Amy is 11 years old and lives in a city. She 1 much of her time at her grandmother's home during the pandemic (疫情). The house has a large 2 that Amy explored (探索) when she wasn't doing schoolwork online.
One day, she saw her first four-leaf clover (四叶草) in the yard. "I was just walking, and I was so 3 because I know that they are not very common," she said, "some people say they bring good luck."
Amy then researched 4 causes clovers to grow that fourth leaf. It's because of the plant's genes. The plant's genes tell the plant to grow three leaves. 5 sometimes the genes tell the plant to grow four leaves. 6 , a 2017 study found that just one in 5,000 clovers has four leaves.
Amy has learned that four-leaf clovers grow 7 groups. "Then I wanted to find more of them," she said. Amy began searching for more four-leaf clovers in the yard and it 8 her new hobby. By the summer of the next year, she had 9 more than 500 of them.
Her parents felt happy that Amy found a way to lower stress that many children were 10 during the pandemic. Her grandmother was also 11 that Amy went outdoors and explored nature. "It's a good thing that a city child was taking a(n) 12 in nature."
For her part, Amy said she has a way of 13 the loneliness she felt during the pandemic. "It gave me something to do because I didn't have the 14 of being sad," she said. "I got 15 ," she added, "and this was wonderful because they were right in my backyard."
A: Hi, Li Hua.1
B: I'm making a plan for our graduation ceremony. Would you like to join me?
A:2 When is it?
B: Next Sunday morning. But I have no idea how to show thanks to our teachers.
A: Let me see.3
B: Good idea. I'll buy some in a shop.
A: Better not, the cards in the shop are not special.
B: That's right.4
A: Why not ask everyone to design a card by themselves?
B: Sounds good.
A: We can also take photos with our teachers and stick them to the card.
B: Yes. Photos can record our happy moments.5
A: No problem. I'm good at it.
May 11, 2022
Dear Grandma,
I wanted to write you a note to say thank you for my presents. They came in the mail on May 10, the day before my 13th birthday. I love the books! How did you know that I was reading the stories on ancient China? Did my dad tell you that I was interested in that topic?
I also loved the soccer clothes. My spring season starts in a few weeks, and I can wear these clothes for my soccer practice every Friday. I really hope I can score a few goals this season. I'm going to work really hard to try to make that happen.
When will you be able to visit me here? I miss you so much and hope we can see each other soon. I know the plane ride can be a long one, but I really hope to see you.
I love you, Grandma. Thanks again for my birthday presents.
Sincerely,
Greta
Scientists say that hobbies can make kids smarter, healthier and even more successful when they grow up. How?
They Help You Learn
When you have a hobby, you learn new things. You have to read instructions. You look at websites, magazines and books to get more information about your hobby. More reading makes you a better reader and a better learner.
They Help You Be Creative
For many hobbies, such as building model cars and making pottery, you have to use your brain as well as your hands. We learn by doing things and by touching things. These kinds of activities make people more creative.
They Help You Be Relaxed
Having a hobby makes you feel good. Scientists say, "When you make something, the ‘feel-good' part of your brain gets a message. It makes you feel happy. " When we feel happy, we have less stress. Too much stress can make people sick.
They Help You Build Skills
People with hobbies learn how to set goals and solve problems. Learning these skills when you are young can help you when you grow up. For some kids, having a hobby can be the first step to finding a satisfying job in the future.
Tyler had broken his arm in a bicycle accident. A car knocked Tyler down when it came out of a side street without stopping. The accident happened because there was no stop sign at the corner and the car didn't stop. So Tyler decided to try to get the city to put up a stop sign.
First, Tyler wrote a petition（请愿书）to have a stop sign put up with his parents' help. Then, Tyler and his parents asked their neighbors, friends, teachers, classmates… almost everyone they knew to sign the petition. Soon, there were hundreds of names on the petition.
Tyler also got some information about other accidents at the same corner where he had had his own accident. If he could show the city that it was a dangerous corner, they might put up a stop sign there. He hoped that this information and his petition would work.
When the petition was ready, Tyler and his parents went to a meeting of the city council（政务委员会）. They brought along the petition and the other information. After a long wait, Tyler got a chance to tell what had happened to him. He told the story of the bicycle accident and explained his idea. If there were a stop sign at the corner where the accident happened, other kids would be safer.
After that, Tyler read the petition out loud. Then, he handed it and the other information to the council. The city council agreed to consider the request and make a decision before their next meeting.
The next month, Tyler and his parents attended another meeting of the city council. The head of the city council announced that the city had decided to agree to the petition! There would be a stop sign at the corner where Tyler had his accident. Now other kids would be safer when they rode their bikes.
Have you ever met large changes in life and work? How would you feel in most cases? In fact, we all have to go through the grief cycle(悲伤周期), which has the following periods:
The first period: "It can't be happening."
Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."
Depression: "I'm so sad. Why do I have to do all of these?"
Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."
I'm honestly not sure how scientific this model is, but I certainly believe that you will work better after going through these major changes.
Find out what your anger does for you—good or bad?
What does being angry do for you? Think back to the situation where you have been angry at work and ask yourself how it influences you, including: your relationship with co-workers, the quality(质量) of your work and health, how you feel outside of work, your relationship with friends and family.
Find out what makes you angrier and less angry.
What makes you angrier? Which thoughts, situations, people or conversations set you off? And what makes you less angry? I'm sure you are not angry all the time. What makes you calm and stops you from feeling angry? Find out. Then start doing less of what makes you angry and more of the things that cool you down.
Focus on gratitude.
What are you grateful for? As I mentioned above, anger is part of the grief cycle which is connected with what you lose. Gratitude is the opposite of loss because it comes from the good things you have in your life. It's simple. Every evening, sit down with a piece of paper and make two gratitude lists: three things I was grateful for at work today; three things I was thankful for in life today.
Change your focus from "What was done to me" to "What I can do".
I know this is the basic piece of all self-help advice. Life is 10% about what happens to you and 90% about how you deal with it, or you must take responsibility for your own situation, rather than be a victim(牺牲品) of it. That kind of advice can get pretty boring. But that doesn't make it less true.
old much park from then |
This year our school is taking part in the Great School Clean-up. The event is taking place this Friday, the 24th of April. Students secondary schools all over the country will take part. We are going to go out into the local area and help clean up rubbish-bin—the around the lake, in the town centre and in the forest.
We'll meet on the school playground at 9 a.m. and set off at 9:30. We'll spend two hours cleaning. Please wear clothes and a pair of gloves. The school will give you black plastic bags to put the rubbish in. Please remember we are doing this clean-up to help our environment, so I want everyone to pick up as as you can.
Happy cleaning
go notice play remind look |
In a countryside hotel, a guest was enjoying the beautiful music from upstairs. "Who the piano? It sounds so wonderful." The guest said with amazement.
Suddenly a drop of water fell on his face. The guest up and another drop of water fell again. "Hey! Who lives upstairs?" The guest shouted angrily to the owner of the hotel. "Upstairs lives a great pianist." answered the owner. "Oh! A pianist!" As soon as the guest heard it, his anger disappeared.
"Should I him not to pour the water on the floor?" said the owner.
"No, I can and see myself." said the guest.
The guest walked upstairs quietly. Through the window, he saw the pianist losing himself in playing the piano and there was a basin (盆) of water beside him.
The pianist had played the piano for hours. He didn't stop even when his fingers went red and hot. Instead, he cooled his fingers in the water and continued to practice. Because he was too rushed anything else, the water splashed (泼) all over the floor.
Leading young people to take up physical exercise is really important. But a report recently shows that only half of girls who were questioned by researchers enjoy doing sports. What are the reasons? Because of their dislike of the clothes they are asked to wear and the lack（缺乏）of facilities（设备）to do their hair afterwards. As more girls than boys fail to take part in physical activities, this is seen as a problem that needs dealing with.
Many of the girls questioned said they disliked wearing the skirts that are often part of PE clothes and that the clothes should be more comfortable to wear. The girls wanted to have the chance to say what the PE clothes should look like. They suggested clothing should cover more of their bodies, such as leggings and high-necked shirts.
Another key problem the girls reported was not having the facilities available to do their hair after they had taken part in exercise. The girls being interviewed wanted private space where they could get changed. They felt schools should supply hairdryers so that they could style their hair. They could use this time to do their hair and make sure they looked the same as they did before the class.
The researchers argue that since girls worry a great deal about how they look during their teenage years, it is important that schools take these problems seriously. Some teachers feel sports should keep youngers'minds off how they look. It should help them see the value of keeping physically fit, enjoying team spirit and achieving their success and not worrying about what their hair looks like.
A. Girls had the following problems with PE classes.
B. Even a quarter of them actually avoid taking part.
C. However, not everyone agrees with the suggestions.
D. They also required 15 minutes at the end of the PE class.
E. Surprisingly, most girls don't agree with this suggestion.
F. PE classes are one way of getting young people to do this.
G. They also thought the materials used were not good enough.
