Pre-College Program Courses
The Harvard Pre-College Program will be hosting all courses online for Summer 2021. To encourage interactive learning, class sizes are small and typically range from 12 to 18 students. In this collegial setting, you will practice the art of healthy debates, learn to communicate clearly on complex topics, and deliver presentations on your own research, all under the guidance of Harvard instructors for a true Ivy League experience. At the end of the program, you will receive a written evaluation from your instructor, as well as a Harvard transcript with a grade of AR or NM ("requirements met" or "requirements not met"). Please note: You need to attend every online class in its entirety to receive a passing grade of "Met All Requirements".
Course: Care in Critical Times
• Jul 5 —Aug 16, Mon. to Thurs., 8:30 — 11:00 am
• Andrea Wright
What is care? How can and do communities encourage care as a tool for building healing, and hope? This course requires students to not only ask how they might engage in caring acts with their own communities, but to complete a locally based community project that brings care.
Course: Introduction to neuroscience
• Jul 7 — Jul 25, Wed. to Fri., Noon — 3:00 pm
• Grace Francis
This course is an introduction to the nervous system, with emphasis on the structure and function of the human brain.
Course: College Writing
• Jul 1 — Jul 22, Thurs. to Sat., 8:00 — 11:30 am
• Martin T Greenup
This course introduces students to college writing by taking them through the steps required to complete a five — page analytic essay. Students read a range of classic and contemporary short stories, and develop strategies for careful close reading via class discussion and in-class exercises.
Course: The Economics of Cities
• Jun 17 — Jul 29, Sun. to Thurs., 3:15 — 6:15 pm
• Thomas Shay Hill
What causes cities to grow, and what limits their growth? What are the costs of urban living, and how can they be overcome? We examine a range of major urban issues from an economic view: traffic and transportation; water, public health and the role of cities in generating economic growth and technological innovation.
Wearing a caveman mask, Dr. John Marzluff walks across the campus at the University of Washington in Seattle. Crows (乌鸦) circle and squawk (尖叫), diving at him and away.
Beneath the mask, he smiles. Days before, he and his students, wearing caveman masks, trapped them and placed colored plastic bands on their legs. Then they released the unhappy birds. When the researchers wandered around campus without the masks, the crows they had caught and banded did not react to them. But when the same humans walked by while wearing the masks, the crows scolded loudly and dived at their "enemies".
At first, only the banded birds reacted aggressively to the people in masks. But in later tests, more and more crows joined in, and even when the banded birds were not around. "Crows think and dream, fight and play, reason and take risks," he says. "Their antics confuse us."
This led him to study how crows' brains work. He and his students wore one type of mask as they captured crows and brought them into the lab, training them to link that face with danger. Then a different kind of mask for more positive activities, such as feeding and caring. Then he worked with scientists at the university who scan animal brains to see which parts of a crow's brain do certain tasks. Surprisingly, the scientists found that when the crow saw the "danger" mask, one part of its brain became active. When the crow saw the "care and feeding" mask, a different part of its brain lit up. The team has shown that crows use the same parts of their brains for recognition that humans do — something that was not known before!
More than 10 years after the first mask experiment, campus crows still scold the "cavemen". Crows also recognize people who are kind to them. Crows are always watching us... and they remember.
We often hear friends ask why they should read fiction. There is so much to learn from history, from what is going on at the frontiers of science, and from contemporary studies of human behavior. Why should they spend their scarce "free time" reading fiction, the purpose of which, at best, is only entertainment?
We are disappointed about such comments. Yes, we respond, we do find pleasure in reading fiction. But we also learn much about how to best live our lives in ways that can only be captured by fiction. We recognize that some novels are entertaining, but leave no lasting impression. What makes a novel more than entertainment?
Our answer is that we don't just read great books - they read us as well. The human condition is complex and contradictory, layered like an ice-cream dessert, with flavors mixed among the layers. A great novel reflects that complexity. We may read it several times, as we do with our favorites, and each time it is like finding an old friend and gaining new insights from that friend. We put it down with new understandings of the world around us and, most important, of ourselves.
Let's look at the novel Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein is not the monster, but a young man seeking out the secrets of the universe. He collects body parts and charges it with life. When the dull yellow eyes open, however, Frankenstein, shocked by what he has done, abandons the creature, which ultimately kills Frankenstein's brother, his bride, and his best friend.
On one level, Frankenstein is entertaining - a good horror story, though a little dated. But Shelley writes more than just that. On a deeper level, her book forces us to ask whether humans reach too far to gain knowledge that is as forbidden as the fruit of the Garden of Eden. This theme, as old as the legend of Prometheus (普罗米修斯), dominates Frankenstein. Shelley, of course, knew nothing of genetic (遗传的) engineering that happens today. She was deeply troubled by what human beings might discover about themselves, and the effects of those discoveries on society. Our reading of great literature can also be enriched by understanding the author's personal interests and anxieties.
Windows are a key component in a building's design, but they are also the least energy- efficient part. According to a 2009 report by the United Nations, buildings account for 40 percent of global energy usage, and windows are responsible for half of that energy consumption. If conventional windows are used to better block sunlight passing into a building, they need expensive coatings. Even so, they can not adjust the indoor temperature effectively.
Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) have developed a smart liquid window panel that can help. By creating a mixture of micro-hydrogel (水凝胶), water, and a stabilizer, they found that it can effectively reduce energy consumption in a variety of climates. Thanks to the hydrogel, the mixture becomes hard-to-see- through when exposed to heat, thus blocking sunlight, and, when cool, it returns to its original clear state. The high heat capacity of water allows a large amount of heat energy to be stored instead of getting transferred through the glass and into the building during the hot daytime when office buildings mainly operate. The heat will then be gradually cooled and released at night when the staff are off duty.
As a proof of concept, the scientists conducted outdoor tests in hot (Singapore, Guangzhou) and cold (Beijing) environments. The Singapore test revealed that the smart liquid window had a lower temperature (50℃) during the hottest time of the day (noon) compared to a normal glass window (84℃), The Beijing tests showed that the room using the smart liquid window consumed 11 percent less energy to maintain the same temperature compared to the room with a normal glass window. They also measured when the highest value of stored heat energy of the day occurred. This "temperature peak" in the normal glass window was 2 pm, and in the smart liquid window was shifted to 3 pm. If this temperature peak shift leads to a shift in the time when a building needs to draw on electrical power to cool or warm the building, it should result in lower energy charges for users. The research team is seeking ways to cut down the cost of producing the smart window and so far, they have found several industry partners to commercialize it.
How to Cope When Life Does Things We Can't Control
Stuff happens in life. We neither see the difficulties coming, nor have control to stop them. The result, of course, is more anxiety and stress than we know. Here are approaches that can help us move through what life throws us.
• Throw our inner victim a life jacket. When life becomes messy, it often feels easier to just throw up our hands and assume we can't do anything. Being a victim often allows us to pretend we are fine and choose to feel sorry for ourselves. While we can't change what has happened, none of us are powerless. Consider finding a stress support group or calling a hotline. We all have the power to choose our next step in life.
• When we are under stress, the natural tendency is to "talk things through" with our friends and loved ones. Writing things down on paper can be an amazing way to make the facts clear and keep them straight. The process of moving thought to hand makes it harder for us to lie to ourselves. The more we get to the truth of our situation, the more we can source ways to deal with it. We might also benefit from writing down our ideas for managing our situation.
• Switch up our perspective (视角). It rarely is. Instead, it's a perspective. Imagine life is a statue, and that a circle of people surrounds the statue, how many more angles are there to see things from than the one you are standing at? Sometimes a new perspective can put us into a better mindset.
A. Be honest — on paper.
B. It does work, but not always.
C. This is a form of victim mode.
D. And often, difficult stuff happens.
E. Therefore, life may throw us a curve ball.
F. Get support — from our friends and loved ones.
G. Many of us believe what we think is the whole truth.
My husband Mike waved a stick in my face, pulling my attention back to the very important task at hand. As I looked up, I saw our dog Bagel's 1 commanding to make the next move.
From our first encounter, Bagel's stare has said everything that she could not 2 out. Twelve years after 3 Bagel, we understood each other better than ever. This summer we decided to 4 the occasion with a road trip.
We 5 ourselves on a Vancouver Island beach, more than 1,500 miles from our 6 in Northern Colorado. Maximum 7 required the whole family's involvement and participation. Bagel reminded me as she waited for me to 8 our game of fetch. Holding my eyes with hers, she threw her head back and sent her 9 directly to me: "Hey lady, you're supposed to be 10 too. It's your turn!” I took the 11 from Mike and as far as I could, 12 it into the water. Within seconds she 13 dropping the stick at my feet with a bark, "14! "
As I watched my aging dog walk around like a puppy, I knew we had made our decision 15 but when we planned this 16 we realized that it could be one of her last. For the last couple of years, old age had finally begun to 17 energy and strength.
As she ages, it is becoming increasingly difficult to 18 the fact that Mike and I will almost 19 outlive her. And consequently, it feels more important than ever that we should celebrate, rather than 20 the limited time we have left.
For many people in the world, food waste has become a habit: buying more food than we need at markets, (let) fruit and vegetables spoil at home or taking more than we can eat.
These habits put extra pressure our natural resources and damage our environment. When we waste food, we waste so much labour, effort, (invest) and the precious resources that go into producing it, not to mention the resources in transporting and processing it. In short, wasting food increases greenhouse gas emissions and (contribute) to climate change.
It's urgent issue. In fact, tons of food is lost or wasted (global) every day. The part of food that is lost from harvest up to, but not including, the retail level is called food loss. The part wasted at the consumer or retail level (refer) to as food waste. We make this distinction to address those root (cause) of this problem, a problem that everyone from farmers and producers to customers can help end.
Reducing food loss and waste is essential in a world millions of people go hungry every day. When we reduce waste, we respect that food is not a given. It's up to us (change) our habits to make not wasting food a way of life!
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，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：在错的词下划一横线，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 aunt is a well-known artist. Her paintings are such lifelike that they always give me much pleasures. My aunt always reminds me of that there is more than one way of interpreting a painting. In my opinion, art is supposed to shared. It is a form of communication. I couldn't agree with her much. When viewers look at a work of art, they were bringing with them all their life experiences as well as previous memories. That one experiences will not be exactly the same as someone else's when face with the same piece. Perhaps that's where its truly beauty lies.
1）发出邀请；
2）比赛介绍；
3）请她提供建议。
注意：
1）词数100左右。
2）开头结尾已给出。
