Popular English digital dictionaries
U-Dictionary
This app provides three different explainers: "Basic", "Advanced", and "Mastery". Beginners can look up translations of a word in their mother tongue, while more advanced speakers can learn different ways to speak English like a native. The app also has a f a s t and accurate w o r d scanner (文字扫描仪). Scan a word with your phone's camera and the definition will pop up. The app also contains word quizzes (小测验), and listening and writing exercises to help you master English.
Dictionary
The app has plenty of functions, including a dictionary, a thesaurus (类意词典) a "Learners" function, and an "Origins" page. The "Learners" function is very useful for students of the language, as it provides information on how the meaning of a word can change in different contexts, or with other words. The app also provides word quizzes, articles about how language is used, word trends, and a "Word of the Day" section on the app's homepage.
Oxford English Dictionary
The best feature of this app is that it allows you to look up definitions of words even as you're reading things in other apps on your device. The benefit of this app over others is that you can sort your saved words into folders or categories. Unfortunately, one of the major downsides (缺点) is that there is no thesaurus or offline dictionary.
Merriam-Webster
Unlike other apps,that require you to download a bunch of packages before you can access them offline, this dictionary works with or without data on your device. There is also an option to toggle (切换) between dictionary and thesaurus mode. Sadly, because this app has so much to offer, the drawback is a few advertisements, which pop up occasionally.
We use a huge amount of single-use plastic each year － we buy one million plastic bottles each minute around the world. Plastic waste, a material that can take centuries or more to disappear, is causing irreparable damage to the planet. However, plastic waste generated in many countries typically ends up in open, uncontrolled landfills (垃圾填埋池) － most of which eventually enters the ocean either transported by wind or through waterways.
Now, Nzambi Matee, a 29-year-old woman from Nairobi, Kenya, is dealing with this global crisis by recycling bags, containers, and other waste products into bricks used for construction projects. Before launching her company, Gjenge Makers, Matee worked as an oil-industry engineer. After encountering plastic waste along Nairobi's streets, she decided to quit her job and created a small lab, testing sand and plastic combinations. Matee eventually received a scholarship to study in the materials lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she ultimately developed a prototype (原型) for the machine that now produces the new bricks.
Made from a combination of plastic and sand, the bricks have a melting point higher than 350℃ and are more durable than concrete bricks. Matee and her team source much of the raw product from factories and recyclers, and sometimes it's free, which allows the company to reduce the price point on the product and make it more affordable for schools and homeowners.
"There is that waste recyclers cannot process anymore. That is what we get," Matee said. Her factory produces 1,500 bricks each day, made from a mix of different kinds of plastic. These are high-density polyethylene, used in milk and shampoo bottles; low-density polyethylene, often used for sandwich bags; and polypropylene, often used for ropes. But she does not work with polyethylene terephthalate or PET, commonly used for plastic bottles, which can be made into the same form easily again and again.
The plastic waste is mixed with sand, heated and then pressed into bricks, which are sold at varying prices, depending on thickness and colour.
New York is among the slowest cities during rush hour in the world, according to a report published in January. Crossing midtown by car is soul-destroying. The average speed is 4.7 miles per hour, not much quicker than a quick walk. But relief is in sight. On April 1st, state lawmakers agreed to introduce road charges, making New York the first big American city to do so. By next year vehicles will have to pay to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
The details of the new rule, including how much drivers will have to pay, how they will pay and how often they will pay, have yet to be decided. A "traffic mobility review board" will be set up to work all this out. New Yorkers living in the fee zone who make less than $60,000 a year will be exempt (豁免权). Other drivers, including motorcyclists, the city' s civil servants, disabled drivers and the trucking industry, all want discounts or exemptions, which might not be a good sign.
If done right, road pricing could be expanded beyond Manhattan. New York can learn from other cities. Singapore, for instance, which has had pricing for decades, adjusts prices regularly. It can also learn from mistakes. London, which rolled out its pricing in 2003, is only starting to charge on-demand car hires like Uber. Stockholm exempted too many vehicles, which caused a drop in revenues (收入).
Other cities considering road charges, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle, are watching New York. "We really have to make a good example," says Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute, a New York think-tank.
For eight months up to this April, a French bookstore chain had video in a Paris shop fed to software that examines shoppers' movements and facial expressions for surprise, dissatisfaction, confusion or hesitation. When a shopper walked to the end of an aisle (走廊) only to return with confusion to a bookshelf, the software immediately messaged clerks, who went to help. Sales rose by a tenth.
This could be a chance, some say, for physical retailers (零售商) to trim the advantage that data have long given online sellers. A race is on to work out how best to collect and use emotions data, be it to improve packaging, displays, music, or the content, says Rana June, chief executive of a firm in New York called Lightwave. It measures shoppers' emotions for consumer-goods firms.
Not everyone is impressed. Nielsen, a consumer research company, views using technology to work out shoppers' emotions unfavorably. "It is a little annoying," says Ricardo Gutierrez, head of shopper insights at Nielsen Colombia in Bogota.
But it is much cheaper. Nielsen charges roughly $10,000 to interview 25 shoppers about three products. Angus.ai, the Paris startup behind the technology, charges just £59 ($66) a month per camera. What's more, conventional market research can mislead. People typically "edit" responses to make themselves sound sensible, when purchases are often driven by subconscious (潜意识地) emotions. And surveys can also ask the wrong questions - such as how much people like a product when what really matters is whether, say, it makes them feel attractive.
The notion of "retail therapy (疗法)", consumers driven to spend when they are feeling blue, is an obvious example of shopping's emotional side. Whichever store is the first to work out how to spot mildly depressed customers could make big money.
The many benefits of sharing jokes as a family
A well-chosen joke can have a big impact when speaking to a crowd or attempting to redirect a tense meeting. Our family started regularly enjoying jokes when my son began sharing the "Joke of the Day" read on the morning announcements at his school with us at dinner. A burst of laughter prevents us from complaining about the menu. The benefits of sharing jokes definitely go beyond mealtime conversation matter, though. Here are some reasons to make joking around a regular family habit:
Knowing a good joke can help a kid connect with other kids at the cafeteria table or start a conversation on the school bus. Enjoying jokes and practicing the art of humorous delivery in the safety of their home can give kids tools for social situations.
Jokes improve language skills. Consider the learning potential in these samples from Funology.com: "What do you call a cow that eats your grass? A lawn (草坪) moo-er." "When is a door not a door? When it's ajar (半开着)."
Jokes encourage reading and learning. Many parents and teachers report that joke books help motivate their reluctant or struggling readers to read more. Since jokes, by design, are for sharing, reading them aloud is particularly good practice for kids who struggle with reading fluently. If your child needs help remembering a difficult concept, a joke might do it. For instance, try another joke from Funology.com: "Two atoms (原子) are playing together when one tells the other, 'I lost an electron (电子).' The second atom asks, 'Are you sure?' The first atom replies 'I'm positive!'"
A. Jokes help kids build social relationships.
B. Jokes aren't just for the public stage, though.
C. Humor can even help a person deal with mood disorders.
D. Studies show humor can make information more memorable, too.
E. Jokes arc quick lessons about sounds in words and word meanings.
F. But humor encourages family connection and helps ease kids' anxiety.
G. Also, it's been a good chance to explain jokes he didn't quite understand.
Travel is not a reasonable activity. It makes no 1 to squeeze (挤) yourself into a small seat to go to a distant place where you don't 2 the language or know the customs. All is at great 3 . If we 4 to do a cost-benefit analysis, we'd never go anywhere. Yet we do.
That's one reason why I'm 5 about travel's future. In fact, I'd argue travel is an essential activity, like books and hugs, which are food for the 6 . Right now, we're between courses, enjoying where we've been and anticipating where we'll go.
In our rush to 7 to the world, we should be mindful of the impact of mass 8 on the planet. Now is the time to accept the fundamental values of 9 tourism and let them guide our future 10 . Go off the beaten path. Stay longer in destinations. And 11 that the whole point of getting out there is to see the differences that make the world so 12 .
So go ahead and 13 that trip. It's good. Plotting a trip is 14 as enjoyable as actually taking one. Anticipation is its own reward. I've 15 first-hand the happiness of anticipatory travel. My wife, not usually a fan of travel photography , now spends hours on Instagram, staring longingly at photos of mountains and rice fields. "What's going on ?" I asked one day. "They're just absolutely amazing ," she replied. "They make me remember that there is a big, beautiful world out there."
Record-breaking (freeze) temperatures and snowfall in Texas have left Texas' wildlife stunned (昏迷) by the cold. This week, thousands of sea turtles (海龟) were washed ashore on the Gulf Coast and couldn't move. (lucky), by Monday evening, nearly 2,000 cold-stunned turtles were rescued. Sea Turtle, Inc., is a non-profit turtle rescue organization, saw the numbers rise by Wednesday morning when they received 3,500 turtles in an unconscious state after volunteers raced to save them.
In typical year, Sea Turtle, Inc.'s facility will receive between 12 and 100 cold-stunned turtles in winter months, but nothing what they are currently experiencing.
When water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the turtles fall unconscious. In this immobilized state, the turtles risk (lose) their lives. Therefore, when turtles are stunned, they need a place (warm) up.
When Sea Turtle, Inc.'s facility reached maximum capacity, they (start) to send the overflow of turtles to South Padre Island Convention Center. As the week went on, volunteers continued to drop off turtles with increasing (frequent).
Once sea turtles recover and if water temperatures are safe, they will usually (release) back into the wild. Until then, the Texan turtles will receive warmth and any medical attention they need during their stay at the convention center.
"认识我们身边的植物"活动。请为校英文报写篇报道，内容包括：1. 活动的过程； 2. 收获与感想。注意： 1. 写作词数应为80左右； 2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Getting to Know the Plants Around Us
I was invited to a cookout on an old friend's farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and walked past a milking house which had apparently not been used in many years. A noise at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), desperately trying to escape. She was covered in spider-webs (蛛网) and was barely able to move her wings. She ceased her struggle the instant I picked her up.
With the bird in my cupped hand, I looked around to see how she had gotten in. The broken window glass was the likely answer. I stuffed a piece of cloth into the hole and took her outside, closing the door securely behind me.
When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I removed the sticky spider-webs that covered her head and wings. Still, she made no attempt to fly. Perhaps she had been struggling against the window too long and was too tired? Or too thirsty?
As I carried her up the blackberry-lined path toward my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. I stopped, and she soon took wing but did not immediately fly away.
Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly out of sight.
During the cookout, I told my hosts about the hummingbird incident. They promised to fix the window. As I was departing, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. She turned from person to person until she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then let out a squeaking call and was gone. For a moment, all were speechless. Then someone said, "She must have come to say goodbye."
注意：
1）续写词数应为 150 左右；
2）请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
A few weeks later, I went to the farm again.
……
I was just about to leave when the hummingbird appeared.
