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put up, get ready for, upside down, sweep away, be up to, find out, for the first time, let off, attach...to..., scare...away |
It was my (one) time spending Spring Festival in China with my host family. Spring Festival is (high) valued by every Chinese family. Preparations began a week the festival. The house was cleaned and the Chinese character Fu (attach) upside down to (we) front door. The greatest (excite) began the night before the Spring Festival. Fireworks were let off across the city, suddenly lighting up night sky. Children were covering their ears an expectant look on their faces. Mrs. Chen said it (be) to scare away the monster Nian. We then sat together (enjoy) a big dinner, wishing everyone a happy new year.
With spring officially here, we can look forward to fresh flowers and cherry blossoms. While you could stay home and admire the change in season, why not celebrate the end of winter with a fun spring time holiday? We've found a handful of terrific packages at home and abroad, good for departures through midMay.
London's Chelsea Flower Show for $849
Every May, London hosts the worldfamous Chelsea Flower Show, showcasing astonishing gardens, and lively horticultural (园艺的) displays that set the latest in garden design trends. This year, Virgin Vacations offers a sixnight airland packages priced at a sweet $849. Good for departures May 2123, this deal covers the following costs: accommodations; airfare from New York; daily continental breakfast; and one fullday entrance to the Flower Show (May 24, 25 or 26).
Cherry Blossoms in Washington D. C. for $319/night
You don't need to travel far for an impressive flower show! From March 31 through April 15 Washington D. C. is hosting its yearly Cherry Blossoms Festival, marking the 95th celebration of the original gifi of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of D. C. Several hotels are honoring the occasion with special deals: for example, HayAdams offers a Cherry Blossom Package from $319/night with lodging (twonight minimum stay), free parking, and a special amenity (便利设施).
Spring Flowers of Amsterdam for $739
Want to catch the spring flowers blooming in the lowlands of Holland? Amsterdam is a treat to visit at this time of year, as its numerous gardens explode with color. You can go Dutch and save some serious dollars to boot! At just $739 for a fournight stay with airfare, at this spring escape is priced to go! Good for travel between April 1 and May 17, the deal includes air from New York; accommodation at a budget hotel; daily breakfast; and a local map and guide.
Tokyo Spring Fun for $949
To spot the cherry blossoms right at the source, we recommend a spring venture to Tokyo. Now you can visit on the cheap with the Asian Affair Holidays special we found：a Tokyo spring special starts at just $949! This deal covers airport transfers; five nights' lodging at Tokyo Hilton International; and a halfday city tour. This particular price is valid for departures between April 1 and April 30, perfectly timed for the best of cherryblossom season.
Each year on Halloween, children look forward to trickortreating (不请客就捣乱) for candies. But for some kids, eating Halloween candies can be dangerous.
That's because one out of every 13 kids in the US has a food allergy (过敏症). They are allergic to ingredients (成分) in many Halloween candies, such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, and beans. If they eat these foods, they will get sick or even die.
"I had to throw away all my candies with tears," eightyearold Conlen said. Conlen is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy. Twelveyearold Kylie is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. She has been trickortreating only twice. "I brought my candies home and gave them to the neighbours，" Kylie said. "It felt terrible."
But this year, Conlen, Kylie and other kids with food allergies will have a chance for a happy Halloween. That's because nearly 100,000 households across the US have promised to take part in the Teal Pumpkin Project (TPP), which was started last year by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). FARE is an organisation that works to improve the lives of people with food allergies. Through the project, the households agree to have nonfood items for trickortreaters, including trinkets (小饰品) and toys.
To take part in the project, people buy a teal (蓝绿色) pumpkin or paint a pumpkin teal and place it in front of their house. The painted pumpkins let trickortreaters know that nonfood items are available there. The households also add their home addresses to an online map, making it easier for trickortreaters to find them.
Kylie loves the idea. "The TPP makes Halloween fun and safe," she said. "It makes me feel like a normal kid, and it makes everyone feel included."
Cassie Warren and Jesse Jones will always have a great story to tell their kids about the kindness of strangers and how one stranger in particular made their wedding planning much sweeter.
A few weeks ago, as Warren was addressing wedding invitations for her upcoming wedding, she mistakenly used an old address for her aunt and uncle in nearby Eugene, Oregon. But when a stranger received the misaddressed mail, she didn't just throw it in the garbage like many people would have done. Instead, she returned the invitation, along with a sweet note and $20 as a wedding present.
The sender also wrote "Live long and prosper" on the corner of the card—words from "Star Trek", probably because the young couple's wedding invitation shows Jesse holding a light knife from "Star Wars" and Cassie holding a wand (魔杖) in a nod to the "Harry Potter" books.
The generous stranger also included $20, probably as a little gift for the wedding. The young couple put the money to good use by going out to dinner with a friend who wouldn't be able to attend the wedding.
Warren said that she was at first confused by the returned wedding invitation. "But after I saw the note, I was just surprised and blessed that she/he would do that for a stranger," Warren said. "Jesse was confused at first, too—he wondered why someone had sent us money, then I read the message to him, and he was shocked and grateful."
Warren and Jones still don't know the name of the kind stranger, but Warren sent a thankyou note to the same address to let the sender know how much her/his generosity was appreciated. The young couple plan to marry in June and thanks to the kindness of a stranger, their marriage is already off to a sweet start.
Do You Have a Positive Attitude?
Who would you rather hang around with? Someone who always acts in low spirits? Or someone who manages to see the good around him, even when things aren't always going great?
Having a positive attitude can help you in many ways. Your friends will definitely appreciate you more if you see the silver lining rather than just the dark clouds!
The less pressure you feel, the better you will feel overall. So if you've been feeling tired, put on a happy face and you just might feel better soon.
But how can you have a positive attitude when life is hard? It's more than just turning life's lemons into lemonade. But it's worth it.
A positive attitude doesn't mean ignoring life's troubles. It just means looking for the good in things, rather than being a pessimist and concentrating on the bad in things. Sometimes your attitude can make all the difference.
Identify (识别) those areas of your life that might not be going so well. Focus on one at a time and think of ways you can find the positive in things.
A. The answer is to have a positive attitude.
B. Having a positive attitude can take some hard work.
C. They are likely to make you have negative thoughts.
D. Having a positive attitude can also reduce your stress level.
E. If you have a positive attitude, you're more fun to be around.
F. When you feel better physically, you naturally feel better mentally.
G. It's no surprise that people enjoy being around positive people rather than negative people.
Marie Curie was one of the (much) famous and greatest people of her time. Together with her husband Pierre, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903, and she tried her best (win) another in 1911.
Marie (be) the daughter of a teacher. In 1891, she went to Paris to study physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne in she met Pierre Curie, professor of the School of Physics. They got married in 1895. The Curies worked together researching radioactivity (放射性). At the end of 1898, they announced discovery of radium. The Curies, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.
Pierre's life was cut short in 1906 when he was (kill) by a carriage. Marie took over his teaching work, (become) the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. And she devoted herself to continuing the work that they had begun together. She received a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911.
Despite her (succeed), Marie continued to face great objection from men (scientist) in France, and she never received much money from her work. In the late 1920s, her health was beginning to become worse, and she died July 4th, 1934 from highenergy radiation from her research.
