Albrecht Durer was born in Nuremberg in 1471, in present day Germany. He was a painter, writer and engraver(雕刻师), but his first and probably greatest artistic influence was in the medium of printmaking.
Albrecht's father was a goldsmith(金匠) and the young Albrecht naturally became his student, learning shaping and engraving jewelry. He also started learning from a local artist Michael Wolgemut, who specialized in artistic woodcuts for books. Durer's first contact with art was in the woodcut printing range, so it is little wonder that he went on to become expert in this field. He actually expanded the craft of producing pictures for printing, giving it more depth, and he raised print-making into an art-form. Towards the end of the century (1497—1500), Durer produced an impressive series of religious woodcuts. Indeed, it was in 1513—1514 that Durer produced the three extraordinary engravings ("Knight, Death and DeviP"; "Melencolia"; "Saint Jerome in his Cell”) that had a strong influence on the art world and came to be known as the Master Engravings.
Durer's success as a printmaker rapidly spread across Europe. He was highly aware of his artistic image and authorship, which is obvious in his remarkable signature. As his art became increasingly valuable, Durer's signature was always copied, which even led him to accuse the engraver Marcantonio Raimondi of repeatedly copying his works and signature and selling them off as originals. In the end, the court ruled that Raimondi could continue making copies of Durer's, as long as he didn't reproduce the artist's signature.
Durer died in 1528 and was buried in Nuremberg. Like most famous Italian artists, Durer probably felt himself to be an "artist-king", and his self-portraits(自画像)seem undoubtedly to show a man sure of his own gift.
"Won't you be my neighbor?" is a famous song from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a popular children's television show. The show, broadcast for 31 years and ending in 2001, sought to teach American children the importance of kindness and understanding towards others. But recently fewer and fewer Americans seem to know their neighbors. That may be destroying Americans communities.
Marc Dunkelman wrote a book called "The Vanishing Neighbor". In it, he examined how American communities have changed over time. Dunkelman said most Americans have three levels of relationships: The inner circle includes family and close friends. The middle circle is more casual relationships. People in this circle include neighbors and people in community groups. The outer circle includes people who live far away but share a common interest.
In his book, Dunkelman argued that people spend most of their time and attention on the inner and outer circles. But he said the middle-circle is necessary to strengthening local communities. Relationships with neighbors are important for debate, hearing different ideas and finding compromise.
Americans used to have more middle-circle relationships. Face-to-face communication was unavoidable without cell phones or the internet. People also felt more of a duty to join community organizations.
Dunkelman argued that modern life has made middle-circle relationships less important. He said globalization, education and more women in the workforce have resulted in less middle-circle communication. Americans may be losing what it means to be a good neighbor, as Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood taught.
However; doing good for a neighbor is healthy "not just for our neighbor but for ourselves as well," Dunkelman said. "Learning how to be a good citizen can be lost when we defer the problem to somebody else."
In an age of online shopping, commercial algorithms and streamed entertainment, most of us rarely face up to things that have not been digitally matched to our previous interests or prejudices. Few will have avoided the suggestion "if you've enjoyed X, then you'll like Y and Z" as they surf the internet looking for books, films or music."
But now there are efforts to fight back against it. In both the arts and the media, a series of new projects are celebrating the importance of coming across the unexpected.
A new self-help book by Neil Farber; an American academic and doctor focuses on the vital role that chance plays in enriching our lives and thoughts. An unconventional service, Trade Journal Cooperative is offering to send a random publication direct to your door four times a year, from Professional Pasta to American Funeral Director or Plumber Magazine.
A new radio app, Stack, deliberately delivers music chosen by someone else. Stack has been set up in response to the vast areas of unknown music available to download. The music on Stack is instead chosen by a number of DJs and musicians and, importantly, listeners cannot influence what it plays. "It's not designed around your usage," says Wigram, who is an art dealer. "But it removes the anxiety of having to 'like', or 'liking' something by mistake, and suddenly being recommended tracks that you don't even like. Algorithms reduce diversity and chance. And it's that element of chance, of discovering a new track, that an algorithm can't compete with. I do believe that human beings can do it better than algorithms."
So the hope for an interesting future, according to Wigram, depends upon a good mix of blind chance and trusted human recommendations — a bit like the shelves of the old independent record stores and bookshops.
When setting up a garden or area of land with plants, many often forget to plan a walkway, or path. Or there is a path, but it is not beautiful or easy to use. It can also show you where to walk, and guide your eyes and imagination throughout the garden.
Wide paths and winding paths are for walking slowly. They're good if you want people to take a longer look at what's in the garden. Choose a straight path to go from the back door to the vegetable garden, or any other place where you may walk in a hurry.
One of the easiest and least costly paths to create is simple grass that you have cut short. Small pieces of wood are another choice. Bricks or stones make paths that are long-lasting. Or you can use concrete that is colored and made to look like flagstone. To make a path of brick, stone or concrete slabs (厚板),you should give the solid material a well-drained (易排水的) base.
Put drainage material such as sand or rock dust in the path area. This material provides a solid base beneath the surface, and prevents water from collecting there, freezing and pushing up the stones. Add enough material so that when stones or bricks are in place, their top sides are a little above ground level.
Afterwards, put more stone dust or sand on top of the path, then sweep the material to fill the empty spaces. Add some water to further settle the material.
A. Push down on it and smooth it as you work.
B. Be sure the path is wide enough for a wheelchair
C. For stone paths, use stone cut into large, flat pieces.
D. A well-designed path can do more than keep your feet dry.
E. Sweep and water a few days later again, after everything has settled.
F. Consider safety, appearance and cost when choosing a surface material.
G. When planning a path, ask yourself if it is both appealing and easy to use.
Are you still at school? What do you want to do when you leave? It's a very important 1 and of course you cannot always pick and choose. 2 things like money or diplomas decide for you.
In Paul Holmes's case, it was his 3 that decided for him. He is only 0.93 meters tall. He tried working in an amusement park. And then he tried to become a carpenter. But he was too 4 for both these jobs. So when he was eighteen, he became 5.
His 6 was an unusual one. And the Manpower Services Commission, an organization which 7 the government on employment policy, had an unusual way out. They 8 Paul a job as a trainee clown. Paul's 9 was to work in a circus. And it just 10 that a famous clown, Wacko Fossett was 11 an assistant at that time. This was the 12 of a lifetime to Paul.
First they 13 Paul for a brightly-colored clown's suit. Then he had to learn all about him bling acts, putting on make-up and making children 14. Falling over without 15 yourself is an art which it takes time to 16. As Paul said in an interview, "If you don't 17 what you're doing, you can break your nose.”
Recently, Paul Holmes made his first public 18. Jacko Fossett is 19 with his trainee's progress. And Paul will probably become Jacko's permanent 20." Small man becomes trainee clown" sounds like a tall story in a newspaper. But it's true.
Look at the graphite(石墨) tip of your pencil. It's hard (imagine) anyone carving detailed sculptures into that tiny surface. Salavat Fidai, a Russian artist, does just that.
Fidai says the process is (extreme) hard and time-consuming. Graphite is fragile, and his sculptures are so small that they're measured in millimeters and even microns(微米). To see he's doing, he has to look through a microscope, a tool helps people do close work such as making (watch) or studying errors. Carving one sculpture can take 8 hours-or week!
When he started out, he carved giant pencils. As he became more comfortable, he switched to pencils of regular size. Sometimes he works mechanical pencils with even narrower graphite rods(笔杆).
Fidai's sculptures used to break a lot while he was working. "This rarely (happen) now," he says. "I have experience. I am calm and focused."
Fidai is always testing his limits, (try) to find easier ways to do more difficult things. His advice to you? "Experiment all the time! Look for new materials and new ways."
1）表示祝贺：
2）提出邀请；
3）期待回复。
注意：
1）词数80左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Learning a new language can feel like performing magic. Suddenly, a whole other world opens up and you discover a completely new side of life. Of course, learning a language doesn't happen by magic, but rather through study. Here are some advantages about how the brain changes during language learning.
It sounds like something a child may ask: does learning new things make my brain grow bigger? It turns out that this is what language learning does to the brain. The researchers from Lund University in Sweden studied a group of students from the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, who were going through a language learning program. For a control group, the researchers selected students who were studying medicine and cognitive (认知的) science at Umea University. The researchers discovered that brain structure changed only in the language learning group. The results suggest that language learning is a promising way to keep the brain in shape, and offers cognitive benefits more than other forms of study.
Many of us dream of being able to focus better, and according to a study published in the journal Brain and Language, learning new languages could help make that dream come true. The researchers from Northwestern University tested bilingual (双语的) and monolingual (单语的) individuals using a language comprehension task. The task involved listening to a word, and then selecting the corresponding image from a group of four. Bilingual participants were obviously better at figuring out the target word. It shows that being bilingual comes with more ability to leave aside unnecessary information, which is key to increasing focus.
Several other studies have shown a link between being bilingual and delaying the beginning of Alzheimer's disease by an average of four years. The reason for this delay, the researchers believe, is that learning a language challenges our gray cells, which helps prevent them from worsening. So just like exercising your body, providing your brain with a workout like learning languages has considerable health benefits.
