The huge Trex (霸王龙) bends over a large triceratops (三角龙) lying on his side below. With its mouth open wide, the Trex looks ready to kill the triceratops with a final bite to the triceratops's neck. The display will be found at the National Museum of Natural History.
The museum has sought a huge Trex skeleton (骨架) for many years. Before, it used a model of one. But museum director Kirk Johnson says that was never good enough. "It's been kind of deeply embarrassing to be the national museum and NOT have a Trex," he said. The Trex display is now the centerpiece of the museum's newest show, which will be available to the public on July 15.
That Trex, named Sue, was found in South Dakota. Officials at the museum built a special area for the skeleton. It includes a gift store of all things related to Sue. Sue even has her own Twitter account and a media presentation of her life story.
In modern times, movies like "Jurassic Park (侏罗纪公园)" have helped grow dinosaur interest for a new generation of young fans. But such movies describe the Trexes as mostly huge, stupid and dangerous animals, which are true threat in the fighting: quick, intelligent and aggressive hunters in groups.
High school biology teacher Kelly Chavis knew smart phones were a problem in her class. But not even the students realized how much of a problem the devices were until Chavis did an inclass experiment.
For one class period, students used a whiteboard to count every Snapchat, Instagram, text, call that appeared on their phones. Chavis is among a growing number of teachers, parents and health experts who believe that smart phones are now partly to blame for increasing the levels of student anxiety. "One girl, just during the one hour, got close to 150 Snapchat notifications. 150!" she said.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University in California, said it is not a coincidence that youth mental health issues have risen with the number of phones. "This use of phones has led to a loss of sleep and facetoface interactions necessary for their growth," she said.
Researchers are still not sure whether phones cause student depression or depression causes phone use. But nearly 60 percent of parents said they worry about the influence of social media on their child's physical and mental health.
Both schools and parents are starting to take steps to deal with the problem. Many public schools pay outside companies to watch students' social media activity for signs of anxiety. Other schools invite in yoga teachers and comfort dogs to help calm students.
Mention the word superhero, and the images that come to mind are of fictional characters like Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Batman. However, photographer Josh Rossi has used his camera to show the world's real superheroes — young children who are battling severe diseases and disabilities.
The event leading to the creative project began in 2016, when Rossi fulfilled his then threeyearold daughter's dream of becoming Wonder Woman. Thanks to the handmade costume and Rossi's impressive Photoshop skills, the photoshoot instantly became a hit.
Since it was Wonder Woman that brought about the idea, Rossi decided to focus on the superheroes that will appear alongside her in the upcoming movie, Justice League. To make the photo shoot more meaningful to the kids, he matched each child with a superhero with whom they had the most in common.
The first member of the reallife "Justice League" was Kayden Kinckle. The fiveyearold uses prosthetics (假肢) to walk because both his legs had to be cut off due to a born disorder. To Rossi, Kayden's perfect superhero was Cyborg, who was a healthy boy before a terrible accident left him injured, forcing his father to keep him alive with robotic parts.
Teagan Pettit was born with only half a heart and has already gone through three openheart surgeries. According to Rossi, the nineyearold fits the bill for Superman because they both have a weak heart. The fictional superhero grows weak when near Kryptonite (氪), while Teagen's half heart is too weak to control his body temperature. The photographer says, "Superman and Teagan both have hearts of steel!"
After disappearing for over 19 years, measles (麻疹) is making a comeback in America. Since January 2019, the disease has infected more than 700 people, mostly small children, and the number seems to be increasing daily.
Measles is an infectious disease that typically begins with a high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. Many people also lose their appetites and feel sleepy. About three to four days after the symptoms start, the person breaks out into a rash (皮疹) that begins on the face at the hairline and then spreads to the neck and the rest of the body.
In healthy people, the recovery, which takes between two to three weeks, starts soon after the rash begins. However, for about 40 percent of patients — mainly kids under the age of five or older adults — the disease often leads to pneumonia (肺炎), which, if left untreated, could result in death.
The recent outbreak is thought to have been caused by travelers picking up the virus in a country where the disease is still existing and exposing it to an unvaccinated (未接种的) community in the US. In New York, it was carried back by someone who had recently visited Israel, which is currently undergoing a significant measles, while in Washington, "patient zero" was infected by a type that is currently circulating in Europe.
To limit the spread of the disease before it gets out of hand, US health officials are attempting to educate communities with high rates of unvaccinated children. They are also urging adults to consult with their physicians and get injected if considered necessary by the doctor.
Hopefully, health officials worldwide will be able to convince parents that vaccinating their children will protect, not harm, them.
Four Tips for High School Graduates
Over threemillion high school students are graduating this spring in the United States. Many of them will head to university in the fall. The transition (过渡) from high school to college is a major one, and successful adjustment to college has lifelong influences.
Maybe you are about to make this transition yourself or have children who are about to leave the nest. If you know someone who is making this transition or know parents guiding their soontobe adult kids through this time, please take a moment to share this collection of researchbased tips with them.
Be open to making new friends as soon as you set foot on campus. Even during orientation (迎新会)! Your success in college depends, in part, on surrounding yourself with others who can support you and help you have fun.
Successful adjustment is about reaching out for help when you need it. This means trying to find the answers on your own first, but then contacting those who can help you when you can't. That is what they are there for!
Lean on your family. Family support can give you comfort when classes get hard or you are stressed about finals. Strong support from family is linked to lower loneliness and depression during the first year of college and higher academic adjustment including motivation and concentration.
Be confident. Feeling anxiety about communicating with fellows, professors, and speaking up in class is associated with lower adaptation during the transition to college. One of the best ways to increase your communication confidence is to practice!
A. This list is for you.
B. The more you speak up in class, the easier it becomes.
C. Don't be afraid to talk to your professors or teaching assistants.
D. Joining clubs is also linked to feelings of belonging at college.
E. Your professors and teaching assistants want to see you succeed in their classes.
F. Almost everyone is in the same boat as you are, hoping to make friends quickly.
G. Family members can give you advice and help you solve problems if you need help.
Hunter Shamatt lost his wallet while he was on a flight from Omaha to Denver earlier this month. Upon realizing that his wallet was lost, he 1 the airline to see if anyone had turned it in — but fruitlessly. 2the wallet contained his ID, a signed paycheck, $60 in cash, etc, he feared the worst.
Two days after the flight, however, Hunter was 3 to receive a package in the mail from an anonymous (匿名的) sender. Inside was his wallet — 4 an additional $40 in cash. "I rounded your cash up to an even $100 so you could celebrate the 5 of your wallet.", read a letter that was enclosed with the package.
Hunter's mother, Jeannie, posted a photo of the 6 to social media in hopes that they would be able to track down the sender. All they had to go on was that the letter was 7 from Applied Underwriters in Omaha and the sender's initials were signed "T.B". The sender was later 8 as Todd Brown, who was delighted to "have a little fun" with helping out a hardworking stranger.
"I saw he was just a kid, 20 years old. He had a paycheck in there, so I 9, 'Well, he's doing his best to make ends meet.' " said Brown. "Hunter was very 10. He told me he has some student loans to pay within two days so the 11 was right," Brown added, "He 12 it was gone forever. So when he opened it, he just started screaming, 'No way! No way!'"
Brown says that he often tries to do good things without any recognition; that's why he didn't sign his 13on the letter, but Jeannie later insisted on 14 him on social media. Jeannie wrote on Facebook, "This story is more about rebuilding 15 in people than anything."
The Creator of Middle Earth
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J. R. R. Tolkien, was born in 1892 in South Africa. His parents had moved there looking for better job for his father. Three years (late), his mother took him on a trip to England to visit family. While they were away, they received terrible news that his father had died.
(grow) up without a father must have been difficult for Tolkien. Worse still, when he was only twelve years old, his mother also passed away. As a child, he had a great passion for language and in 1908, he went to Oxford University (study) languages and literature. In 1915, he joined the army and fought in the battle against the Germans. But soon, he became too ill to fight and returned England the following year. He didn't have a (satisfy) childhood himself, so around in 1933, he spent much time telling his children fantasy (story) of a hobbit (霍比特人) called Bilbo. He first put it in writing in 1936, turned out to be a surprising hit. The publisher asked him to write another. He did so and in 1948 published The Lord of the Rings, which (publish) in three volumes between 1954 and 1955.
Tolkien, (age) eightyone, died in 1973.
⒈ 简单介绍诵读大赛(内容、目的等)；
⒉ 请外教润色翻译稿；
⒊ 希望Alex提供建议。
注意：
⒈ 词数80左右；
⒉ 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
⒊ 开头语和结束语已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Alex,
Yours,
Li Hua
Sara Savick remembers one special Easter when she was nine years old. Her parents gave her a baby duckling in a yellow basket.
"Mom said later that she bought the little duck because she felt sorry for it," recalled Sara. The people at the pet store colored the feathers pink for Easter. Sara named the duck Pinky.
Sara's mother really didn't think the baby duck would survive very long. But to her surprise, Pinky grew and got stronger and stronger. Soon, the little duckling was a healthy, hungry duck with white feathers.
"We fed Pinky oatmeal, cooked and uncooked, and small pieces of vegetables," said Sara. Pinky lived inside the house with Sara and her family. She specially fancied taking baths with Sara. Everyone treated Pinky as a family member.
But just when everything appeared to be perfect, the night of the "talk" came. Sara's Mom and Dad sat her down, explaining that the best thing for Pinky was to live a normal duck life, with other ducks. It was not natural for ducks to live indoors with a family, her father told her. He added Pinky needed to swim in ponds and do all the same things that ducks in the wild do.
Sara started to cry, knowing what was going to happen. Sara's parents decided to take Pinky to a park, which was two miles away. There was a pond with a lot of other ducks. Pinky would have the chance to live a natural life and Sara could still visit her.
The big day came, Sara and her parents put Pinky in a box and drove to the park. Sara said that Pinky did not look happy; maybe Pinky was convinced that she was a human, not a duck.
注意：
⒈ 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
⒉ 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
⒊ 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
⒋ 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1
Everyone was sad when they left Pinky at the pond, even Sara's father.
Paragraph 2
The next morning, when looking out of the kitchen window, Sara couldn't believe her eyes!
