This year，we are delighted to launch the first time American Short Fiction（ASF），From Thursday，May 26，to Monday，May 30，we will welcome twenty-four writers to Austin to study with short-story masters Karen Russell and Dantiel W. Moniz over the course of five inspiring，enlightening days.
Participants will attend daily fiction workshops，one-on-one meetings with distinguished faculty，and craft lectures by faculty，special guests，and ASF editors. We'll provide space to create new work and make lasting connections in the atmosphere of the sights，sounds，and swimming holes of Austin.
How to Apply
Applications are due February 15 by 11：59pm. To apply，please send us a double-spaced writing sample of up to 25 pages through our submit table application site（https：//American short fiction. org/workshop/）. There is a non-refundable $20 application fee. We will inform applicants of their acceptance by email on or before March 15.
Tuition for the workshop is $1，800，which does not include room and board. We are working with a local hotel within walking distance of our office for a discounted block of rooms，and you are also welcome to seek out accommodations on your own.
Scholarships and Financial Aid
We are proud to offer financial assistance to attend the workshop in the form of two scholarships and two fellowships. Our merit-based（基于优秀的）scholarships will come with a 50% reduction in tuition. Our fellowships are need-based，and cover the entire cost of the workshop and accommodations. Writers from historically under served communities are encouraged to apply.
Like many other five-year-olds, Jeanie Low of Houston, Texas, would use a stool (凳子) to help her reach the bathroom sink. However, the plastic step-stool she had at home was unstable and cluttered up the small bathroom shared by her whole family. After learning of an invention contest held by her school that year, Jeanie resolved to enter the contest by creating a stool that would be a permanent fixture in the bathroom, and yet could be kept out of the way when not in use.
Jeanie decided to make a stool attached to the bathroom cabinet door under the sink. She cut a board of wood into two pieces, each about two feet wide and one foot long. Using metal hinges (铰链), Jeanie attached one piece of the wood to the front of the cabinet door, and the second piece to the first. The first piece was set just high enough so that when it swung out horizontally from the cabinet door, the second piece would swing down from the first, just touching the ground, and so serving as a support for the first piece of the wood. This created a convenient, strong platform for any person too short to reach the sink. When not in use, the hinges allowed the two pieces of wood to fold back up tightly against the cabinet, where they were held in place by magnets (磁铁). Jeanie called her invention "the Kiddie Stool".
Jeanie's Kiddie Stool won first place in her school's contest. Two years later, it was awarded first prize again at Houston's first annual Invention Fair. As a result, Jeanie was invited to make a number of public appearances with her Kiddie Stool, and was featured on local TV as well as in newspapers. Many people found the story of the Kiddie Stool inspiring because it showed that with a pair of observant eyes, anyone can be an inventor.
Hoping to live on the moon one day? Your chances just got a tiny bit better. Researchers found that lunar pits and caves reach stable temperatures, making them potentially suitable for human life.
Planetary scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have been doing the research. Although much of the moon's surface temperatures ranges from as high as 260 degrees during the day to as low as 280 degrees below zero at night, the moon has pits and caves where temperatures stay at roughly 63 degrees Fahrenheit, making human habitation a possibility, according to their new research.
For perspective, a day or night on the moon equals a little over two weeks on the earth—making long-term research and habitation difficult with such extremely hot and cold temperatures. Researchers say these stable spots could transform the future of lunar exploration and long-term habitation. The shadowed areas of these pits could also offer protection from harmful elements, such as solar radiation, universal rays and micrometeorites (微小陨石).
About 16 of the over 200 discovered pits most likely come from collapsed lava tubes—tunnels that form from cooled lava or crust, according to Tyler Horvath, a UCLA doctoral student and head of the research. The researchers think overhangs inside of these lunar pits, which were initially discovered in 2009, could be the reason for the stable temperature.
The research team also includes UCLA professor of planetary science David Paige and Paul Hayne at the University of Colorado Boulder. "Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves we might return when we live on the moon," said Paige in a UCLA press release.
There are still plenty of other challenges to establishing any sort of long-term human residence on the moon—including growing food and providing enough oxygen. The researchers made clear that NASA has no immediate plans to establish a base camp or habitations there.
I was out for an evening with a friend, getting the relief from pressure and catching up on our lives. We got around to the subject of books.
"When do you read?" My friend asked me. My mind took off on a fast journey through my bookshelves and piles of looks. I know some people make artsy towers and pyramids out of books, but I'm not that kind of woman. Mine are just…stacks (摞). Stacks on end tables, stacks on the floor.
When do I read? I read when I'm when I'm happy. I read when I'm bored. I read when I'm defeated. I read when I'm filled with anxiety. My self-medication for the thoughts is not exercise or alcohol, but Jane Austen. I absolutely must slow down the pace of my thoughts when living through a walk to the town Meryton in Pride and Prejudice. I read to visit places I'll never see in real life. Thank you, Vikram Seth, for making me completely involved in 1950s India. Thank you, Khaled Hosseini, for giving me a chance to see 1970s high society of New York City, I'll spend some time with Edith Wharton. I read when I'm recalling the good old days. Many of my favorite books of childhood are still my favorite books. I read when I get so addicted to an author that I want to read everything she has ever written, including her Christmas cards and grocery lists.
Of course, I didn't say any of these things to my friend. I stared at her with a blank, foolish look.
"When do I read?" I repeated.
"Yes. When do you find time?" she asked.
"When? Evenings. Bedtime. Dinnertime, if I'm eating alone. Sunday afternoons. Moments stolen here and there. And now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with Mr. Hemingway," I said.
How to Teach Kids About Setting Goals
It can become an easy process for a lifetime if kids are taught goal setting at an early stage. They need to be offered a project to make them work on achieving something personal.
Set smart goals. A goal needs to be measurable, specific, realistic and timely in order to be effective. Kids prefer generalizing when it comes to goal setting. For example, one may want to be the best basketball player in the team. What exactly does a goal like this mean? You need to ask them to be specific. Begin with scoring two baskets in each game (or however many; just something measurable!) so that they can keep pushing the barriers to achieve greater goals.
Write down goals. Recent studies show that when goals are written down, the individual is likely to achieve them.
Kids have the habit of choosing goals that just seem impossible to achieve. You need to teach them the meaning of short and long-term goals and give your child reality checks.
Set up review points. You can ask them to write their main goal on the poster and mention the steps they would take for achieving their goal. It is important to help your children have their own checkpoint systems that actually work for them.
A. Learn to set a long-term goal.
B. How is a goal like this measured?
C. Give up goals that are not realistic.
D. This tip is supported by science as well.
E. Goals can never be achieved unless they are written down.
F. It is essential for everybody, especially for kids, to set goals in life.
G. You can also ask them to track their progress once a week or month.
I believe I have a personal duty to make a positive impact on society. I've tried to 1 this goal by choosing a career in public service. As a physician dealing with the challenge of infectious diseases，I consider my job a 2 ，which allows me to help ease the suffering of humankind. I have three principles to 3 my life，which I always think about.
Firstly，I have a strong thirst for 4 ，I think I will never know as much as I 5 . This is what keeps the 6 of knowledge hot. And it is why I would do my job every day even if I cannot get high income.
Secondly，I believe in fighting for 7 , I sweat over all the stuff，without feeling 8 for it. One of the by products of being a perfectionist is anxiety. But this anxiety creates a 9 tension that drives me to fulfill my limited potential.
Thirdly，I believe that my goal to be a physician is to 10 humankind. I have spent my 11 on public service. Most of it involved research，the care of 12 and the public health policy on AIDS.
I think，to control this terrible disease 13 ，I must be guided by these principles：continually thirsting for knowledge，accepting nothing 14 of excellence and knowing that the 15 of society is more important than my gains.
While many people have made videos to cheer on those working on the front lines of the fight since the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, Chien Meishuang (spend) her time in lockdown at home, painting simple heartwarming works.
The paintings are part of her Journal of the Pandemic Lockdown, project she started two years ago. "We are all facing a difficult time we are trapped at home," Chien tells China Daily. "I (simple) wanted to let others know that there is a silver lining amid the dark clouds. "
The Taiwan native, who lives in Shanghai, is being on the receiving end of her neighbors' kindness. (document) her experience, the artist created a painting, titled Good Neighbors in China, marking the first new (add) to her project this year. Other (scene) shown in her latest works include delivery men having a quick lunch and her neighbors (welcome) a 70-year-old man who returned from hospital after recovering from COVID-19.
"It is because of the pandemic I have made friends from all walks of life in the area where I live. These individuals have provided infinite inspiration and stories my works," she adds. "As long as an artwork can touch people's hearts, I believe it is good art. It doesn't matter how simple it is. "
1）表示欢迎；2）专家介绍；3）讲座内容。
注意：1）词数80左右；2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Marathons are not for the faint of heart, nor the faint of lungs. You might think you're up for it, but then your lungs will remind you halfway through that this might be too much. I have a ton of respect for people who do compete in them. Make sure you stretch a lot before you do one! This story though, is about someone who could have finished the race sooner but chose not to.
There are people who are well in-shape to run a marathon, and marines (海军陆战队士兵) are definitely some of those people. Military training is some of the toughest out there. They'll make you do push up (俯卧撑) after push up, course after course, and they'll make you do it regularly. A marine is thus well-prepared to run something like a marathon race.
Myles Kerr was a 19-year-old marine who joined in a 5-kilometre marathon. As the name implies, a 5-kilometre marathon is 5 kilometers of running you have to do. And 5 kilometers is a lot to run on foot. It is definitely not a distance you should attempt without a lot of preparation and training. Myles, thanks to his training, was even able to wear boots while he ran.
While Myles and the other marines with him could handle this just fine, one other runner couldn't. It was 9-year-old Brandon Fuchs. The boy joined in the race as part of a group. However, he got separated from the group as the race progressed. He was now quite far behind and struggling to finish the race.
Brandon is just 9 years old, but he is fond of sports. He always sits in front of TV watching matches of all kinds of sports, especially matches concerning running. He ever participated in some kinds of running races, which made him even more interested in sports. When he knew a short-distanced marathon was to be held in his city, he signed up for it without hesitation.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右
2）请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
It just happened that the boy caught sight of Myles.
……
Seeing Myles run together with Brandon, people felt confused.
