On our way to the house, it was raining hard that we couldn't help wondering how long it would take (get) there. It was in the middle of Pearl City.
We were first greeted with the barking by a pack dogs, seven to be exact. They were well trained by their masters had great experience with caring for these animals. Our hosts shared many of their experiences and (recommend) wonderful places to eat, shop, and visit. For breakfast, we were able to eat papaya (木瓜) and other fruits from their trees in the backyard.
When they were free from work, they invited us to local events and let us know of an interesting (compete) to watch, together with the story behind it. They also shared with us many (tradition) stories about Hawaii that were (huge) popular with tourists. On the last day of our weeklong stay, we (invite) to attend a private concert on a beautiful farm on the North Shore under the stars, (listen) to musicians and meeting interesting locals.
A hutong is an ancient city street typically in Beijing. (surround) the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing (dynasty). In order to establish the strongest power, emperors planned the city and arranged the residential areas. center of the city Beijing was the royal palace—the Forbidden City.
At the end of the Qing dynasty, after (close) China came under the influence from abroad, many old hutongs lost (they) former neat arrangement.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, hutongs' conditions (improve). But in recent years, the houses in many hutongs have been pulled and replaced by modern buildings. And the hutong today is fading into the shade for tourists and local people.
However, in the urban district of Beijing houses along hutongs still occupy one (three) of the total area, providing housing for half population, so many hutongs (survive). In this respect, we see Beijing as an ancient yet modern city.
"Students at Powderhouse Studios won't have the typical American high school experience—and that's exactly the point of the new school," its founders say.
The high school, set to open in a repurposed former school building in Somerville, Mass. , won't have grade levels or traditional classes. Instead, students will complete interdisciplinary (跨学科的) projects that tap into their interests and ambitions. They'll divide their days between seminars and project-based work, meeting with the education staff for guidance regularly. Students at Powderhouse will work with tutors instead of conventional teachers to learn math, science and the humanities—all of which will inform their projects. Classrooms, lectures and lesson plans—the things traditional schools are built on—won't be a big part of daily life at Powderhouse.
In short, Powderhouse will look more like a workplace than a high school.
Alec Resnick, one of the school's founders, said Powderhouse will make learning personal for students by helping them identify meaningful project-based work early on.
Resnick said that demanding and interesting work is often the thing that's missing for students who feel uninvolved in a traditional high-school setting.
"Motivation is missing, "he said. "The way you fix that is to get people doing hard work, not easier or more fun work."
Monica Martinez, an expert in school development, describes a future for American high schools that looks a lot like Powderhouse, with more fluid (易变的) schedules and personalized learning opportunities—and finally, with more flexibility for students.
"Most of all, students will progress at the rate at which they show mastery of academic content, regardless of time, "Martinez said.
Powderhouse will open in 2018 as part of Somerville Public Schools. The idea of reinventing high school appealed greatly to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, who asked Resnick and his team at Sprout & Co. to design a high school based on the non-profit's popular after-school programs.
Powderhouse's founders say they hope educators will learn from nontraditional schools like theirs. "We're pretty confident that the future of learning doesn't look like school, "Resnick said.
At the age of 14, James Harrison had a major chest operation and he required 13 units (3. 4 gallons) of blood afterwards. The blood donations saved his life, and he decided that once he turned 18, he would begin donating blood as regularly as he could.
More than 60 years and almost 1, 200 donations later, Harrison, whose blood contains an antibody(抗体) that has saved the lives of 2. 4 million babies from miscarriages (流产), retired as a blood donor on May 11. Harrison's blood is valuable because he naturally produces Rh-negative blood, which contains Rh-positive antibodies. His blood has been used to create anti-D in Australia since 1967.
"Every bottle of anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it," Robyn Barlow, the Rh program director told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's an amazing thing. He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it." Since then, Harrison has donated between 500 and 800 milliliters of blood almost every week. He's made 1, 162 donations from his right arm and 10 from his left.
"I'd keep going if they let me," Harrison told the Herald. His doctors said it was time to stop the donations—and they certainly don't take them lightly. They had already extended the age limit for blood donations for him, and they're cutting him off now to protect his health. He made his final donation surrounded by some of the mothers and babies who his blood helped save.
Harrison's retirement is a blow to the Rh treatment program in Australia. Only 160 donors support the program, and finding new donors has proven to be difficult. But Harrison's retirement from giving blood doesn't mean he's completely out of the game. Scientists are collecting and cataloging his DNA to create a library of antibodies and white blood cells that could be the future of the anti-D program in Australia.
I learned my first lesson at a meeting. As we sat around the table I heard Meg, who was 1a recent operation, talking to Judith, the manager of our project. "Thank you so much for 2my daughters to their dance lessons last week." Judith said, "It was nothing."
Knowing how tight Judith's schedule was, I found her driving Meg's children to lessons unbelievably 3. I was about to say more about this when Donna, another colleague, entered the room 4. She apologized for being late, saying she just hosted a lunch for her friends who were over seventy. "That is so nice of you," I said, knowing how busy she was, how she didn't like to cook and clean. "Oh, "she said, waving her hand, "It was nothing." 5, I could still tell the 6in her voice. She did gain a sense of satisfaction from the entertainment offered to her friends.
Seeing their 7to help others selflessly, I started thinking about the concept of "nothing", this peaceful and generous way of living—had it really been nothing or were they simply saying that? It 8to me that once I spent a whole afternoon after work helping a friend 9a speech. I recommended her to rearrange the sequence of the stories in the lecture to make it sound more 10. After the fifth try, she finally 11it. She hugged me with gratitude, saying thanks to me. I smiled and said it was nothing.
Suddenly, I realized that helping someone was really something to me. I learned that giving from the heart doesn't 12mean sacrifice and hard work. The 13is finding something we love to do and finding someone who needs that something. Our generosity can benefit others 14ourselves. Once you have a good 15 of it, it's nothing. And it's really something.
