World's Fascinating Libraries to Mark World Book Day
World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, is an annual event organized by the UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on April 23 twenty-seven years ago. Let's take a look at the world's fascinating libraries and enjoy the fun of reading.
Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading
Located in the center of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading is a library and cultural institution (机构). It was built in the late 19th century. Open to the public since 1900, the cabinet has the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal, holding more than 350,000 books.
Stuttgart City Library
Stuttgart City Library is a cube outside with a hollow (空的) design inside. The hollow part is connected with misplaced stairs to create a unique sense of space. Since its completion in 2011, it has become a local cultural card and an "instagrammable" place for many tourists.
Library of Alexandria
The Alexandria Library in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The library, destroyed in 415 AD and rebuilt in 2002, is not only a library, but also a museum and scientific research institution. It is known as the Egyptian cultural center and a lighthouse of thought, culture and science.
Vasconcelos Library
Vasconcelos Library is located in the downtown area of Mexico City. It was designed by the famous Mexican designer Alberto Kalach, and named after José Vasconcelos, the philosopher and former president of the National Library of Mexico. It was completed in May 2006 and opened to the public.
Australian Open Wheelchair Tennis Winners
Wheelchair tennis champ Kunieda won the men's Australian Open once more on Thursday, beating a player from the United Kingdom. Diede Groot won the women's wheelchair finals by defeating Aniek van Koot.
This is the 11th time winning the Australian Open for Japan's Kunieda. But the two hours and 12 minutes match wasn't an easy one. He won the first set, but the player from the United Kingdom took the second set. Kunieda came roaring back in the third set to take the prize, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. He seemed to surprise even himself. "I played the best tennis of my career," he said, "Especially in the final set. I don't know how I did it, but I pushed past my limit. "He staged a comeback after losing in the semi-finals of last year's Australian Open. But it's probably not surprising, for someone who has won several Paralympic Gold Medals and 26 Grand Slam (大满贯）singles victories.
In the women's wheelchair finals, it was a contest between two athletes from the Netherlands. From early on, Diede Groot seemed to be in control. Much of the difference in play came from Groot's strong and steady serve. She made her first serve count 74% of the time, In the second set, she got out to a 5-0 lead before giving up a game to Aniek van Koot. But it didn't take her long to get back on track, winning the match 6-1, 6-1. The entire match took less than an hour. "I'm super happy," said Diede Groot. "It's the beginning of the year. I think I've showed everyone that I'm ready for the rest of the year." It was her 13th Grand Slam singles title. Last year, she earned a "Golden Slam" by winning all four Grand Slam tournaments, as well as a Paralympic gold.
Six red wolf pups (幼崽) were born in the wild, which marks the first time these pups have been born in the wild since 2018.
Long ago, red wolves lived all through the US Southeast. But as the wolves were hunted, and as more and more land was taken over for cities, roads, and farms, the wolves began to die out. In 1973, a new law called the Endangered Species Act was passed. It was designed to protect endangered animals, like red wolves. At the time, there were only about 17 red wolves remaining in the wild.
The Red Wolf Recovery Program kept fourteen of those wolves in captivity (囚禁) to protect them. By 1980, red wolves were believed to be extinct in the wild. Luckily, the wolves did well in captivity, and their numbers continued to grow. Soon the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began releasing red wolves back into the wild. Between 1987 and 1994, 60 adult red wolves were released. Over time, those wolves spread out, paired up, and began to have pups. In 2008, there were 47 wild pups born. By 2012, red wolf numbers had hit a new high point of about 120 wolves in the wild.
Sadly, though, wild red wolf numbers began to drop again. Some wolves were shot and others were hit by cars. In 2018, a total of four pups were born in the wild. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, no wild pups were born at all. So the news that six pups were born in the wild this year is a huge boost. The good news isn't an accident. Currently, there are over 240 captive red wolves in the recovery program. The FWS has releasedsome captive wolves into the wild, and worked to pair these animals with wild wolves. The FWS has also takenpups born in captivity and had them raised by wild female wolves. With luck, they will have even morecompany next year.
The heavy use of fossil fuels (化石燃料) over the last 150 years has caused the Earth to warm up. That pattern will continue and get worse unless we stop the pollution very, very quickly. And even if we do end fossil fuel use, there's still way too much of a polluting gas called "carbon dioxide" (CO2) in our atmosphere. Recent reports by scientists make it clear that this CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere and stored.
Plants and trees do this naturally. But there's so much CO2 in the atmosphere that planting trees and protecting forests won't come close to solving the problem. That means humans need to come up with ways of removing carbon from the air and storing it. This is called Direct Air Capture (DAC).
Last September, the world's largest carbon capture factory opened in Iceland. Called Orca, the project is run by Climeworks, which works on capturing the CO2. Experts say that by 2030, we need to be able to remove 85 million metric tons of CO2 from the air. It would take 1, 000 factories like Orca over 20 years to remove that much. Factories that can remove even more CO2 are being planned, but it will take time for them to be built.
Until recently, scientists working on capturing carbon had a hard time finding support for their research. Now, because of the crisis, there are many scientists working on the problem, and many companies willing to pay for it. Governments worldwide have promised nearly $4 billion to develop carbon capture methods and factories.
Some people worry that there's not enough time left for DAC technology to be developed and become powerful enough to make a big difference. Others worry that focusing on removing carbon could take attention away from more important climate actions, like switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Garden recycling is a great way to help the environment while saving money and sparking (激发) the imagination. However, in keeping with greener living, garden recycling is becoming more popular.
There are several benefits to garden recycling. The most common of them is saving the environment. Recycling materials in the garden is also less expensive and with creativity, makes every garden unique. In order to ensure items for garden recycling go with their new setting, we consider how each fits into the surroundings beforehand. Nearly any object has potential for transformation into the garden or elsewhere. With a little creativity, you can turn an otherwise useless item into a one-of-a-kind piece of art. From various metal objects like bed frames, bicycles, there is potential for sculptures and flower containers.
There's a place for everything in the garden. Fountains, ponds, and other water features can be made easily from found objects. Turn an old mailbox into a birdhouse. Transform a slightly chipped flowerpot into a frog shelter. Create birdbaths from dishes. Just about anything imaginable can be transformed into a container by simply adding drainage (排水) holes. From tubs (缸), baskets, boots, toys, and even garden materials, like pine needles, leaves and garden waste, anything can be reused.
A. There are several ways to recycle in the garden.
B. Reusing everyday items helps keep trash out of landfills.
C. Wildlife shelters can also be included in garden recycling.
D. Reusing old objects or materials in the garden is nothing new.
E. So, when it comes to garden recycling, the possibilities are endless.
F. Dishes can also be reused for decorating other items by breaking them.
G. One of the most popular ways to garden recycle is by reusing old objects as garden art.
When I was younger, I loved taking part in the high school musicals. I loved the idea of performing in front of hundreds of people.
In one production, my music teacher was so 1 that I would get a particular part to 2 for the visitors to our school. We even rehearsed (排练) my songs. One day the show director 3 me aside. I was expecting to be offered the part. 4 he said, "Bob, I owe a favor to someone. I 5 to give the part to another boy." Hearing this, I became sad and began to 6 that I didn't like what we were singing. My teacher said that I had 7 but she didn't know what I had been told.
When they 8 the finalists, I was given a minor role. My 9 struggled with having to do something I didn't want to do. But I 10 it. It turned out that the minor role I had was much more 11 .I got to step into the spot light for a few bars and 12 even my brother who was in the audience.
Sometimes we don't like the 13 we were given, like me in high school. Then we wonder why we feel so 14 . Everyone does indeed have a role. Some in front of the curtain, some behind, but all are necessary in order for the show to go on. All parts 15 the success no matter how minor they are.
A group of post-80s artists, consisting two men and two women, painted the streets, pavements, gardens and residential buildings piece by piece from their childhood (memory) in the old urban communities in Yuxi City. Among them, Wang Jie has the (good) painting skills, and is responsible for the most difficult (face) details of the characters; Zhong Yansong and Liu Jin are the main force of the team; Zhang Mengting is the "housekeeper", responsible for business order and outreach(外展服务).
Over the last two years, they (paint) more than 1,000 square meters of wall for 700 old communities that have been restored in Yuxi. Many residents even consider them as family members, (offer) them free water, umbrellas and meals. Children wanted rabbits (appear) on the wall paintings, and they painted rabbits. "When people say they like our works and the wall paintings make the environment more beautiful, we (real) feel a sense of professional achievement," says Zhong.
the four didn't expect was that when they painted their childhood favorite cartoon Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, they unexpectedly made this residential building an Internet sensation(网红). Every community is a piece of the urban puzzle. more beautiful the community becomes, the more beautiful the city grows.
My Kindergarten Hero
We had just completed a unit on community heroes, and I had given my kindergarten class a task to write or draw about their favorite hero. Each child was busy creating colorful masterpieces such as firefighters, policemen and doctors. Several students had chosen to draw larger-than-life brothers and sisters or moms and dads.
However, one little boy was having difficulty with the assignment. Cameron had touched my heart early in the school year. He had dark brown hair and wore his thick glasses. He looks like a younger version of Harry Potter at best. He often snorted (鼻息声) when he laughed, and the rest of the class would laugh along with him.
Cameron suffered from autism(自闭症), but that didn't matter to me or his classmates. We all loved him just the way he was. He was full of wonderful stories and brought a special feeling to our classroom. I sat and watched as Austin worked with Cameron. Austin had a wonderful way of interacting with Cameron and he helped him find his hero. Within a few minutes, Cameron quickly began drawing blue lines and curves on his paper—he was particularly fond of the color blue.
Finally, it was time for everybody to share their hero pictures. I listened as each student proudly stood in front of the class, picture held high, and described his or her hero. Several students described their heroes by giving them superhuman strength. It was finally Cameron's turn to share his hero. Cameron stood up and anxiously placed his large blue stick-figured drawing in front of his face. He then quickly burst out it was a picture of me. He added that I helped him learn things and then quickly sat back down. Tears began to form in the corner of my eyes, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.
注意：
1）续写的词数应为150左右；
2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When Austin stood up to share his picture, I was certain it would be a policeman.
……
Cameron suddenly stood up, and put his arms up in the air as if he were going to take of and fly.
