I was born legally blind. Of all the stories of my early childhood, the one about a tree is my mother's favorite.
I was only two when the 1 occurred. We had just arrived home from a trip. Mom lifted me out of the car and turned to speak to the driver. I took advantage of my brief 2 to dash across the lawn (草坪) — and hit a large maple tree! I was running so fast that I bounced off the trunk and 3 on my backside. Mom 4 me to start crying, but I just sat there for a minute. Then I 5 myself up and kept right on going. Mom always adds here that, as many times as I 6 across the lawn after that, I never again 7 into that tree.
Mom loves to use this story as an 8 . It reminds her that children don't enter life 9 to take risks or unwilling to 10 again when they fall down. She never wanted me to lose that 11 as I grew older. When I made my major life decisions, I was still that little girl tearing full-speed across the lawn. I studied abroad and later moved away from my parents' home to look for a job. Through years of 12 , I have become a respected teacher in a school serving high-need students.
We are almost certain to get 13 at some point during the process of achieving our goal. When that happens, don't sit in the grass and 14 . Just get up and keep on going. It will all be worth it 15 .
Four Top Poetry Book Clubs
Poetry Talk
Founder Tim Burris leads Poetry Talk out of its location in Indianapolis, Indiana. Today, the book club has over 150 active members. It focuses on reading, sharing and discussing poetry. No matter what form of poetry you might be interested in, whether it is shorter poems or longer anthologies(选集), Poetry Talk is a place where you can meet others who also share an interest in poetry. Book club meetings happen every two weeks on a Wednesday evening, are held online, and always welcome new members.
The Living Poets Society Poetry Book Club
Run out of Boulder Bookstore, it is a book club where members discuss a shared book of poetry. People who are interested in poetry and connecting with individuals who also enjoy reading and having conversations about poetry are welcome. Book club meetings take place online on the second Tuesday of every month.
The club has looked at Constellation Route by Matthew Olzmann and Luxury by Philip Schultz. And the latter is the first one the club has shared.
Books to Change Your Life Chicago Book Club
The book club has been active since 2020 and now has over 1,000 active participants who read and discuss a range of different books, including poetry. In addition to enjoying engaging and insightful discussions about poetry, book club members can get to learn more about books of other genres(类型), including economics, philosophy and classic literature. Book club meetings are held online and take place weekly on Mondays.
The poetry the club has read includes Homer's classic The Odyssey.
Poetry Meetup
It is a great place for anyone interested in reading, talking about, or even performing poetry. Book club meetings are usually held once a month. Specific dates and locations of book club meetings are available on its Meetup. com web page.
The Sea and The Mirro by W. H. Auden and St. Sebastien by Dali are two poems that book club meetings at Poetry Meetup have gone over.
Australian cities can keep their native wildlife — but only if they can kick their habit of urban sprawl (无计划的扩展). That's the finding of a new study by leading Australian environmental researchers Jessica Sushinsky, Professor Hugh Possingham and Dr. Richard Fuller of the University of Queensland.
"While urban development usually reduces the number of birds in a city, building more compact (紧凑的) cities and avoiding urban sprawl can slow these reductions greatly," says lead author Jessica Sushinsky. "Compact housing development leaves birds' homes untouched, leading to fewer losses of birds. "
The researchers surveyed native and wild birds in Brisbane's urban areas, including living and industrial areas, public parks and gardens, major roadways and airports. They then used statistical modeling to find out what will happen to the birds as the city grows. The first setting was compact growth — where multiple homes are built on land that previously had only one house. The second setting was sprawling growth — a familiar pattern where homes are built here and there beyond the city's current boundaries.
The team's forecasts showed that a much greater diversity of species was lost over 20 years in the sprawling setting compared to the more compact setting. "Urban sprawl resulted in the disappearance of many urban-sensitive birds — birds that only live in areas where there is native vegetation(植被), such as parklands and woodlands," Ms. Sushinsky says.
"On the other hand, we found the city with the compact development attracted more birds because it kept more of its parks and green areas. "
Now the Queensland Government has adopted the more compact urban growth strategy, which, Dr. Richard Fuller says, is good news for Australia's native birds. These birds are environmental specialists — they need a particular environment to do well. "While compact development means smaller backyards, it can also make our entire cities more bio-diverse," according to Dr. Fuller. "The study shows that we should hold on to our green spaces instead of clearing them for sprawling development. "
This is the first time science has modeled the effects of different urban growth strategies on birds, the researchers say. "Statistical models like these are important because they help us to understand the ecological consequences of a particular decision," says Dr. Fuller.
Rats and other animals need to be highly tuned to social signals from others so that they can identify friends to cooperate with and enemies to avoid. To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Loleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals from robotic rats.
They housed eight adult rats with two types of robotic rat — one social and one asocial — for 5 days. The robots rats were quite minimalist, resembling a chunkier version of a computer mouse with wheels — to move around and colorful markings.
During the experiment, the social robot rat followed the living rats around, played with the same toys, and opened caged doors to let trapped rats escape. Meanwhile, the asocial robot simply moved forwards and backwards and side to side.
Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a lever.
Across 18 trials each, the living rats were 52 percent more likely on average to set the social robot free than the asocial one. This suggests that the rats perceived the social robot as a genuine social being. They may have bonded more with the social robot because it displayed behaviours like communal exploring and playing. This could lead to the rats better remembering having freed it earlier, and wanting the robot to return the favour when they get trapped, says Quinn.
The readiness of the rats to befriend the social robot was surprising given its minimal design. The robot was the same size as a regular rat but resembled a simple plastic box on wheels. "We'd assumed we'd have to give it a moving head and tail, facial features, and put a scene on it to make it smell like a real rat, but that wasn't necessary," says Janet Wiles at the University of Queensland in Australia, who helped with the research.
The finding shows how sensitive rats are to social cues, even when they come from basic robots. Similarly, children tend to treat robots as if they are fellow beings, even when they display only simple social signals. "We humans seem to be fascinated by robots, and it turns out other animals are too," says Wiles.
Health and fitness help a person live a good and healthy life. Often due to various pressures, we tend to ignore our health. It is the fitness level of our body that helps us fight these diseases.
We need to be fit to have a healthy body. Similarly, if we are healthy we shall naturally be attracted towards maintaining the fitness of our body. Health is the state of our body at a given time. We may not have any disease but still have a weak body, which is ready to be targeted by viruses. This does not definitely mean that we are not healthy. It means the fitness level is not in accordance with (与……一致) our age and the climatic conditions we live in.
It is important for everyone to devote some time to health and fitness. For instance, we must exercise daily regardless of our age and working style. There are different levels of exercises for different age groups and we must do them according to our own health and age.
Additionally, it is important to relax our body. We should have at least six to eight hours of sleep every day. It helps in improving our immune (免疫) system and protects us against diseases. This, in turn, gives us new goals of health and fitness.
A. Fitness levels decide the quality of life.
B. Health and fitness are interrelated to each other.
C. It also helps in keeping us calm and relaxes our mind.
D. For instance, we may have a tendency to catch a cold easily.
E. If we keep our body fit, we can enjoy life in a better manner.
F. There are some activities which everyone should do in our life.
G. This makes our body suffer and we catch lifestyle and other diseases.
I packed my luggage and headed for the airport. (fortune), it was raining hard when I arrived in Yangshuo just before dawn. But I didn't care. A few hours before, I'd been at home in Hong Kong, its choking smog crowding the city. Here, the air was clean and fresh, even with the rain.
I'd skipped nearby Guilin, tourists seek the limestone mountain tops and dark waters of the Li River which (picture) by artists in so many Chinese paintings. Instead, I'd headed straight for Yangshuo which also appears in many (literature) works. For those who fly to Guilin, it's only an hour away by car and offers all the scenery of the better-known city.
Yangshuo is really beautiful, even (refer) to as one of the top 10 tourist (attraction) in the world in a research report conducted by the website Trip Advisor. Thanks to the report, the town is fast becoming popular weekend destination for people in Asia. Abercrombie & Kent, a travel company in Hong Kong, says it regularly arranges quick getaways here for people (live) in Shanghai and Hong Kong and so far, it has received nothing but praise.
注意：词数80左右。
参考词汇：emission 排放；carbon dioxide 二氧化碳；低碳生活 a low-carbon lifestyle
Hello, everyone! I am Lihua.
That's all. Thank you!
The Gift of Kindness
Will, a nine-year-old boy, was such a kind soul that he brought home birds with broken wings. Money was very short for his family because his mother was ill. Every weekend, Will would mow his neighbors lawns to earn a little money.
One hot dry morning, on his way to school, Will saw a man sitting on the roadside with his head in his hands. Not far away was his truck. Previously, the man spared no efforts in repairing it, but he failed, exhausted and thirsty. Will came up to him, ready to help.
Hearing Will's greeting, the man raised his head, looked at Will and asked for some water. Learning that he had even not had breakfast, Will walked into a shop, fingering the money in his pocket. Eventually, he picked up sandwiches and water. They cost all his money! He shrugged, walked back and handed him the food.
The man received the supplies gratefully and they shared the brief meal while introducing themselves. Allan, a boss with a small factory who delivered goods by himself, smiled," The delivering job is so tiring that nobody seems to want it. By the way, thank you for your food. I'm sorry that I forget to take money with me today. I'll. . "
"It's OK. My mom always says we should be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you!" Will shrugged, "As for the job, don't worry. There must be someone wanting to take it. "
"Perhaps. Today, I feel kindness in the world like your mom says. Maybe she is the one the world has been kind to. " Allan commented.
Will lowered his head, explaining quietly his mother's situation and his father's just being out of work because of the bankrupt of the company. Will pointed at a house. "My dad says we'll have to sell it to pay for mom's treatment. Sometimes, I hope the world could be kind to our family soon. " Tears rolled down Will's cheeks and Allan patted his back gently. But soon, Will wiped his face, shouldered his school bag, waved goodbye to Allan and rushed for school, never imagining he would see Allan ever again.
Allan stared at Will's fading figure, lost in thought.
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。
After school, Will saw the truck parked in front of his house.
Hearing the good news, Will turned overjoyed.
