Smart Things on Their Way
Google Clips
Google Clips is designed to be put somewhere in a room to take pictures by itself. It can also be attached to an object or a person's clothing.
Google says Machine Learning helps the camera choose the best times and situations for taking pictures and videos. Interested buyers can join a waiting list for the product to be on the market.
GoPro Hero
GoPro also uses Machine Learning to power its QuikStories characteristic. This tool takes existing photos and videos and automatically （自动地）creates a finished video piece, complete with music and effects.
Snap Sunglasses
Messaging app Snapchat sells a pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera that can record short videos with the push of a button. Snap Inc. says the product is designed to "catch the moment, without taking you out of it."
The glasses can record short video clips that can be shared with Snapchat users. Snap Inc. has started selling its sunglasses online.
Apple iPhone X
Apple's new iPhone X has a new Face ID system that it says will unlock the phone just by having the user look at it. This replaces the Touch ID on previous ones that used a fingerprint to unlock the phone.
Apple says the system works by projecting more than 30 000 dots on the face to create a kind of map. Apple says its facial recognition is even safe enough to allow payments through its Apple Pay service.
On a hot July day in Fairfax, Virginia, the couple team Christopher Pei and Zhang Guifeng are training their students while observing their emotions before their USA Wushu Kungfu Federation National Team Trials （选拔赛）.
"They are so nervous because they are experiencing competition anxiety," says Pei, co —founder of US Wushu Academy. "The anxiety allows me only an hour of sleep every night during the competition."
Wushu is a sport that combines elements of performance and martial arts. The USAWKF National Team Trials happen every two years. Coaches and students get up at 7 am each day to practice for the trials. For 30 years Pei and Zhang have been working in Wushu education.
Pei, who is in his 60s, moved to the United States from China with his family in 1972. "When we moved to Vestal, New York, I did not know any English and started learning English from alphabets," Pei says. "So I figured it might be a better idea to start learning Wushu in case I got into a fight and could protect myself." He later realized Wushu is composed of two Chinese characters, "zhi"（止）and "ge"（戈）which means to stop fighting.
The couple opened their first academy in Virginia in 1988. Students start as kindergartners and many continue all the way to college.
Chinese culture emphasizes mastering both literacy and martial arts in order to become a complete person. Zhang believes Wushu helps youth develop concentration because its two main principles include focus and respect. "Many parents who grew up in the U.S. as seconder third-generation Chinese need their children to not only learn traditional Chinese culture but also the correct way to become a better person." Pei says.
They devote six days of the week to Wushu education. Sunday is the only day when their attention is not on their students. ^Learning Wushu is difficult, Pei says. "But the students don't easily give up,'，
Measles(麻疹), which once killed 450 children each year and disabled even more, was nearly wiped out in the United States 14 years ago by the universal use of the MMR vaccine(疫苗). But the disease is making a comeback, caused by a growing anti-vaccine movement and misinformation that is spreading quickly. Already this year, 115 measles cases have been reported in the USA, compared with 189 for all of last year.
The numbers might sound small, but they are the leading edge of a dangerous trend. When vaccination rates are very high, as they still are in the nation as a whole, everyone is protected. This is called "herd immunity", which protects the people who get hurt easily, including those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, babies too young to get vaccinated and people on whom the vaccine doesn't work.
But herd immunity works only when nearly the whole herd joins in. When some refuse vaccination and seek a free ride, immunity breaks down and everyone is in even bigger danger.
That's exactly what is happening in small neighborhoods around the country from Orange County, California, where 22 measles cases were reported this month, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a 17-year-old caused an outbreak last year.
The resistance to vaccine has continued for decades, and it is driven by a real but very small risk. Those who refuse to take that risk selfishly make others suffer.
Making things worse are state laws that make it too easy to opt out(决定不参加) of what are supposed to be required vaccines for all children entering kindergarten. Seventeen states allow parents to get an exemption（豁免), sometimes just by signing a paper saying they personally object to a vaccine.
Now, several states are moving to tighten laws by adding new regulations for opting out. But no one does enough to limit exemptions.
Parents ought to be able to opt out only for limited medical or religious reasons. But personal opinions? Not good enough. Everyone enjoys the life-saving benefits vaccines provide, but they'll exist only as long as everyone shares in the risks.
If you are taking vitamin supplements to reduce your risk of heart disease or cancer, a group of health experts want you to know that those vitamins may actually increase your risk of cancer. The US Preventive Services Task Force came to this conclusion after reviewing dozens of studies. Nearly half of adults in the US take at least one vitamin or mineral supplement on a regular basis. These pills are advertised as a way to promote general health. In some cases, manufacturers promote them as cancer fighters and heart protectors.
Studies in animals and in laboratory dishes suggest that oxidative (氧化性的) stress contributes to diseases like cancer and heart disease. If so, there is a reason to believe that antioxidants — including beta-carotene, vitamins A, C, and E — could be useful as preventive medicines.
But when the Task Force examined the medical evidence on vitamins, it found "inadequate (不充分的) evidence" to support the claims that vitamin and mineral supplements benefit healthy adults.
"Cardiovascular (心血管的) disease and cancer have a significant health impact in America, and we all want to find ways to prevent these diseases," Dr. Virginia Moyer, who heads the Task Force, said in a statement. But so far, she added, the medical evidence does not show that taking vitamins is helpful in this regard.
However, the Task Force did find "adequate evidence" that people with a raised risk for lung cancer actually increase their risk further by taking beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.
The Task Force recommendations of taking vitamins regularly apply to healthy adults aged 50 and older who don't have "special nutritional needs". The advice does not apply to children, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, people with chronic illnesses, or people who have to take supplements because they can't get all their essential nutrients from their diet.
Color is fundamental in home design—something you'll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you'll love to live in. Do you want a room that's full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day? , color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.
Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point. , they can get a little complex. But good news is that there're really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.
. They're the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.
Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves. . They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.
The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you're looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant. .
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A. While all of them are useful B. Whatever you're looking for C. If you're experimenting with a color D. Small color choices are the ones we're most familiar with E. It's not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces F. So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time G. Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways |
Even though it was only October, my students were already whispering about Christmas plans. With each passing day everyone became more1waiting for the final school bell. Upon its2everyone would run for their coats and go home, everyone except David.
David was a small boy in ragged clothes. I had often3what kind of home life David had, and what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so4or the cold winter months, without a coat, boots, or gloves. But something made David5.I can still remember he was always6a smile and willing to help. He always7after school to straighten chairs and mop the floor. We never talked much. He8just smile and ask what else he could do, then thank me for letting him stay and slowly9home.
Weeks passed and the10over the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of11before the holiday break. I smiled in12as the last of them hurried out the door. Turning around I saw David13standing by my desk.
"I have something for you" he said and14from behind his back a small box.15it to me, he said anxiously. "Open it." I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it. I lift the lid and to my16I saw nothing. I looked at David's smiling face add back into the box and said, "The box is nice, David, but it's17"
"Oh no it isn't" said David "It's full of love, my mum told me before she died that love was something you couldn't see or touch unless you know it's there"
Tears filled my eyes18I looked at the proud dirty face that I had rarely given19to. After that Christmas, David and I became good friends and I never forgot the meaning20the little empty box set on my desk.
Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty felt interested in the local drama during his tour of Southern China. To celebrate his 80th birthday in 1790, he gathered opera troupes （剧 团）from different areas around China(perform) for him in Beijing. When the(celebrate) came to an end, four famous troupes from Anhui Province(ask) to stay, for audiences were particularly(satisfy) with their great performances, colorful clothes and interesting facial make-ups.
Step by step, it replaced Kunqu Operahad been popular in the palace and among the upper ranks in Beijing. Later, some troupes from Hubei Province came to Beijing and often performed together with the Anhui troupes. The two types of singing(gradual) combined on the same stage and finally gave birtha new type that was known as Beijing Opera.
Beijing Opera absorbed various characteristics of its forerunners (祖先)such as singing and dancing and adapted(it) in language and style of singing to Beijing audiences5 tastes. time goes by its popularity has spread all over the country, with it(become) the favorite drama in China.
删除：把多余的词用斜线 (＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 每处错误及修改仅限一词；
只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I received a handwritten letter from the friend last week. I got one or two when I was a child but I never expect to receive one again. In this rapid changing world, in most case we use social media to keep in touch. The letter reminded me that this form of communication still exist, and that there are reasons in it to exist. People today are connected more, and the pictures I post on our social media accounts that are widely viewed by people we don't even know. However, letters represent a slow pace and allow us control what we tell our friends. In this way, our conversations don't involve so many irrelevant things, but the slow pace makes the contact long-lasting.
1）志愿者工作已接近尾声；
2）你参加的志愿者工作内容以及你体会到的益处；
3）你的感想及呼吁。
注意：
1）词数100词左右；
2）参考词汇：志愿者工作volunteer work
Dear Jerry，
Yours,
Li Hu
