The Horizontal Oak: A life in Nature
By Poly Pullar,
Growing up in a remote region of the Scottish Highlands, Polly Pullar's childhood was pleasant, simple, and peaceful. But the wild beauty formed a backdrop to a series of major family tragedies. This is the story of how she rebuilt her life from the ground up, supported by the natural world around her
Wildlife Walks
By Charlotte Varela,
Bloomsbury, ￡16.99
Take a walk through the Wildlife Trusts' nature reserves with this handy guide that showcases some of our nation's best forests, moors, woodlands and coastal locations. Each walk includes a description of the site, instructions on how to get there, available facilities and the route's walking time.
Where the Seals Sing
By Susan Richardson,
William Collins, ￡20
Having long been fascinated by seals, Susan Richardson sets out to follow their pupping season (繁殖季). As she journeys from Cornwall to Norfolk, she learns more about these mystical creatures, while sharing personal stories about the comforting role they have played during times of grief or anxiety in her own life.
In the Name of Plants
By Sandra Knapp,
University of Chicago Press, ￡20
Botanist Sandra Knapp digs into the stories behind plant names, exploring the people who have been immortalized (使永生), from Benjamin Franklin to Lady Gaga. The 30 plants inside are accompanied by botanical drawings from the Natural History Museum.
It was June 14 and the last day of middle school had arrived.
I had spent the past couple of months trashing and treasuring all the things that I had accumulated in my classroom over the past 19 years. Looking into my classroom, you can see about two dozen boxes and bins inside, piled nearly three-quarters high to the ceiling, all packed and ready for the big move. The 22- million-dollar restoration work was only days away from starting and we were instructed that everything must go.
My parents Michael and Donna, wife Laura and newborn baby Summer had arrived that day. The students had heard so much about my daughter and were excited to meet her for the first time. My mother was there to help organize my classroom nearly 19 years ago and hadn't seen it since. My father had visited on a few occasions, as had my wife. That day marked not only the end of an era for me, but the dawning of a new beginning.
The day before, I had thrown a party for my students. The feelings were mixed, as I
knew that this would be the farewell (告别) party in my classroom of 19 years and the last time I would see all of these students together. I thought back to when they were all in middle school and would visit me in my classroom on my birthday. They made it an annual tradition. I will treasure these moments for the rest of my life.
Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe (敌人), a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk. I've learned over the years in working with over 2, 000 children that looking at things from an optimistic perspective and taking the time to foster relationships with people make the world a happier and safer place. No matter what a person's life circumstances may be, you can be the change in their life that will bring them a sense of self-worth, which will ultimately provide them with the opportunity to become who they are meant to be. They might go on to change the world.
One of the many aspects of "normal" life that SARS-CoV-2 took away was the enjoyment of live musical performances. With the easing of lockdowns and restrictions in many parts of the world, performers can entertain audiences once again, but concerns about spreading the virus remain. Now, a research reported in ACS Environmental Au have studied aerosol (悬浮颗粒) production from playing wind instruments, singing and acting, allowing them to develop recommendations to minimize COVID transmission.
Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 outbreaks from choir performances indicated that singing carries a potential infection risk, but less is known about the risks of airborne infection from wind instruments. To help keep performers, audiences and music students safe, Tehya Stockman, Shelly Miller and colleagues wanted to examine aerosol production and flow in the air from various musical activities, as well as test different solutions.
The researchers examined the extent and speed of air circulation, or small drops of substances, coming from singers' and actors' mouths and from wind instruments, such as the flute, clarinet (单簧管), trumpet and saxophone. They also measured airborne aerosols and carbon dioxide levels exhaled from the performers. They found that aerosol concentrations coming from the bell of a clarinet were comparable to singing. Placing a surgical mask over a singer's face or over the clarinet bell sharply reduced the extent and speed of air circulation and decreased aerosol concentrations in front of the masks. The team then used these measurements to model virus transmission in indoor and outdoor environments, finding that the lowest risk of airborne COVID-19 infection occurred at less than 30 minutes of exposure indoors and less than 60 minutes outdoors. These findings could help musical rehearsals and performances continue in a safer manner for musicians and audiences, the researchers say.
Can you imagine there being a community where boys and girls growing up together can finally speak different 1anguages? In Ubang, Nigeria, it really happens. It's not exactly clear what percentage of the words in the men's and women's languages are different, but there are enough examples to make sentences sound different when spoken by the opposite sex. For "clothing", men use the word "nki", while women say "ariga"; "kitchi" means tree for men, while women say "okweng". These are not just some slight pronunciation differences, but totally different words. "It's almost like two different lexicons (词汇集)," a language expert, Chi Chi Undie said. "There are a lot of words that men and women share in common, but there are others which are totally different depending on your sex. They don't sound alike, and don't have the same letters. They are completely different words."
Interestingly, both men and women are able to understand each other perfectly in Ubang, as both boys and girls grow up around their parents and get to learn both languages, but by the age of 10, boys are expected to speak in the male tongue. It seems that there is a stage the male will reach and he discovers he is not using the rightful language. When he starts speaking the men's language, you know the maturity is coming into him.
No one really knows how or why the double-language tradition of Ubang began. Chi Chi Undie believes the two languages are the result of a "double-sex culture" where men and women operate and live in separate worlds that rarely come together. However, she admits this is a weak theory, as the double-sex culture is present in many parts of Africa, where there are no different languages for men and women.
Today, with English words constantly entering the lexicon of young Nigerians, Ubang's two languages are in danger of being lost forever. Worse still, neither the male nor female language is written down, so they both rely on young people passing them down to the next generation.
As much as 80 percent of premature heart disease is preventable by making specific lifestyle choices. Some strategies, such as exercising and managing weight, are well known. "A small change in your everyday routine can potentially have a big impact in the 1ong run," says preventive cardiologist (心脏病学家) Dr. Beth Abramson, a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
Get eight hours of sleep. "When you're not rested, everything that happens in your life is a lot more stressful," says Dr. Arya Sharma, founder of the Canadian Obesity Network. If we're short of sleep, our bodies also have more difficulty controlling blood pressure, inflammation (炎症) and blood sugar levels.
Engage in volunteer work. Research published in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2016 showed that a feeling of purpose in 1ife is linked to a lower likelihood of heart attack and stroke. "We know that loneliness is a risk factor for heart health," adds Sharma. "Volunteering gets you out of the house and creates a social network."
A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that healthy people who skipped breakfast were almost three times more likely to have heart disease six years later than those who had a substantial morning meal. One possible reason: "If you're eating a proper breakfast, you're less likely to be hungry later and make poor food choices," says Abramson. "We need to eat a balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle."
A. Eat breakfast.
B. But others may not have crossed your mind.
C. Volunteering might even increase your physical activity.
D. These factors can all have an impact on heart and blood health.
E. Choose whole-grain, low-fat breakfast foods and include fruit.
F. Eat healthy food rich in protein and fiber but low in fat and sugar
G. Doing good for others helps your self-esteem and relieves stress.
Amy Jandrisevits knows the value of a good doll. "Dolls have a 1 we don't completely understand," she said. It's a 2 she came to while working as a social worker using dolls to help her young clients 3 their changing medical situations. Many of the kids saw themselves in those dolls. But for the kids who had 4 a leg or lost their hair, there were 5 they could relate to.
So, seven years ago, when a friend revealed that her child had facial deformities (缺陷), Jandrisevits knew what might help the youth through the 6 period. "It's hard to tell a kid, ‘You are perfect the way you are,' and to build 7 that way, but never offer them anything that 8 like them," she says.
Jandrisevits crafted a doll by hand－using fabric, sewing, and markers－that looked similar to her friend's child and 9 the gift. After the friend posted a photo online of the 10 child and doll, Jandrisevits was asked to make dolls for 11 with scars, birthmarks, tracheotomies（气管切开术）－ in short, a doll like them. She quit her job and started a nonprofit to 12 her services.
At home, it takes her roughly seven hours to craft each doll based on photos sent by 13 or caregivers. She has made over 400 dolls, and the waiting list is long, but Jandrisevits is 14. As she explains, "Every kid, regardless of age, ethnicity 15issue, or body type, should look into the sweet face of a doll and see their own."
One year ago, China rolled out the "double reduction" policy to ease the burden of excessive core-subjects homework and off-campus tutoring faced by middle and primary school students. The policy not only allows children more time to rest and play, but also allows them to obtain the nutrition (need) for their all-around moral, intellectual and physical development.
Positive changes (take) place. Compared with a year ago, students now have more independent, diversified (choose) of extracurricular activities to explore, and can develop their interests and abilities, opens up new horizons for them.
To Yue Xinyu, third-grader in central China's Wuhan City, a notable change is that her primary school classes now finish (early) in the afternoon than before.
"After class, we can opt for (vary) interest-oriented classes and workshops," the eight-year-old student said.
Football, basketball, opera classes and clay workshops, are availablelower graders, while senior primary students have more alternatives, including (program) and dance.
A dance lover herself, Yue is eager to join the school's club she becomes old enough. She now takes off-campus Latin dance lessons in her spare time. Gliding on the dance floor makes her feel relaxed and confident, she said.
"Once there was a ship travelling on the tough sea and on the ship there was a pair of couple. All of a sudden, the ship met with an accident and the couple had no choice but to run to the lifeboat without delay. After reaching there, they realized that there was space only for one person. At that very moment, the husband pushed his wife behind him and jumped onto the lifeboat himself, leaving his wife standing on the sinking ship, shouting something desperately to her husband, eyes filled with tears."
The teacher stopped her story-telling and asked her students, "Guys, guess what it was that she shouted."
Most students answered. "I hate you!"
After listening to all this reply, the teacher glanced through the whole class again and noticed that there was a boy sitting silently throughout. Then she asked him the same question.
The boy answered, "I believe she would have shouted－Take care of our child."
Listening to his remarks, the teacher was surprised and asked the boy doubtfully. "Have you heard of this story before?"
Shaking his head, the boy said softly and sadly, "No, I haven't. But that's what my mother said to my father before she died of a deadly disease."
Moved and feeling sad, the teacher replied. "Your answer is absolutely right!"
Then she continued, "Let's take up the story. The ship sank eventually and the husband went home and brought up their daughter alone. Many years later after the death of the man, their daughter was tidying up all his belongings when she found his diary. In his diary she found that when her parents were on the ship, her mother had already been diagnosed (诊断) with advanced illness and at the critical moment, the father rushed to the only chance of survival."
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右；
2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
| In his diary, the man mentioned he wished to sink to the ocean with his wife but for their daughter he had to live. …… The story was finished and the class was silent. |
