It wasn't until Friends took off that I was a part of this extraordinary organization, St. Jude. And that was 25 years ago. I am very honored to be a part of St. Jude and I've been in love with it ever since.
Right around this time every fall I get to spend the day with a family of St. Jude. I always say it's the best day of the year and the hardest day of the year. And a few years back I met a little girl named Sawyer. She was seven at the time and I remember she had this pink little dress on and these big angelic eyeballs. The chemo (化疗) had taken all of her hair and she had these tiny little tumors (肿瘤) on her body that she called her "bumps".
She was just with me the whole time as we ran through the script again and again and again. And at the end of the day after hearing the word repeated over and over again, she looked up at me with those big blue eyeballs and she asked me, "What is cancer?" I just looked at her. Oh! I'm not equipped to answer this question. Here was this little girl who was fighting this deadly disease every single day and she didn't even know what was the word for it. It was just part of her reality and she was just making the absolute best of it.
That's what's unbelievable about these children. Despite everything that they ate up against and as much pain as they're often in, they are lively. They are joyful. They are fearless. And that's part of the magic of St. Jude. I'm so honored to support their work because they're giving children the best care on the planet so that they can regain their childhood, so that they can find their little inner superhero. They're doing it at no cost so that the families can focus on their little ones, live without worrying about crippling hospital bills and their cutting edge treatments will soon one day find a cure. And that is what every child deserves to know, that they are seen, that they are powerful and are loved, that they deserve a seat at the table, that anything they have to say or any question they have to ask is of value, even if we don't have all the answers for it.
So thank you very much for recognizing the work of this remarkable organization and for celebrating the power in each and every one of us. Thank you.
Scientists in the U.S. have created an artificial sunflower less than 0. 04 inches wide that can bend towards a light source and harvest solar energy. The flowers were found to be about 400 percent more efficient than other equipment, making them promising technology for solar power potentially even as a power source for solar-based spaceships.
The team, led by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, was looking to improve the efficiency of solar cells by modeling after a feature of nature-phototropism. This is where a plant adjusts itself to face the sun, getting the most amount of energy it can get. In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, the team said it was a ''big challenge''.
However, this problem has now been overcome. The team has developed a polymer (聚合物) that is responsive to being simulated by light, The system, which they have named SunBOT for short, is able to instantly explore and track a light source. It can do this across a range of temperatures without power supply or any human intervention.
The researchers used the polymer to create a ''stem''. Then they placed a material commonly used in solar cells on its top, representing the ''flower''. When the team shone a light at the SunBOTs, the polymer began heating up and shrinking, causing the stem to bend so the flower faced the light.
The researchers tested their artificial sunflowers to see how efficient they were at harvesting solar energy Findings showed they were up to 400 percent more effective than non-phototrophic materials.
The practical applications of SunBOTs are some way off. The study shows a proof of concept, but the technology will need to be scaled up to be used commercially. However, the team is confident it could one day be used a across a broad range of industries.
This work may be useful for solar harvesters signal revere smart windows, self-contained robotics solar sails for spaceships and intelligent energy generation (for example, solar cells and biofuels), the scientific team said.
Every year, more books on happiness are published. And every year, more people feel depressed because they do not see themselves as happy. They don't remember or know what it feels like, and instead, they feel guilty that they aren't as happy as everyone says they should be. This is really a sad state of emotional affairs.
The books, blogs, YouTube videos and advice columns (专栏) will tell you that if you read, exercise, stay busy, help others, and increase your intimacy (亲密) every day, then you too can be happy.
The simple truth is that no one can be happy all the time. That doesn't mean you have to be sad, angry, or depressed the rest of the time but that you can find a middle ground called contentment. This middle ground is a good place mentally and emotionally, and spending time there is a healthy choice.
Contentment is somewhere between satisfied and peaceful. When you are in that place, the stuff of life can be going on around you, but you don't need to allow it to bother you. And that, my friends, is a very nice way to go through life.
I find contentment in walks and in writing, and in talking with my partner and reminding each other that our life is good, despite temporary setbacks or scary moments. Because I know about myself and I can respond differently. Doing this takes away stress and will keep you from losing your state of contentment.
If there is even one thing that puts you in a state of contentment — you do it regularly and early enough each day — it will help you go through any challenges you may have to face later.
Right at this moment, things around me are still a little out of my control — such is life — but I am feeling pretty good because I actively living my purpose. I am now content, and that feeling will last the whole day through. You can do the same.
Studying abroad is complicated. Apart from academic matters that needed to be dealt with, you also need to maintain a great many personal relationships. I spent most of the three and a half years in Canada with my host family. Their house is not far from my school. They are a local family of five: the parents, two sons at the age of eight or nine, and the grandmother.
In the first half year, we had no big conflicts. Take food as an example. I had to bring my own lunch to school and my host family made cold sandwiches for me every day. Back in China, I always had warm meals, which maybe was why after having cold sandwiches for half a year I couldn't stand it anymore.
They lived in a villa, and offered me a room on the first floor, while their living room and activity room were all on the second floor. At night or on weekends when I was ready to read, do my homework or go to bed, their sons would play with a ball, jump up and down and horse around. It felt like the whole floor was shaking.
After enduring for half a year, I told my parents I wanted to change to a Chinese host family, so that there would be less incompatible living habits. He thought living in a Chinese host family overseas was no different from studying in China.
In the end, I chose to stay with that family and I gradually realized that they were actually nice people. Gradually, they also started to care for me, a stranger from China. Occasionally, they would steam rice and make some stir-fried dishes for me; when the kids were playing upstairs, the host mother would remind them not to make too much noise. Although I was still bothered by their noise sometimes, I knew that there was no perfection in life. We needed to understand each other.
A. Another thing was about housing.
B. Luckily, my parents were of timely help.
C. But sometimes I did feel like fish out of water.
D. Therefore, we have to force ourselves to mature quickly.
E. From then on, I learned to communicate more with them.
F. Instead, sometimes I felt as comfortable there as at home.
G. However, my proposal was strongly rejected by my father.
There are some clouds that have silver linings and some that don't — Anonym
Sometimes I feel like an open book, empty. But I still have memories from my 1 with cancer. I have left the story unspoken. Cancer isn't rare, but it feels like a 2 topic of conversation. In our life, we are not taught how to respond to things like cancer. That's why it's important to 3 and to talk about real stories that are painful, yet full of the significance of 4.
That afternoon I was in the operation room. It was 5 in the room, and I was shivering. There was a terrible, spiting pain in my left leg. I 6 my mom's hand as the smell of rubbing alcohol hit my nose. 7 tears streamed down my face. The doctor was 8 if he should stop the procedure because I was in so much pain. After the operation, he got me a 9 and they took me out to the car.
After many times of having chemotherapy (化疗), my 10 started to get tired of the sick treatment. But I had to smile, and pretended 11 was wonderful. Sometimes all you can do is to pretend to be 12 and move on. Months later, the good news was that after another several months, my family could 13 my end to having cancer.
Some people have told me that attitude doesn't matter when you have something like cancer. I 14. I don't know how I would have 15 my treatment without my family and friends, and I also couldn't have made it without 16 and something to look forward to.
I will 17 know what I would be like if I hadn't experienced that. However, I do know that those experiences have 18 me who I am today. Embarrassment, 19, sadness, these are the feelings you remember, but also the ones you can learn from. I know what is important in life because I have been 20. Yes, I know. I'm growing up.
Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash five months ago. His fans were so heartbroken that they held various (activity) to honor him. Someone ''updated'' the superstar's social media April 1 to promote his sports fantasy novel, The Wizenard Series: Season One, to his fans around globe. The novel revolves (围绕) around basketball team, the West Bottom Badgers, and an incredible coach Rolabi, who (base) on Phil Jackson, the former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
''The book stems from (源于) my goal of bringing joy back to youth sports, while (teach) important life lessons.'' Bryant said in an interview before his death. Apart from referring to his (person) basketball experiences, he also draws from the more basic and psychological truths in sports: teamwork, training, perseverance and mental toughness.
While the announcement may not have come (direct) from Bryant, many fans are hoping that the fantastic novel (continue) his legacy. For many others, , it was Bryant's mentality that made him legendary (传奇的). (know) as the ''Black Mamba'' for his passion, persistence, and fearlessness, Bryant will live on through the achievements he impressed upon the world.
1）表示感谢；
2）咨询需补寄哪些材料；
3）询问其他准备工作。
注意：1）词数80左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Rescue in a Bottle
Curtis Whitson had rafted down the Arroyo Seco, a river in central California, several times before.
This year, Curtis Whitson knew the water-fall was coming. He figured he would get out of his raft into the shallow water, get down the rocks along ropes on either side of the falls, and continue on his way, as he had on a previous trip.
But this year was different. Heavy snow and spring rains had turned the usually manageable falls into something fierce. And this year, instead of his friends, Whitson's companions were his girlfriend, Krystal Ramirez and his 13-year-old son, Hunter. As the three of them approached the falls late in, the afternoon of the third day of their camping trip, Whitson could tell from the increasing roar of water in the narrowing canyon (峡谷) that they were in serious trouble. There was no way they'd be able to get down the rocks as planned.
"The water was just roaring through there with tremendous force," recalls Whitson, 45.
They had no smart phone service, and they hadn't seen a single person in the past three days. And Whitson knew that they'd be sharing the ground there with rattlesnakes and mountain lions.
As he was thinking what to do, Whitson hit on a bit of luck — he heard voices coming from the other side of the falls. He yelled, but the sound of the rushing water drowned him out.
"We have to get these people a message," Whitson thought.
He grabbed a stick and pulled out his pocketknife to carve "Help" in it. Then he tied a rope to it so the people would know it wasn't just any stick. He tried throwing it over the falls, but it floated away in the wrong direction.
"We've got to do something!" Whitson yelled to his son. "Have we got anything else?"
Then he spotted his water bottle. Whitson grabbed it and carved "Help!" on it. Ramirez also reminded him that he had a pen and paper in his backpack.
Whitson knew it was a slim hope. But he wrote "6-15 19:00 We are stuck here@ the waterfall. Get help please" and pushed the note into the bottle. This time, his throw over the waterfall was perfect.
"All right, that's all we can do," Whitson told Hunter.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段开头语己为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
It took 30 minutes to get back upstream to the beach where they'd had lunch.
Paragraph 2:
The next morning, the helicopter returned.
