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One summer night, a boy felt himself lifted from bed by his father. Dazed with sleep, he saw stars flashing across the heavens. "What is it?" the child whispered. "Shooting stars. They come every year in August. " Decades have passed, but I remember that night still, because I was the fortunate boy whose father believed a new experience was more important than an unbroken night's sleep.
Some parents like my father have the gift of opening doors for their children. This art of adding dimensions to a child brings the reward: the marvelous moment when the spark bursts into a flame that will burn brightly on its own one day. At a Golf Association tournament, a ten-year-old girl played creditably. "How long have you been interested in golf?" someone asked. "I got it for my ninth birthday," she said. "Your father gave you a set of clubs?" "No," she said, "he gave me golf. "
I have a friend, a psychiatrist, who says there are two types of people: those who think of life as a privilege and those who think of it as a problem. The first type is enthusiastic and energetic. The other type is suspicious and self-centered. And he adds, "Tell me about your childhood and I can tell you which type you are likely to be. "
The real purpose, then, of trying to open doors for children is to build eager and outgoing attitudes, which is the most valuable legacy we can pass on to the next generation. But why don't we work harder at it? Probably because sometimes we don't have the awareness or the selflessness or the energy. And yet, for those of us who care what becomes of our children, the challenge is always there but the opportunities also come repeatedly. Many years have passed since that night. And next year, when August comes with its shooting stars, my son will be seven.
The public nowadays has a misunderstanding of forest fires, believing that fires should be kept out of every type of forest. Many of us can recall Smoky the Bear's famous warning: "Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires". However, that's not always the case. Under the right conditions, and when conducted safely, fire can create many environmental benefits as well as help prevent larger, uncontrollable wildfires.
After a forest fire, many wildlife species will move into recently burned areas to feed on these newly available foods. Some reptiles and amphibians such as the pine snake prefer forests frequently burned by fire. As Herbert Stoddard put it, "One of the most harmful things modern man has done to birds has been his attempt to exclude fire from fire-type pine (松树) forests. Within a few years most forests choke up with bushes, lose their prairie-like vegetation (草原般植被) and can no longer support birds dependent on periodic burning for their food supply and proper cover. "
If you are asked to picture the forest floor, what do you see? Pine needles, cones, leaves, branches might come to mind-all sources of fuel. If these fuel sources build up without any type of removal, the ‘fuel load' can lead to fires catastrophic to forests and people alike. In contrast, prescribed fire can be used by forest professionals every couple of years to keep forest fuels at an appropriate and manageable level. They can also minimize the spread of pest insects and disease and remove unwanted tree and plant species. Plus, they can create and maintain important wildlife habitats rich in grasses and promote the growth of trees, wildflowers and other various plants.
Many organizations and agencies work to promote fire on the landscape when and where appropriate. Smoky Bear even has an updated warning: "Only You can Prevent Wildfires," as the Forest Service has over the last few decades developed policies and procedures to include prescribed fire as a management tool, as well as continuing their work to prevent and fight wildfires.
Horror movies are designed to cause seemingly bad emotions — shock, fear and disgust. Yet many people want to sit through those films. Why? Clasen, who directs the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark, made a survey of more than 250 American horror fans with his team, and the responses of those participants revealed three types of fans.
The first type felt great and were in high spirits. The second type reported some negative reactions to scary movies, and some even had nightmares at first, but they explained that they were feeling like they learned something about themselves at last. The third type of fans seemed to use horror to deal with bad feelings and events in real life. They supported statements such as "Watching horror movies makes me realize that everything in my own life is OK. "
According to previous studies, thrill seekers, who often seek out new and intense experiences, tend to be horror fans. Men also seemed to be slightly bigger horror fans than women. Clasen's teammates didn't think so. "They are stereotypes (老套)," they said. Men are less likely to admit in surveys that they are afraid of horror. Likewise, researchers think it's unfair to paint all horror fans as thrill seekers. What may influence how much people like horror is something called the need for affections. "People differ on that — how much emotion they want in their lives," Clasen explained.
After watching a horror movie, you could be left unsettled and anxious, or you have nightmares, but it may actually help you become more prepared in real life. Horror fans reported lower levels of distress (忧虑) during the pandemic, for instance. "That's because horror movies let people practice negative emotions in a safe setting," Clasen said. "That way, when it comes to scary situations in real life, you know how to react quickly and correctly. "
Good or not, scary movies aren't for everyone. And that's OK. "Monster movies are good," sociologist Margee Kerr said, "because you know that they're not real. " "If you are not ready to watch a horror movie, there are other ways to test yourself. One is writing your own horror-movie story. If you are writing a story about something that you are afraid of, you are taking control of it," she explained. "That can be really helpful. "
A. Skeptical. B. Supportive. C. Disapproving. D. Objective.
As digital devices have taken over society, "keyboard activity" is now often recommended as a substitute (替代物) for early handwriting, a new study notes. .
"Some schools in Norway have become completely digital," notes Audrey Vander Meer, the new study's leader, who works at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. . The human brain has developed to interact with the world in as many ways as possible, she notes. She believes that young children should learn to write by hand successfully, and, at the same time learn to manage a keyboard.
. Her new findings prove this. This is because writing and printing involve complex movements that activate more areas of the brain. The increased brain activity, "gives the brain more ‘hooks' to hang your memories on," she explains.
Think about it. The same movement is required to type each letter on a keyboard. By comparison, when we write, our brain needs to think about and recover memories of each letter. . And we need to control our hands to press a pen or pencil to shape the different letters. All of these use and connect more areas of the brain.
Along the way, these processes appear to "open the brain up for learning", says Vander Meer. . She expresses her worries.
Vander Meer also points out that taking notes by hand stimulates "visual note-taking". Rather than typing blindly, the visual note-taker has to think about what is important to write down. Then, key words can be "interlinked by boxes, and arrows, and supplemented by small drawings".
A. Young kids should learn several basic drawing skills.
B. It is believed that typing may be easier for young children.
C. Using a pen involves more of the brain than using a keyboard.
D. It has to be done by hand, not necessarily typing on a keyboard.
E. So learning through only one format—digital could be harmful.
F. She measures brain activity to better understand learning and behaviors
G. It is also necessary for us to use our eyes to watch what shapes we are writing.
In 2023, just before my 32nd birthday was approaching, the Singapore-based sister insisted my mother and I join her for a holiday. My mum, regarded as a fearless woman, would get strangely nervous and confused by the complex on-boarding 1 . Perhaps the only thing that convinced her to overcome her 2 was the fact that it would give us a chance to 3 our weakening relationship full of a great deal of differences.
There was another 4 to the trip for my mom—a return to the place where she spent her honeymoon in
1989. Back then she was four months 5 with me. Growing up, I remembered the days when she would always 6 me hot milk in the cold winter. Looking back, the motherly 7 actually displayed the love in the blood.
Those sweet moments gradually 8 as I grew older and moved away from home. Soon, our relationship became tense. Weekly phone calls were too 9 and careless to ever mature into real talk. The 10 led to arguments instead. To me, her old-fashioned advice annoyed me, forcing me to 11 information or even lie intentionally. Perhaps Singapore would give us a chance to bring our 12 back to life.
Looking for something to 13 ourselves, we signed up for a joint painting activity. To our joy, our faded connection began to take on the 14 of something truthful and beautiful. This makes a landmark in a daughter's journey in 15 with her long-cherished past.
假如你是李华，你在世界土壤日（12月5日）当天参加了题为"有机农场"体验活动。现请你以"Organic Farming"为题，向你校报英文专栏投稿。
内容包括：
1. 什么是有机农业。
2. 有机农业的利弊（各列举两点）。
3. 你的观点。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 根据自己掌握的相关知识，批判性地阐述自己的观点。
Organic Farming |
Catherine was the coolest kid in her class. Whenever she went, she was in the spotlight, with a bunch of kids following her. Her deskmate, Landy, however, was not in the cool kids' group. Being the tallest kid in her class, she was teased by her classmates, who were always chanting "Landy, Landy, long as spaghetti (意大利面). Every time Landy heard those silly chants, she could feel her face burst into flames. God knew how she wished the ground to crack and swallow her!
Catherine didn't really like it when the kids chanted "Landy, Landy, long as spaghetti". But she never told them to stop either, and nor did she ever talk to her. She liked being popular.
One weekend, Catherine went over to her grandfather for Thanksgiving. Her grandfather lives on a farm at the opposite end of town, where he keeps chickens. While helping to feed the chickens, Catherine noticed a peculiar one. Curling in the corner, it looked smaller than the others and was almost half-bare!
"What's the matter with it?" She asked her grandfather, with a puzzled frown on her face. Her grandfather told her how chickens could act. "They have a pecking (啄) order," he explained, wrinkles of concern spreading around his forehead. "If one chicken is different, the others will push it away and keep pecking it. Sometimes they peck it so much that it dies. "
"Oh, what a poor little thing!" Catherine let out a sigh as she scooped the frightened chicken up in her arms, whose heart was beating fast in the bony little body. Suddenly, she thought of Landy, the girl being "pecked" by her classmates. "I'm going to take it home and take good care of it," she said with a determined look.
Back in school, Catherine told the cool kids about the chicken. "It's looking healthy now," she said proudly. "It's fatter and its feathers are growing. Even the cat likes it. She carries it around the garden, and…" Everyone was entertained by Catherine's story of her lovely chicken, laughter lingering around the classroom.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Para 1: Then Catherine spotted Landy sitting by herself in a corner. Para 2: But Catherine walked directly toward Landy, regardless of what they said. |
