000, the States Council issued the Administrative Measure on Internet Information Services(《互联网信息服务管理办法》). It bans spreading rumors(谣言) and disturbing(扰乱) the social order. If you break the law, you could get in trouble. Common punishments are getting social media account(账户) stopped, having to pay fines, getting detained (拘留) or even going to jail(监狱). Eleven online bloggers in Sichuan were caught in 2023 for selling fake products in videos. They got sentences from 8 months to 3 years in jail.
It's important to be creative when people make short videos. However, it is not OK to make up stories or break the law.
①A blogger posted a video about a student's homework book.
②Th e blogger said she made up the whole story.
③Th e States Council issued the Administrative Measure on Internet Information Services.
④ Eleven online bloggers in Sichuan were caught.
Sometimes we feel down or tired. When that happens, it's not always easy to find someone to talk to. But here's how the Wysa app can help. You can share your feelings with this AI listener. | If you like painting and want to learn painting skills, then there is a great app for you! Ibis Paint is a drawing app with over 15,000 brushes and over 1,300 fonts(字 体) for writing. | ||
Get started with Keep. It's especially helpful to those who want to learn new sports because you can find many teaching videos. You may also get suggestions on how to exercise better. | Do you want to make schoolwork easier? Classify can help you record your homework. It gives you data (数据) on how much time you spend, so you can improve your study habits. | ||
Have you ever wished you could turn words into cool pictures? Well, now you can do that with the help of WOMBO Dream. It can E. WOMBO bring your creative ideas to life in Dream just a few seconds. | HelloTalk is a language learning app. It gets you speaking and practicing English with native speakers. It lets you find a language partner according to age, language and more. |
Anna: I'm not good at English speaking. But it's hard to find someone to practice speaking with.
Brian: I'm interested in AI drawing. All I have to do is telling AI what I want, and it will make the magic happen.
Clara: Every time when I feel sad or tired, I want to talk to someone who understands and makes me feel safe.
Drew: It takes me too much time to finish my homework every day. I want to find out how to do it better and faster.
Kevin: I want to do some exercise at home. But the problem is that I don't know what sport I should do and how to do it.
One day, a woman bought a beautiful parrot(鹦鹉) from a pet shop. She took him home happily. However, the next day, the woman decided to 1 the parrot to the shop. "This bird doesn't 2 ," she told the pet shop owner. "Does he have a mirror in his cage?" the owner asked. "Parrots love mirrors. He might want to talk to 3 in the mirror."
The 4 bought a mirror and left. The next day she came back, saying that the bird 5 wasn't talking. "How about a ladder (梯子)? Parrots love ladders," the owner said. The woman bought a ladder and left.
But the next day, she was back again, "There was no 6 ." "Does your parrot have a swing? Well, as soon as he starts swinging, he'll talk up a storm." The owner said. 7 , the woman bought a swing and left.
When she walked into the shop the next day, she began to 8 . "The parrot died," she said. The pet shop owner was shocked. "I'm 9 . Tell me, did he ever say anything?" he asked. "Yes, right 10 he died," the woman answered, "in a 11 voice, he asked me, ‘Don't they sell any 12 at that pet shop? I'm so hungry!'"
Sometimes we forget what is really 13 in life. We sometimes have lots of things to do right away, but we forget to 14 the most important things first. We have to remember to 15 the "parrots" in our lives. In this way, we won't make big mistakes.
Are you troubled by housework, such as folding your clothes or taking out the (垃圾)? A new robot is here to help! Recently, scientists at Stanford University in the US (发明)a robot called Mobile Aloha, and it became popular online.
In the videos posted, we can see the robot preparing dishes by (它自己), from washing the carrots to cutting potatoes with a (刀). It's also good at watering plants, (扫)the floor and washing clothes.
Sounds good? Well, (另一个) video posted by researchers may disappoint some people. Mobile Aloha has some difficulty doing some other housework. It can't finish all the tasks on its own.
(相反), it learns from humans before doing each kind of housework. When the situation changes, it may (造成) problems without a human "teaching" it. So it may break dishes (当……的时候) cooking. In short, housework robots are far from (完美的).Robots still have a long way to go.
until dependent into fall decide |
Beauty and Beast(野兽)
Once upon a time, a selfish and unkind prince lived in a castle(城堡). One cold winter night, the prince refused to help an old and poor lady. Then the lady became a witch(女巫) and turned the prince a beast.
Not far from the castle lived Beauty. She was a bright, brave and girl. One night, Beauty's father got lost and went into the castle by accident. The Beast was angry and made the to put the old man in prison. And the Beast didn't set him free Beauty offered to take her father's place.
However, the Beast was kind to Beauty and in love with her. So did Beauty. Their true love helped the Beast turn back to prince again. And they lived happily ever after.
Have you ever been to the Hemudu Site Museum? Hemudu Site has long history of 7,000 years. It is located in Yuyao, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the (important)cultural sites in China. The museum shows the rich culture of Hemudu Site, allowing visitors (have) a deeper understanding of the history and culture of New Stone Age.
Ancient people at time used to live a simple way of life, hunting, fishing and growing rice. They were considered as the ones who (begin) growing rice earliest in history. The museum shows thousands of cultural (object) discovered from the site, including pottery(陶器), stone tools, bone tools and wooden houses.
The museum also provides visitors different activities. Visitors can join in guided tours, watch documentaries and take part in hands-on activities to experience and imagine ancient people lived in tribes(部落) and villages.
A visit to the Hemudu Site Museum is a great chance to learn about the history the culture of ancient Chinese people. It is a good choice for students, history lovers and anyone who is (interest) in learning about the past. Come to Hemudu and have a look!
Dear Li Hua, How's everything going? Last week, my family had a yard sale. When choosing what to sell, I found an old bike my grandpa bought for me on my fifth birthday. So many sweet memories came back. What's your favorite thing from childhood? How did you get it? How long have you had it? Why do you like it so much? Looking forward to your reply! Alex |
Dear Alex,
I'm glad to hear from you.
……
Li Hua