You are about to hear a strange but true story. Legend has it that, Harry Houdini, the master magician, once claimed that he could break out of any jail cell in the world. All he had to do was walk into that jail cell with his streets clothes on. "I will be out of there in one hour. No problem!" He said. A very old jail down South hear about Houdini's claims and they accepted the challenge. On the day of the event, many people gathered outside. Very confidently, Houdini walked into the jail and into the cell and they shut the metal door behind him.
The first thing Houdini did was to take off his coat. Then, very strangely, he took off his belt. Secretly hidden in Houdini's belt, was a ten-inch piece of steel; very tough and very flexible and Houdini started working.
In about 30 minutes, that confident expression Houdini had when he walked in disappeared. In one hour, he was bathed in sweat. And at the end of two hours, Houdini in defeat, collapsed against the door, which then opened. It opened because you you see, that door had never been locked. But that's not entirely true is it? That door was locked. It was firmly and thoroughly locked in Houdini's mind, which meant it was locked as if the best locksmith in the world had put his lock on it.
The mind is powerful. How many doors in your life do you think are locked but aren't? How many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of over thinking something that really had a simple solution. There is an ancient African proverb that says when there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.
Your mind is the most powerful force you will ever face. It will tell you lies. It will tell you can't do that. You're not meant for that. You're not good enough for that. You can't go on anymore. You don't have the energy. You must thank it for its opinion and carry on. Because as Houdini showed us the only locked doors that exist are in your own mind. The doors in reality are open and all you have to do is walk through.
People are more willing to change their mind about people they initially hold. Common wisdom holds that negative first impressions are hard to shake—and some research backs this up. But such studies often unfairly compare impressions based on immoral deeds that are extreme and relatively rare with impressions based on kindnesses that are more common. A new set of studies involving precisely balanced behaviors finds that people are more willing to change their mind about individuals who initially come off as selfish than about those they think selfless.
In three of the experiments, 336 laboratory and online participants read about two people who each made a series of 50 decisions regarding how many electric shocks to give someone in exchange for money. One fictional subject required more money per shock than the average person did to inflict (施加) pain on others. The other's price-per-shock threshold (界限) was comparably lower than the average person's. Study participants read about each subject's decisions one at a time. Before seeing each decision, they predicted what it would be. After every three decisions the fictional subject made, participants rated the individual on a scale from "nasty" to "nice," and then specified their confidence in the rating.
As expected, participants rated the person who gave shocks for a lower price as nastier than the higher-price shocker. But they expressed less confidence in the "nasty" ratings, and their predictions of how many shocks that person would give fluctuated (波动) more. In other words, their beliefs about the "bad" subject were more changeable. "A well-designed brain system would not write someone off completely at the first sign of trouble," says Molly Crockett, a psychologist at Yale University.
The test scenarios (情况) are a far cry from real-world interactions. Still, the experiment offers "a really elegant pattern that drills down on a question that's so central to our everyday human life," says Peter Mende-Siedlecki, a psychologist at the University of Delaware.
For many, scientific innovations tend to be welcome advancements that improve our lives. For some, however, new technologies bring risk of uselessness, in turn leading to great resistance.
With the climate crisis unfolding before our eyes, the race is on to find alternatives that will help humanity leave a smaller footprint on our planet. Because of animal agriculture's leading role as a greenhouse gas emitter, the search for more sustainable protein sources could be one such alternative.
As food tech companies use science to unlock the potential of plant proteins, they're producing increasingly better plant-based meats and milks that look and taste like the real thing, but with a much lower carbon footprint. Some in the meat industry are supporting the new and investing in these alt-protein companies.
For some lawmakers, however, these innovative products don't deserve support; they deserve restriction. Missouri State, for example, recently passed a bill making it a crime punishable by imprisonment for companies to call their products ''meat'' if they don't come from an animal.
So why the mania (狂热) over meat and milk all of a sudden? Was there a consumer who brought home some pies labeled ''plant-based meat'' only to realize he was tricked? Did confused milk-drinkers file complaints with the Department of Agriculture when they found out their soymilk didn't contain actual milk?
There really are some consumers who are truly confused. Surveys show, however, that number is remarkably small. If anything, consumers are choosing these plant-based products specifically because they think they're better for them than the original products. And they have good reason to believe that plant-based milks and meats usually have less fat and more fiber than comparable animal-based foods.
So, consumers aren't confusing ''veggie bacon'' for real bacon; and if they don't think chicken nuggets have the same nutritional value as ''chicken-free nuggets'', then why do some meat and milk groups want a monopoly (垄断) over the M-words? Could it have to do with the fact that the increasing popularity of these foods, which are more sustainable and better for you, is threatening the profits of their constituents?
And with the future of our civilization hanging in the balance as climate change becomes more severe, it's time for policy makers to stop trying to prevent innovation, and instead to celebrate all the ways science can save us, including with sustainable proteins that can and do produce new kinds of meat.
OK," I said to my daughter as she bent over her afternoon bowl of rice. "What's going on with you and your friend J.?" J.is the leader of a group of third-graders at her camp—a position Lucy herself occupied the previous summer. Now she's the one on the outs. and every day at snack time, she tells me all about it, while I offer the unhelpful advice all summer long．
"She's fond of giving orders, "Lucy complained. "She's turning everyone against me. She's mean. And she's fat." "Excuse me," I said, struggling for calm. "What did you just said?" "She's fat." Lucy mumbled（含糊地说）. "We're going upstairs," I said, my voice cold. "We're going to discuss this." And up we went. I'd spent the nine years since her birth getting ready for this day, the day we'd have the conversation about this horrible word. I knew exactly what to say to the girl on the receiving end of the teasing, but in all of my imaginings, it never once occurred to me that my daughter would be the one who used the F word-Fat．
My daughter sat on her bed, and I sat beside her. "How would you feel if someone made fun of you for something that wasn't your fault?" I began. "She could stop eating so much," Lucy mumbled, mouthing the simple advice a thousand doctors have given overweight women for years.
"It's not always that easy," I said. "Everyone's different in terms of how they treat food．" Lucy looked at me, waiting for me to go on. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Should I tell her that, in teasing a woman's weight, she's joined the long tradition of critics? Should I tell her I didn't cry when someone posted my picture and commented, "I'm sorry, but aren't authors who write books marketed to young women supposed to be pretty?"
Does she need to know, now, that life isn't fair? I feel her eyes on me, waiting for an answer I don't have. Words are my tools. Stories are my job. It's possible she'll remember what I say forever, and I have no idea what to say.
So I tell her the only thing I can come up with that is absolutely true. I say to my daughter, "I love you, and there is nothing you could ever do to make me not love you. But I'm disappointed in you right now. There are plenty of reasons for not liking someone. What she looks like isn't one of them."
Lucy nods, tears on her cheeks. "I won't say that again," she tells me, and I pull her close, pressing my nose against her hair. As we sit there together, I pray for her to be smart and strong. I pray for her to find friends, work she loves, a partner who loves her. And still, always, I pray that she will never struggle as I've struggled, that weight will never be her cross to bear. She may not be able to use the word in our home, but I can use in my head. I pray that she will never get fat.
Run! Lunch-Delivery Men!
It's lunch time, and Guo Ziyang is on a mission: deliver seven hot meal orders in an hour.
He dashes into a downtown high-rise, carrying a plastic container of hot beef noodles. There is no time to wait for the right elevator. He hops into the first one that opens, jumps out at the last stop and begins running up the stairs. After a quick handoff to the customer, he races down 20 flights. . Across China's biggest cities, the scene has become as familiar as crowded subways. . Meals appear with just a few taps on a smartphone. With the major delivery services offering similar pricing strategies and food choices, the burden of competition has fallen largely on the speed of the delivery people, popularly known as Waimai Xiaoge, or "Brother Takeaway".
Guo said he wolfs down four or five steamed buns before starting work every morning. "You'll need the energy for various delivery missions," he said. "Sometimes, the buildings you deliver to don't have elevators. . Then, you have to climb ten flights of stairs."
Guo works around Shanghai's central business district. He joined Ele.me only last year. . With a foodwarmer box tied to his scooter, Guo tears through traffic, rushes past pedestrians and avoid bumps that might spill soup dishes. In less than two hours, he has made stops at a hospital, a hair salon, a hotel room and several high-rises. Six orders an hour is the norm for the lunchtime rush, but Guo said he is sometimes called upon to deliver ten meals. " You just have to apologize." he said.
Nevertheless, Guo said he thrives on deadline pressure. "I'm the kind of person who likes challenging work," he added.
A. Sometimes, people ask them to pick up cigarettes, alcohol and other items, which they aren't supposed to do.
B. One order down, six to go.
C. The tradition of going out for a meal has been under pressure from the fast pace of urban life.
D. Sometimes, the elevators are crowded and take a long time.
E. That's really difficult, and if you arrive late, customers get angry.
F. The arrival of food delivery apps has transformed the country's lunchtime culture.
G. But he has memorized the layouts of all the buildings in his area.
As a music teacher, I will be retiring at the end of the current school year. When that checklist from the HR department about my1plans for the next school year arrived, I was feeling 2.
My music room was in the basement. Heating pipes hung from the ceiling and large 3columns ran floor-to-ceiling, making4challenging. I had seen kids come to school with bruises (擦伤) or cigarette burns on their arms. I had had my purse stolen. I had been pushed up against a wall and 5 breathless by an angry eighth- grade girl.
When this year started, things were going much6. Kids were coming before school and during break to learn7 to play, and by Christmas, we had a concert band of 100 kids. Good behavior and fascinated attention led to8rehearsals(排练). As the students' playing improved, I could see their pride and sense of9grow. I hadn't even thought about the checklist. Then one afternoon, there it was. I picked it up, planning to go back to my office to sign it10. But holding it in my hand, I was11by thoughts and emotions I hadn't anticipated. I felt like a mother 12her children. I have loved unexpected comments of kids. 13, I have enjoyed the challenges of motivating the unmotivated as well as the 30-second conversations with teachers, making me embrace the 14 learning and growing.
The checklist suddenly made me feel 15, old and sad. I stood where I was, checked the box and sent it to the HR. Then I walked the long hallway back toward the music room.
There are many elective courses for students to choose at my university, (range) from art to zoology. For instance, I took a course on the harmonica this semester.
I think the elective courses give me a feeling that I can't get from compulsory courses. For example, when I am bored with learning English, I take out the harmonica and play for a while, and immediately all my (bore) will go away.
One of my roommates chose to take Japanese as an elective, she believes (prove) useful to her career. After all, second language can make her resume more attractive. She is more practical than I am, but I'd say that the (major) of students choose their electives out of personal interests.
There is no (deny) the fact that elective courses can (broad) our horizon. However, as the saying goes "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." We shouldn't neglect the major course we are studying while immersing ourselves in the (please) we find in elective courses.
1）介绍你是如何利用网络学习英语的（至少写出两点）；
2）简单谈谈你对利用网络学习英语的看法；
3）请友好校的学生分享他们的经验。
注意：
1）词数不少于100；
2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实，行文连贯；
3）开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Good morning, dear friends. My name is Li Jin. I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about how I learn English on the Internet.
续写的词数应在150左右。
I lay on my bed, legs leaning against the wall, desperately wishing my mother would call. But I remembered the last time I'd seen her, right before the train for Providence pulled out of the station, "You know how expensive it is to call," she said, then hugged me tight and said goodbye.
This was my first birthday away from home. I missed my mom, missed my sister, and most certainly missed the special pound cake my mother always made for my birthday. Since getting to college that year, I would watch jealously as the other freshmen received care packages from their parents on their birthdays—- and even on ordinary days. Big boxes containing summer slacks and blouses, packages or M&M's and Snickers, things they needed and things they didn't. Instead of feeling thrilled about upcoming eighteenth birthday, I felt empty. I wished my mom would send me something, too, but I knew that she couldn't afford presents or the postage. She had done her best with my sister and me—-raising us by herself. The simple truth was there just was never enough money.
But that didn't stop her from filling us with dreams. "You can be anything you want to be," she would tell us. "Politicians, dancers, writers —- you just have to work for it; you have to get an education."
Thanks to my mom's sacrifices and big dreams, I'd made it to the Ivy League; Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
As I was recalling these things, my roommate joined me on the bed. "Hey. after we study, Let's buy ice cream and cake." I nodded, closed my eyes, and imagined the came Mom would have made. Mmm. I could see the golden yellow of each of twelve eggs, and I could almost smell the vanilla（香草）filling the house while the cake baked.
注意：1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1
As I daydreamed, there was a knock on the door.
Paragraph 2
How had she managed to afford it?
