Innovative Designs for Accessibility
Deadline: 2020-04-30
Award: $ 7,500 CAD
Open to: University students
The Innovative (创新的) Designs for Accessibility student competition challenges students across Canada to use their creativity to develop innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions to accessibility barriers for people with disabilities. (Read more)
Clean Tech Competition
Deadline: 2020-04-13
Award: $ 28,000
Open to: Students 13-15 years old
The Clean Tech Competition is a unique, worldwide research and design challenge for pre-college youth. The competition is designed to build a deeper understanding of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related concepts, recognize outstanding talent, and prepare the next generation of globally competitive innovators. (Read more)
Agile Robotics Competition
Deadline: 2020-04-10
Award: $ 17,500
Open to: Adults
Agile Robotics Competition is a simulation-based (仿真) competition designed to promote agility(灵活) in industrial robot systems by employing the latest advances in artificial intelligence and robot planning. The competition will be held virtually (虚拟的), so there is no need to travel to compete. The competition will use the Gazebo simulation tool. (Read more)
Wearable Robotics Innovation Challenge
Deadline: 2020-04-24
Award: $ 5,000
Open to: Everyone
The Wearable Robotics Association is inviting entries that represent the most innovative new ideas in wearable robotic technology. The review committee will select as many as ten finalists. The one considered to be the most innovative will be announced at the conference and will receive $ 5,000 to accelerate the new technology. (Read more)
Many of us would like to spend all of our time helping dogs in need, but it can be hard to carve out that kind of time. Well, one man, Eugene Bostick, decided that when he retired, he would devote the rest of his life to helping homeless dogs feel loved.
Eugene Bostick was fortunate enough to be able to retire at the ripe age of 65 after working his entire life on his farm. His farm was located at the end of a dead-end street, and he noticed that people would, unfortunately, abandon their dogs on the farm and race off.
Eugene refused to see these pets suffer, and he quickly picked up these abandoned dogs, giving them food and taking them to the vet to make sure they were spayed and neutered.
Eugene's farm has all kinds of animals, such as horses and goats, so these dogs have plenty of other animals to play with.
Over the last 20 years, Eugene has shown his kindness by taking on these abandoned pets, but he also saw the chance to offer them a bit of adventure. After spotting a neighbor transporting rocks behind his tractor using barrels, he realized he could do the same for his dogs. Eugene got to work to make his own train, and made sure to add some pleasant pillows so his furry friends could travel in comfort. The dogs quickly got on the train, and together, they spent hours traveling around town and through the forests nearby.
After they were spotted around town, one neighbor took a picture of Eugene that went viral, and a GoFundMe page was started that gained plenty of donations. Eugene was amazed by everyone's generosity, and was happy to see others help these abandoned animals feel loved. Eugene will continue to care for his dogs, and we should all follow his lead!
If the three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) is a guideline to save the planet, garbage-sorting is where the efforts start. Since May 1, Beijing has started to carry out mandatory garbage-sorting in new efforts to better protect the environment. Under the new regulation, residents are required to classify household waste into four categories: kitchen, recyclable, hazardous and other waste. People who fail to sort their garbage properly can be fined from 50 to 200 yuan, reported Xinhua.
Some residential communities in Beijing have introduced rewards to encourage residents to sort their garbage. According to Xinhua, residents can earn points by classifying their domestic waste correctly and then exchange the points they accumulate for daily necessities such as soap.
Garbage sorting practices have reached over 70 percent of housing estates in 18 cities, including Shanghai, Xiamen and Hangzhou, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Shanghai first enacted a mandatory garbage-sorting regulation in July 2019 and has had a 90 percent compliance (服从) rate among its housing estates.
According to a report by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, over 90 percent of the public believe that garbage-sorting is important for the protection of the environment. However, garbage-sorting is still a big problem in China. Only 30 percent of participants said they think they are completely sorting their waste, the report noted. According to Xinhua, it's partly because many people lack the willingness to sort their own waste. Also, some previous garbage regulations didn't include fines for people who failed to obey them.
"It's a must to have a legal guarantee to promote garbage sorting," Liu Jianguo, a professor from Tsinghua University, told China Daily, "Aside from China, many countries like Germany, Spain and Britain, also ask people to sort waste into specific categories. In Japan, there is a fixed time for the sorting of each kind of garbage and littering."
Want to pick up that new best-seller for your flight, but not sure you want to spend the money?
This will change your mind 
If you've done a lot of traveling, you've probably noticed that the bookstores at airports all look pretty similar. They've all got familiar logos, the walls of inviting plane snacks, and, of course, the towers of new hardcover books. Chances are you've wanted to grab one of those books for the plane ride. However, those hardcover books are a little pricey. Is it worth it to splurge, just to relieve the midair boredom?
Yes it is—because of a cool program that these bookstores have in place. These similar airport stores are all owned by the company Paradies Lagardère, and all of those stores take part in what's called the “Read and Return program.” It's exactly what it sounds like. Whenever you buy one of those books, you've got six months to finish it and bring it back to the same, or another, Paradies Lagardère location. When you do that, you get half your money for the original purchase back.
If you're going on a trip, buy that book you've been dying to read. When you go back to the airport for the return trip, bring the book back with you and get half the money back. While you're still in the bookstore, go ahead and get that other book you've been dying to read. Or the sequel to the book you read on the way there. Either way, your boredom on the flight back will be cured. And it gets better: the book you gave back will be re-sold for half price! Here's what you can get for free at an airport.
There are two things you do need to make sure of. You have to bring back the receipt to get your money back. Also, the book needs to be in decent condition. But other than that, this program couldn't be easier. In a way, it's like a buy-one-get-one-half-off deal for books. Or get two books for the price of one-and-a-half. Either way, count us in.
Humans were made for walking. With our upright posture and strong leg muscles, our bodies were designed with walking in mind -which is what makes it such perfect exercise. And best of all, it's a great way to see new things and meet new people!
Wherever you are, in the city or at the campground, you'll find plenty of walking going on. Studies have shown that taking a walk every day significantly reduces your risk for heart disease and high blood pressure, and it even lowers stress levels. Recently, science has proved that walking is even good for your body shape and brain.
To get started, sit down with a map and make a plan. Do you want to meet other people? See new places? Get out into the wilderness or explore a city? Knowing your strengths will help you decide on the type of walk you want to do.
If making friends and socializing is your goal, call up your friends and schedule walks with them. Ask your friends where they like to walk and go there, since this will introduce you to new places. Go online and look up your local mall or shopping center. Many malls have groups that come every day, or every weekend, to "walk the mall.
From the benefits to your heart to your overall happiness, walking is just plain good for you.
This month pick up a map and start walking.
A. Headed to a new city?
B. It's good for our bodies and great for our waistlines.
C. This month, why not focus on walking with a purpose?
D. These groups are always happy to include one more walker!
E. You might find open groups of dog walkers at your local park.
F. It's a fantastic way to get to know the world, using your own two feet.
G. Ask yourself, what do you want to get out of walking aside from the health benefits?
Most of us go through some hardships in life. But few things match the 1brought upon people by the genocide (种族灭绝) of Jews during World War II and it's still 2people nowadays. Luckily, today's story has a happy 3for two men and their families. The two cousins 4got to meet after being separated 75 years ago during the holocaust (大屠杀).
Morris and Simon were best friends as kids 5the Nazis invaded their country Romania in 1940. However, their families lost 6as they didn't flee the country together. Both grew up believing the other died. Until some time ago their children 7the two families on Facebook.
Morris' niece came across Simon's daughter while 8for relatives online only to find out that Simon is 9in the UK. Morris settles in Israel. It took some time but they organized a 10for the two long-lost men in Tel Aviv, Israel. Someone recorded a video of this emotional meeting and 11it online, leaving people all over the world 12.
13the fact that both men are in their 80's, they plan to keep in touch and see each other often, reconstructing the beautiful 14they had as children. And it will surely not 15with time.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. A half-century ago, activists (walk) to the street to speak out for the protection of the planet in (respond) to one of the worst oil spills (原油泄漏) in history. These activists inspired important changes in how our society views the environment, (lead) to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. But protecting the earth is also a social justice issue. People of color and poor people are often the first (suffer) from the climate change, because they live near highways, factories, or garbage dumps, there are more pollutants, for example, and they may not be able to afford fresh green foods.
But you don't have to be an activist to make difference—in fact there are many tiny everyday (effort) you can make to help the planet. The environmental movement didn't start with Earth Day and indigenous people (原住民) protecting the earth as (they) way of life were the pioneers. I wish that everyone would see the climate crisis this way and take it (serious) as well. It isn't just polar bears and plastic bags an issue that will determine the future of life. So, actually, every day is Earth Day.
1）比赛时间、地点；
2）参赛要求。
注意：
1）词数 100 左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
I was lacking in everything needed to start a new friendship.
My parents moved to the town when they decided to look for new jobs but they didn't realize I was really hurt when I said goodbye to my old friends. It felt awful to be a new student in the school and when my classmates were chatting, what I could do was to be caught up in my thoughts watching the clouds outside the window. I was not good at math or history; nor was I good at drawing or dancing. I was shy and timid. I had a few friends back at my hometown and it seemed that they were the only ones who I could be friends with for my whole life. I felt I had achieved a point of saturation with regard to having friends and I could make no further addition to my friend list. I was ashamed of myself, so I believed I deserved no notice from others until Emily came to my world.
Emily was fearless, outspoken and easy to go. She was everything I was not and I was too shy to come out of my shell. I met Emily in school almost every day and yet I never talked to her. We were in the same class but we were like poles apart. How I wished I could be like her or at least be a friend of hers!
It was another ordinary day.
I wandered to the bus stop in the morning and waited for the school bus. Birds were singing songs with their friends but who could I sing songs with? I got on the bus and went straight to my usual seat, complaining in a low voice about getting up early and going to school like every other day, and about how things were going to be the same all over again. Little did I realize something different would happen that day.
Para. 1:
When I got up to get down the bus, my schoolbag was stuck in the armrest. Para. 2:
I got noticed by Emily, who brought me courage to start a new friendship!
