The Best Book I've Ever Read
Frankly, I have read nearly all of the great works of literature, but no book has ever impressed me as deeply or directly Joel Stein's Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masendinity.
Haven't we all, on some level, been Jewish boys in New Jersey in 1970s with only female friends, an Easy-Bake oven and a strong preference for show tunes? Haven't we all had a panic attack learning we're going to have a son, since that means we're going to have to figure out how to throw footballs, watch other people throw footballs and decide to be happy or sad about the results of football throwing? Haven't we all then tried to correct our lack of maleness by becoming a man, fighting fires with firefighters, (drive) a Lamborghini and doing three days of Army training camp? I know I have.
The only parts I didn't fully enjoy were in which the author suffered horribly. After just three hours of training camp, he fainted weakly into the arms of a soldier. The film rights to Man Made have already been sold to Fox, and I hope it gets (turn) into a movie with George Clooney playing the Stein role, since they remind me so much of each other.
this is only Stein's first book, I would already consider him as someone like David Sedaris, Dave Barry, James Thurber, Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. I (recommend) Man Made not just to all my friends and family but also to strangers on Twitter over and over again. My one fear is after this great achievement, Stein will lose his ability to be a cruel critic of our shallow times.
The Father of JD Printing
About twenty years ago, the surgeons at the Wilford Hull medical center working to separate a pair of conjoined(连体的) twins thought that only one would be able to walk after the operation. After a model of the girls' bone structure was using 3D printing, however, they found a shared upper leg bone to be bigger than expected and split it successfully, in both twins being able to walk. Now eighty and still working as chief technology officer of 3D Systems. Chuck Hull is enjoying some minor 31 years after he first printed a small black eye-wash cup using a new method of manufacturing known as 3D printing.
At the time, he was working for a company that used UV light to put thin layers of plastic coats on tabletops and . He had an idea that if he could place thousands of thin layers of plastic on top of each other and then cut their shape using light, he would be able to form three dimensional objects. After a year, he a system where light was shone into a bottle of photopolymer – a material which changes from liquid to plastic-like solid when light shines on it – and traces the shape of one level of the object. Subsequent layers are then printed until it is .
After patenting the invention, he set up 3D Systems, getting $6m (£3.5m) from a Canadian investor. The first product came out in 1988 and proved a hit among car manufacturers, in the aerospace sector and for companies designing medical equipment. The possibilities appear endless – from home-printed food and medicine to that pictures of objects be able to be taken in shops and then recreated using plans downloaded from the Internet Although deliberate in his responses, there is one moment when the spoken Chuck Hull tells of his surprise about what exactly his creation was capable of achieving.
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A. generated B. furniture C. fame D. resulting E. suggestions F. developed G. eventually H. completed I. fixed J. commercial K. softly |
Words to Turn a Conversation Around
It's not what you say, but it's how you say it – isn't it? According to a language expert, we may have this wrong. “We are pushed and pulled around by language far more than we 1,” says Elizabeth Stoke, professor of social interaction at Loughborough University. Stoke and her colleagues have 2 thousands of hours of recorded conversations, from customer services to mediation(调解) hotlines and police crisis 3. They discovered that certain words or phrases have the power to change the course of a conversation.
Some of these words are surprising, and 4 what we've been taught to believe. For example, in a study of conversations between doctors and patients, evidence showed that doctors who 5 options rather than recommended best solutions, got a better response, despite the suggestion from hospital guidelines to talk about the best interests of the patient. But, from conversation experts such as Stoke to FBI negotiators and communication coaches, we're learning which words are likely to 6 or persuade us.
Stoke found that people who had already responded 7 when asked if they would like to attend mediation seemed to change their minds when the mediator used the phrase. “Would you be willing to come for a meeting?” “As soon as the word 'willing' was used, people would say: 'Oh, yes, definitely'—they would actually 8 the sentence to agree.” Stoke found it had the same effect in different settings: with business-to-business cold callers; with doctors trying to 9 people to go to a weight-loss class. She also looked at phrases such as “Would you like to” and “Would you be interested in”. “Sometimes they 10, but 'willing' was the one that got people to agree more rapidly and with more enthusiasm.”
“'Hello' is a really important word that can change the 11 of a conversation,” Stoke says. “It's about how you respond to people who are what we call 'first movers' – people who say something really 12,” “It might be the work colleagues who are extremely angry to your desk with a complaint or the neighbor who 13 rude words about parking as you're putting out the bins.” “What do you do with that person? Rather than respond in the same manner, saying something nice, such as a very bright 'Hello!', socializes that other person a little bit.” Use it when you want to resist getting into a 14. “You have to be careful not to sound too passive-aggressive,” Stoke says, “but just one friendly word in a bright tone can delete the 15 of the conversation.”
Last summer, bird-watchers confirmed the discovery of a new species of bird in Cambodia was not an event of particular biological significance, but it was striking for one reason in part. This species of bird was discovered not in an unspoiled rain forest but within the limits Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh – a city the size of Philadelphia.
What the researchers found was surprising in cities. The medium-sized city in the state about 110 species of birds, over 95 percent of which would have been growing there urbanization. Ecologically speaking, cities are different, concrete buildings. Rather, each unique bio-profile – a kind of ecological fingerprint – that is against the idea of an environment dead zone.
Of course, it's also true that in the world of birds and plants, as in human society, there is such a thing as worldwide—the city-inhabitants who feel equally at home in San Francisco, Milan and Beijing. Four birds occur in more than 80 percent of the cities studied, and 11 plants occurred in more than 90 percent of the cities. On the plant side, those are seemingly spread by European settlement. In the air, it's the usual suspects: the rock pigeon and many other birds. “They have become completely adapted to urban life,”Katti says. “That's not much of surprise. But they don't actually dominate as much as we think they do.” Those species—occurring in the cities across the globe—represent only a small part of a city's natural varieties.
Not all cities are equal protectors of native animals and plants, though. One of the biggest predictors for a city's biodiversity is its urban design. Territory as varied as backyards and street trees can lay important roles in greening a city. In fact, the amount of green space is a stronger predictor of the density of biodiversity than a city's size. A metropolis with a sizable network of parks can contain more species per square mile than a much smaller city.
In a world where architecture, food, language, fashion and commerce are increasingly globalized, a city's native animals and plants can be a kind of identity. There may be neighborhoods in London and Paris that resemble Singapore or Hong Kong. Cities are becoming similar, but their natural environments stand completely apart.
Please Choose Cloud Services
May be unsure, or you do not know where to begin. Trying every Cloud service would take a lot of time and work. But, the website Reviews.com might help.
One valuable feature is the protection of digital files, including photos, videos, documents, music and more. If the worst happens and your computer crashes, or gets lost or damaged, your files can still found in the Cloud.
Cloud services let you access your files from almost anywhere. No need to worry about a file stored on your computer when you are away from your desk. If you have an Internet connection, you can open your files from any computer, or from a phone, when they are stored using a Cloud service.
Using a Cloud service makes sharing files easier. If you send documents to a group using emails, you may then wonder which version everyone is working with. When sharing files using a Cloud service, everyone will see the same document and the latest version.
The first thing to consider is the amount of storage space you need. Check how much space you are currently using on your computer and mobile devices. If your computer or phone is filled with photos and you have little free space, you may want to move your photos to the Cloud. Some Cloud services are free. But, if you need a lot of space, you will probably need one that costs money.
Even if everyone you have ever met is a Windows user, you still probably want a Cloud service that works with many platforms. You might become friends with an Android user or start a job with a company that computers on Apple!
Is Paperless Office Really Paperless?
A rising economy increased paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year in the early to mid-1990s, and the convenience of desktop printing allowed office workers to indulge anything and everything. In 2004, Ms. Dunn, a communications supplies director, said that plain white office paper would see less than a 4 percent growth rate, a primary reason for which is that some 47 percent of the workforce entered the job market after computers had already been introduced to offices.
For office innovators, the dream of paperless office is an example of high-tech arrogance（傲慢）. Today's office service is overwhelmed By more newspapers than ever before. After decades of development, the American government can finally get rid of the madness on paper. In the past, the demand for paper has been far ahead of growth in the American economy, but the sales have slowed markedly over the past two to three years, despite the good economic conditions.
“Old habits are hard to break,” says Ms. Dunn. “There are some functions that paper serves where a screen display doesn't work. Those functions are both its strength and its weakness.” Analysts attribute the decline to such factors as advances in digital databases and communication systems. Escaping our craving for paper, however, will be anything but an easy affair.
“We're finally seeing a reduction in the amount of paper being used per worker in the workplace,” says John Maine, vice president of a paper economic consulting firm. “More information is being transmitted electronically, and an increasing number of people are satisfied that information exists only in electronic form without printing multiple backups.”
To reduce paper use, some companies are working to combine digital and paper capabilities. For example, Xerox is developing electronic paper: thin digital displays that respond to a stylus, like a pen on paper. Marks can be erased or saved digitally. Even with such technological advances, the increasing amounts of electronic data necessarily require more paper.
“The information industry today is composed of a thin paper crust surrounding an electronic core,” Mr. Saffo wrote. The growing paper crust is most noticeable, but the hidden electronic core is far larger and growing more rapidly. The result is that we are becoming paperless, but we hardly notice at all. “That's one of the greatest ironies of the information age,” Saffo says. “It's just common sense that the more you talk to someone by phone or computer, it inevitably leads to a face-to-face meeting. The best thing for the aviation industry was the Internet.”
Traffic Regulation and Accident Prevention
We live in a remarkable time, and many of the once fatal diseases can now be cured with modern medicine and surgery. It is almost certain that one day a cure will be found for the rest of the diseases. Expectations of life have greatly increased. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the incredible killing of men, women and children on the roads. Man fights against the motor-car. It is a never-ending battle which man is losing.
Nothing can seriously increase your risk of potentially fatal car accidents other than speeding and failing to pay due attention to weather conditions. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man's very worst qualities. Usually quiet and pleasant people, when they are behind the steering wheel, will become unrecognizable. They are impolite, aggressive, self-willed like two-year-old, completely selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments, and jealousy seem to be caused by driving.
It's all for his own convenience. Due to a serious tragedy, the city is almost uninhabitable and the huge parking lot makes the town ugly. The destruction of rural areas and the annual mass killings are just a statistic, easily forgotten. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are not strict and even the strictest are not strict enough.
Traffic rules are for everyone to follow under any circumstances, and no one can make an exception unless you make a joke of your own life. Universally accepted standards can only have a significant beneficial on the incidence of accidents. Governments should develop safety codes for manufacturers. These measures may sound cruel. However, if these measures result in a reduction in the loss of life every year, they should certainly not be considered serious. After all, the world belongs to humans, not cars.
A. There are five reason for the accident and you are guilty.
B. Every year thousands of people are horribly killed, and we sit still and let it happen.
C. Surprisingly, society should smile at the driver and forgive him.
D. Someone has rightly said that when a person is sitting behind the steering wheel, his car becomes an extension of his personality.
E. All advertisements that emphasize power and performance should be banned.
F. It is time to develop a universal norm to reduce this senseless waste of human life.
All Must Have Degrees
In a classroom in Seoul a group of teenagers sit over their desks in total silence. Study begins at eight in the morning and ends at half past four in the afternoon. And some even go back home at midnight. Like thousands of South Koreans, they are preparing for the important exam, which will largely determine whether they go to a good university or not. Degrees have become useful. Seventy percent of students who graduate from the country's secondary schools now go straight to universities.
Many more countries have seen a big rise in the share of young people with degrees, but South Korea is an extreme case. As technological reforms require workers to do many difficult and demanding jobs that they would not have done before, there seems to be reasonable to insist that more workers receive a good education than before. And a degree is an obvious way for bright youngsters From poor families to prove their abilities. People tend to earn more if they have degrees.
Employers do not have to pay for higher education and they are increasingly able to demand degrees to screen out the least motivated or capable. A recent study by Joseph Fuller and Manjari Romaan of Harvard Business School shows that companies routinely require applicants to have degrees, even though only a minority of those already working in the role have them.
The Economist's analysis found that between 1970 and 2015, the proportion of 256 workers aged 25-64 with at least a bachelor's degree increased. Some of them are highly intellectually demanding jobs, such as aviation engineers. Others are non-graduate jobs such as waiting tables. Sixteen percent of waiters now have degrees, because probably in most cases they could not find jobs and live poorly. Today, having a degree is usually an entry requirement.
2018年11月5日-10日，首届中国国际进口博览会在上海成功举行。假设你是明启中学的高三学生卢平，学校英语报向全体高三学生进行征文，题目为“The CIIE in My Eyes”。你有意投稿，撰写一篇文章。稿件内容必须包含：
1）对“新时代，共享未来（New Era, Shared Future）”的理解；
2）首届进博会向世界传递了什么信息？对中国发展有何深远的影响？
（中国国际进口博览会：China International Import Expo简称CIIE）
