The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is perhaps the earliest and most famous example of botanical (植物的) gardens. Over decades and centuries, many amazing botanical gardens have been set up. Here is a list of them.
Orto Botanical di Padova
The Orto Botanical di Padova in Padua, north-eastern Italy, is the oldest academic botanical garden still in its original location. It was founded in 1545 by the Venetian Republic. It is spread across an area of 22,000 square meters. It is particularly known for its historical architecture (建筑), as well as the collection of 6000 kinds of plants. The astonishing botanical garden is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
The Kirstenbosch National botanical Garden is located at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of South Africa's national botanical gardens, which covers five out of six biomes (生物群落), and the first of its kind in the world. It is famous for exhibiting native plants from different regions.
Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum
The Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum is located in Berlin, Germany. It has 22,000 different plant species. Among its different plants is a giant bamboo. This astonishing garden has a large scientific library attached to it. The complex has buildings and glasshouses.
Singapore Botanic Garden
The 74-hectare Singapore Botanic Garden in Singapore is the only botanic garden that stays open from 5 am to 12 midnight, every day. Its attractions include Rainforest, Botany Centre, Tanglin Gate, Jacob Ballas Children's Garden and other gardens. It has the Tembusu tree, seen on the Singaporean five-dollar bill.
Last Sunday, an earthquake struck the Napa Valley area of northern California. It happened in the middle of the night, becoming the strongest earthquake to strike the Napa Valley in 15 years. No one was killed, but many people were treated in hospitals.
I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan, "We have so much, and these poor people in trouble now have nothing. We'll share what we have with them."
I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I advised the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favourite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys.
"Oh, dear," I said. "You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan said, "Lucy makes me happy, Mummy. Maybe she'll make another little girl happy, too."
I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It's easy to give something that we don't want any more, but hard to give what we cherish (珍爱), isn't it?
After noticing that her eighth grade students had problems focusing during math class, a North Carolina teacher decided to channel (引导) their energy in a different way—cycling.
It doesn't sound like the most common thing to do during math class, but Bethany Lambeth, a teacher from Wake County, says that ever since she fixed cycling machines under her students' desks, the quality of their work has improved greatly. They are paying more attention to what the teachers say, and, most importantly, they are no longer fidgeting all the time.
"Before, they were drumming on their desks or touching other students. They don't do that any more now. Their feet are getting the movement out," she said. "There has been a huge increase in the quality of our students' work and a decrease in the amount of missing work. I think the world is changing a lot and kids need to be able to do something different."
Lambeth fixed the cycling machines at the end of last year, which cost around $150 each. The cost was covered by money from kind people. Not all desks have pedals (踏板) under them, so not all the children have to use one. The school is hoping to get more pedals because of the role cycling machines could play.
The kids clearly love the new "toys". Sofia Fedele, one of Lambeth's students, said cycling helped her focus on her work during class. "I usually tap my feet and stuff to keep me focused, I think pedaling is much better, it keeps me exercising and focused," she said.
Quinn Spear, another student in Lambeth's class, also mentioned the good effect on health of cycling during class. He told reporters that he had pedaled 5.5 miles and burned 133 calories, all before 10 a.m.
Learning any language is hard, but learning English can be especially challenging. Why?Because native speakers use the language in ways that textbooks could never describe. In particular,words that British people use cause many language students to scratch(JT) their heads.
Here's an example: You happen to hear a Briton calling someone a "wazzock". But what exactly is a wazzock? This word, in fact, means a foolish person, although there's nothing about it that would help you guess that. There are many strange terms like this in British English - the Oxford English Dictionary would be much smaller without these strange usages filling its pages.
How can these odd words be explained? Part of the answer is the British sense of humor. Britons don't like to take things too seriously, and this is evident through many British words and phrases.For example, to spend a penny means to use the bathroom. It refers to the days when people had to pay a penny to use a public toilet.
In an interview for the BBC's website, British linguist David Crystal suggested there may be historical reasons for the sheer number of odd words and. phrases in British English. He thinks that they began in the late 16th and. early 17th centuries. This was a great age for the theatre, when Shakespeare and other writers worked hard to keep up with the demand for new plays. The theatre's popularity also created an incentive (刺激) to invent new words.
With this in mind, perhaps Shakespeare and his peers are to blame for unusual British words such as "codswallop" and "balderdash"—which both, ironically, mean nonsense.
While these strange words may be confusing to non-native speakers, they certainly make studying English a lot more interesting.
As high school students, we must spend much of our time in class and reading books. Without a friend, our world would be a wilderness(荒野). What kind of friends should we pick? What are the dos and don'ts of friendship? Here are some of my opinions.
We may consider different people we meet every day to be nice and feel like making friends with them. However, not all good people are matches for us. Rather than make friends with the popular students, we should spend time with those we have things in common with, or who will be there to listen to us. Moreover, we should be careful about students with many bad habits, since they could pass those habits on to us.
Being tolerant (包容的) is a good idea. No one is perfect. Therefore, we should try to understand our friends and be patient with them when they make mistakes since we're all on a journey to being better people. Gradually, our friendships will last longer and become more solid (坚固的).
Be honest. However, it's better to be honest with friends, to tell them what is bothering us and seek their advice. Being honest will not annoy (惹恼) your friends, but it will bring you and your friend closer together.
We need to be open-minded. Whether you agree with them or not, listen to others' ideas.
A. A friend without faults will never be found.
B. However, spending time with friends is also necessary and good for us.
C. None are so deaf as those who will not hear.
D. We need to be responsible.
E. As is said, honesty is the best policy.
F. We must be careful.
G. We all tend to show our positive side to friends and hide our true feelings.
A sunny afternoon before Christmas, a little girl was decorating a box with a gold wrapping paper to put it under the Christmas tree. Money was tight, so the girl's father1her for wasting almost all roll of that2paper.
However, the next morning the girl3the gift to her father. "This is for you, Daddy." she said. He opened the box and found it4 , so he became angry again. "Don't you know, that when you give someone a5it is supposed that there would be something inside it." he said6. The little girl looked at her father with7in her eyes. "Daddy, this box is not empty, I8it with my kisses, all for you."
The father was extremely9 . He felt so embarrassed that he could just put his10around his little daughter and beg for her11. For many years of his life the man kept that golden box near his bed. Wherever he felt12and downhearted he opened the box and thought of13 that the little child had put into it.
Each of us have been14a present of unconditional love from our children, family, friends and God. It is the most precious15that anyone could hold.
With my high school life ( begin) , I feel a little anxious right now. I hope to make a good first (impress). But I wonder whether I will make friends or what if no one (talk) to me.
To tell the truth, the maths class was difficult for me, the teacher was kind and friendly. He told ( we )a funny story and every student laughed so much! In the afternoon, we had our chemistry class in the science lab. The lab is new and the lesson was ( interest) , but the guy next to me tried to talk to me the whole time. Therefore, I couldn't concentrate the experiment. I ( real) wanted to tell him to be quiet and leave me alone!
All in all, the first day is wonderful day. Though I was worried in the morning, I didn't feel awkward or frightened at all. I believe I will make new friends in the new school here and there's a lot (explore) at senior high. I think that tomorrow will be a great day!
写作要求：
1.词数：100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Tom,
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
