An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his 1 all the time, watering and fertilizing them.
One day a young man went by the 2. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be 3 he lived in such a beautiful place. Then, suddenly he found the old gardener was 4. He was very surprised about this and asked, "You can't see these flowers. 5 are you busy taking care of them every day?" The old man smiled and said, "I can tell you four 6. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, 7 I can't see these flowers, I can touch them. 8, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that's 9." "Me? But you don't know me," said the young man.
"Yeah, it's 10 that I don't know you. But I know that flowers are beautiful things that everybody 11. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us."
The blind man's work opened our eyes, and 12 our hearts, which also made his life 13. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn't 14 his wonderful music, but his music has 15 millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn't it one kind of happiness?
In the park, you see a group of people, all looking up at the sky. Without thinking about it, you look upwards, too. Why? In the concert, someone begins to clap and suddenly the whole room joins in. You do, too. Why?
Sometimes we feel we are acting correctly when we do the same as others. The more people follow an idea, the better or truer we think the idea is. It's the social proof (社会认同感) that works.
The scientist Asch carried out an experiment. It shows how social proof can influence us. In a room, a man is shown Line 1, and next to it are three lines (A, B, C). A is longer, C is shorter and B is as long as Line 1. He must tell which of the three lines is as long as Line 1. When the man is alone, he gives the correct answer B. Then, five other men enter the room, and each of them gives the answer C as they were told to. Now the man changes his idea and gives the answer C. Asch got the same result many times among different subjects (实验对象).
Why do we act like this? Well, in the past, following others was a way to keep from danger. Suppose that 5000 years ago you were hunting (打猎) with friends. Suddenly, they all ran away. What would you have done? Would you have stayed? No, you would have run, too. We are descendants (后代) of those who copied others' action. It is so deeply planted in our mind that we still use it now.
Social proof has special power. The advertising industry, for example, often makes use of it. So be careful whenever a company says its product is "the most popular".
If you want to check where the nearest coffee shop to your home is, if you want to know how to get to a place in your city, or if you want to see where in the world your foreign pen friend lives, there's now a new free online map you can use.
Last month, China started its official online mapping service, Map World. "Through this free online service users can fly over mountains and valleys around the world and search for restaurants and traffic information across the country for free," said Xu Deming, director of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM). The bureau, which does China's surveying and mapping work, is in charge of the Map World project.
Users can get into Map World through www.tianditu.cn or www.chinaonmap.cn and search for 2- and 3-D images from across the world. The home page shows a view of the Great Wall.
"It took about two years to prepare the service with all the satellite (卫星) images taken from 2006 to 2010," said Jiang Jie, director of the database department (数据库部门) under SBSM.
The technology (技术) and website are still at an early stage. The images from inside China are detailed. Users can see close pictures of roadsides. But the views of places outside China are less clear.
Service providers have more than 80 machines, with the ability to deal with 10 million requests (请求) daily, while Google Earth, Google's mapping service, has thousands of machines, Jiang said.
"Our map service can update (更新) data about twice a year, but Google Earth can update its information every couple of minutes, through satellites," Jiang said.
The bureau said it will continue developing Map World. At the same time, you can have a try for yourself. Some users have given their opinions about the service after trying it. One student in Beijing said that Map World even shows the small bookstore near her school.
Fights at school sometimes happen. But how can you keep away from a fight? Here's something you can do.
Be calm (冷静). Sometimes, you feel so angry that you really want to teach somebody a lesson. But being angry can't solve problems. Neither can a fight. Instead, it may bring you more problems. In the school, everyone involved (卷入) in a fight will be punished, no matter who started it. There are no winners in a fight.
Shout loudly. If you know someone is coming up behind you to attack, turn toward the person with your hands up in front of your body and loudly say "stop" before walking away. Loud voice can usually make the attacker calm down. If the person doesn't stop, cry for help by calling out the name of a teacher whose office is nearby.
Your friend may ask you to join in a fight. Learn to say no. Helping him fight is not really helpful to him. If you really want to give him a hand, try to ask him to give it up. Also, you can tell him if he gets involved in a fight, he may get hurt and be punished. Then, try to learn why he wants a fight and help him find a right way to deal with the problem.
Gadgets for Work and Play
It's 7: 45 in the morning, and 26-year-old Steve Clarkson is going to work. He puts on his jacket, and picks up his mobile phone and laptop. As he leaves the house, he turns on his MP3 player and puts on his headphone. He is ready to go.
Today, for millions of people, gadgets like Clarkson's are a normal part of life. "I'm a reporter for a magazine, and I'm usually not in the office. My mobile phone and laptop help me to do my work both on the road and at home," says Clarkson. Today many people can check e-mails, send messages, or surf the Web, using their mobile phones.
Tina Fang is studying photography in New York City. "Some of these gadgets are expensive, but they can save your money in the long run. I have a digital camera. I can use it to take eighty pictures and shoot video (record an image onto video) at the same time. I listen to music on my MP3 player, and I can download and read books on it, too. I use the camera and MP3 for both learning and fun."
It's now 9: 45. Steve Clarkson gets an e-mail from his 17-year-old sister. She has a gadget that lets her send e-mails, play games, and take notes. She is in class right now. "I e-mailed her back. I told her to stop playing，and pay attention," laughs Clarkson. "These gadgets are fun, but sometimes they can distract (分散注意力) people，too."
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wide show skill exercise just |
During the summer holiday when I was 14 years old, I got my first job.
At first, I (更喜欢) to stay at home, but my mother asked me to work in her Nursing Home. I was very nervous, because I didn't know (是否) I could do it well or not. My mother said I just need to be (耐心的) and copy what other workers there did.
Luckily, I learned quickly. In the morning, I helped the people sweep the floor and clean the (架子) in rooms. After dinner, I helped some old people to go out of the room and sit in the garden. Some of them were too (虚弱) to walk themselves.
I could (几乎不) believe that I finished all my work well and the people there liked me a lot. For me, (对待) the people with kindness gives me pleasure and it also made me feel (自豪的) of myself. After working there for a month, I got paid. But, making money wasn't the main (目的) of my working there. I was happy to learn to look after others and help them.
From then on, I decided to be a doctor. (两者都) my parents thought I made a good decision. Now I've already become a doctor and I'm ready to help more people.
Have you ever been to Hawaii? Hawaii has always been a magical name to people who like (travel). People from all over the world dream of seeing the beautiful islands in the middle of the ocean. It's always one of their dreams to watch sun going down. The sun drops like a ball of bright fire into the sea, and it drops so quickly you can't even see it move.
About two thousand years ago, the (one) people went to Hawaii in a very small boat. They (glad) found the beautiful white sand beaches and the waving palm trees. But it was difficult for people (go) to Hawaii at that time. And there were no big hotels like the ones today. Now people can get to Hawaii in different (way). More and more people go to Hawaii, so lots of nice big hotels have been built. However, the sights in Hawaii (not change) much in the past years. The white sand beaches and the waving palm trees are still there. People often have a (relax) time, taking a walk along the water in the morning. At night, they get together (hold) parties, chatting and dancing. So if you're thinking about relaxing yourself, Hawaii is surely the first place for you to choose.
Friends are important in our life, because no one wants to be lonely. However, some people have problems in making friends and they often feel lonely. According to a new study from Chicago University, the reason is that this kind of people have brains (脑) different from common people. And they often feel unsafe when facing strangers.
Does that mean they have no way to become happy again?
Scientists of this study have thought up ways to help these people deal with their loneliness. They provided four steps for getting out of loneliness.
"It's not enough for people just to get in touch with others online. That's because most people don't show their true selves there," said Dr Cacioppo, one of this study's scientists. Another step is to get an action plan. As "Actions speak louder than words", people need to be active to communicate with others. They also need to meet people with the same interests. Also, they should try to expect the best from each activity. Who knows what good things are waiting for us?
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A. When do people feel lonely? B. The first step is to accept social invitations even if you don't want to go. C. After all, “tomorrow is another day”. D. What's the reason behind that? E. Why don't we like them? F. New ways to deal with loneliness G. No, don't worry. |
1）How long have you had it?
2）How did you get it? / What do you do with it?
3）Why do you like it? / Why is it special?
4）Can you say anything more about it?
注意：
1）词数：80-100词左右；
2）文章必须包括以上问题的相关内容，可适当增加信息；
3）首句仅供选择使用，不计入总词数。
参考首句：Everyone has his own favourite thing and I want to introduce my favourite to you now.
My Favourite
