I was 16 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!
And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza(狂欢)?
Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was thrilled and transported by a book-it was Hemingway's The Sun Also rises-and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting in a classroom taking another biology exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatiates(异乡客).
I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role—as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student—in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.
Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway's language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.
Lego is considering a brick (积木)rental plan in an attempt to cut down on plastic waste. The Danish toymaker has promised to make all its bricks from sustainable(可持续的) sources by 2030 and is investing significant resources into finding alternatives.
Tim Brooks, vice-president responsible for sustainability, said the company was "totally open" to the idea of a product rental plan but admitted that lost pieces could produce a significant problem. "What are the chances of giving them to an eight-year-old child and getting them all back again?" Mr. Brooks added
"There is a lot of technical thinking that needs to be done. We are right at beginning of that." Mr. Brooks said Lego was exploring several ideas with a view to producing the highest value from products while consuming the least amount of resources. He said many would "probably never see the light of day" and there was no current plan to try out a rental plan.
Lego has come under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint among growing international alarm about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. It produces 19 billion pieces per year—36, 000 a minute—that are made entirely of plastic while much of the inside packaging is also plastic.
So far, the only breakthrough has been the development of a line of bricks made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane. The green trees, plants and flowers were first included in Lego sets late last year but make up only 1%-2% of the total amount of plastic elements produced. Henrik Nielson, a production supervisor (主管) in Lego's factory, said last year: "We need to learn again how to do this."
Lego reportedly releases around a million tons of carbon dioxide each year, with about 75% coming from raw materials that go into factories. The company has invested more than $100,000,000 and hired 100 people to research non-plastic alternatives. It is aiming to keep packaging out of landfill by 2025.
Anyone who commutes(通勤)by car knows that traffic jams are an unavoidable part of life. But humans are not alone in facing potential backups.
Ants also commute—between their nest and sources of food. The survival of their colonies depends on doing this efficiently.
When humans commute, there's a point at which cars become dense(稠密)enough to slow down the flow of traffic, causing jam. Motsch, a mathematician in Arizona State University, and his colleagues wanted to know if ants on the move could also get stuck. So they regulated traffic density by constructing bridges of various widths between a colony of Argentine ants and a source of food. Then they waited and watched. "The goal was to try to find out at what point they are going to have a traffic jam." said Sebastien Motsch.
But it appears that that never happened. They always managed to avoid traffic jam. The flow ants did increase at the beginning as ants started to fill the bridge and then leveled off at high densities. But it never slowed down or stopped, even when the bridge was nearly filled with ants.
The researchers then took a closer look at how the behaviour of individual ants impacted traffic as a whole and they found that when ants sense overcrowding they adjust their speeds and avoid entering high-density areas, which prevents jams. These behaviours may be promoted by pheromones, chemicals that tell other ants where a trail is. The ants also manage to avoid colliding(碰撞)with each other at high densities, which could really slow them down. The study is in the journal eLife.
Can ants help us solve our own traffic problems? Not likely, says Motsch. That's because when it comes to getting from point a to point b as fast as possible, human drivers put their own goals first Individual ants have to be more cooperative in order to feed the colony. But the research could be useful in improving traffic flow for self-driving cars, which can be designed to be less like selfish humans-and more like ants.
BE A GOOD TOURIST
Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it brings in money for the local economy and creates lots of jobs for locals, but it may also bring some problems.
Tourists have used paint, rocks, or even keys to write on the Luxor Temple in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, Stonehenge in the UK, memorial stones at the bottom of Qomolangma, and many, many other-places. Thousands of tourists sites are being destroyed by tourists who "love them to death". If you want to leave a mark on the world, do it by changing someone's life with kindness and love Pass kindness along to future generations, not destruction.
Another big problem in some places has been tourists disturbing the local people and For example, Chiang Mai University in Thailand and Yonsei University in South Korea have great numbers of tourists visiting their campuses and walking through their libraries and other public areas, taking pictures of students and disturbing their studies. I have three words for tourists like this: please be considerate.
The number of problems from tourists is endless: walking in large groups without considering others who need to walk by, crossing roads without observing local traffic laws, and many more. The only way to solve the issue of the terrible tourist is to make sure that you are not one! Remember, whenever you step outside your country's borders, you are representing your country to the rest of the world.
A. Just think from other aspects
B. When in Rome do as the Romans do.
C. Have fun in a way that does not disturb others
D. Be the best, kindest, most polite tourist possible
E. I have three words for people like this: please stop it.
F. One growing problem is tourists who want to prove that they have visited someplace
G. Some tourists wander around and take pictures of local people without asking for their permission.
Last Sunday, there was no dirt in the air, only bright spring sunshine and a clear blue sky. After church, Papa headed out to the field to check on the cattle while Mama started dinner. Faye and I played in the yard. The temperature suddenly dropped—it felt good. The1 had been building since dawn.
Then Mama shouted from the2, "Iris, you and Faye get inside, real quick now!"
I looked to the west and saw a huge black cloud of3like thick smoke from a railway engine's chimney. All the birds flew away. "Faye, go with Mama!" I 4. "I'll warn Papa."
Faye ran toward the house. The storm hit so fast that I5saw her climb the porch (门廊)steps. In a short time, the day turned into night. I 6for Papa, hoping my voice would lead him back.
The dirt and sand stung my face like a thousand bees I needed to get to shelter. 7 face with one hand, I made my way toward the car and opened the door. Dirt flew in with me as I pulled the door closed. Papa was still out there! I needed to help him8the car.
I searched the dashboard(仪表板) and found the switch for the front 9. They made some rays, but would Papa see them in the thick10? I pushed the horn (喇叭) again and again, hoping Papa would hear it.
11 Papa's face appeared at the window. My heart jumped with surprise and12. He opened the door and climbed onto the seat next to me. He coughed and wiped his eyes with dirty hands, then pulled me into his arms. "Oh, Iris, you're13."
I hugged Papa and14. I could feel the tears streaming down my dirty cheeks. Papa15my face. "Your mother and Faye?" I said, "They are in the house." Papa nodded, "Good. We'll wait out the storm there." Papa shut off the cars lights and I worried the dirt would16us.
Finally, the wind died down and the dust started to 17. Papa kicked against the door, opening it far enough to let us out. We went home as Mama18out. "Mama!" "I shouted and ran into her arms. "Oh, my precious Iris!" Mama cried. "You and Papa are safe!"
"I'm safe19Iris," Papa said. "The car's horn led me to shelter."
"I'm so proud of you." Mama said to me.
I cried even more then, tears of joy because our family had20 the horrible storm.
TENCENT announced yesterday that it will limit the daily time for youngsters to play (it)popular King of Glory game after parents and schools in Shanghai and other areas complained their children had become addicted to playing it.
From tomorrow, children younger than 12 (allow) only to play the game for a maximum of one hour a day, and after 9 pm, they will be banned logging(登录) into it, said Tencent. Teenagers older than 12 will be able to play a maximum two hours a day.
The game system will remind players the time they have been playing and young players will be forced to log out
the time is up.
Tencent claimed these were the (strict) measures in China's game industry to prevent (addict) and the company expected they would ease parents' anxiety.
There have been several cases (report) that children had spent too much money as well as time on King of Glory, Tencent said it will add new function to limit spending of teenage players. The company also said it had updated system for parents to monitor children (use)its games.
Now, parents can connect phones, tablets or computers their children use (play )games, so that they can always keep an eye on the children even if they have several game accounts, Tencent said.
假定你是李华，外教Maria发邮件请你为她的英国学生录制一个短片，介绍你的校园生活，请给她回一封电子邮件，内容包括：
1）简述拍摄内容
2）征求对方意见。
注意：
1）词数80左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要
Most students experience a lot of stress while preparing for exams, as both their parents and teachers expect them to get high scores. Students who feel anxious are likely to experience problems like difficulty in concentrating while studying, confusion, feeling stressed while looking at difficult questions, feeling blank, sweating, sleepless, etc. Under such circumstances they end up scoring less than they could have. Therefore, it's extremely important for students to learn about how to overcome fear, so that they can take their examination confidently, finally earning good grades. Here are a few tips on ways to overcome exam fear.
There are many students who take studies lightly, leaving everything to be studied at the last minute. As a result, when exams are around the corner, they feel scared, as they don't know where to start, and what to study. So the easiest way of overcoming this problem is to start studying much before the exam. Another common mistake that many students make is that they don't make an effort to understand the subject. When they have memorized without
understanding, the chances of forgetting are more. Therefore, it is vital to understand the concept before memorizing it. In this way, you will never forget any important point. Besides, that the exams are coming does not mean that you have to sit with your books for the entire day and students should take regular breaks to relax and refresh their mind. However, they should avoid watching too much TV and addicting themselves to the Internet, in which way, they are more likely to waste time.
Apart from the tips above, here are some points that will help students cope with exam-related anxiety. For example, before the exam, avoid studying anything new or having conversations with your classmates about what they have studied and how much they have studied, both of which will make you more nervous. During the exam, if you get blank after seeing difficult questions, ignore them for the time being, and attempt those you find easier. Once you have completed them, go back to the difficult ones.
