For my 56th birthday, my daughter Beth bought me two beautiful wooden butterflies. I hung them on my wall so that I can see them during the day. They often remind me of1.
Our love of butterflies goes2many years. My mom died of cancer (癌症) when I was only 25 years old. Beth was only a baby at that time and had no memories of her3. I try to make up for it by telling stories of my mom to her. But each time I told, Beth looked a little4for I could always see tears (眼泪) in her eyes. One day when we were at the playground, Beth suddenly said how much she5to have her grandma around, seeing other happy kids with grandmas. This time I told her how much her grandma loved her. I said grandma was6over her from Heaven (天堂) and maybe she was even taking a7on the back of a butterfly to come down. At that very moment, a butterfly8flying around Beth's face and then it flew away. Then we both laughed with our9full of love and joy.
Since then, both Beth and I have seemed to attract (吸引) butterflies like flowers.10we stay outside, they would fly down to us. As they11around us, Beth always reaches out hands and dances with them. And each time we are reminded of my mom's love as if she never12. The only time this doesn't happen is during the coldest months of the year because13insects can get through freezing weather. Now during those times I can take a look at the two butterflies my daughter bought14. We all need reminders that we are loved by those who have passed away and those who are still15us.
A: Hi, James, it's good to see you again.
B: Hi, Becky.
A: 1
B: Yes, I came here for some meetings.
A: 2
B: For four days. I'm going back on Friday. Well, how's your brother Josey?
A: He's fine. Oh, he and I are getting together for dinner today. 3
B: Yeah, that would be nice. I'll have a meeting in an hour. I can meet you later.
A: That's fine. 4
B: In Wanda Mall. I'll call you when it's over.
A: All right. I'll pick you up there.
B: OK. No problem.
A: 5
Mr. Black and Mr. White were two very famous artists in the city. Their drawings were so great and popular that people who could get a drawing would be very proud. People thought they drew as well as each other. But Mr. Black and Mr. White wanted to see who could draw the best picture.
One day they asked an old man to be the judge. Mr. Black drew an apple tree. He put his picture in the field. Soon the birds came and tried to eat the apples. The old man saw it and said excitedly, "You have certainly won. Mr. White cannot draw so good a picture as yours. But we will go to see his picture."
They went to Mr. White's house. There were nothing but red beautiful curtains (窗帘) on the wall. The old man asked, "Where is your picture, Mr. White?" With a smile, Mr. White said, "Lift the curtains, and you will find my picture." The old man reached out hands to lift the curtains but found that they were drawn there. They were Mr. White's picture. The old man said, "Birds thought the apples were real. Men thought the curtains were real. So Mr. White won. His picture is the best one."
What is your dream job, a pilot or a singer? What do you hope your job is like? Here are some jobs called testers. Would you like to join?
| The Sweetest Job Will you come and be a sweet tester in our candy factory? It is probably the best job you have ever heard. When a new sweet is invented, it will be sent to you. What you need to do is to eat it and writes a report about it. Then a decision is made about whether to produce it or not. You will be paid 100 dollars each time, but not sure how often. Call us at 349-9878. |
| Lonely Island Job Do you wish to live on a beautiful island and get paid? Here is such a job that you have to stay on an island on your own in a small house. You spend every day (30 days in total) swimming, exploring (探索) and hiking. Then you have to write a report to show if the island is good enough to develop tourism. You will be paid 150 dollars a day. Email us at lonelyisland@yy.com with your name and hobbies. |
| Sleeping on the Job Usually sleeping on the job would make you lose your job. But here you will be paid to sleep. You need to test expensive beds by sleeping on one bed eight hours a day, every day for a week. In the end, you have to write a report about the beds about if they make a good sleep. You will be paid 20 dollars an hour. Call us at 562-8814. |
March 14 is Pi(π) Day, the yearly celebration of a never-ending number—π(3.14159…). The tradition began on March 14, 1988, when a scientist, called Larry Shaw, connected March 14 (3.14) with the number of (3.14159…) and asked his teammates to mark the day by eating pies. Later, more and more people began to celebrate Pi Day each year, and in 2009 the US lawmakers announced Pi Day an official holiday. Pi Day has been noticed in different ways by different groups of people in America.
Restaurants celebrate Pi Day with special selling of pies. Blaze Pizza has continued its tradition by offering a kind of pizza for just $3.14. Blaze Pizza's boss Jim Mizes said. "We guessed that we would serve as many as a quarter-million pizzas at $3.14 and even more on Pi Day of this year. We think Blaze fans across the US and Canada would come in to celebrate with us."
Some women scientists also celebrate Pi Day. Since 2015, to encourage more girls to work on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, some women scientists have been wearing purple on Pi Day. They also ask women of all ages and backgrounds to join them by wearing the same color on March 13-14.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will join in the fun with their yearly "Pi in the Sky" challenge. The fun activities are designed to encourage students from 5th to 12th grade to help NASA scientists solve real-world problems using π. Each year, many students take the "Pi in the Sky" challenge to help NASA scientists with their scientific research, which greatly benefits students in their future study.
Though Pi Day celebrations are rather new, π has been around for thousands of years. 4,000 years ago, Babylonians calculated (计算) the area of a circle, giving n a value of 3. The ancient Egyptians came closer to the real number with 3.165 in 1650 BC. Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BC) was the first to calculate it mathematically. The Greek scientist gave his number between 3+(1/7) and 3+(10/70), which is much closer to "3.14159…".
If you ever run into Brad Pitt, chances are he won't recognize (识别) you the second time around. That's because the famous actor has face blindness (脸盲症).
Face blindness, is the inability to recognize or remember faces, including one's own. It can cause problems in relationships and in the workplace. Some people with face blindness also have difficulty recognizing animals and telling the differences between objects, such as cars. Others have a much harder time and experience nervousness, depression and fear of social situations.
There are two main kinds of face blindness. Acquired face blindness is caused by brain damage (损伤). Harm to the right side of the brain is more likely to influence your ability to recognize faces you used to know. It is lesser-known and may take a turn for the better. The other main kind of face blindness is born with or developmental, which is much more common. Although it was considered hard-to-find before, scientists now estimate (估计) as much as 2.5 percent of Americans may be developing it. The cause of developmental face blindness is still unknown, but it does appear to run in families. A person with the second kind of face blindness never fully develops the ability to recognize faces.
Adults with face blindness may not realize that other people can recognize and remember faces. They may think they are the "normal" ones. However, a person who develops face blindness following a damage may notice the loss of the ability right away. Children with the illness may have trouble making friends, since they can't easily recognize others. They usually befriend people with easily recognizable features (特征). They may also find it difficult to tell family members apart according to sight or tell the differences between characters in movies.
At present, there is no treatment for face blindness. However, there are training programs to help these people, such as focusing on the voice, hairstyle and clothing. It may help to make a list of features in mind, such as tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and remember them rather than trying to recall the face. Sometimes it's the easiest to simply let people know that you have trouble with faces.
When we talk about food farming, we usually think of green fields in the countryside, far from the city.
Last year, Sam Chee (work) on a very different kind of farm, in the center of Toronto. He grew fruit, vegetables and herbs. But not many people knew the farm was on top of a building, fifty (meter) above the ground.
The tops of buildings are often just wasted space, Sam can use this space to grow food. He tells us it works, "We grow everything in big pots and boxes—there are hundreds of them. We save rain (water) the plants when the weather is dry."
The rooftop farm belongs to a restaurant called Green Garden. About half the restaurant's vegetables (produce) there. It is the rooftop farm that makes Green Garden special. Sam and his workmates don't need to buy vegetables from anywhere.
The food from the rooftop farm is (real) fresh, too. "When the fruit and vegetables are ready, we can pick and use (they) right away. They taste much (good) than those from normal farms," says Sam. "I hope that there (be) more rooftop farms in the city soon. It could be the farming of the future."
An old saying goes "Laughter is the best medicine", and doctors have found that it's really true. They don't know why, but laughter is good for our heart, our blood circulation, and our immune system. So, next time you are getting stress from your school work, you know what you could do:
The Comic Relief, a group that helps people in need, uses laughter to raise money. Every two years in spring, many English people put on a red nose, make a fool of themselves. Examples of "silly things" you can do are:
*Invite friends round to your house to watch funny films. They have to pay to watch the films—those with the most comfortable chairs pay more—and for food and drinks.
*Hold a talent show at school and ask your friends, classmates and teachers to sing, dance or tell jokes.
*Have a "red nose party" at your house. All your friends come dressed in red—including red nose—and you serve red food and drinks.
The group has helped people for more than 30 years now. More than 1 billion pounds! The idea of Red Nose Day has travelled to other countries, too. In New Zealand, for example, people have made big red noses which they put on the fronts of cars and even buildings.
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A. If they don't wear red to the party, they'll be punished to pay. B. They also do "silly things" to make themselves and others laugh. C. Play a trick on your friends to cheer them up. D. Try to laugh a lot, develop a sense of humour and watch funny films. E. And how much money have they raised since the first Red Nose Day? F. Sell tickets for the show to the rest of the school. G. All the doctors think laughing is good for health. |
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Dear Sh,
I am Li Hua from Grade Nine. I've heard that some exchange students from England will come for a visit next month.
