John Rosher can treat a jellyfish sting and ice skate backwards. He is good at playing chess and can confidently talk about nuclear science. The 17-year-old from Kansas, US has gained knowledge about many subjects, all because of the Boy Scouts(童子军).
The Boy Scouts is a kind of club that teenagers can join to learn skills. Every time members master a new skill, they earn a merit badge(勋章). Rosher has earned all 137 available badges. In the 105-year history of the Boy Scouts of America, fewer than 300 scouts have achieved that.
When Rosher joined the Boy Scouts at 10, his only goal was to earn more merit badges than his dad, who had earned 54 during his time in the Scouts. After beating his dad's record, Rosher realized he wanted to keep going. He enjoyed the challenge.
The badges are earned for subjects from safety to career skills. Rosher earned some of the badges during his family vacations. He went water rafting in Colorado. He practiced fishing in the Amazon jungle with alligators(鳄鱼) all around him. Not all the badges needed a vacation. For example, for his model design badge, he spent hours building a 3-D model of a spaceship at home.
Earning so many badges wasn't easy, especially since he's also dealing with band, soccer, and volunteer work. But Rosher is thankful for all his experiences. "They have shaped me and taught me to be more adventurous, "he said. "Everything I learned in Boy Scouts will stay with me forever."
Now that the internet provides us with direct access to all kinds of information, some people say we don't need public libraries. This may be why some public libraries are finding new ways to serve the public.
Finnish designers used the concept of a useful public space to prove the point. Helsinki Central Library Oodi pushes the boundaries of what a library can be. The library opened its doors at the end of last year.
Antti Nousjoki, one of Oodi's architects, said the idea behind its design is to make the place "an indoor town square". The building was designed without interior support columns, so the inside is mostly a large open space. According to Tash Reith-Banks of the Guardian, this is quite different from the normal idea of libraries-"Dull and silent".
Of course, Oodi still serves as a traditional library, with a catalogue of about 100,000 books. Finnish news outlet Yle Uutiset reports that, since opening, Oodi lends out5,000 books each day. But given the fact that Oodi has attracted almost a million viewers during the past four months, with around 7,500 daily visitors, it's providing more than just books.
While most libraries around the world offer internet access and other services, Finnish libraries often differ themselves in services, including access to e-publications, sports equipment, power tools and even karaoke.
Oodi goes even further. On the middle floor, multi - function rooms are designed to accommodate both noisy and quiet activities. It also offers facilities like a 3D printer and recording studios.
"Oodi has been designed to give citizens and visitors a free space to actively do what they want to do-not just be a consumer," said Nousjoki.
When Benjamin Cherkasky was in eighth grade, he quit the swim team. It wasn't because he lacked the passion; he just couldn't accept failures in matches. "I'm not Michael Phelps. Why am I even on the team?" he said. "My perfectionism prompted very high expectations, and that caused real suffering," he said.
Cherkasky is not alone in feeling that perfectionism can cause anxiety. So many millennials (千禧一代）suffer from the problems of being a perfectionist that psychologists are issuing warnings and schools are emphasizing the need to accept failure.
Jessica Pryor, a leading psychologist, said every generation is a sponge (海绵）for the messages it receives. "Millennials, more than any other generation in American society, are receiving clear messages about achieving," she said. "But there's an absence of the message that trying your hardest is still OK."
In college, Cherkasky found himself surrounded by so many intelligent people that he felt he should have been achieving a higher level than he was. "It makes you feel kind of crazy." he said. This type of thinking can lead people to putting in less effort, which as they fall behind, can create more anxiety. "It makes people feel kind of isolated." And that Cherkasky added, "can cause students to distance themselves from their school".
The American Psychological Association also found out that recent generations of college students have reported higher levels of perfectionism than earlier generations.
Researchers noted that social media adds pressure, along with the drive to earn money and achieve career goals. Perfectionists often create even higher goals, which can lead to a higher risk of failure.
Social media are a powerful tool, and the go-green movement is becoming popular in the social media world. A new Facebook app is exercising this power to help people get back to work or even land their dream job.
With an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in January 2010,there were nearly 15 million Americans out of work of whom 6.3 million had been jobless for 27 or more weeks. It is likely that these people have used the most traditional methods to find a job. As you can see, the name of the app is Hire My Friend, not Hire MeOne of the most important parts of getting a job is who you know. Reach out to your network of friends and you will find more opportunities than applying for a job in a newspaper advertisement. As a writer, I know that networking is the key to opening doors and getting new opportunities.
When you place the Hire My Friend app on your Facebook page, you can present your friend's job-related facts and then this information is shown through a live feed post(实时发布).In addition to the app itself, the Hire My Friend Facebook page has lots of useful resources for those who want to find a job. One tab(标签) has the latest jobs that are being posted on Twitter, another powerful social media tool.The developer of the app encourages people never to give up. If you know of someone who is out of work, I encourage you to try the Hire My Friend app.
A. That is Hire My Friend.
B. Therefore, it is designed for you to help a friend get a job.
C. But now it's time to get creative and Hire My Friend can help people do that.
D. Besides, many other job searching apps provide useful information for the jobless.
E. Then your entire network of Facebook friends can see what your friend has to offer.
F. Social media enable people to communicate with each other by sharing information online.
G. Another tab has a list of job searching blogs and major job search sites for the jobless.
One day, I was in a charity shop looking at the second hand books. After a few minutes I became 1of a group of women who were poorly2and spoke in what 3like an eastern European language. As they 4the clothes, a little girl, about three years old, came over to the 5section. Immediately her attention was caught by a toy baby carriage. She spoke to her mother and her mother6asked the shop assistant how much it cost. 3 was the 7. The mum looked down at her child, perhaps 8 what she still had to buy and how much money would have been 9. Then she simply10her head. The child didn't 11as some might. Being told no was not a new 12for her. But she couldn't keep the 13from her face.
It hit me that several days ago, a friend gifted me &100,14that I could do some good deeds with it. At that time I had four pounds totally in my pocket, two &2 coins. I knew it was the 15time to act. A moment later I tapped the mother on the shoulder, pointed to the 16I had left in the baby carriage and said," Buy her a baby doll too." I didn't hang about to see the end result. 17,it's not about being thanked. Then I made my way out of the shop and into the sunshine.
The18my friend gave me was an investment in the happiness of the world. Was there any better way to get so much19for so little money than to 20a toy baby carriage for a little girl? And a baby doll to sit in it.
I found it very difficult to speak in public. I think it's due to fact that I'm naturally shy.
When I (ask) to deliver a speech in my English class, I just stood still in front of the entire class. I couldn't move or say a word. I remember the classroom was （silence)for several seconds. During that time, I was even more aware of everything around me, the other students staring me, my teacher watching me, and the clock ticking on the wall. It seemed s if the world were standing still. I could feel sweat (drop) down my back. My teacher saw that I was frozen with fear. She finally came up to me and told me (relax), take a deep breath, and start again from the very beginning. Her kindness made me feel better. I finally (get) over my fear and delivered my speech(success).When I finished the speech, my (classmate)all cheered for me!
Now I am still grateful for this experience, for helped me overcome my shyness and build up my confidence.
注意：1）词数80左右；2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable dict...We are surrounded by the word" diet" everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.
Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, influenced by diet products, people tend to watch their weight rather than their diet. Diet products make us Jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale(秤）instead. All we have to do is to recognize the word" diet" in food labels in the supermarket. On another level, diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle. For example, every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don't have to work to get results.
The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the potential harm that comes from using them.
