Camp Odayin provides fun, safe and supportive camp experiences and community building opportunities for young people and their families this year.
Winter Camp February 15 - February 17
It is hosted in Amery, a two-hour drive from the Twin Cities and free round trip transportation is provided from Minneapolis and Madison. This camp is for children who have attended Residential Camp or Day Camp before. Campers can experience snowshoeing, skiing and snowboarding. Registrations are processed during December & January.
Moms Retreat May 16 - May 17
Scheduled in downtown Stillwater, Moms Retreat will seek to improve the quality of caregivers' life. It will include meals, boarding and yoga activities.
Registration will open in April for moms that receive the email invitation from Camp Odayin. If the limit is reached, we will start a wait list.
Residential Camp July 13 - July 18
Campers will have a chance to communicate with other young people sharing the same grade. Hosted in Lutherdale, it will include swimming, horseback riding and talent show. The approval by the Camp Odayin Director is necessary.
Registration will open in early March and is due May 1st.
Family Camp October 26 - November 1
Hosted in Camp Lake, the camp is a two-night commitment for families with children suffering from heart diseases, who will benefit from connecting with other families who have similar health, emotional and social concerns. Activities will include drawing, fancy dress balls and movies.
Families who have a child in 12th grade or younger (no minimum age) can attend. Camper registration is available online in late August.
An unusual trip to Hawaii brought two strangers closer and closer and their story deserves a wide spread.
As her plane sliced through the sky above the ocean, there came a sudden thunderstorm. Five minutes later, Uemoto and her copilot McMahon heard a strange sound. Then, without warning, they lost power to both of the engines. It took them a moment to process the fact that they might crash. The pilots powered through the items on the emergency checklist. Nothing worked. As the plane was falling, they jumped into the ocean.
By ten that night, their bodies began trembling uncontrollably in the cool night air. Something must be done to pull them through. Swimming on her stomach, Uemoto had McMahon wrap his arms around her knees so he could rest his head on the back of her legs. To be with someone else and to feel another person's comforting presence in the darkness somehow made the suffering bearable.
When the sun rose the next morning, they caught sight of the island of Hawaii, the destination they had dared dream! Suddenly, Uemoto saw a shark, which made her breath catch in her throat. "What do we do? What do we do?" Uemoto asked, panicked. "Just keep looking forward! If it comes close, I'll kick it in the eye!" said McMahon evenly. Unexpectedly, the shark circled them for about 30 minutes. Then, as quietly as it had appeared, it swam off. Uemoto and McMahon breathed a sigh of relief.
After struggling in the water for over 20 hours, there came a US Navy helicopter. It flew overhead and next banked towards them. Uemoto and McMahon burst into tears. Alone, either of them would have died. But together, they made it.
Mice and rats have long been used in medical research because of their biological similarities to humans. Recently scientists at the University of Richmond in Virginia have trained rats to drive small vehicles.
The research team built tiny cars out of plastic and other materials, which had an opening at one end to which electrical wires were attached. By touching one of three different wires, the rat could control the car in different directions-left, center and right. Sweet treats were placed inside the containers in an attempt to get the rats to drive the vehicle for the food. After several months' training, the animals could drive to get to the treats.
Kelly Lambert, who has long been interested in the way the brain changes to react to different experiences and difficulties, led the experiment. She told the French news agency AFP the research suggested rat brains might be more complex and flexible than once thought. The driving activity seemed to help the rats relax and the rats kept in what was called "enriched environments" performed far better than those in labs.
The researchers examined levels of two hormones (荷尔蒙) in the rats — one that causes stress and the other that counters it. All the rats that took part in the training had higher levels of the hormone that reduces stress. The research suggests the increased relaxation levels could be linked to the enjoyment of successfully completing a new skill. The team also found the rats that drove themselves showed higher levels of the stress-fighting hormone than those that simply rode in small cars controlled by humans.
Lambert's team is planning to further the research to learn more about how the rats learned to drive. This research may open new areas of non-drug treatments for people suffering from mental health conditions.
Student loan (贷款) debt has become a worldwide problem. In America, the country's overall student debt reached a record of $1.6 trillion in 2019. The average person with student loan debt owed between $20,000 and $25,000. A recent Japanese government report says it has been lending over $9 billion yearly to students since 2010. Similar conditions exist in Africa and South America.
Several factors account for high student loan debt. One is that employers everywhere have increased their demands for skilled workers, making higher education a requirement for many jobs. The students, however, after graduation, often find that their country's economy is not strong enough to support their financial needs, so their ability to pay back the loan becomes a problem.
To solve the problem, many countries are seeking their ways. Australia has developed a system where students do not have to pay anything back until they are earning at least $40,000 a year. In America, several candidates running for president in the 2020 election have offered more extreme solutions that all or at least some of these loans will be forgiven.
Some professors in several universities recently studied what the effects of debt forgiveness might be. They found that, overall, sudden debt relief greatly improved the borrowers' lives. Not only did they have more money, but they were more likely to move to a new area and seek better paying work.
Yet the professors' research doesn't include what might happen to financial institutions or the overall economy if debt were totally forgiven. It only looks at how debt forgiveness would help the borrowers. They warn of some other possible negative effects. If a borrower knew that if he ran into any trouble he would be saved because he could get the debt relief, then he might actually become more reckless (轻率的) with his borrowing in the future.
No matter what, the professors agree that if countries do decide to approve some student debt relief the neediest students should be helped first.
Few things feel as painful as rejection. Rejection means not being invited to a friend's party. Rejection means having your actions criticized. Rejection means failure when you're trying to sell your idea. Every "no" indicates a door closed to you.
Developing your self-confidence is key. Rejection is simply the reaction or opinion of another person. Never think you are worthless or unlovable. What you should do is make a list of things you have done well or contributions you have made. Review them every day. Fill your nighttime and early morning brain with confidence.
Rejection will enhance (增加)whatever negative things you say to yourself. Even the most successful and confident people feel downhearted when rejected, but most of them never tell themselves how terrible they are. Make sure what you say to yourself builds yourself up instead of tearing yourself down.
Instead, they view it as an opportunity to further understand human relationships and inner strength. They avoid the pain of rejection and put rejection into context (情境).Using rejection to your advantage involves looking on every blow as a learning experience. It also involves learning and growing from negative voice.
You can feel the pain as you like, crying or locking yourself in, but don't let it become a long-term visitor. It is wise for you to respond positively and effectively.
A. Rejection is a learning experience.
B. It's powerless without your cooperation.
C. So you should practice positive self-talk.
D. It's normal to feel upset about rejection.
E. Therefore, it is vital to develop effective responses.
F. Rejection is beneficial to those who make full use of it.
G. Those who transform rejection understand it is not about experiencing loss.
I went to a nursing home to visit Marsha every week. She had only months to live. Every time she said1"I hate my father", I would2to persuade her to forgive.3a voice inside me was forcing a question: Isn't there somebody you need to4?
When I was young, my elder brother John5everything I did. In his eyes, nothing I did was right. I suffered from years of emotional6from him.
After college graduation, I began my career as a manager in another city, which gave me a ((n))7not to go back home often8I could avoid seeing John. Whenever I phoned Mom, she always provided9on what was going on with him. He didn't have a happy marriage. He lost his job as a bus-driver... But I10to feel sorry for him.
In my spare time, I chose to be a11. I really felt I was helping12I met Marsha. I told myself to help Marsha, but I was13to help myself first.
Finally, I14the courage to call my brother. There was15for what seemed a century and I had a strong desire to hang up, but I16. "Correcting you was the17way to show that I cared about you." he18. Then, something brother to brother returned.
We have stayed in touch and visited each other19since.
The last time I saw Marsha, she was too weak to talk, but her face was20. I knew what it felt like.
"Climate emergency" was picked by Oxford Dictionaries as the word of the year for 2019 after (use) on average 100 times more than in 2018.
Defined as "a situation urgent action is required to reduce or stop climate change and avoid environmental damage resulting from it ", the word became one of the most important (term) of 2019. "Climate" did not have a place in the top words (typical) used to modify (修饰) "emergency" in 2018. Instead, the top types of emergencies that people wrote about (be) health, hospital and family emergencies. But with climate emergency, people saw something new, extension of emergency to the global level. The choice was reflective, not just of the rise in climate awareness, but the focus specifically the language used to discuss it. Oxford said the rise of "climate emergency" (show) an intentional push towards language of urgency.
The dictionary's word of the year is chosen (reflect) attention of the passing year and should have lasting potential as a term of (culture) significance. Previous winners of word of the year include "toxic" in 2018 and "youthquake" in 2017.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧）,并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I still remembered my working experience in a café last summer. One day, I entered into it to get a drink. However, what attracted my attentions was not the menu, but a notice said, “NOW HIRING”. I took ∧look at the requirements but thought maybe I could have a try. On arriving home, I talked to my parents about get a part-time job in the café during the summer vacation and he strongly supported me. Determine to challenge myself, I went to the interview. Fortunate, I passed it and I was really proud of myself!
1）写信目的；
2）个人或社会能做的事情；
3）发出呼吁。
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Editor,
Yours,
Li Hua
