Shyness once took over my life. When I was 13, in my French lesson, my teacher told us to 1 ourselves speaking about our families. I recorded myself with confidence. When I pressed "play" to listen back, I 2 my strange voice — just like a little kid. That made me very shy and I3 attending events from then on.
Years after that, I became a teacher in a primary school. On the first day, my hands could not help but sweat(出汗). The weight of my arms was trying to prevent me from4 the door. Though a little 5, I opened the door slowly. 6, a wave of laughter flew through the air. Then I7, and felt it was a bad 8 to be a teacher. They did not seem to mind me at all. After class, a little girl walked up to me and asked, "Could you 9_me to read this?" with the most 10faceIhave ever seen as if she had just gotten a cookie. "I like your voice!" she said. I shook my shyness off and my body felt as 11 as a feather(羽毛). Perhaps this was not such a bad idea after all.
Besides, there was one simple thing that 12 me most. Every day when the students left, they would clean up after themselves and leave their areas 13 without ever being told to do so. Actually they 14 very well. Looking back it now. I would have to say these students gave me one of the greatest 15 of my life.
In the future, I want to create a space for shy people like me to shine.
Want to make a difference to our planet? Bring your families and friends to our clubs in your free time. These clubs are free and a lot of fun.
Nature First
Come and meet people of ail ages who care about the environment at our beach project. We collect plastic to be recycled on the beach near you. Learn how waste in our oceans harms sea life and what you can do about it.
Earth's Friends
We get creative at Earth's Friends! This youth club is for teens who want to take part in online projects such as making more people know about pollution in cities and how it is influencing the environment. Our website has a fantastic planner, so you can see how cycling reduces pollution in your local area.
Genius
Don't put your bottles, newspapers or cans in the recycling bin一bring them to any meeting on Monday morning, when our expert environmental artist shows you how to make art out of rubbish! Take part in planning the event to show off your creative projects to the public, and share tips on ways to reduce waste.
Band Together
You won't believe you're in the middle of the city where our club meets every Sunday afternoon. Come and help clean up rubbish in our city parks! It's not easy, but you'll make lots of new friends. And it's not all hard work一we have guest speakers and discussions about how to protect animals in the area.
When a group of firefighters saw an elderly woman in a wheelchair trying very hard to get to her door last week, they decided to spend their weekend building a walkway for her.
An officer in Missouri said that their firefighters had been coming back from a call last week when they noticed an elderly woman trying to move her wheelchair across her front yard. It's not even(平坦的).
"Many stairs and uneven pathway unfortunately led to the woman falling over in her wheelchair while trying to enter the house, " the fire department wrote. "Luckily, the patient was uninjured, but we saw a chance to help. "
The group of firefighters later came back to the woman's home and spent their days off building a new walkway to her front door.
"She now will have an even pathway to enter her home, " the fire department wrote. "A huge thank—you goes out to the members that spent their days off helping those in need. "
Since the fire department posted photos of the firefighters at work on their website, their post has been shared hundreds of times with social media users praising the men for their good turn.
"That's what it's all about! Neighbors are helping neighbors. Job well done!" one user wrote, with another adding, "It was very kind of you firefighters to spend your free time helping someone in need. Thank you so much for the service that you do in saving people. "
"Great to take care of those in need, " a user wrote. "What a nice gesture store on your days off. Thank you. "
"I live in a community full of care too. You find it whenever people ask how you're doing because they care, not because they're getting paid to do so. I hope one could get encouragement when he/she meets something bad and maybe someone else will be inspired and do good things. That would be great, " a user wrote.
School uniforms are traditional in Britain. Pupils at about 90 percent of British secondary schools wear uniforms. When every pupil in the school wears the uniform, nobody has to worry about fashion and they feel that they belong to a group. Some people believe that a school uniform can help students pay attention to schoolwork. But some schools in Britain and other countries are starting to drop the traditional uniforms.
An Australian school has decided to drop its traditional school uniform, hoping new sportswear will encourage students to take part in more activities. School headmaster Elisabeth Lenders said the uniform change had been in the works for several years. "We decided that in 2018—2019, " she said. "The importance is clear: to make young people live happy, healthy lives. "
Ms Lenders said World Health Organization research reported 90 percent of young Australians and New Zealanders were not getting the minimum(最小的)daily levels of activity they needed in order to lead a healthy life. As well as the new uniform, she said the school would change timetables to make sure there would be chances for students to take part in physical activity every day.
Ms Lenders said in the past, a uniform was about all looking the same but in the 21st century it was important for students to be able to choose clothes that they liked.
And this Australian school had made an online survey about the uniform change and had received great support from parents and students. Tara, mother of Ava in Year 7, said it was a great move from the school. "These are the challenges of our time, and we want young people to think about them, " she said. "It is bigger than just throwing out the old uniform. It's about what the role of education is about. And for me it's helping young people to live a happy,
healthy and productive life. "
In a digital age, we almost never write things by hand. However, many studies have shown that this act has many benefits(益处).
New brain research, led by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, announces the same: choosing handwriting over using a keyboard results in better learning and memory.
"When you write your shopping list or notes by hand, you simply remember things better after some time, " said Audrey van der Meer, author of the study. The study was done using equipment to track and record brain wave activity. 12 young adults and 12 children took part in the study. Each person was asked to write by hand and type on a ke沙oard while wearing a hood(风帽)with over 250 electrodes(电极). The sensors(传感器)in the electrodes are very sensitive and catch the electrical activity that takes place in the brain. Each examination took 45 minutes per person.
The results show that the brain in both young adults and children is much more active when writing by hand than when typing on a keyboard. According to Van der Meer, plenty of senses are activated by pressing a pen on paper, seeing the letters written and hearing the sound made while writing. These sense experiences build connection between different parts of the brain, opening the brain up for learning.
Van der Meer believes that the results show the importance of children's learning to draw and write at an early age, especially at school. "Learning to write by hand is a bit slower process, but it's important for children to go through the tiring process of learning to write by hand, " she said.
The hand movements are good for us in many ways. "If you use a keyboard, you use the same movement for each letter. Writing by hand requires control of your skills and senses. It's important to put the brain in a learning state as often as possible, " Van der Meer added. "You might use a keyboard to write an article, but you should learn by hand during a class. "
Chester felt more tired than usual after a hard day at the office. Young and successful, he was a ['mænɪdʒə(r)] in one of biggest companies in Singapore.
Chester hated it when he (犯错). But today he showed a wrong PPT at the meeting. Seeing this, everyone sat(沉默:无声). Even worse, he forgot to t notes during the meeting. He didn't like having to(熬夜)to prepare things for the next day. Today, he had to.
Then Chester finally finished his w. He tired. He decided to walk home (代替:而不是)taking a taxi. was late at night but he needed the walk to clear his thoughts. As he walked home, he saw that the lights were still on in a bookshop. There boxes of old books outside the shop. He noticed one small, old book at once. It looked much older the rest of the books. He (捡起)the book.
"Take it!" said a voice behind him. A man with grey hair was s at him. " B are our friends, " he added "If you return to a book you've read many times, you'll feel like talking with an old friend. " Chester smiled back, took it and forgot all those bad things.