A eLibrary for Teens
Below are four FREE library apps that offer materials of special interest to teens
OverDrive
OverDrive provides new and popular e-books, e-audiobooks and e-videos. You can browse (浏览) by subjects and select Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Literature, Young Adult Nonfiction or Young Adult Videos. Don't forget to check out the Comics and Graphic Books (漫画与绘本)category if you enjoy graphic novels! Many borrowed e-books, e-audiobooks and e-videos can be downloaded to the free Libby app or OverDrive app for mobile devices. Titles will automatically expire(到期) at the end of the lending period. There are no late fees!
Hoopla
Hoopla is a digital media service which enables users to borrow a selection of movies, television shows, educational videos, documentaries, music, e-books, e-audiobooks, comics, and graphic novels. Everything can be downloaded instantly! You can check out up to 8 items per month.
Freading
E-books are always accessible! Also check out its collection of Test Preparation books, under the Study Aids category. To find teen books, search by category and select Young Adult Fiction. Freading highlights travel books and has a large collection of frequently updated travel guides, which offer affordable ways to see the sites that you want when you travel.
Mango
Do you want to learn a new language? Try the Mango Languages Library Edition app! You can learn to speak new languages and meet new cultures through cool experiences like overhearing a conversation between native speakers or watching a suspense-ridden action flick(悬念重重的动作片). Mango can be used online from any computer, anywhere, at any time.
I lost my phone when I was on holiday four months ago. With no phone to use on my way back to Milan, I decided to buy a book at the airport before boarding the plane. There was a discount on Stephen Hawking's Brief Answers to the Big Questions, and while not necessarily an easy read for the non-reader I was at the time, it touched on some of the subjects I'm most curious about, so I decided it was worth the f5. 99. I paid for it. To my great surprise, I read the whole thing on that two-hour return flight—and so my love for reading began. I was confused. Before then, I used to buy books hoping I'd read them. Months would go by but I wouldn't even open them. So I wondered. What was different this time? After carefully analysing the situation, I came up with an explanation.
Now I realise, most books on my reading list as a child came from one of three places: suggested books, school books, and "to read before you die" books. As a kid, I didn't have much experience when it came to books or reading. So when I decided to pick up a book, I thought these were the ones I should read and I believed I would surely enjoy them. Then I ended up thinking of myself as someone that simply didn't like reading.
It is obvious, in hindsight(在事后看来)，that I actually really enjoyed reading. The few times I got to skim through a book that felt right，I would devour(如饥似渴地 读) the whole thing in a matter of hours.
Many people approach reading the wrong way, so they ultimately end up disliking it the way I did. Keep on reading books you don't like, and you'll eventually convince yourself it is reading you don't like. So just make sure, you are reading books that touch on subjects you are actually curious about —don't be scared to create your unique bookshelf.
Engineers and scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a unique solution to help people in these areas get clean drinking water.
They developed a low-cost gel film (凝胶膜) that can pull water from the air in even the driest climate. Just one kilogram of gel can absorb up to six liters of water in a dry climate. For those living in a climate with relative humidity (潮湿), one kilogram of gel can collect up to 13 liters of water a day. As the gel is so inexpensive and easy to make, it may offer a way of providing drinking water to countries with water shortages.
Previously, researchers have harvested fresh water from fog and dew, but that only serves areas with high humidity. Other attempts at pulling water from desert air consume lots of energy and do not produce much. In fact, this gel is a big improvement from previous water harvesting technologies. The maximum water harvested has been 5. 87 liters in places with relative humidity. This new gel doubles this amount, uses no energy and is simple to operate and it can be molded into a shape or size that best suits the user.
"This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get water in the hottest, driest places on Earth," said Guihua Yu, professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering. "This could allow millions of people without consistent access to drinking water to have simple, water generating devices (取水装置)at home that they can easily operate. "
"This is not something you need an advanced degree to use," the paper's lead author, Youhong "Nancy" Guo said. "It's straightforward enough that anyone can make it at home if they have the materials." Scientists are planning on making a thicker gel that will increase the production, making this technology a practicable solution to drought.
For late 19th-century North Americans and Europeans, a display of tableware (餐具) could reveal much about someone's social position, as the wealthy took great care to get different kinds of forks for everything. Before the 18th century, people of all classes usually ate with a knife and a spoon.
The fork's path to the table was hard-won and slow. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, forks were used for slicing food into pieces or lifting meat from a pot or fire.
Following a reduction in size, the fork appeared to have entered dining areas in the courts of the Middle East and Byzantine Empire by the eighth and ninth centuries, and became common among wealthy families there by the tenth century. Early in the 11th century, it appeared in various pieces of European art. In the late 11th century, St. Peter Damian from Ostia wrote about a Byzantine princess who used forks and regarded her dying of a disease as punishment for such "luxury".
The fork's slow conquest of Europe was carried out from Italy. Motivated by the same concerns for hygiene(卫生), forks were bought by wealthy Britons，inspired by Queen Victoria, who regarded fork use as a sign of good manners.
The fork's introduction to North America dates back to 1633, when John Winthrop, a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was gifted a set of forks. The Industrial Revolution strengthened the fork's presence on dining room tables as production of flatware became less expensive. Writing in 1896 in Social Eriquere, Maud C. Cooke declared the fork had finally conquered the knife in America and "any attempt to give the knife importance at table is looked upon as an offense (冒犯) against good taste."
Some paper plates can be recycled. Rather than throw them away after one use, consider more eco-friendly choices.
First, they're coated in plastic. This coating offers a smooth surface and prevents the paper plate from taking in liquids. Usually, the coating can't be separated from the paper in a recycling facility, so these paper plates can't be recycled like regular paper. Second, they're polluted with food waste. Once they've been used, paper plates become covered in food waste. This adds pollutants to the recycling process.
If you're trying to reduce your impact on the environment, then looking at ways to reuse any paper plates you do have is a good option. If you bought heavy-duty paper plates and they're only a little dirty after use-if you served dry food on them, for example—you can clean them and use them again.
The most obvious alternative to paper plates is reusable plates. Even though you have to wash them with water, the environmental impact of a reusable plate will still be lower. If you're looking for a semi-disposable (用数次的) plate, then you can find plates made from natural materials like bamboo. These plates can be used and washed or cleaned a few times.
A. The short answer is yes and no.
B. However, the vast majority usually can't
C. At the end of their life, they will break down naturally
D. PLA is a bioplastic that's used to coat some paper plates.
E. So most cities won't accept used paper plates for recycling.
F. There are (two main reasons why the majority of paper plates can't be recycled G. If you have clean paper plates, they can be used for a wide range of other projects.
One of my clients (客户) recently revealed that his wife was of the opinion that he shouldn't hire a coach to help him create a more1life; he should be able to do it by himself.
Has anyone ever said something 2 to you? Or perhaps you have said it to yourself? When I talk to people about making changes in their life, they would 3 say something like "but shouldn't I do this 4 ?
However, the opposite is 5. The most successful people get as much help as they need to 6 their goal. Take Ellen MacArthur for example, the fastest female and youngest sailor to race around the world solo, non-stop. While she 7around the world by herself, she also had advisors, trainers, sponsors, and a support team to help her. She once said, "It's always been about a 8 , so I have to thank my partners, friends, and supporters.9 them, I would be nowhere."
Many people 10 that "if you have help to achieve something then it 11 that achievement". It is a common 12 , however, and one that I would 13 you to stay away from. So next time you hear a phrase like "you should do it on your own", either from someone else or in your head, 14 yourself immediately that it is not helpful and focus on 15 the help you need to get to where you want to go.
The China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR)was formed in 2001. The team brings help and hope to those whose(life) are changed by a storm, flood, earthquake, or any other natural disaster.
In 2003, the Chinese team went on (it) first international rescue missions and helped save lives after earthquakes in Algeria and Iran. It was the first time that a Chinese team had worked outside China，and the team won high praise their bravery and skill.
Since then, the CISAR (complete) many missions. The list of people to help has been given is long. The team treated more than 3,000 people injured in the 2006 earthquake in Indonesia, helped 2,500 wounded people after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and spent several months (give) aid to over 25,000 victims of the 2010 floods in Pakistan.
Rescue workers are trained (find) people, treat injuries, and hand out food, water, and other supplies. They have to be able to do difficult work under conditions which can be very (danger). After a disaster, there is (usual) no electricity or water. It takes a lot of love and courage to risk one's own life to save someone else's. The members of the CISAR have plenty of both and are always ready to go help is needed.
Alex was very excited because the New Year Eve's party was coming and as usual it was going to be held in his Uncle Peter's home. Suddenly, he saw his grandfather sitting alone looking very unhappy.
Alex went to him and asked, "Grandpa, why are you sitting alone? Is there anything wrong with you?"
His grandfather replied, "No, I am fine. I just feel like sitting alone. "
"Grandpa, you know the New Year party is near, so are you preparing for it?" asked Alex excitedly.
"No dear, I am not. With the passage of time, the world has completely changed and I don't see any point in celebrating the world I see today," answered his grandpa disappointedly.
"I know something is wrong with you and you are not telling me. Please tell me what the problem is. "Alex said.
"I feel I am a stranger in the world I am living in. It is not the same as I have known. Now everyone is busy with their own work. Your father is busy with business, your brother is busy on the computer, your sisters are busy watching dramas and your mum is busy with housework. I don't know how to pass my days," said his grandfather sadly.
"Grandpa, you have me!"said Alex.
His grandfather smiled and said, "Yeah, you are here, but what about others? In our days, we had a fixed(固定的) time each day when the whole family sat together and talked, shared problems and laughed together. "
That night Alex thought about what his grandfather had said and an idea flashed his mind. He decided to have a surprise. New Year party at his own home and make everyone come together that day. As New Year's Eve got nearer, Alex got busy preparing for the party. He kept it a secret from his grandfather and asked everyone not to let him know about it in order to surprise him.
注意：
1）续写词数应为 150 左右；
2）请按如下格式作答。
It was December 31 and everyone was busy with their own work.
Alex saw his grandfather looking very happy while talking with the family members.
