17yearold Elexis Webster grew up homeless with cruel family members and serious health problems. But Webster has got over these difficulties to become an honor student at her high school.
The teen spent her childhood living in dug outs (防空洞), cars, and any place where her family could find shelter. She was treated cruelly by her mother, a drug user, who left her and her sister alone without food for days. Her older brother disturbed her study too many tunes. Her poor living conditions led to her becoming extremely weak, which caused her to miss school often.
However, she got a 4.1 GPA in the exam, though many wouldn't expect her to have such a hard life. Surviving in the family in an environment like that, she was able to come out of it, and she knew she had to make the best of what happened to her.
At 14, her mother was put in prison for leaving Webster and her sister in a car in the middle of a school day. The two girls were placed in foster care (寄养所) with a woman whom Webster still lives with. She calls her "Mema".
"Mema", who the teen sees as her mom, encouraged Webster as she returned school again. Even after missing three years of school, Webster was able to be excellent. Now Webster has planned to attend University of California at Los Angeles and study physics.
"I got to a place where I was able to keep going and push for higher than a 4.1 and push to get into a really great college or university. I see success. I see happiness and I see peace," she told KPIX 5.
Learning Chinese could be one of the most important decisions you ever make. Chinese is becoming the language to learn in the 21st century. With the world's largest population and a rapidly growing middle class, China stands to become the engine of the world's economy in the coming years. This will make learning Chinese very important for people in many industries, or for those of us who wish to visit China or learn from its culture and history.
There is an ongoing effort to modernize the writing system and standardize the language. An increasing number of people learning Chinese are learning the Mandarin, so unless you absolutely need to learn another dialect (such as Cantonese), be sure you are studying Mandarin.
For native English speakers Chinese is one of the most difficult and most different languages to learn. The vocabulary is wholly unfamiliar and unlike anything we know. In addition, in the Chinese tone system, words are spoken in rising or falling tones, which help to distinguish between them. Furthermore, there is the Chinese writing system— a collection of thousands of individual ideograms (表意文字), or symbols, which represent a word or an idea. These ideograms have no phonetic value—that is to say, we can't tell how the word is pronounced by how it is written. There is a method to present written Chinese in a phonetic script called pinyin. If you are learning Chinese, you'll be working with this pinyin system, but the beauty of the traditional writing system shouldn't be passed up. All these factors make learning Chinese difficult for us. Yet, for a determined learner, there's always a way to overcome it.
More than 40 million Americans move each year, but not always by choice. Whether you're moving because of work or schooling or for better chances, adjusting to (适应) the life in a new place can be difficult. . Here are some tips to help you adjust to your new home.
Treat it as an adventure.
. So stay positive and get out there and explore! Taste the local food and visit famous places and museums. Try local activities that aren't popular in your former city, such as skating if you come from a beach town or surfing if you lived in the mountains. You may discover a talent (才华) or interest you never knew you had.
Get involved with your neighbors
Introduce yourself to neighbors and everyone else you meet. . This is the best way to get advice about living in your area, and to make new friends. Attend local events that interest you, visit the markets or yard sales, take classes and so on. All of these things will help you meet people and feel connected.
It takes time to get to know a new place, so don't expect to feel comfortable right away. . To help make the process easier, you can meet new people, find a support group near you. A fresh move is also a fresh start. Therefore, it is a great time to start realizing a dream you've had, whether it is going back to school, starting a new career, or finishing a novel.
A. Find what you love
B. Be patient and go after your dream
C. Give yourself time to adjust
D. Tell them you're new in the town
E. It is especially true when you don't love your new city very much
F. Show others the photos of your favorite places in your old town
G. Living in a new place is a great opportunity to experience new things and grow up.
At an airport I overheard a father and a daughter in their last moments together. It had announced her plane's 1 and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, "I love you. I wish you enough." She said. "Daddy, our life together has been 2 enough. Your love is all I 3 needed. I wish you enough, too? Daddy. They kissed good-bye and she left.
He walked over toward the window where I 4. I could see he wanted to cry. I tried not to disturb his privacy(隐私), but he 5 me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone you love, knowing it would be forever?", "Yes, I have," I 6. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and 7 for all my Dad had done for me. After thirty seconds of silence. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a/an 8 good-bye?" I asked. "I am old and she lives much too far away. The reality is that her next trip back will be for my funeral," he said. "When you were saying good-bye I heard you say," I wish you enough "May I ask what that means?" He began to 9.
"That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and 10 as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. "When we said I wish you enough, we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to 11 them", he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude 12. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much 13. I wish you enough gain to 14 your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you have. I wish enough Hellos to get you through the 15 "Good-bye." He then began to sob and walked away.
Jin Yong (10 March 1924—30 October 2018) was a Chinese wuxia novelist, co-founded the Hong Kong daily newspaper Ming Bao in 1959 and served as first editor-in-chief. He was one of the most famous writers in China.
His wuxia has a widespread following in Chinese communities worldwide. His 15 works (produce) between 1955 and 1972 earned him a reputation as one of the greatest and most popular wuxia writers ever. Over 100 million (copy) of his works have been sold worldwide. According to The Oxford Guide to Contemporary World Literature, Jin Yong's novels are (high) evaluated and are able to appeal to both highbrow and lowbrow tastes. His works have the unusual ability (go) beyond geographical and ideological barriers separating Chinese communities of the world, achieving (great) success than any other contemporary writer.
His works (translate) into many languages so far. There (be) many fans outside of Chinese-speaking areas, as a result of the numerous adaptations of his works into films, television series, comics and video games.
Jin Yong is named along with Gu Long and Liang Yusheng as the "Three Legs of the Tripod of wuxia" and the asteroid (小行星) 10930 Jinyong (1998 CR2) is named him.
There have certainly been records that have been hugely popular and some of those have had a message. Can there be many songs that really did change the world? Did they really change the hearts and minds of ordinary people?
There is one, Goettingen, which did, but it's hardly known now.
Even though France and Germany are neighbors, there was bad feeling between them 50 years ago as a result of World War Ⅱ. Into this area of hatred and anger stepped a singer with a gentle voice.
Barbara was her stage name. She took it from her Russian grandmother. She was born in Paris in 1930. She was Jewish and so a target (目标) for the Nazis. But, twenty years after the end of the Second World War, she travelled to the German city Goettingen. She fell in love with the city and its people and recorded the song Goettingen, first in French and then in German.
It moved her German audience at the theatre. The song became a hit. A street was named after her. The city gave its Medal of Honor to her. The song's popularity made an important contribution to repairing France-Germany relations.
One of the people in the audience was a student by the name of Gerhard Schroeder. He later became Chancellor of Germany. He said："I was a college student when she came to sing. It went to our hearts, the start of a wonderful friendship between our countries."
Listening to the song today, it's easy to understand its attraction then. It is still a beautiful song of love, although it is a bit sad in parts. Barbara had much to be sad about. She was extremely frightened by the war.
In Germany, she was loved for the love she had given to the people. In France, she was a star. Streets were named after her there, too. A stamp had her face on it. When she died in 1997, 250 thousand people went to the funeral (葬礼).
Lionel Jospin, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002, once said: "Barbara was a woman who knew suffering and understood the suffering of others."
Pet lovers were very angry. Last May, a news article online said three states had passed laws limiting the number of pets that each household could have to only two. The news spread quickly, as many people shared the article on Facebook and other social media sites. But pet owners had nothing to worry about—the article was made-up.
Many fake (虚假的) news are harmless, but others might have played a role in real—world events. When it comes to online news, even adults can have a hard time telling fact from fiction. Education experts say kids should start learning how to tell the difference.
Of course, there are plenty of reputable websites you can visit to read the news. Well-known news organizations, such as The New York Times and the Associated Press, have their own sites.
But many other online "news" sources aren't always reliable. And many students have trouble finding out when articles aren't entirely true or are trying to persuade them to think in a certain way.
Why would someone purposely publish an article that isn't true? The most common reason is to make money. Websites are paid by the companies that post ads on them. Companies want to place their ads on sites that get a lot of visitors. So people create fake news with attention-catching headlines to try to get users to click on them.
Some of the biggest websites are trying to stop the flow of fake news. Last November, Facebook and Google banned fake news sites from advertising on their pages. Facebook is also working with fact-checking organizations to identify and flag fake articles. But experts say the best way to slow the spread of fake news is for people to be more skeptical (怀疑的) of what they read online.
Ariana caught another whiff (难闻的味道) and tried to hold her breath. She moved away slightly, but Ashley only moved closer and continued talking. Ariana felt trapped. She wanted badly to tell Ashley that she didn't smell very good. But how could she do that without hurting her feelings? Instead, she gathered the remains of her lunch to throw in the trash, thankful for the excuse to get some fresh air. She looked back to see Ashley eating quietly. Ashley's hair was tangled (乱糟糟的), and her clothes were dirty. Ariana forced herself to go back to the table and take her seat, vowing (发誓) that she would not sit with Ashley tomorrow.
When Ariana got home from school, she complained to her mother, "There's a girl named Ashley who likes to sit next to me in school, but she smells bad."
"She's probably having a tough day," said her mother.
"No, it's not just one day. She smells bad a lot," Ariana explained. "Nobody else likes to sit next to her, either."
"I don't think you understand Ashley's situation, so let me ask you this...," Her mother's tone was serious. "Who makes sure that your hair is combed every morning so you'll look nice when you go to school?"
"You do," answered Ariana.
"Who makes sure you're bathed and cleaned every day? And your clothes are washed and neatly ironed?"
"You and Daddy," Ariana said again.
"Do you live in a nice home? Do you have enough to eat?"
Ariana nodded, beginning to feel guilty. She was starting to understand now. Ashley couldn't help her situation because she was only seven years old—the same age as Ariana. Grown-ups are supposed to take care of kids.
"Why doesn't her family take better care of her?" Ariana asked.
"Not all children live in the best situation," her mother said. "The best thing you can do for Ashley is to treat her with kindness and sympathy."
Paragraph 1：
Ariana bit her bottom lip. Sadness for Ashley filled her heart.
Paragraph 2：
At the end of the school year，the second grade prepared to go on a field trip to the zoo.
