Family-Friendly Events in January
ZooLights: Glow Wild Jan. 1-19
The Phoenix Zoo's yearly holiday light show is on until Jan. 19, allowing families one or more opportunities to enjoy the city's zoo, with millions of lights giving an added dimension to the festivities.
Glow Wild, 455 N. Galvin Pkwy. , Phoenix, phoenixzoo. org, $11.95 members, $13.95 general admission.
Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts Jan.4-18
The Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts features the work of established and emerging artists, including those who create woodwork, metal crafts, food items, art, photography and gifts.
On Macdonald, off of Main Street in Downtown Mesa, dtmesafest. com, free admission.
Family Fun Winterfest Jan.4
OdySea Aquarium in the Desert is hosting the third annual Family Fun Winterfest in its Desert Courtyard, featuring real snow for the kids to play in. This free event features everything from bounce houses to rides, games, snowflake crafts and face painting to go with various stands set up by local sellers, with food and other offerings for sale at the event. 9500 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, odyseainthedesert. com, free.
Youth Fine Arts Course Jan.18-Mar.7
Mesa Arts Center is hosting an eight-week youth arts course on Saturdays to teach artistic skills and knowledge through fun and challenging art classes in a wide variety of art materials, including painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture, ensuring mentally stimulating sessions for all.
Mesa Art Center, 1 E.Main St, Mesa, mesaartscenter. com, $93.
As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification ( 沙漠化). "Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks. " A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia's agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. "I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water. "
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia's farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
In 1879, an 8-year-old girl made a discovery that would rock our understanding of human history. On the walls of Altamira cave in northern Spain, she spotted amazing drawings of wild cows, painted in vivid red and black. More striking even than the images was their age: they were made thousands of years ago by modern humans' supposedly primitive ancestors. Today, nearly 400 caves across Europe have been found decorated with hand stencils (模板), strange symbols and beautiful images of animals created by these skillful artists.
The discoveries led to the view that artistic talent arose after modern humans arrived in the region some 40,000 years ago, as part of a "cultural explosion" reflecting a flowering of the human mind. But more recent evidence has blown this idea out of the water. For a start, modern humans might not have been the first artists in Europe. What's more, a collection of cave paintings emerging in Indonesia has dismissed the idea that Europe was the centre of creativity.
Local people have long known that the caves of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, contain many painted images. Modern humans are thought to have reached the region some 65,000 years ago, but nobody imagined the art could be very old because ancient paintings seem unlikely to survive in the environment of high temperatures. A team of researchers led by Maxime Aubert, now at Griffith University in Australia, upended this idea using a technique that is shifting our understanding of cave art. Using this technique in seven caves, they found a hand stencil was at least 39,900 years old, making it the oldest known hand stencil at that time.
This opened a floodgate to new discoveries in Indonesia. These included a hunting scene created at least 43,900 years ago, and by far the oldest descriptive artwork. "When we found that image, we were absolutely delighted, but when it turned out to be that old, we were almost jumping with joy," says Adam Brumm, also at Griffith University.
Human beings are not alone in having invented vaccination (疫苗), while bees have done that earlier and they can experience what look like human beings' vaccination programs, which has been confirmed by Gyan Harwood of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Queen bees vaccinate their eggs before they are laid. But the question is how the queen bee receives her antigen (抗原) supply, for she lives purely on royal jelly, a substance produced by nurse bees when they are feeding the young. Dr. Harwood wondered if the nurse bees combined the royal jelly they produced with pieces from pathogens ( 病 原 体 ) they had consumed while eating something brought in from outside.
To test this idea, they collected about 150 nurse bees and divided them into six queenless mini hives equipped with the young to look after. They fed the nurse bees on sugar water, and for three of the hives they added Paenibacillus larvae (类芽孢杆菌幼体), a bacterium causing a disease, to sugar water.
Dr. Harwood and Dr. Salmela labeled the bacteria with a certain dye to make them easy to track. And, sure enough, the microscope confirmed that Paenibacillus larvae were getting into royal jelly produced by those bees which had been fed with the sugar water. Moreover, the examination of this royal jelly revealed higher levels of defensive substance, compared with royal jelly from bees that had not been mixed with Paenibacillus larvae. This substance is thought to help bees' immune systems fight against bacterial infections.
These findings suggest that nurse bees are indeed, via their royal jelly, passing antigens on to the queen, then into eggs. They also mean, because the young receive royal jelly for the first few days after they hatch, the nurse bees are giving the young the second antigens. Each young bee is therefore being vaccinated twice.
Throwing a party is a great way to get all your favorite people in one place for music, conversation, of course, food. , when you are the one planning the party. Not to worry; your planning will be a breeze if you plan ahead of time and take the process course by course, from appetizers (开胃菜) to desserts.
Ask your guests about food restrictions before you start preparing food. For guests with food allergies or on diets, ask them to make their own restrictions clear.
And ask if any guests are vegetarians and provide dishes accordingly. .
Choose an appetizer-only meal for a relaxing inexpensive party. You'll save money and preparation time, and be able to socialize more with your guests.
, so guests aren't thrown off when no main course is served. You'll want to offer your guests some variety of taste in your appetizers for a more satisfying meal.
. If your appetizers are just the start of a more formal meal with a main course, you keep it a bit simpler. Plan just a few handful of chips and a couple of cookies for your each guest, ifyou're serving a main course afterwards.
Prepare fruits and vegetables. Many guests will want a fresh, healthy option to start off a meal. A fruit tray or veggie platter with carrots, cucumbers, and broccoli is an easy and colorful addition to your appetizer. . Besides, you'd better offer
quick snacks like nuts, or chips.
A. Serve light, simple snacks before a main course
B. Serve a substantial main course ifnecessary
C. It's a good idea to have a few vegetarian options available regardless
D. So you should make thoughtful preparations for each of your guests
E. But it can be stressful to prepare food for guests with all different preferences
F. Look for ripe fruits and fresh vegetables that are in season for the best tasting ingredients
G. You should detail it on the invitation that only appetizers will be served
When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and publish my own books. Half the students sneered, and they 1 fell out of their chairs 2 . "Don't be 3 ! Only geniuses can become 4 ," even one of them said rudely. "And you got a D last semester. " I was so badly hurt that I 5 into tears.
That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and 6 it to The Capri s' Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two 7 . I was a published and paid writer! I showed my fellow students my work. "Just plain dumb luck," they said. However, I tasted 8 . I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That was 9 than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of 10 , letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had several scrapbooks (剪贴簿) 11 with my published works. After graduation, I never 12 my writing to my classmates again.
I had four children later. While the children 13 , I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I 14 . It took me nine months to finish my first book. I 15 a publisher at random (随意地) and mailed it without making a copy of the manuscript.
A month later I received a contract, an 16 on royalties (版税), and a request to start 17 another book. Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a 18 and was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and was sold worldwide.
Writing is 19 and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn't20 .
The Grand Canal, a vast inland waterway system, is the longest and oldest canal in the world. (construct) in sections from the 5th century BC and completed and maintained by several (dynasty), it formed the backbone of China's inland communications system, enabling the supply of rice (feed) the population. The Grand Canal reached a new peak in the 13th century, providing an inland (ship) network consisting of more than 2,000 km of artificial waterways, linked five of the most important river basins in China. Still major means of internal communication today, it (play) an important role in ensuring the prosperity and stability of China over the ages. The Grand Canal bears witness to a (remark) and early development of hydraulic engineering ( 水 利 工 程 ). It is a perfect example of dealing difficult natural conditions, as is reflected in the many constructions that are (full) adapted to the diversity and complexity of circumstances.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧) ，并在该词下面写出该加的词。 删除：把多余的词用斜线 (\) 划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
To enrich students' school life, an excited competition was held on last Saturday on the school playground. Ten boys and ten girls selected by each class lined beside the rope and grasped it, eager waiting for the start. With the whistle blowing, the participants tried their best to pull the rope, while those standing by cheered desperately for him. Eventually, every students of the class won the competition was awarded a delicate notebook.
The competition was highly thought by students. Not only did it build up their bodies, but it also strengthen their teamwork. Plus, the competition received positive response from parents and teachers, what made a hit in the circle of WeChat.
注意：
1. 题目已给出，不计入总词数，写作词数应为 100 左右；
2. 可以适 当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
An Amazing Ancient Painting
