I'm originally from Orange County, California, where I had the pleasure and honor of serving as a Newport Beach ocean lifeguard. Whenever I could, I got shifts working the Point. The Point was known for its massive rip currents (退潮流).
So, late in a shift, I was working Tower 15. Two blocks to my right was another guard named Mike, working Tower 17. He called me, "Hey, I got a couple of kids. I got to go and give them a warning. Keep an eye on us." I said, "Sure."
And sure enough, as soon as he hung up the phone and grabbed his buoy (航标) , a rip was snapped up under these two kids, and they were getting sucked out. All I saw was two small noses bobbing in the water. Mike was dashing toward the ocean.
By now, the mother of the two kids realized what was happening. She was screaming. I started rushing toward her, but before I was even halfway there, Mike reached the kids.
Mike swam sideways out of the rip current into the clear water and started bringing them in. When I reached their mother, Mike was in waist-deep water. The kids were so exhausted, so Mike was carrying them, one under each arm.
I turned to their mom, "Hey, it's OK. They're safe." I saw her terror start to fade.
She glanced back and got her first good look at Mike. He had a number of really scary tattoos (纹身), and his shaved head showed the scar he got from a broken beer bottle. Then a crazy thing happened. I saw a new kind of panic wash over her as though there was some new, equally dangerous threat on her kids' lives. She rushed up to Mike and snatched her kids. Not even a thank-you.
Mike just glanced at me, shrugged, and jogged back to his tower.
If any other guard had worked 17 that night, including me, there would be a very real chance that that mother wasn't going home with both her kids.
Feeding bread to the ducks is a fond pastime for many of us, reminding us of our happy childhood trips to the local park. But did you know that bread actually poses a danger to birds, as well as the environment? Eating it can cause our feathered friends to develop a condition called Angel Wing, which is when too much bread makes birds' feathers grow too quickly. This additional weight puts a strain on their muscles, causing their wings to twist and drop open, and if not treated fast, they can lose the ability to fly.
"Angel Wing can be remedied if we reach birds before it has developed too severely," says Caroline Simpson, a trustee of UK charity Swan Lifeline, which has rescued and treated more than 30,000 birds over the last 20 years. "Otherwise the consequence can be awful—such as amputations (截肢) of the wing." Adult swans can also develop gut and heart disease, so it's important we do our bit to prevent this by feeding wild birds with the right kind of food.
Bread can also cause harmful changes to the natural ecosystem. Rotting bread at the bottom of rivers and lakes allows bacteria to breed, spreading disease and attracting rats and other vermin to our waterways. It can result in algal (藻类的) blooms and the presence of a mould (霉菌) called Aspergillus too, which has the potential to kill waterfowl (水禽) and other wildlife if it gets into their lungs.
But this doesn't mean we have to stop fun trips to feed the ducks. Giving birds the right food—like frozen peas, sweetcorn and lettuce leaves—is good for both them and the environment. So, next time you visit your local park, take a healthier alternative with you and do your bit to protect our precious wildlife.
Across the United Kingdom, as the COVID-19 crisis has bitten deeper, its citizens have started a new practice: Emerging from self-isolation every Thursday night at 8 p.m. to clap, cheer, and bang pots and pans to show support for the country's front-line doctors and nurses.
But as the death toll today hit a single-day U.K. record of 980—and with the peak death rate still estimated to be two weeks away—the crisis caused by the scale of the pandemic (流行病) has been worsened here by a new degree of political uncertainty. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to the hospital on Sunday and has spent his days and nights in intensive care fighting the virus, surrounded by the doctors and nurses of the National Health Service.
The U.K. is not alone in showing new found public affection for key workers, nor in facing an unprecedented public health emergency that has, in Europe, especially affected Italy, Spain, and France. A recent U.K. government appeal for 250,000 volunteers to help the NHS (National Health Service) yielded an army of 750,000 would-be helpers.
But the pandemic finds xue ke wang the U.K. at a politically uncertain moment, as a nation finally emerging from three and a half years of political issue over its chaotic departure from the European Union. A December election that gave a decisive victory to Mr. Johnson and the ruling Conservative Party added clarity to a Brexit (英国脱欧) mandate and was seen by many as a potential first step in healing deep divisions in Britain's political and social structure.
Acknowledging the impact of the coronavirus on daily lives, Queen Elizabeth II, in a rare address on Sunday, praised the "national spirit" and thanked NHS and care workers, whose "every hour" of hard work "brings us closer to a return to a more normal time." Calling on citizens to "remain united and resolute" to overcome the pandemic, she sought to provide comfort. "While we may have still more to endure, better days will return We will meet again," she said.
Moving to a new country can be an exciting experience. In a new environment, you somehow feel more alive. Soon, however, the new and delightful feeling turns into stress and discomfort.Although not everyone experiences culture shock in exactly the same way, many experts agree that it has roughly five stages.
In the first stage, you are excited by your new environment. Your feelings about the new culture are positive, so you are eager to make contact with people and to try new foods.
This is the second stage of culture shock. Because you do not know the social customs of the new culture, you may find it difficult to make friends. For instance, you do not understand how to make "small talk," so it is hard to carry on a casual, get-acquainted conversation. These are not minor challenges; they are major frustrations.
In the third stage, you no longer have positive feelings about the new culture. You feel that you have made a mistake in coming here. Making friends hasn't been easy, so you begin to feel lonely and isolated. You begin to spend most of your free time with students from your home country, and you eat in restaurants that serve your native food.
You know that you are in the fourth stage of culture shock when you have negative feelings about almost everything. You become critical, suspicious, and irritable. You believe that people are unfriendly, that your teachers do not like you, and that the food is making you sick.
Finally, you reach the fifth stage. As your language skills improve, you begin to have some success in meeting people and in negotiating situations. After realizing that you cannot change your surroundings, you begin to accept the differences and tolerate them.
A. Your x self-confidence grows.
B. You k regret making the decision.
C. These w are the causes of culture shock.
D. In this stage, you actively reject the new culture.
E. This is the phenomenon known as culture shock.
F. Now you want to be with familiar people and eat familiar food.
G. Sooner or later, differences in behavior and customs become noticeable to you.
Michael Evans was standing in line at the Treasurer's Office last August, waiting to pay his taxes, when he heard a(n) 1 sound ahead of him. The elderly woman at the window was crying. He heard the cashier 2the woman that her house was in foreclosure (丧失抵押品赎回) and headed for auction (拍卖). He also heard the woman tell the cashier that her daughter had recently died. Evans, a businessman who had just buried his father, couldn't3the idea of this woman losing her home4after losing her child. He5the window. "I don't mean to butt in," he said to the cashier, "but6you can get her house back, I'll pay for her taxes." The amount added up to $5,000.
The old woman was shocked. Her despair turned to7. The cashier left for a moment to8 that it was all right for Evans to pay it. Evans promised to go9to the bank and come back with the money. But when he returned to the treasurer's office, he asked x ue ke wa ng someone else waiting in line to hand the $5,000 check to the cashier. Evans was trying to10quietly and, preferably, anonymously (匿名地).
"I didn't want this attention," he explained.
11, attention found him. It's not every day that someone pays a stranger's tax bill. As is reported, Evans often finds himself on the giving end of charitable situations, though for years he went unrecognized for it. 12paying the elderly woman's taxes, Evans said he did it for 13 but to make sure the lady stayed in her own house.
A few weeks after the tax14, Evans received the Spirit of Detroit Award for his lifetime of 15. Again, he didn't want the attention, but his son felt the honor was overdue. "It was good to see my dad finally get the16he deserves," his son said. Michael Evans is nearing 60 and will retire soon. Before he does, he hopes that his son will17him in a fund-raiser to pay for a wheelchair for a boy with an incurable bone disease. And he'll continue to18 the local youth football league team, paying for their equipment, uniforms, and out-of-state travel. His son is willing to19 the business, saying that he20his life after his father.
Being a doctor, you may think I would always suggest a bottle of something for what makes you ill.
, first and foremost, I believe in the "do no harm" motto when it comes to health care. For example, you may first try music before (take) a pill. It is safe and it does no harm to your money.
For most people, music is already an important part of daily life. Some rely on music
(get) them xu e through the boring journey to work, while others turn up their favorite music to stay pumped during a ke wan gworkout. Many even have the stereo on when they (cook), taking a shower, or folding the laundry.
Music is often linked to mood. certain song can make us feel relaxed, happy,
(energy), or sad. Because music can have such an impact mindset and well-being, it should come as no surprise the connection between music and health has been studied for use in managing different (condition). Music (believe) to have healing effects, but types of music differ in the feelings they arouse. For example, classical music has been found to cause comfort and relaxation while rock music may lead to discomfort.
内容包括：
1）写信目的;
2）咨询内容;
3）期待回复
注意：
1）词数 80 左右;
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Two years ago, Li Yuhua's daughter taught her how to shop online. Since then, the 51-year-old farmer in Wushan has been a regular online shopper. Shoppers like Li Yuhua are the new target for China's ecommerce giants, including Alibaba Group, which operates the Taobao platform, and JD.com. Rural China added 3 million more Internet users in the first half, taking the total number to 225 million, or 26.3%, of the country's total Internet population of 854 million, according to a report on rural ecommerce development released last week by the China International Electronic Commerce Center. That helped improve rural online sales in the first half of the year by 21% to 777.1 billion yuan (US$109.6 billion), outpacing the national growth rate by 3.2 percentage points.
"However, it is a little bit early to say that China's ecommerce battlefield is moving to rural China," said Chen Tao, a senior analyst at consultancy Analysys. Unlike urban residents, most rural Chinese haven't experienced ecommerce shopping. While that provides online platforms with one of the last undeveloped markets for ecommerce, progress has been slow due to the lack of infrastructure (基础设施) and logistics (物流) support.
To address that problem, China's second-largest ecommerce operator, JD.com hired more deliverymen and tested drone (无人机) delivery services to improve service in rural China. Alibaba Group, China's largest ecommerce player, announced in April last year that it had invested US$717 million in Huitongda Network Co., which helps to boost sales in 15,000 towns across 18 provinces.
Another inhibiting factor in the development of rural ecommerce is the income gap. In 2018, annual per capita disposable income (人均可支配收入) in rural areas was 14,600 yuan (US$2,065) compared with 39,300 yuan (US$5,559) in cities. "Lower disposable incomes in rural areas limit the consumption," said analyst Chen. "It also takes time to educate rural residents to accept ecommerce services as most of them are new to online. There is still a long way to go to popularize online shopping in rural China."
