Notre-Dame, the cathedral (大教堂) that serves as one of Paris's most beloved monuments, is on fire. According to The New York Times, the fire began around 6: 30 p.m. local time, when tourists urgently rushed out of the building. While Andre Finot, a spokesman for the cathedral, told The Times, that the cause of the fire is still unknown and that no one has been hurt while damage to the building appears catastrophic（灾难性的）.
CNN reports that over 400 firefighters have been sent to fight the fire, but that they may be unable to save the cathedral. Built in the 12th century, Notre-Dame houses several relics important to Catholics (天主教徒). NBC News reports that relics from Saint Genevieve and Saint Denis may been lost, together with a relic believed to be from Jesus Christ's crown of thorns, but it states that authorities now believe that the cathedral has been saved from “total destruction”.
Notre-Dame is visited by a reported 30, 000 people a day and 13 million people per year. Its destruction represents a global cultural loss. "This is just horrible", Mohamed Megdoul, 33, a film producer and witness to the fire told The Times, speaking through tears. "A thousand years of history is being wiped away. This belonged to the whole world, and now it's disappearing."
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his sadness on Twitter. "Notre-Dame of Paris in flames," reads an English translation of his statement. "Emotion for a whole nation. Thoughts for all Catholics and for all the French. Like all our countrymen, I'm sad together to see this part of us burn." Other politicians, including Melanis Trump, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, U. K. Prime Minister Theresa May also shared their sadness on Twitter.
Several years ago, I began asking my friends and family to tell me something about their passwords. Yes, I understand why passwords are universally hated: the pressure they put on our memory and the endless demand to update them. I hate them too. But there is more to passwords than their annoyance. In the fact that we construct them so that we can remember them, they take on secret lives.
There was a former prisoner whose password includes what used to be his prison ID number to constantly tell him not to go back. And there was a childless 45-year-old woman whose password is the name of the baby she lost in her 25 (her way of trying to keep him alive, I guess).
Sometimes the passwords were playful. Several people said they used "incorrect" for theirs so that when they forgot it, the software automatically promoted them with the right one ("your password is incorrect").
Some passwords were striking for their uniqueness. After reading Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean in: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, Cortni Kerr, a running partner of mine, found her role model and began using "Wwssdol9", which stood for "What would Sheryl Sandberg do" plus "19" for the year (2019) of the password's creation. "TnsitTpsif" was the password of another friend, a computer scientist who loves wordplay. It stood for "The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false". For my friend, it was a playful reference to the knots that language can tie.
The 4622 that my wife used in her passwords was not just the address of her father's childhood home but also a reminder of his strength. Apparently, when the former 120 kg football standout was a small boy, he had to sing his home address (4622 South 28th West Avenue) in one full breath rather than try to say it normally. Otherwise, his stutter (口吃) would embarrass him.
Whether you admit it or not, people's love for Christmas Jumper (毛衣) around Christmas has increased over recent years. And while you may be less willing to get involved in the Christmas jumper trend, Christmas Jumper Day now enables you to do more with your jumper than build up sweat in an incredibly warm office.
The origin of the Christmas jumper can date back to the late 19th century in the USA. Americans in the 1930s knitted(编织)for Christmas to create an item of clothing to keep them "warm" during the Great Depression when people led a poor and miserable life. They copied the jumpers they saw their favorite stars wearing on the big screen. From the 1950s, it was common to see American families wearing festive jumpers as they sat down to eat their Christmas dinner.
Now, alongside wearing a festive jumper for the fun of it, there are other positive outcomes. Christmas Jumper Day has been set up to stimulate people to make the world better and raise funds for Save the Children by wearing a Christmas jumper and making a minimum donation of ￡1. Ladbrokes, a company in the UK, is running a competition in which all you have to do is to take a selfie (自拍) outside of one of their shops while wearing a jumper — the winner will win a good prize and for every submission Ladbrokes will donate￡5 to St. Luke's Hospice charity. For you, it's a win-win situation.
If you're still unconvinced that it's about time you bought yourself a Christmas jumper, then maybe the fact that Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg have all been spotted wearing Christmas jumpers will raise your enthusiasm. Retailer (零售商) such as Topshop, Burberry and H&M have also become devoted to Christmas Jumper Day and have their very own types of Christmas jumpers.
A new law came into use in Shanghai on Monday, requiring every individual, families and companies to sort (分类) their trash into different trash cans. Locals are now required to separate trash into four kinds: food waste, residual waste, harmful waste and recyclable waste. According to the new law, a 200-yuan fine can be given to individuals or families who do not follow it.
On the first day of practice of the rules, it was found that 38.1 percent of hotels and 33.2 percent of companies didn't meet the requirements. The success in residential (居民的) neighborhoods was a result of early practice in pilot（试点的） neighborhoods around the city, which had caused mixed feelings among the public since June.
Some people praised Shanghai for being a role model and taking active steps to solve the trash problem in big cities, while others complained about the inconvenience the rule has brought to their daily lives, and made jokes about sorting their garbage.
The final goal of the trash sorting program is to reduce waste and increase recycling. Shanghai's 24 million residents produce 56, 000 tons of trash every day. Actually, Shanghai is not fighting alone in the battle against trash disposal, as trash sorting has been popular nationwide. Those cities will set up a basic system to classify and dispose of their household garbage by 2020, and by 2050, cities at the prefecture level (地级) and above should have the system in place.
A. Only 7.4 percent of the residential neighborhoods needed to be corrected.
B. Sales of trash cans on Taobao also increased before the regulation took effect.
C. On Sina Weibo, the topic of trash sorting has caused a heated discussion.
D. People in different cities have different attitudes towards sorting their trash.
E. Most of the trash ends up being buried, which wastes precious land and can pollute water and soil if not solved properly.
F. The country plans to have 46 major Chinese cities to join in it, including Beijing and Guangzhou.
G. And for companies, the fine can hit 5, 000 to 50, 000 yuan.
Our girls had performed well all day at the Bedford North Lawrence Cheerleading Clinic, and Abby and I were happy. As cheer coaches of the Shawswick Elementary 2018-2019 Cheerleaders, my daughter and I couldn't wait for the1ceremony of the day to begin.
Three of our seven cheerleaders won2awards – Kennedy won a best jumper award; Ally won a spirit ribbon; and Chelsea earned a best gymnast medal. As we took3of our girls with their group and individual awards, I4one of our 4th graders, Trista, wasn't as "spirited" as usual. In fact, she seemed quite5.
I was just about to ask her about it6Chelsea, one of our individual award winners and a 5th grade squad (小队) member,7her arm around Trista's shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I just wish I could have won an award," Trista said, with big8in her eyes.
Without missing a beat, Chelsea9Trista the "Best Gymnast" award and said, "You can10this one. I have others at home because I compete with an All Star squad."
Trista11Chelsea and then literally bounced away to12her mom the award, and I stood there in amazement at the13act I'd just witnessed. At that moment, I14I had had an extra-special award to give Chelsea for her kind heart.
I'm not sure if anyone else saw what Chelsea did that afternoon, but I saw and it15me. Later, I told Chelsea how16I was of her, and she smiled and sort of brushed it off, not wanting me to make a big17of it.
How long has it been since you've done something selfless, without wanting any18, just to bless another person? Like Chelsea, you may think it's a small gesture of19, but it might make a big influence.
So, go ahead. Make someone's20today.
A program called Everlasting Classics is becoming (increase) popular. The program, combines Chinese traditional poetry with music, was launched by China Central Television (CCTV) in 2018.
And it became a great hit soon after the program (show) on CCTV 1. It was hosted by Sa Beining, CCTV host loved by the audience, and the Appreciation Group in the group included Professor Kang Zen from Beijing Normal University, Dean of the China Conservatory of Music, Wang Liguang, the famous hostess Zeng Baoyi and the well-known singer Yu Chengqing. Together, they led the audience to interpret and appreciate many classic Chinese poems, enjoying the (beautiful) that the poems brought to the audience. Moreover, the poems were adapted into songs, which were sung by famous singers, like Zhang Jie, Wang Yuan, etc, (make) the program more spellbinding.
In Season 1 of the program, one of the (attract) songs was Butterfly Lovers (《梁祝》). An 88-year-old pianist called Wu Yili played the music with the famous violinist Lv Siqing. The melodious music moved many of the audience tears. In recent years, CCTV has produced many programs (spread) traditional Chinese culture, including Chinese Poetry Competition Everlasting Classics. Thanks to these programs, many people set off a craze for the study of Chinese culture.
1）时间地点；
2）活动内容：书法作品展示、现场书法创作、互动交流等。
参考词汇：沙龙 salon
书法 calligraphy
注意： 1）词数 80 左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Notice
The Calligraphy Club
My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my friends, Santa Claus would come down one's chimney and put toys in one's stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up "stocking" in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do and always expected that day.
Finally, the big day came. On that wonderful night, after everyone went to bed, I sneaked out of bed, took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel (壁炉). Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character. Gazing at the sock and imagining the delicately-packed gift in it, I couldn't help giggling (咯咯笑). For the first time, I found it hard to fall asleep.
And for the first time, I woke up before everyone else in the early morning. Then I headed straight to the fireplace and was even ready for what to say after seeing the gift. However, what happened next was the least thing I wanted to mention. On the nail was the empty and lonely sock. I was hit with the reality of the empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I tried my best to hold back my tears but failed. Bursting into tears, I quickly took down the sock and stuffed it in the back of a drawer.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry once again. I didn't know whether any of my audience ever noticed the sparkling tears hidden in my eyes.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, I heard a knock on the door when I was watching TV. Unwillingly, I dragged my feet and opened the door.
注意：
1）所续写短文词数为 150 左右；
2）应使用 5 个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
Outside the door stood an old man with a white beard and a red cap, holding a well-packed box.
Paragraph 2：
Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting on the card.
