I've Saved The Summer
Rod McKuen
I've saved the summer
And I give it all to you
To hold on winter mornings
When the snow is new
I've saved some sunlight
If you should ever need
A place away from darkness
Where your mind can feed
And for myself I've kept your smile
When you were but nineteen
Till you're older you'll not know
What brave young smiles can mean
I know no answers
To help you on your way
The answers lie somewhere
At the bottom of the day
But if you've a need for love
I'll give you all I own
It might help you down the road
Till you've found your own
Have you ever thought about what kind of job you would like to have when you grow up? Many people think that we can have only one job in our lifetime. We all know that this is not true, but quite a few people actually think this way. For example, when people choose a major in college, they think that the decisions they make now will decide their jobs for the rest of their lives. However, there are many examples where people became successful after changing their careers (职业) later in life.
J. K. Rowling, writer of the famous novel Harry Potter, was actually a school teacher before she began writing books. In fact, she was out of work before the first Harry Potter book came out.
Former US President Ronald Reagan began as an actor when he was a young man. He later decided that he wanted to do political work. This kind of passion (激情) finally led him to become President of the United States.
The famous 19th century artist Vincent Van Gogh was not a painter from the beginning. He once worked as an art salesman and later became a preacher. It was only 10 years before he died that he decided to become an artist.
Careers are always open to change. The important thing is to find what you are really good at or what you really want to do. Once you find that passion, it's all a matter of how hard you try.
Forest
When working on your homework, you might sometimes find that your smart phone is distracting （使分心） you. An app called Forest can help you stay focused. When you set a new task in the app and set a certain amount of time to finish it, a tree seed will be "planted" in the app. If you keep finishing your task, the seed will grow into a tree. But if you close the app and play with your phone, the tree will wither and even die. Once you finish the task, your tree will be "planted" in the app. Gradually, you will have a forest! You can share your achievements with your friends and try to "plant" different kinds of trees.
Rocket Alarm Clock
It's hard to get out of bed every morning. You might hit the "snooze" button（"打盹"按钮） on your alarm clock again and again just to get a little more sleep. However, the Rocket Alarm Clock app can help!
The app's alarm cannot be easily turned off. You have to shake your phone wildly, solve difficult math problems, or even blow into your phone's microphone to turn it off. For example, in one of the app's modes, there are some unidentified flying objects( UFOs) that are attacking（攻击） the earth. You have to blow hard on your microphone to get rid of（摆脱） the UFOs and turn off the alarm.
Xiawen
This app makes reading news feel like chatting with a friend. News stories pop up（弹出） just like a text message from a friend. If you're interested, you can click "read on". If not, just click "new one".
In addition, the app's news stories are shown in an interesting way. There are emojis（表情符号）, audio clips （音频剪辑） and memes（表情包） to help you better understand each piece of news. If you want to comment on the stories you read, you can join different groups and discuss the stories with others.
Mount Qomolangma stands as the world's highest mountain. At a height of 8848.86 meters, it must be free of plastic waste, isn't it? The answer might disappoint you.
Last year, scientists collected 11 snow samples(样本)on Mt. Qomolangma, starting from 5.300 meters all the way up to its top. They found microplastics in all of them. The sample that contained the most microplastics was collected around Base Camp. It is the place where climbers spend the most time. Scientists think the microplastics came from the clothing, tents(帐篷) and ropes that were used by mountaineers.
The new research was led by Imogen Napper. "I have always considered Mt. Qomolangma a pure and clean place," she said. It really surprised me to find microplastics in every single snow sample."
In 2018, plastic was discovered at the Mariana Trench(马里亚纳海沟) the deepest point on Earth. It is now clear that no place on our planet is safe from plastic pollution.
Millions of tons of plastic are thrown into the natural environment every year. Over time, plastic waste breaks down into microplastics. Microplastic pollution is less than 5 mm in size. It is too small to be picked up. Plastic waste carries harmful substances. Wild animals suffer as they mistake the waste for food. People also take in microplastics through food and water, and breathe them in. It is still unknown how microplastics may influence human health.
Napper said it was time to care for our planet. It was important to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic waste, she added. Besides, many microplastics come from clothing made of unnatural materials. Napper said a focus on green materials was needed. Whenever possible, we should use natural materials such as cotton and bamboo.
a. recycling and reusing plastic waste
b. increasing the use of natural materials like cotton
c. trying to invent environment-friendly material
d. limiting the number of climbers on Mt Qomolangma
Diets aren't the right way when people want to lose weight. Most dieters gain back any lost weight when they return to their old eating habits. Here are some to make weight loss most likely to be successful:
• Eat enough fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are about more than just vitamins and minerals. They're also full of fiber(膳食纤维). And you're less likely to eat too much other food.
• Don't skip breakfast. Breakfast starts your metabolism(新陈代谢), burning calories from morning and giving you energy to do more during the day. If people skip breakfast, they often feel so hungry that they eat more later on. In fact, people who eat breakfast tend to have healthy BMIs （体重质量指数）.
• Exercise. Regular physical activity burns calories(热量) and builds muscle(肌肉) — both of which help you look and feel good and keep weight off. Walking the family dog, riding to school, and doing other sports can all make a difference. If you want to burn more calories, add some strength exercises to build muscle.
• People who spend a lot of time watching TV, playing video games, and using computers are more likely to be overweight. Set reasonable limits on the amount of such time you spend.
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A. Set goals to lose weight. B. Reduce screen time. C. This means they can fill you up. D. So what's the best way to drop extra weight? E. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. F. So they get more calories and become much heavier. |
In your dreams, you may clearly see or hear something. But can you ever remember smells from your dreams?
A study looked at different sensory (感官的) experiences in dreams. It found visual (视觉的) experience 1 controls one's dreams. It takes up about 85%, while auditory (听觉的) makes up 69%, and smell only 7%.
Now scientists have possible reasons based on what is known about the brain. In our brain, there is a special part 2 the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层). It's related to our feelings. As much as two-thirds of the cerebral cortex works in vision (视力). So vision appears often in dreams. Auditory is closely tied to language. Smell connects directly into the memory and emotional systems. That's 3 a smell can bring back a memory.
Another 4 is that perhaps smell is not easily influenced by our imagination. For example, close your eyes and imagine your favorite dish. It's easy to think about what it looks like. But it's not as easy to imagine its smell. Smell is a direct measurement (衡量) of the chemicals in the air. There is 5 imagination about smell. So it might not be much influenced by the brain activity during dreaming.
It was a cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. An old man waited for a ride across the river. The 1 seemed to go on forever.
When a rider came over, the old man said, "Sir, would you 2 giving me a ride to the other side? There doesn't seem to be a walkway."
The rider said, "OK!" The old man couldn't get on the horse himself, 3 the rider helped the old man onto the horse.
"Sir, I saw you let several other 4 go by. Then I came up and you asked me for a ride. I just want to know why you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had 5 and left you here?" the rider asked.
The old man said, "It would have been 6 to ask the others for a ride because I could see in their eyes that they didn't want to help me. But 7 I looked into your eyes, I knew your kind spirit would give me a hand."
These heart-warming words deeply touched the rider. "I'm so 8 for you have said," he told the old man. "I hope I will never leave others simply because I'm busy and I hope I can always respond (回应) to the needs of people with 9 and care.
With that, the rider took the old man to the other side of the river, turned his horse around and 10 his way back to the White House. It turned out that the rider was the third president of the United States — Thomas Jefferson.
As a Grade 9 student, I have to face a big challenge, the P.E. test. I call it a big challenge because I don't do well sports. I know it is very strange that a healthy boy like me doesn't like P.E. But (unlucky), it's the truth. I have got bad (grade) in P.E. since the first day I (go) to school. I can't run more quickly and throw a ball (well) than the other students. I spend the time (read) books while other students are playing games. However, I can't help admiring my classmates look so cool when playing football or basketball.
But now the P.E. test gives me a chance (start) exercising. I exercise every day. Sometimes I feel tired and want to give up, but I think the P.E. test is just like enemy and I must beat it. And then I feel full of energy and this keeps me going. Though I don't know whether I will (success) or not, I will always try to do it. I'm sure I will win in the end.
