Four years ago, Joel Kline gave up his job as a magazine editor to become a freelance copywriter for advertisements, but now he had money trouble. He says that he wishes he'd never 1to set up his own business.
"I am now in such a bad situation" says Joel, "I hope I am2working as an editor. You see, I was3with my job, and I used to get really angry at my boss and the way he used to4me around all the time. I talked to a few friends and they said that they could give me5, so I told my boss l was leaving. At first, everything was6: I had so much work that I had to take on an assistant（助理）, my best friend at work, Don, just to be7to finish things on time. And soon we8large amounts of money. Don and I had a really great lifestyle, and when the work was finished, we used to take good9in places like Cancum and the Bahams, just to get relaxed.
At first, we were busy having fun, and charged（支付）everything to my credit cards instead, but then I began to10how much in debt(负债) I was. At last, I had to11Don off. I then had to sell all my office equipment（设备）.Now I could do almost nothing even if people 12me. Things got so bad that I even asked my old boss if I could do some work for the 13, but he said that I'd been so14to him when I left that he would never employ(雇佣) me again. I've had to15my business now and I don't know what I'm going to do for money. It just goes to show, if you set up your own business, you shouldn't spend money you don't have."
You don't have to be a scientist to solve big environmental problems. One Dutch designer is finding creative ways to make a change—and he's inviting bikers to join him.
Daan Roosgaarde, 38, is a designer from Holland. He uses creative ideas to improve city life. For his Smog (雾霾) Free Project, he designed a special tower that cleans air in Chinese parks. In Holland, he designed a shining bicycle path.
Now Daan and his team are working with engineers at Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo to create a new product for public use. It's an air-cleaning machine connected to a bicycle and is part of the Smog Free Project. In smoggy weather, the machine would breathe in the air in front of the bike and blow out a stream of clean air toward the biker's face.
It's no secret that air pollution is a big problem for China. In winter, it's common for thick clouds of haze (霾), caused largely by factory production, burning of coal and car emissions (排放物), to cover areas of China.
In 2016, only one-fourth of Chinese cities met the country's air quality standards, according to a survey of 338 cities nationwide from the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
"Of course one tower and a few bikes won't solve China's air pollution problem," Daan said, "But smog-free bikes are an exciting idea that will hopefully inspire communities to create greener cities."
Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved reading crime and detective (侦探) novels, so I guess it was pretty normal that I started writing them when I was older. However, my family is very big on having a traditional career (职业) and so when I said that I wanted to go to college and study writing, my parents told me that I couldn't. They told me that I had to study for a degree so that I would achieve a career, and not something as risky as writing. I suppose I could have studied joumalism (新闻) ,but I didn't want to lose interest in writing because it would be something I would do every day for work, not for pleasure. I thought that teaching looked like a pretty good compromise (妥协 ) , especially because of the long holidays. It was a good choice: by the time I was twenty-five，I'd already finished two novels and had an agent.
To be honest, I never meant to keep my being a crime writer a secret or anything, and my friends have always known. One of the reasons most people don't know is because my agent told me that my name Hazel sounded too much like a romance (浪漫) novelist for older women. She suggested Brooke Lane and I thought, "Well, if you think it'll make me successful, okay," I'd totally forgotten about it until I walked into school one day and saw one of my workmates reading my novel. I asked her some questions about it, and it was so clear that she had no idea that I'd written it - she even offered to lend it to me after she'd finished! Of course, sometimes I wonder what my students would think if they knew that their teacher was going home on the weekend to write about murders and dead bodies, but I think my parents probably did me a favor: my teaching job keeps me in touch with the real world.
|
brought / work out / interesting /try out / left / bright |
It was at an exhibition of the artist's works organized by the Red Cross. I was invited as a special gto attend the exhibition. During this period, two cute girls of 16 or 17 years old came to me and asked me for my signature(签名).
"I haven't brought my pen. Is the pokay?" Actually, I knew they wouldn't r. I just wanted to show a well-known writer's good manners to the creaders.
"Certainly," the young girls readily a. I could see they were very excited. Of course, their excitement also made me feel more pleased and satisfied. One of the girls hher fine notebook to me. I turned over the cover of the notebook, wrote a few words of encouragement n , and signed my name. The girl read my signature, frowned (皱眉), looked at me carefully and asked, "Aren't you Robert Charboss?"
"No," I told her proudly, "I'm the author of Alice Adams, the wof two Pulitzer Prizes."
The young girl turned to the oshrugged (耸肩) and said, "Mary, lend your rubber to me." At that moment, all my pturned into a bubble (泡泡) immediately. Since then, I always warn myself: no matter how outstanding you are, don't think highly of yourself.
