I was working on my usual Sunday afternoon at the bakery. The flow of 1rushed to finish weekend shopping in order to return home 2 to prepare supper or watch the football game. An elderly man was standing before me. "Excuse me, miss." He 3 asked if he could have a tart (果陷饼). "OK." I put a tart in a box. "Three dollars, please." I told him. The man looked sad and began 4 his head. This is one of the most awkward(尴尬) 5, because you want to give the dessert away, but cannot.
6 I felt sad, I waited on the customer behind him, a woman who asked for kinds of breads and desserts. After finishing her 7, she asked if I would 8 adding a tart to her bill. She paid and walked away.
I could not stop thinking about the little old man 9 could not, or would not, spend three dollars on a dessert. Just then, I saw the woman giving the man his much-desired(渴望)tart. The old man was very thankful. In return for her 10, he reached into his pocket and gave her the only thing he had; a piece of candy.
When an earthquake hit a small town, many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.
One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than themselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old daughter, Meghan, "We have so much, but these poor people now have nothing. We'll share what we have with them."
I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the children to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. "Oh, dear," I said, "you don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan said, "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make another little girl happy, too."
I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It's easy to give something that we don't want any more，but hard to give what we cherish(珍爱), isn't it?
Once a young man hoped to study law and he wrote to Lincoln for advice, who lived most of his adult life as a practicing lawyer. Lincoln replied, "If you make up your mind to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already. Always keep in mind that your own decision to succeed is more important than any other thing."
Lincoln knew this because he had gone through it all. He had never, in his life，had more than a total of one year's schooling. And books? Lincoln once said he had walked to borrow every book fifty miles away from his home. A fire was usually kept going all night in the small house and he read by the light of it.
He walked twenty or thirty miles to hear a speaker and, returning home, he practiced his talks everywhere—in the fields, in the woods, before the crowds. He joined several societies and practiced speaking on the topics of the day.
Being short of confidence always troubled him. He was shy before women. Even when he was in love with Mary Todd, he used to sit there, nervous and silent, unable to find words, listening while she did the talking. Yet that was the man who, by practice and home study, made himself into a famous speaker with great eloquence(雄辩).
When he spoke of his own great painful experiences, he wrote, "If you make up your mind to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already."
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people who worried about getting older.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they said, by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the US. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85.
The researchers asked questions about emotions(情绪)like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental(精神)or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the adults who are in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional things as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers said they didn't know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Outside, it's a cold winter's day. Inside a large shopping center, people are hanging around. But then, without warning, a pop song starts to play loudly. A teenager boy walks lazily to the center of the open space, and dances crazily to the music. He's joined by two of his friends, then some of the old people. In a few seconds，more than sixty people are dancing to the music—all in time and all in step. At first, onlookers(旁观者)are puzzeled, and then they start smiling and clapping. They now know what they're seeing: a flash mob(快闪).
According to Wikipedia, the term "flash mob" was created by Bill Wasik, an editor at Harper's Magazine, in 2003. In a year, the phrase had entered the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Since then, hundreds—possibly thousands—of flash mobs have been performed around the world, in almost every kind of public space imaginable!
Each flash mob has its own style，but most flash mobs follow a similar formula(方案). Often, the organizers search for willing participants(参与者)using social media. Instructions and dance moves are given through the Internet. There are usually several rehearsals(排练)before the big day.
While it's happening, a few lucky passers-by watch it live. Most people who watch it, however, will see it later online. Some of the most popular flash mobs on YouTube have been watched more than 10 million times. A famous example is MP3 Experiment Eight, a flash mob that took place in New York City in July 2011 with over 3,500 participants. This event was different from normal flash mobs in that much of it was completely silent—and there were no rehearsals.
Flash mobs provide the participants, onlookers and online viewers with a lot of enjoyment and pleasure. For this reason alone, they're a modern, popular art form that should be celebrated.
Dear Mum and Dad,
We have some exciting news for you. Jenny is going to have a baby! At first, the doctor said she might have some trouble with the baby. Now he says she is just fine. She is very healthy and happy! She still works on her paintings every day. She gets tired more quickly now.
We're moving to New York! We want to be closer to you and Jane. It's much nicer to be near the family. Jenny grew up in Mexico, and she doesn't have a family member here. So that makes you even more important for us.
Jenny is a little worried about working in New York. In Italy her paintings are already popular. But I'm sure people will like her in New York. I'm still working for the New York Times. I'll be writing about the United Nations in New York. We're planning to move next month.
See you then!
Yours,
Jim
A. There is going to be another big change in our life. B. We are planning to visit New York. C. We didn't tell you right away. D. She will have to start again there. E. She isn't sure about the plan. F. But she stopped teaching art classes. G. There won't be any problems with my job. |
There was a little boy with a bad temper(脾气). His father gave him some nails(钉子)to drive into the fence(栅栏)when he lost his temper.
The first day the boy drove 37 nails into the fence. Then it began to become less. He found it was easier to control his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to control his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but you look at the fence. It will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar(伤痕)just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound(伤口)is still there. A verbal(言语)wound is as bad as a physical one. It is important to practise self-control.
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烦恼 |
对策 |
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⒈与同学相处时，有些小矛盾 ⒉室友(roommates)吵闹，很难入睡 ⒊考试犯错 … |
⒈人无完人，多注意别人的优点 ⒉与室友谈心，沟通 ⒊放松冷静，相信自己;请教老师 … |
注意事项:
1）回复须包括所有要点，可适当发挥，要求语句通顺、意思连贯;
2）词数在90个左右，信的首尾已给出，不计入总词数;
3）文中不得提及真实的人名、校名等相关信息。
Dear Linda,
Recently our class have talked about "teenage problems" of students and the main ways to deal with the problems are as follows.
What do you think of the ways? Looking forward to your opinions soon!
Yours,
Wei Hua
