—No, you ___________. I need to work on it.
Aron Ralston is an American man who isinterested in mountain climbing. As a mountain climber, Aron is used to takingrisks. This is one of the exciting things about doing dangerous sports. Therewere many times when Aron almost lost his life because of accidents. On April26, 2003, he found himself in a very.1 situation when climbing in Utah.
On that day, Aron's arm was caughtunder a 360-Kilo rock that2 on him when he was climbing by himself in themountains.3 he could not free his arm, he stayed there forfive days and hoped that someone would find him. But when his water ran out, heknew that he would have to do something to4 his own life. He wasn't ready to die that day.So he used his knife to cut off half his right arm. Then, with his left arm, hebandaged himself so that he wouldn't lose too much5.After that, he climbed down the mountain to find help.
After losing his arm, he wrote a bookcalledBetween a Rock and a Hard Place.This means being in a difficult situation that you can't seem to get out of. Inthis book, Aron tells of the importance of making good6, and of being in control of one's life.His love for mountain climbing is so great that he kept on climbing mountainseven after this experience.
Some people say that childhood is thebest time of your life.1,being a child has both advantages and disadvantages.
On the good side, you have very fewresponsibilities. For example, you don't have to go to2,pay bills, or do the shopping, cooking, or cleaning. This3 youhave plenty of free time to do whatever you want — watch TV, play on thecomputer, go out with friends, play sports, or enjoy other4. On top of that, public transport,cinema, and sports centers5muchless for children. All in all, being a child is an exciting time in life.
However, there are also somedisadvantages. For one thing, you have to spend all day, Monday to Friday, at school.Studying usually means you have to do homework, and you have to take6.What's more, you may have a lot of free time, but you are seldom7 todo whatever you want. You usually have to ask your parents if you can dothings, from going shopping in town to staying out late or going to a party.Last of all,8 there are often cheaper prices for children,things are still expensive — and parents are not always generous with pocketmoney. There's never enough to do everything you want. The9 isthat sometimes there's not enough to do anything at all!
To sum up, although some people seechildhood as the best time in life, I think that children have no real choiceor money. Nevertheless (虽然如此), it is10 that choice and money bring responsibilities —which increase with age.
Exchange Students' Experience
Name: Susan Lane | Exchange Country: Iceland |
I think it was a turning point in my life. I began to understand more about my own culture by experiencing a different culture in this country. | |
Name: Sara Small | Exchange Country: Germany |
I enjoyed this trip. I found German people were not as serious as I thought before. Although I made a lot of German friends, I still missed my family and friends in Australia. | |
Name: David Links | Exchange Country: Australia |
I wanted to try something that was very different from Australia in culture. In Australia everything was different, but I soon got used to it. | |
Name: Tom Jennings | Exchange Country: France |
There were some challenges (挑战), but I liked them, experiencing a different culture. You just have to face each situation as it comes. | |
A Special Card
"Attention, everyone!" Miss Dalrymple looked at her class of ten-year-olds. "Today we are going to create a special card for Father's Day, which falls on this weekend." Then she busied herself handing out the paper and art materials to her noisy pupils.
They were a mixed punch. Some came from the rich side of the town, but the majorities (大部分) were from parents who struggled to get jobs. So she had not been eager to carry out this activity.
"Think about all the things that your dad does that makes him special," she said loudly as she came up to the last table. "You can write a poem or short story that makes your dad special. The written part of this activity should be completed before you start to decorate your card."
Andrew looked at the blank page. He had never met, spoken to, or been hugged by his dad, so how could he write about him? Once when he was looking in his grandma's photo box, he had seen an old black and white photo but it was badly creased (弄皱) and difficult to recognize any clear features (特点). Grandma had quickly taken it from him and buried it deeply among the rest, never to be found again. After thinking for a while, he Wrote:
Dear Dad,
You are a person I do not know and would probably not recognize as I only saw an old photo of you a long time ago. I think and wonder about you often, especially when I have no one to talk to. One day when I grow up I will do an Internet search to find you, but I am not sure whether I will be successful as several efforts by the Child Support Agency have not been successful.
Happy Father's Day, Dad.
Love,
Andrew
Human, Don't Come Too Close
When we see babies or pets, we can't help gently touching them to show our love. And they give us happy feelings back. But a recent study shows that it's different for plants.
A study, published inThe Plant Journal, shows that plants don't "like" to be touched. That's because touching changes their genes (基因) and, even worse, can slow their growth.
Professor Jim Whelan of the La Trobe Institute in Australia gave an explanation. "The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, leads to a huge gene change in the plant,"Science Daily reported.
Frequent touching from humans may change plants' genes and slow their growth. |
In order to test the theory, the scientists did an experiment on plants. They grew a number of plants to the age of four weeks. Then they touched them with a paintbrush every 12 hours over a 36-hour period.
They found that as a response to the touch, the mitochondria (线粒体) in the plants had been partly destroyed. The mitochondria, as Science Alert noted, are the "powerhouse of the cell (细胞)". The mitochondria produce energy for the rest of the cell in both animals and plants.
If this "powerhouse" is weakened, the plants will lose a large amount of energy that should have supported their growth. Whelan further explained to Science Daily, "If the touching is repeated, then plant growth is reduced by up to 30 percent."
Although the process does have a strong effect on plants, usually the plants survive. Touching changes the plants, but it's not necessarily a bad change.
According to Science Alert, frequent touching or moving plants will make them grow shorter than other ones. The researchers believe this change, in some way, could be helpful. It may help plants fight threats to their health such as insects and bad weather.
The new research findings have led to a deeper understanding of the plants' response to touching. And the research might "open up new ways to reduce sensitivity (敏感性) and improve growth in the future", Science Alert reported.
What does the word "patent (专利权)" mean to you? Does it interest you? If it does, stop and think a moment about some of the common things that you use every day: the telephone, radio, television, and the thousands of other things that enrich our lives today, were once only ideas in the minds of men. If it had not been possible to patent their ideas, so as to protect them from being copied, these inventions might never have been fully developed to serve human beings.
If there were no patent protection, there would be little encouragement to invent, for once the secrets of an invention became known, those who did not experience the inventor's risks and expenses (花费) might well fill the market with their copies of his product and steal much of the benefit (益处) of his efforts.
The most basic values in the U. S. patent system came from England. During the rule of Queen Elizabeth I in England, the growing technology was furthered by the giving of exclusive privileges (独家特权) to people who had invented new processes (程序) or tools—a step that did much to encourage creativity. Later, an important value was added: society had everything to gain and nothing to lose by giving exclusive privileges to an inventor, because a patent for an invention was given for something new that society never had before.
George Washington signed the first patent law on April 10, 1790, and less than four months later, the first patent was given to a man named Samuel Hopkins for a chemical process, an improved method in soap making.
In 1936, the Patent Office became a separate department and it has grown into an organization of over 2,500 people who every week deal with more than 1,600 patent applications, and of those, give more than 1,000. A patent may be given for any new and useful process, machine, or planning method.
The patent system has also helped to improve the pay of the American worker to an unexpected level; he can produce and earn more by using computers or adding machines, two important patented inventions. Patented inventions also help keep prices down by encouraging competition.
Our patent laws, like the Constitution from which they grew, have stood the test of time. They have encouraged creative processes, brought great benefits to society as a whole, and enabled American technology tooutstrip that of the rest of the modern world.
Our views towards life change over thetime. When I was around five years old, I was in a car accident. At that time,I did not realize the seriousness of it and how lucky I was to still be alive.As I look back to think what happened on that night, I now realize how lucky myfamily members and I were to not have gotten serious injuries.
The day of the accident started outgreat. My brother, Troy, and I had spent the night before at JoAnn's house,with Heather, and JoAnn's husband Gary. The next day we spent playing insidethe house, because it was cold, windy and rainy outside. At night, JoAnn toldus we were going out and that where we were going was a surprise. The five ofus climbed into an old car, and we set off for our surprise. It was still cold,windy, and raining cats and dogs outside when we left. Troy, Heather and I satin the backseat together happily. The next thing I knew was that everything waschaos (混乱)! The road was so slick (滑的) that the car lost control. Glass was flying everywhere, and itsounded like there was noise all around us. Then it was totally quiet, exceptfor the sound of the rain and wind. Troy, Heather and I were all lying on topof one another. The three of us were crying, not knowing what had happened.JoAnn and Gary were trying to calm (使平静) us down andkept asking us if we were all right. Luckily, none of us was injured, just afew cuts. After that I only remember sitting there in the cold, dark nightwaiting for Gary to get back with people to help us. We never got to thesurprise that night. But at least we were able to go home in one piece.
After my brother and I got home thatnight, I remember my parents let us stay up as long as we wanted to. I guess myparents were realizing just how close they came to losing us that night. As Ithink of the tragedy (悲剧) that could havehappened on that night, I realize how precious (宝贵)life is. I treasure my family and friends, and hope that we will share aloving, caring, and rewarding lifetime together. Things seldom go the way Iplan them to, but I take a deep breath, try to laugh, and make the best of it.
题目一
随着外国游客日益增多，国家博物馆正在选拔部分中学生在假期里作为志愿者为游客提供英文讲解服务。假如你是李华，请你用英文写一份自荐信，向博物馆的负责人推荐自己。请你在信中简单介绍自己的能力与优势，并说明自己希望成为志愿者的原因。
提示问题：
⒈What qualities or skills do you have to be a volunteer in National Museum?
⒉Why do you want to become a volunteer in National Museum?
提示词语：outgoing, be good at, free time, improve...
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Li Hua.
Yours,
Li Hua
题目二
在疫情期间，每位同学都经历了一段独特的上课体验——"网络学习"。在这段过程中你肯定也能切身体会到网络学习的优势与劣势。那么你更喜欢网络学习还是在校上课呢?请以"Study Online or Study at School"为题，选择你喜欢的上课方式，并陈述你的理由。
提示问题：
⒈Do you think it is a good idea to study online?
⒉What's the reason for your choice?
提示词语：prefer, convenient, communicate, lonely...
Study Online or Study at School
In the past few weeks, we studied online at home instead of going to school. It was an unusual experience.
