We all like fantasy stories, and grow up reading and listening to fantasies. These tales fuel our imaginations, and satisfy our longings for adventures. The most interesting thing about fantasies is that their plots involve magical beasts and heroes，animal creatures talking like humans，and other things we can't see in real life. Also, fantasies have a distinguished writing style, with freedom of expression.
Toy Fantasy
In toy fantasy stories, narrators (叙述者) bring their beloved toys to life that can live, talk, think，breathe and behave like human beings. You would see modern toy fantasies in a picture book format. Representative works are A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Animal Fantasy
The animal fantasy tells tales about animals behaving like human beings, experiencing emotions, and having the ability to talk. However, animals in fantasies hold their various animal characteristics, too. Examples include The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, and The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter which influences children around the world.
Magical Fantasy
In a magical fantasy, you see a character having magical powers, or a strange magical object becomes the subject of the story. Stories of this type began widely spreading long ago, including Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
Modern Folktales
Modern folktales are types of fantasy that narrators tell in a traditional tale accompanying some typical parts, such as strong conflict, little description of characters, and sometimes magical elements. These tales come before all others and are popular, as authors throughout history, have written them. Hans Christian Andersen has written several tales of this category including The Nightingale, The Emperor's New Clothes and Thumbelina.
Before my daughter, Evelyn, was born, I eagerly expected her first year of life. I imagined celebrating every milestone — bonding with her as a newborn, seeing her smile for the first time, hearing her say her first word. 1 didn't think of feeding tubes, long hospital stays or an organ transplant (移植). For Evelyn, the first year included all and more.
Evelyn came into this world at just 34 weeks, weighing less than 3 pounds. Genetic testing revealed she had Alagille syndrome, a genetic disorder that can damage the liver (肝脏) ,heart and other organs. Soon, we received the news that baby Evelyn needed a liver transplant. Our family moved nearer to UPMC Children's Hospial of Pittsburgh so that we were closer if a liver was available for Evelyn.
When Evelyn was added to the organ donation wait list, I was under the liver allocation policy in place at that time, which was map-based. This policy lacks any special consideration for transplant candidates. We were told it would likely take three months. Just then, a new policy for liver allocation was tried out. Under the new system, the sickest child patients get first priority (优先).The new policy was only in effect for a little over a week, but in that period, Evelyn received her liver transplant. Had it been just one week earlier or later, we would not have received the call.
As Evelyn recovers from her transplant, we are grateful for the change. I am also sad, because the new policy was short-lived. That means another mom like me might not receive that phone call with good news.
Other children should have the same opportunity as Evelyn to live healthy, happy lives. When it comes to liver transplant policy, we can and must do better for children.
On a bright early summer morning, many young swimmers gather at a local swimming pool in the state of Maryland. They are members of a competitive summer swim team, and that's a regular part of their daily life. As they train and cut seconds off their times, which makes them closer to the championship in the following large-scale (大规模的) competitions, they are getting lots of physical exercise and vitamin D from the sun. However, the benefits of belonging to a sports team are not just honor or health related. You can learn useful life skills.
Paul Waas, coach of the swim team, explains, "The discipline (自制力) comes into play when you're talking about concentrating on the details that your coaches are saying as it makes you faster rather than going up and down the pool the same way you have every time. When you focus on what you're doing right and what you can do better, then you'll see the improvement.”
Besides, there is also responsibility, goals and workings within a group. Again, here is Coach Waas. "It's really great! It's so fun to watch from year to year. I've had kids who as 7-year-olds on the team could barely pay attention in practice and were only interested in who was going first. Now they've come back as 8-year-olds, having set some goals and having things that they want to achieve. These skills can help them a lot."
But playing the sports is not without harm. Some can be hard on the body. Young athletes suffer serious injuries that follow them into adulthood. Coach Waas says that in fact, swimming is different from most others. First, it poses a lower risk of injury. The second one relates to how swim teams are structured. Actually, children are not the only ones who can benefit. Adults can also benefit from team sports.
For a few months twice a year, the waters off California are home to gray whales moving north or south between the coast of Mexico and the Bering Sea. This year, however, it seems that fewer whales are surviving the journey north. So far this year, a total of 30 dead gray whales have washed up on the West Coast: Eight in Washington, one in Oregon and 21 in California. Those numbers are unusually high.
In Northern California, three out of four of the dead whales that have been examined so far appear to have died of starvation and the fourth was killed by a ship strike, said Barbie Halaska, a research assistant at The Marine (海洋的) Mammal Center (TMMC) , a nonprofit organization that rescues and rehabilitates (使康复) marine mammals in California. Halaska and her colleagues examined the four whales—three young whales and one adult male — and planned to examine the remaining dead whales in the region in the next couple of days.
Gray whales were once severely threatened by whalers. Only around 2,000 of them lived in the ocean in 1946, so an international agreement to stop gray whale hunting was signed in order to help the population recover. Gray whales were removed from the endangered species list in 1994 when the population reached 23,000 individuals and TMMC predicts there are now around 26,000 gray whales in the Pacific Ocean, which is about the number before the whaling boom got up steam almost 200 years ago.
Although the gray whale population has recovered to a certain degree, the number of dead whales washing up this year is alarming, Halaska said. Climate change and declining fish stocks are likely key factors in the whales' poor health, she said.
Halaska stressed that boaters and beachgoers on the West Coast should watch out for gray whales this time of year.
The "Greener Grass" Syndrome
Have you ever met the situation where you kept thinking that there are better opportunities out there compared to your current one you are having? This is the syndrome when one is always looking at the other side of the fence and thinks that the grass is greener there.
Why are you like this? Uncertainty and curiosity play a big part in creating the "greener grass" syndrome. It is because we are uncertain of whether what we are holding onto now is the best for us and whether there are any better choices out there.
In fact, it sometimes does us more harm than good because often looking out for the "greener grass" will exhaust our energy and attention and finally we can grow even angrier, or at least more dissatisfied. We mostly prefer new over old because new things arc fascinating and our curiosity keeps reminding us to explore the other side of the grass. These are the two factors that cause us to feel dissatisfied with what we have and always thinking of finding the greener grass at the opposite side.
If you have this syndrome, chances are you are missing out lots of things you currently have now. So what can you do to cure the greener grass" syndrome? The first thing is to recognize that your current job is your best choice right now.
Secondly, always apply your best efforts to your current job. Otherwise, what can you make out of your job when you hardly devote any effort? Last but not least, always keep this truth in mind. The grass is always greener on the other side, and the other side is always greener no matter which side you arc at.
A. Try to focus on "what is" instead of "what if".
B. Such uncertainty causes us to keep looking into alternatives.
C. Humans are also curious by nature and we love new things.
D. Focus on "what if" and seek for the best choice.
E. Choose a side, stick to it and make the best out of it.
F. This is what I call the "greener grass" syndrome.
G. It has its own origin, primarily rooted in fantasy and fear.
There is an old suitcase in my house which represents the dreams and hopes of my family.
I'm always taking photos of the little 1 I find in the world around me. A few weeks ago, I visited my parents. My father was an 2 when he was young. I took a photo of something that I would 3 as a pretty big wonder. At first 4 it might not look like much. It was just a 5 brown suitcase with two silver locks up on the top. But to me, it's 6 what a miracle (不可思议的东西) looks like.
That suitcase is the very one my dad brought with him when he 7 to the U. S. from Turkey in 1965. He was just a 19-year-old boy at the time who didn't know a 8 of English. He 9 all his fiends and family, 10 that he would become an excellent engineer one day. That suitcase carried my dad's most valuable 11 — many black-and-white photos from home and his science and math textbooks, etc.
As a kid, I was 12 aware of the suitcase. It lived on the top of my bookcase. I never 13 to it, though. It wasn't until I got 14 that I actually asked my dad about it. Looking inside, I found tons of photos and the 15 my parents wrote to each other, back and forth between the U. S. and Turkey.
That's when I 16 how beautiful that dirty old suitcase actually was. It's a 17 of not only the hardships my parents 18, but also all the wonderful things they 19, how they found love, how their dreams 20 and how they got through them all.
Zhao Zong, a 26-year-old man from Central China's Henan province, recently became hit on the internet for pushing his 97-year-old grandmother in a wheelchair around during a tour of Xian, Shanxi province. The behavior was pretty (admire) and received numerous thumbs ups (点赞) on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
(depart) for the destination on Sept 1, Zhao spent nearly a week taking his grandmother to the popular sites, like the Terracotta Warrior. He didn't want his grandmother to be tired the trip, so two weeks before the journey he bought a foldable wheelchair for her.
Zhao (raise) in his grandparents' home. When he was 3, his parents couldn't take care of him for a (vary) of reasons, and from then on, he lived with his grandmother. "That's I have deep feelings for her.” Zhao explained. "It (be) my dream to take my grandmother on a trip since I was in college. Now I feel so excited that my dream (eventual) came true."
As long as conditions allow, Zhao next arranges (tour) Qingdao with his grandmother to see the sea, and hopefully more places in China.
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。
As it is known to all, the Great Wall is the most famous places of interest in China. Everybody wants to go there, but I am no exception. Then, this summer vacation, the day I have been looking forward to coming at last. I got up very early that day and set off with my brother Tim followed behind. After two hours' bus ride, we arrived at what looked like the large market, which there were millions of people talking, pushing and photographing. At that, my enthusiasm immediate disappeared. Indeed, the Great Wall is really something must be experienced with a little ease and privacy.
1）访问的具体时间；
2）希望参加的活动（参观历史博物馆、会议交流、游览著名景点）。
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3）开头和结尾已给出，不计人总词数。
Dear Mr. Smith,
……
Looking forward to your reply!
Yours,
Li Hua
