5 of the Most Interesting Customs in the World
Switzerland—Honesty shopping
There are little shops in the middle of the Swiss Alps that allow you to buy your fresh cheese, milk, bread, honey, and butter without anyone to watch you. In fact, no one watches these shops because they are owned by farmers who are out taking care of the animals.
South Korea—NOT tipping
Tipping is in the blood for someone who is raised in the United States along with many other European countries. But in South Korea, employees in the food service industry are given fair wages and take pride in their work, and it is insulting to attempt to tip them.
Iceland—Christmas Eve books giving
People puzzle over the eternal question of Christmas gifts. Iceland has solved this problem with the Christmas Eve tradition of giving a book. After everyone unwraps the books, they spend the evening reading together.
Japan—Pushers on the subway
Japan's subway is crowded during rush hours. But instead of settling for the inefficiency that personal space demands, Japan has "pushers". They are exactly what they sound like-employees whose only job during rush hour is to push more people onto the train.
Russia—Offering vodka
It is the custom to welcome new friends with shots of vodka. What better way to break the ice than with some stomach- warming shots of this Russian tradition? That's something we can all toast to, or, as they say in Russia, "Na zdorovye!"
Mona Zipay was there almost from the beginning when her boss decided to become an independent insurance adjuster (理算员) in 1955.
Fifty-eight years later, she decided it was time retire from Dorner Adjustment Co. "I love what I did," said Zipay, 83, of Whitney Pint New York. "I still do. But it's time to stay at home now."
The secretary has helped customers through natural disasters and fires. She has lived longer than her boss John M. Dorner and remembers when women were not allowed to wear pants to work. Not only has she used manual typewriters, electric typewriters and computers, but she's also adapted to a wave of technology so she could type out reports sent to insurers.
"But what has served her well through the years has been her typing and customer service skills," said MaryAnn Dorner, daughter-in-law of John Dorner. "She's an excellent typist," MaryAnn Dorner said. "She's accurate and she's fast. She's professional on the phones, keeping a good temper when dealing with irate customers," said Patrick Dorner, who now operates the company.
Dorner Adjusting wasn't the only place Zipay worked. She graduated from high school in 1951, taking business courses because she knew she would not be able to afford college and didn't want to work in a factory.
John Dorner invited her to his new company in 1955 from the General Adjustment Bureau in downtown Binghamton, New York. There they had worked together until John Dorner decided to become an independent agent.
Now, Zipay wears pants but always dresses professionally.
"That was one of the things that impressed me about her," MaryAnn Dorner said. "She's always dressed up."
Children moving from primary to secondary school are ill-quipped to deal with the impact of social media. which is playing an increasingly important role in their lives and exposing them to significant emotional risk, according to a report by the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England.
The report shows that many children in Grade 7-the first year of secondary school, when almost all students will have a phone and be active on social media feel under pressure to be constantly connected.
They worry about their online image, particularly when they start to follow celebrities on Instagram and other platforms. They are also concerned about "sharenting"-when parents post pictures of them on social media without their permission and worry that their parents won't listen if they ask them to take pictures down.
The report, which was created with data from focus group interviews with8- to 12-year-olds, says that though most social media sites have an official limit of 13, an estimated 75 percent of 10-to 12-year-olds have a social media account.
Some children are almost addicted to "likes", the report says. Aaron, an 11-year-old in Grade 7, told researchers," If I got 150 likes, I'd be like, that's pretty cool, and it means they like you." Some children described feeling inferior to those they follow on social media. Aimee, also 11, said, "You might compare yourself because you're not very pretty compared to them."
Anne Longfield from Children's Commissioner for England is calling on parents and teachers to do more to prepare children for the emotional impact of social media as they get older. She wants to see the introduction of compulsory digital literacy and online resilience (适应力)lessons for students in Grades 6 and 7.
"It is also clear that social media companies are still not doing enough to stop under-13s using their platforms in the first place," Longfield said.
"Just because a child who has learned the safety messages at primary school does not mean they are prepared for all the challenges that social media will present," Longfield said.
"It means a bigger role for schools in making sure children are prepared for emotional demands of social media. And it means social media companies need to take more responsibility," Longfield said.
"If you don't have time to read, you won't have time or tools to write," writes Stephen King in his memoir. He goes on to explain writers must read widely and frequently to develop their own voice and to learn how to write sentences and structure stories in ways that make readers want to pick up their work and read it.
This idea that we must be readers first in order to be writers is echoed throughout books on writing and is often the first piece of advice that authors offer to aspiring novelists." The more we read, the faster we can perform that magic trick of seeing how the letters have been combined into words that have meaning," writes best-selling author Francine Prose in Reading Like a Writer.
According to a recent University of Florida study of 48 MBA students, what students read in college directly affects the level of writing they achieve. In the study, researchers surveyed students about their reading materials and habits, and they also took a writing sample from their cover letters. Researchers then ran those samples—as well as samples from news stories the participants had read—through programs to assess the writings' complexity.
Upon analyzing their findings, researchers concluded that students who read academic journals and literary fiction scored higher in measures of writing complexity than those who primarily read popular fiction or web contents published on sites like BuzzFeed, Reddit and The Huffington Post.
Research has found that deep reading is distinctive from other types of reading in which we merely read text superficially. The language found in literary fiction, for example, is complex and rich in detail and metaphor. And the brain handles this language by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that would be active if you were experiencing the event in real life.
Regardless of what science may say about how reading affects writing though, writers themselves tend to agree that you can't be a successful writer unless you are first a voracious (求知欲强的) reader. By reading, writers not only accumulate knowledge, but they also gain a better understanding of language, learn their genre(风格), grow their vocabulary and most importantly, find inspiration.
Perhaps that's why when the late writer and Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago was asked about his daily writing routine, he said," I write two pages. And then I read and read and read."
When it comes to elite universities like Cambridge and Harvard, students often worry that they are not clever enough to get in. But the truth may not be as simple as that.
According to The Guardian, most applicants to top schools have equally perfect test scores. . Voice of America (VOA) recently interviewed Julie Soper, an admissions officer for American University in Washington. Soper said she and her colleagues place a lot of weight on the way applicants present themselves in their personal statement essays." Personal charm may carry more weight than a straight A academic record.," she said.
, Elite Reference recently interviewed a former admissions officer from Harvard and found that the school probably won't consider violin skills an advantage since they already have too many violin players. But if an applicant has mastered an instrument that only a few people can play, he or she might be able to gain an upper hand.
When James Keeler, the admissions tutor at Selwyn College, UK, went through a pile of essays for medical school candidates, one of them caught his eyes. "He's been volunteering with St John Ambulance, and also training to be a special policeman.. He's clearly doing something worthwhile. He's currently volunteering at a care home. That's a tick for me," Keeler told The Guardian.
"Unfortunately, most essays fail to highlight what's unique about each applicant. Students are often obsessed with maintaining a faultless image of themselves and are afraid to show who they really are. They write an essay, and then it gets passed through the English teacher and the parents and the aunt and uncle and the guidance counselor. ," said Keeler.
A. We are eager to meet straight A students
B. By the time it gets to us, it's just so wonderful that it's hard to really get a sense of that person
C. We want them to be as individual as possible
D. In terms of extracurricular activities, universities are also looking for "distinguishing excellence"
E. Students get rejected largely because they "failed to shine" as a person
F. No single student will be admitted unless they are academically top "A"
G. That's something I've never seen before
When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and publish my own books. Half the students sneered, and they 1 fell out of their chairs 2. "Don't be 3! Only geniuses can become 4," even one of them said rudely. "And you got a D last semester." I was so badly hurt that I 5 into tears.
That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and 6 it to The Capri's Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two 7. I was a published and paid writer! I showed my fellow students my work. "Just plain dumb luck," they said. However, I tasted 8. I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That was 9 than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of 10, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had several scrapbooks (剪贴簿) 11 with my published works. After graduation, I never 12 my writing to my classmates again.
I had four children later. While the children 13, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I 14. It took me nine months to finish my first book. I 15 a publisher at random (随意地) and mailed it without making a copy of the manuscript.
A month later I received a contract, an 16 on royalties (版税), and a request to start 17 another book. Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a 18 and was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and was sold worldwide.
Writing is easy, it's 19 and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn't 20.
"Today, we mourn the passing of a true food hero. Chinese scientist Yuan Longping saved (million) of people from hunger by (develop) the first hybrid rice strains," the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs tweeted.
"He passed away today at 91 (due to illness) but his mission (end) hunger will live on and his legacy (remember) for generations," it said.
Having spent over five decades in hybrid rice research, Yuan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has helped China work great wonder-feeding nearly one fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's total land.
Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, on Saturday expressed his sadness over Yuan's passing.
"I am (deep) saddened by the death of Prof. Yuan Longping, my dear Master. He devoted his life the research of hybrid rice, helping billions achieve food (secure)," wrote Qu on his Twitter account.
Born in Beijng in 1930, Yuan (succeed) in cultivating the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973, was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output.
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。
Health is most important for any of us. In order to stay health, we need to know some common knowledge.
Firstly, we should eat lots of fruit and vegetable because they are rich in fiber and low in fat. When a proverb says," An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Secondly, exercise is necessary. Regular exercise can keep ourselves from getting fat. People do running every day usually have strongest hearts than those who don't. Final, form good living habits. We should sleep for about 8 hours every day. Overwork and little sleep will lead to ill. What's more, stay away cigarettes.
These are the things we should pay an attention to so as to keep fit.
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
