Michael Hassard, a former engineer for NASA, hikes and camps, takes long bicycle rides and plays football. He always looks active, 1he cries quite often. "I keep paper towels at hand all the time," says Mr. Hassard.
Mr. Hassard cries so2just because he is a Highly Sensitive(敏感的）Person(HSP). This kind of person is very sensitive to feelings-their own and3of others. Mr. Hassard first realized he was highly sensitive in his early teens. He said when he sang in the church, there were songs that he had a hard time4. Why? They moved him so much. Sometimes his friends5his tears and asked him what was wrong. He always answered," Nothing, I'm fine." Finally, he learned to control his feelings6practicing the songs over and over again in his free time.
Researches of HSPs show differences in their neural(神经的）activity. Compared with non-HSPs, HSPs pay7attention to the environment around them and care more about the 8 of their friends and parents.
Scientists say that high sensitivity can be 9 in at least 100 spices(物种). We cannot have the idea that HSPs are different from us and stay far away from them. Instead, we should help them find 10 to deal with their feelings. In modern times, HSPs can be excellent teachers, artists, reporters, etc.
Toothpaste does more than just keep our teeth bright and white. It can be used wisely in many other ways. Here are some useful tips that can save us time and money, and leave a fresh smell-using toothpaste!
Clean a Dirty Mirror
If you want to clean a dirty bathroom mirror, try to put a bit of toothpaste on the mirror and wipe it dry. The glass can be cleaned up beautifully. And doing this can also stop the mirror from fogging. Then you can still see yourself in the mirror after taking a shower.
Remove the Unpleasant Food Smell
Have some bad food smell, like the smell of onions or fish, on your hands? You can remove it by washing your hands with toothpaste. You'll be fresh-smelling in no time.
Make Your Sports Shoes Whiter
This time, clean your sports shoes by yourself, not by your mother. Wipe some toothpaste around your shoes and then clean it with a wet cloth. See? Your shoes are white as new! A little toothpaste also does an amazing job of removing scuffs(磨痕)from leather shoes. Just put a little on the scuffed area and clean with a soft cloth. The leather will look like new.
Make the Metal Shining
Rings will get not so bright or shiny over time, yet with a little bit of toothpaste and a good washing, they'll be shining away right away. But do not use this method on pearls(珍珠), as it will hurt the surface.
If you put a buzzard in a pen six to eight feet square and open at the top, the bird will be a prisoner, though it can fly. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten to twelve feet. Without space to run, as its habit, it will not even try to fly, but remain a prisoner for life in its small buzzard prison with no top.
The bat that flies around at night cannot take off from the ground. If it is placed on the ground all it can do is to walk slowly about helplessly and no doubt, painfully. If it reaches a higher place, it will be able to throw itself into the air. Then it takes off immediately. But on flat(平的）ground, it will never fly.
A bee dropped into a cup will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but keeps trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will look for a way where none exists(存在), until it completely destroys itself.
In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems and difficulties, not realizing that the answer is right there above them.
B . 
C . 
D . 
We usually think that plants always stay quiet and never speak. Grass doesn't cry when you cut it; flowers don't shout when they're picked. But this view of the world couldn't be more wrong. Plants talk to each other all the time. Their language is one of chemicals.
Over the years, scientists have found that different types of plants, from trees to tomatoes, send compounds(复合物)into the air to help neighboring plants. But exactly how plants receive and act on many of these signals is still a mystery.
Scientists from Kyoto University in Japan looked at tomato plants that had been bitten by insects. To start out, they grew plants in two plastic bags connected by a tube(管子). One plant had been bitten by insects. The other was not bitten.
They found that when insects bite plant leaves, the plants don't sit quietly. They send a chemical called "hexvic" into the air. Humans can't notice it, but these chemicals carry a smell that neighboring plants can notice. This way, neighboring plants realize the danger and begin to give off more "hexvic" to protect themselves.
The same scientists continued their research by placing insects on the plants that had not been bitten. The plants were able to kill nearly 50 percent of the invaders, much more than their neighbor.
It was surprising that the plants that had not been bitten didn't send the chemical until the received a warning message from their infested(受侵的)neighbor, the scientists said. These findings could be used to help farmers with the control of the insects which do harm to their plants.
Studying different languages increases our understanding of how humans communicate and their different cultures. However, almost 80% of the people in the world speak only 1% of its languages. Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, half of the more than 7, 000 languages spoken on Earth today may disappear.
Throughout history, the languages of dominant(统治的)groups have spread while the languages of native cultures have become extinct. This happens because of government language policies, or because the dominant language becomes more useful in everyday life. Furthermore, many endangered languages aren't written down. When the last speakers of a language die and their language becomes extinct, their stories, songs, and other important information are lost, too.
Central South America has some of the world's most endangered languages. The Kallawaya people speak a secret language that has details of thousands of medical plants. Today, fewer than 100 people speak it. In Central and Eastern Siberia, many Siberian languages now have only a few elderly speakers. Yuchi, which may be unrelated to any other language in the world, is one of the many native languages used in Oklahoma, the U.S.A. It is disappearing rapidly. In 2010, only five elderly people could speak this language.
Luckily, native cultures around the world are using modern technology to help keep their endangered languages and cultures alive. Communities are creating dictionaries and libraries by using pictures, video, and audio to record the traditions of the last speakers of their language. If the young people don't speak and understand the words and stories of their ancestors(祖先), the language will die.
And when the language dies, part of the culture dies, too.
①the small number of speakers
②the wide spread of the dominant languages
③ the use of modern technology
④the language policies the governments carryout
Joe was a farmer. He hadn't had good harvest for years. "If God let me control the weather, everything will get better, "he said angrily,""
God heard his words and replied, "Well, you can be in charge of the weather for a year. Let's see what your crops grow like. "
On hearing this, Joe was too surprised to believe what he heard. He shouted "Sunny!" Suddenly the clouds went away. In the following year, he changed the weather between sunny and rainy.
He looked forward to a big harvest. But when the harvest season came, his heart sank to find his crops had not grown any grain at all. Feeling quite puzzled and disappointed, he started crying.
"Didn't you have your wish to control the weather? "God asked again. "Yes, but I just can't understand it. How could it be?" Joe wondered. "That's because you never asked for wind, rainstorm, snow or anything that could make the roots stronger. "
From the story we can learn: Only through life's challenges can we succeed in harvesting the fruit of life. It takes both ups and downs to get satisfactory results.
A. Once again, God heard him.
B. But he still wanted to have a try.
C. I know better than God does because I am a clever farmer.
D. Without strong roots, of course they couldn't grow anything.
E. Watching his crops growing bigger and bigger, he felt satisfied.
Dear readers,
Once, I had to call the firefighters to put out a fire. I still remember how fast it made my heart beat, it was a small fire. I was glad and thankful when the firefighters put it out(quick).
Firefighters help in all kinds of sudden serious and(danger) events or situations. I saw firefighters carrying people from their flooded homes while(watch) the news today. Often, they are the first helpers whenaccident happens. Some firefighters train to help people and pets that fall into frozen lakes. To prepare for real-life rescue like this one, they must practice puttingice suits, working with ropes, and using hand signals to communicate. If you want to learn more about these(/breıv/) men and women, read the article
Danger! Rescue on Thin Ice.
Where would we be without the first helpers? Maybe you'll (/dЗэıun/) me this month in finding a way to thank them. Giving a card, a drawing, or a plate of cookies to your local fire(/'steıƒn/) could be the start of a new tradition for your families and our(hero)will be thankful for it.
Happy holidays!
Your friend,
Christine
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difficult kids
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