Forget Cyclists, Pedestrians are Real Danger
We are having a debate about this topic. Here are some letters from our readers.
Yes, many cyclists behave dangerously. Many drivers are disrespectful of cyclists. But pedestrians are probably the worse offenders.
People of all ages happily walk along the pavement with eyes and hands glued to the mobile phone, quite unaware of what is going on around them. They may even do the same thing while crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or elsewhere. The rest of us have to evade (避让) them or just stand still to wait for the unavoidable collision.
The real problem is that some pedestrians seem to be, at least for the moment, in worlds of their own that are, to them, much more important than the welfare of others.
——Michael Horan
I loved the letter from Bob Brooks about cyclists (Viewpoints, May 29). I am afraid they seem to think they own the roads.
I was walking across Altrincharn Road one morning when a cyclist went round me and on being asked what he was doing he shouted at me.
The government built a cycle lane on the road but it is hardly used.
The police do nothing. What a laugh they are!
The cyclists should all have to be made to use the cycle lanes and wear helmets, fluorescent (发荧光的)jacket and tights at night and in the morning. They should pay some sort of tax and be fined for not wearing them.
——Carol Harvey
Cyclists jump on and off pavements (which are meant for pedestrians), ride at speed along the pavements, and think they have a special right to go through traffic lights when they are on red.
I was almost knocked down recently by a cyclist riding on the pavement when there was a cycle lane right next to him.
Other road users, including horse riders, manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists?
It's about time they had to be registered and insured, so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle, or cause an accident, at least they can be traced and there might be an opportunity to claim.
——JML
Write to Viewpoints of the newspaper.
When the dog named Judy spotted the first sheep in her life, she did what comes naturally. The four-year-old dog set off racing after the sheep across several fields and, being a city animal, lost both her sheep and her sense of direction. Then she ran along the edge of cliff (悬崖) and fell 100 feet, bouncing off a rock into the sea.
Her owner Mike Holden panicked and celled the coastguard of Cornwall, who turned up in seconds. Six volunteers slid down the cliff with the help of a rope but gave up all hope of finding her alive after a 90-minute search.
Three days later, a hurricane hit the coast near Cornwall. Mr. Holden returned home from his holiday upset and convinced his pet was dead. He comforted himself with the thought she had died in the most beautiful part of the country.
For the next two weeks, the Holdens were heartbroken. Then, one day, the phone rang and Steve Tregear, the coastguard of Cornwall, asked Holder if he would like his dog bark.
A birdwatcher, armed with a telescope, found the pet sitting desperately on a rock. While he sounded the alarm, a student from Leeds climbed down the cliff to collect Judy.
The dog had initially been knocked unconscious(失去知觉的)but had survived by drinking water from a fresh scream at the base of the cliff. She may have fed on the body of a sheep which had also fallen over the edge. "The dog was very thin and hungry," Steve Tregear said, "It was a very lucky dog. She survived because of a plentiful supply of fresh water,” he added.
It was, as Mr. Holden admitted, "a minor miracle(奇迹)".
The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap (间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.
Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what maybe implied (暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.
Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.
Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient's silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing (治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.
Life in the Clear Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3, 300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, "These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they're eating it, or unless something is eating them. "
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through?It's trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射)light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn't absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn't look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don't see it—you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素)that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn't have pigments, so its tissues won't absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials—skin, fat, and more—and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see-through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-like(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it.
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they're doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.
Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule
From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability, money, and time. Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule：
⒈Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already?
⒉Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.
⒊This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.
Hopefully that gives you a good start. And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!
A. Try new things.
B. Ability is easily improved.
C. Make three or four instead.
D. Understand your food better.
E. Cooking is a burden for many people.
F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.
G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.
During the war, my husband was stationed at an army camp in a desert in California. I went to live there in order to be 1 him. I hated the place. I had never 2 been so unhappy. My husband was ordered out on a long-term duty, and I was left in a tiny shack(棚屋) alone. The heat was 3 — almost 125°F even in the shade of a cactus(仙人掌). 4 a soul to talk to. The wind blew non-stop, and all the food I ate, and the very air I breathed, were 5 with sand, sand, sand!
I was so sorry for myself that I wrote to my parents. I told them I was 6 and coming back home. I said I couldn't stand it one minute longer. I 7 be in prison! My father answered my 8 with just two lines — two lines that will always sing in my 9— two lines that completely changed my life:
Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.
I read those two lines 10. I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present 11; I would look for the stars.
I made friends with the natives, and their 12 amazed me. They gave me presents of their favorite artworks which they had 13 to sell to tourists. I studied the delightful forms of the cactus. I watched for the desert sunsets, and 14 for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the sands of the desert had been an ocean 15.
What brought about this 16 change in me? The desert hadn't changed, 17 I had. I had changed my 18. And by doing so, I changed an unhappy experience into the most amazing 19 of my life. I was excited by this new world that I had discovered. I had looked out of my self-created prison and 20 the stars.
Chengdu has dozens of new millionaires, Asia's biggest building, and fancy new hotels. But for tourists like me, pandas are its top (attract).
So it was a great honour to be invited backstage at the not-for-profit Panda Base, where ticket money helps pay for research. I (allow) to get up close to these cute animals at the 600-acre centre. From tomorrow, I will be their UK ambassador. The title will be (official) given to me at a ceremony in London. But my connection with pandas goes back my days on a TV show in the mid-1980s, I was the first Western TV reporter (permit) to film a special unit caring for pandas rescued from starvation in the wild. My ambassadorial duties will include (introduce) British visitors to the 120-plus pandas at Chengdu and others at a research centre in the misty mountains of Bifengxia.
On my recent visit, I held a lively three-month-old twin that had been rejected by (it) mother. The nursery team switches him every few (day) with his sister so that while one is being bottle-fed, other is with mum—she never suspects.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧)，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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
My dream school starts at 8: 30 a. m. and ends at 3:30 p. m. They are three lessons in the morning and two in the afternoon. We didn't need to do so many homework. Therefore, we have more time with afterschool activities. For example, we can do reading for one and a half hour and play sports for one hour every day.
My dream school look like a big garden. There are all kinds of the flowers and trees around the classroom buildings. We can lie on the grass for a rest or sat by the lake listening music. The teachers here are kind and helpfully. They are not only our teachers but also our friends.
注意：
1）词数100左右;
2）可以适当增加细节，已使行文连贯。
