I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader, sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties, I lived out adventures through the books I checked out form the library.
My first job was working at the Ukiah Library when I was 16 years old. It was a dream job and I did everything from shelving books to reading to the children for story time.
As I grew older and became a mother, the library took on a new place and an added meaning in my life. I had several children and books were our main source of happiness. It was a big deal for us to load up and go to the local library, where my kids could pick out books to read or books they wanted me to read to them.
I always read, using different voices, as though I were acting out the stories with my voice and they loved it! It was a special time to bond with my children and it filled them with the wonderment of books.
Now, I see my children taking their children to the library and I love that the excitement of going to the library lives on from generation to generation.
As a novelist, I've found a new relationship with libraries. I encourage readers to go to their local library when they can't afford to buy a book. I see libraries as a safe haven for readers and writers, a bridge that helps put together a reader with a book. Libraries, in their own way, help fight book piracy and I think all writers should support libraries in a meaningful way when they can. Encourage readers to use the library. Share library announcements on your social media. Frequent them and talk about them when you can.
As the pandemic (大流行病) separates us from loved ones, many of us are trying to stay connected through texting, even taking the opportunity to reconnect with long-lost friends.
But if our goal is to feel closer to people and enjoy our conversations more, we'd better pick up the phone, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
In the study, participants (参与者) imagined having a conversation with a friend they hadn't been in touch with for at least two years and made predictions (预测) about how it would feel to connect by phone versus (对比) email. "We think it's going to be awkward to talk to somebody, but that just turns out not to be the case," says lead author Amit Kumar. "Instead, people form stronger connection when they're talking on the phone than when communicating over email."
The same result held true when the researchers had participants do a conversation exercise with strangers using either video chatting, audio (声音的) only chatting, or text chatting. People who used media that included the voice had more satisfying exchanges and felt closer to their new friends than the text chatters.
Why? Likely it's because our voices communicate a variety of emotions, helping others to read us better and to feel like they really know us. Hearing someone's voice helps understand each other better – in some cases, even better than video chatting.
So, while texting can be useful, it's not the best way to get the most out of socializing. If we're looking for greater happiness and connection, we should give someone a call.
It is like a scene from a horror film：a spider web is several meters wide, which is home to thousands of spiders. And that was what Jason G. Goldman, an animal behavior researcher, found along a muddy path in the Peruvian Amazon jungle—the web arched from tree to tree, a structure containing too many spiders to count. They appeared to function as a society, just like ants or bees.
Anelosimus eximius, the species Goldman met in the rainforest, is not the only kind of social spiders in the world, but it does construct the biggest webs. Some can reach more than 7. 6m long and 1.5m wide. A web of that size could contain as many as 50,000 individual spiders.
Anelosimus eximius was first discovered more than a century ago by a French scientist named Eugene Simon. More social spiders have been discovered since. One was found as recently as 2006.
An Anelosimus eximius colony(群体) contains adult males and females as well as youngsters, but the majority of spiders on the web are females. Males account for only between 5% and 22% of any colony's population. Social spiders work together to build, maintain and clean their webs. They work together to catch prey(猎物), and dine together when they trap a large feast. The females work together to care for the young in the colony. They feed their youngsters by vomiting(吐出) up food for them, just like mother birds.
Why did these spiders become social？Researchers have discovered three ecological(生态的) elements that often lead to cooperative(合作的) living among spiders.
Social spiders tend to feed on bigger prey, for one thing. Spiders living in places where it is difficult to hunt large or more profitable prey alone may eventually figure out that it is in their interest to work together.
B . 
C . 
D . 
For some people, the warmest memories from childhood come from being read a great story. It develops children's language skills and increases their ability to succeed in school and, later, work.
Experts say parents should read books that are not too long and on the right age level so that children will not lose interest. They say parents should also point to and talk about pictures in books for infants (幼儿).
Elizabeth Lyttleton has three daughters. They are at age ten, eight and two. She says, "I watch my two-year-old, who is now getting a big language explosion. So much of it comes from the books that she reads. With my eight-year-old, it's now the broadening horizons (眼界). The oldest now truly reads for pleasure and can get lost in young adult books. "
The company Scholastic is a major publisher of children's books. Every two years, Scholastic publishes a report on American reading attitudes and habits. The 2015 report says only 31 percent of children in the U. S. read a book for fun almost every day. Four years ago that number was more than double.
Scholastic also suggests some ways to develop a love of reading in a child. Another way to develop a reading habit in children is to read to them. The Scholastic report also suggests permitting children to choose their own books. Of all the 6 - to 17-year-olds in the Scholastic study, more than 90% said their favorite books are the ones they choose for themselves.
A. One is simply to have books in the home.
B. All her children read books at the same time.
C. All her children learn from books — but in different ways.
D. Of course, adults can enjoy reading children's book
E. But reading to children can do more than create warm memorles.
F. For young children, parents should ask questions about the book.
G. However, researchers find that the number of children who read for fun is dropping fast.
Preschool girl lifts old man's spirits
When Tara Wood brought her daughter to a grocery store to buy the four-year-old some birthday cupcakes, she had no idea that would be a life-changing 1 .
As Tara pushed her daughter Norah around the store last month, she 2 an old man who was by himself. The old man looked cold, until Norah shouted to him, "Hi! It's my birthday today!" The man stopped and his demeanor (举止、态度) changed from distant and serious to warm and 3 . "How old are you today?" the man asked. After some time talking together, Norah asked her mom to take a 4 of her with her new friend "Mr. Dan", Dan Peterson, 82 and then went their separate ways. That could have been the 5 of the story. But it was actually the beginning of a(n) 6 relationship.
Tara 7 the picture of her daughter and Mr. Dan on Facebook. Someone who 8 him reached out to her with Mr. Dan's contact information. It turned out that Mr. Dan's wife died in March and he had been 9 from depression and anxiety ever since. The person on Facebook told Tara that it was the first time they had seen Mr. Dan 10 since the death of his wife. Knowing that, Tara contacted Mr. Dan, and ever since Norah and the 82-year-old have developed a 11 unlike any other. "She has shown me a depth of love, a depth that I didn't know existed," Mr. Dan told the reporter.
Mr. Dan told Tara that before meeting Norah, he hadn't had one night of uninterrupted 12 Anxiety kept him up at all hours and 13 him restless. After meeting Norah, he said he now sleeps soundly. For Mr. Dan's 82nd birthday on October 20, the mother and the daughter brought balloons and presents—and, of course, cupcakes. Mr. Dan will also spend a day around Thanksgiving with Norah and her family. "If you don't take the time to 14 people, you will never know how you can 15 impact a life," Tara Wood said.
Adam is a freshman at senior high school. Going from junior high school to senior high school is really big challenge. The first week was a little (confuse) for him. First, he had to think about which courses are (suit) for him. The adviser recommended that he should sign up for (advance) literature because he likes English and he's good at it. Second, he had to choose extra-curricular (activity). He tried to join the school football team failed, so he (join) a volunteer club (help) the homeless in the community. Third, he's a bit worried about keeping up with the other students and it is quite difficult him to get used to all the homework. (study) hard isn't always fun, but he will be prepared for it.
| (be) attracted to; prefer…to…; make a difference; focus on; in exchange for |
1）多跟同学交流沟通：2）积极参加学校活动：3）向老师寻求帮助。
注意：1）词数80左右;
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
