Welcome to the Virtual Broadcom MASTERS!
You're invited to attend a virtual public exhibition of the Broadcom MASTERS finalists' original research projects. These 30 finalists were selected from a pool of 3, 476 entrants (参赛者) nationwide. Between October 16 and 21, they'll gather online to compete for an award of more than $100, 000 and to be recognized as the nation's most promising young scientists and engineers. You'll be provided with an opportunity to connect with these young scientific leaders who are bringing fresh perspectives to solving global challenges from wildfires and eye disease to data security.
Major Activities for the Finalists
◆Participate in a private judging process with a group of top scientists from 10: 30 am to 11 am on October 20.
◆Engage in team challenges where the finalists will be judged on their mastery of critical thinking, communication, creativity and cooperation in each area from 11 am to 11: 30 am on October 20.
◆Respond to questions at their booths (展示台) from 2 pm to 4 pm on October 20.
Time for Virtual Exhibition
It will open at 10 am on October 20 and will be available to the public through November 4.
More about Virtual Exhibition
◆The Broadcom MASTERS is taking place virtually for the first time to keep finalists and their family safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
◆The Society will be providing educational materials for educators who are interested in bringing students to the exhibition for a digital field trip.
◆Visitors to the exhibition will also have an opportunity to visit the STEM Experiential Hall where you can get access to interactive and immersive (沉浸式的) STEM experiences.
◆Please plan on watching the Winners Award Ceremony on October 21 at 7 pm and see who will bring home the prize.
On Christmas Eve, a team of reindeer (驯鹿) will help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children all around the world. The reindeers, led by their fearless leader Rudolph, won't be the only ones doing something special. Back in the highest Arctic, their cousins have a remarkable ability changing their eye color.
During the summer months, when the days are long and the sun is bright, reindeer's tapetum lucidum (荧光膜), a mirror-like layer at the back of their eye, appears golden, which helps bounce the majority of light off the eyes, effectively acting like a pair of natural sunglasses. As winter comes, and the days become shorter and darker, the tapetum lucidum turns blue to absorb more light, allowing reindeer to improve their night vision and see clear in low light conditions.
With these adaptations, reindeer can adapt and thrive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Unlike humans, reindeer can see well into the shorter Ultra Violet (UV) range. This UV vision enables them to spot food and predators more effectively in the snowy landscape. Lichens, a key part of their winter diet , absorb UV, so they show up dark against UV-reflecting white snow. Wolf and polar bear fur also absorb UV, so instead of disappearing against snow they pop out in high contrast, allowing reindeer to spot potential threats from a distance.
Reindeer change their eyes by adjusting their tapetum lucidum, which is made of collagen fibers. In winter, the collagen fibers become packed tighter, causing the tapetum lucidum to mainly reflect blue light. This change happens when reindeer dilate their pupils (瞳孔). In summer, the reindeer's pupils return to a smaller size, which helps reindeer reduce the amount of light entering the eye.
But their unique adaptation may hurt them. Today, the increasing use of artificial lighting, especially during the winter months, poses a potential threat to their sensitive eyes. It can make reindeer lose their way, affecting their ability to survive in their challenging environment. So it is crucial for us to be mindful of our use of electricity and make efforts to minimize light pollution to ensure the well-being and survival of these magnificent creatures.
"Practice makes perfect" is a very popular expression. However, can we take this saying literally?
One popular theory (理论) is that if a person practises for at least 10, 000 hours, they will reach "perfection"—or, in other words, become an expert in their field. This theory was made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success. He gave the examples of the music group The Beatles and Microsoft co-creator Bill Gates, who clearly put in over 10, 000 hours of practice before they became successful.
However, Gladwell's book has been said by many to be too simplistic and generalising. Although Gladwell's work was largely based on research done by Anders Ericsson, Ericsson argued that 10, 000 hours was just an average figure. Some people, for example, needed far fewer than 10, 000 hours, and others many more. More importantly, Ericsson said that just practising a lot was not enough; the type and quality of practice were also significant. He went on to explain the importance of "deliberate practice", which is when a person practises a specific part of a skill in depth rather than practising a skill as a whole. Deliberate practice is said to be much more effective, though more tiring.
Many other studies argue that practice alone is far from enough. In fact, a more recent study from Princeton University stated that practice only accounted for up to 26% of reaching an expert level. Many other factors contribute to people becoming experts. Natural talent is an important factor, which is especially evident in sports. For instance, many baseball players in America have amazing vision that allows them to see the ball much sooner than others do. Besides, IQ, personality, attitude, and starting age are decisive factors, too. It is also important to note that becoming an expert doesn't equal instant success. Success also relies on social factors, environmental factors, and even just being in the right place at the right time!
In conclusion, practice may not make perfect, but deliberate practice has been shown to lead to significant improvement.
The key to a happy life has nothing to do with getting ahead at work, making money, or traveling the world. Instead, living your best life and creating meaning is all about one thing: relationships.
A study of adult development has been running at Harvard since 1938, and is now on its second generation of participants—the children of the original study's subjects. Over decades, the research team collected data about their lives, including their physical and mental health, marital (婚姻的) status and quality, career happiness, etc.
They found the most important aspect in how happy and healthy these men were over time was their relationships. In other words: Finding happiness in life is all about the people you love.
The research doesn't only include romantic relationships and marriage. Quality, close relationships are important whether they are in the situation of romantic relationships or closeness between friends or family members. The kind of relationship you have is less important than how close you feel with them.
However, the study only included men, and important gender differences exist in how people experience relationships. Some research suggests that men may benefit more from marriage. But they tend to have a harder time keeping friendships; as men get older, they will more likely say they have nobody to discuss important subjects with. So it's possible that having close relationships throughout their lives might affect men differently than women.
The findings line up with the effects of loneliness. People who are socially isolated have a greater likelihood of strokes (中风), heart attacks, and higher blood pressure, not to mention mental health issues.
Unfortunately for the youngest generations, recent surveys found that young Americans are lonelier than older generations. That will likely have a big impact on how healthy and happy people feel throughout their lives.
Body Language Mistakes You Should Avoid at Work
Communication is not only about words but also gestures. Therefore, you should be careful about how you use your body when expressing yourself.
Avoiding eye contact (接触).
When speaking with a workmate, avoiding eye contact makes you look unprofessional (不专业的). It also shows that you are not confident or show no interest in the topic.
Crossing your arms.
Crossing your arms shows that you are not open to others and that you want to defend yourself. This is generally considered as a position of defense.
Checking the time every few minutes makes people feel you are in a hurry or would rather be somewhere else. It looks like you are not interested in being there. Therefore, when you are speaking to your workmates, try not to look at the clock very often.
Bad body postures.
Having a bad posture such as dropped shoulders or a lower neck can mean that you are not interested in what is going on around you. It is important to stand or sit up straight when speaking to somebody.
Weak handshake.
A weak handshake means that you don't care much about the person you are shaking hands with. However, don't forget that a handshake that is too firm can be impolite. Therefore, try to find the right balance.
A. Checking the time.
B. Also, keep your head high.
C. Nod your head to show that you are listening.
D. This shows that you have' confidence in yourself.
E. Try to greet the people with a firm handshake.
F. In order to give others a warm feeling, just keep your arms open.
G. Therefore, you should always keep eye contact especially when you are making a point.
Sometimes, the life will enlighten you in an unexpected way. I experienced a day when I was extraordinarily 1 . I'm never a picture of grace, but on this particular day, I seemed to be 2 everything. It's an old church, and the floor is 3 in some places, so my fall was the floor's fault. But when I fell again on my way out to the car, and yet again in my own home, I began to grow 4 . Had I let myself get so stressed out that I had 5 become sick?
Having been raised by devoted Christian parents who also worked in the mental-health field, I tended to look for spiritual and emotional reasons before I headed to the local 6 . I have the calming practice that 7 a yoga pose with a breath prayer. I went to 8 more comfortable clothes for the exercise, and as I removed my shoes, I was 9 !
I wasn't having a stroke at all. I had completely worn out my favorite pair of sandals. The soles (鞋底) of both shoes were split in two! I had 10 all the possibilities to figure out what was causing my clumsiness. It never occurred to me to check my soles.
So often when we start to feel 11 , we look for ways to make things better. But just as it never occurred to me to check the soles of my shoes, our own souls are the very 12 thing we think of to check. Take a moment to remember the last time you sat still, meditating. If you can't remember when that was, it might be a(n) 13 .
The local cobbler (鞋匠) said my soles were irreparable. We had a good 14 , but it was time to let them go. Fortunately for us, our souls can be mended and restored — once we realize they are in need of 15 .
China's tourism market is set to flourish during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, bookings multiplied over the same period last year. A report (release) earlier this week by Chinese online travel giant Ctrip shows that bookings for domestic, outbound (出境的), and inbound travels all have been experiencing significant year-on-year (grow).
Travel bookings to Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang province (increase) more than 14-fold to date compared with the same period last year, (primary) by tourists from the south of the country. Sanya in south China's Hainan province and Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province are the destinations of choice for many north) tourists.
As a time known for family reunions, the Spring Festival holiday will see more families (hit) the road. Bookings on Ctrip show that 47 percent of all tourists are choosing to travel with their families. Among them, most have chosen to rent cars, book tailor-made trips, take bus tours with local guides.
Tourists from Japan, the United States, South Korea and many other countries have chosen to visit Shanghai, Beijing and some renowned tourism attractions in China. Harbin, one of the (hot) destinations in the country this winter, has also attracted the attention of foreign media, is also a top choice for overseas travelers.
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 短文题目和首已你写好。
Less Waste, Better World
October 16th was named officially by the UN in 1981 as World Food Day.
A Midnight Rescue
It was not uncommon to carry out tasks at night as rescuers. Harry and David were informed of their task when it was nearly midnight. It was urgent so there was no time to hesitate. They headed into the forest.
The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path. Harry and David took the left path. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground, watching out for the traps like big pits（坑）set by the illegal hunters. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of scarlet（猩红的）blood on the fallen leaves.
David saw that Harry looked very worried, asking, "Could Unicorn be hurt that badly?" Harry answered, "If we can't find it as soon as possible, it doesn't stand much chance to survive. " Of course, Unicorn was not the animal in fairy tales but the nickname of a 3-year-old elephant, the last wild elephant in this forest. The nickname was given by the biodiversity rescuers who were protecting every member in this forest. They knew Unicorn was obedient and not afraid of human beings and that sometimes put it in danger. "Without it, the forest was not complete. Those illegal hunters should be thrown into prison. " Harry thought, carrying his first aid kit（急救箱）on his back and walking forward with his flashlight.
It seemed that thick fog would come at any time, which would increase the danger. Harry hurried into the heart of the forest with David. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper. There were blood splashes（血迹）on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been struggling around in pain close by. "We must hurry up", said Harry.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
However, it was really not easy for them to find it.
Paragraph 2:
Without delay, Harry knelt down to do first aid on its wound with David holding the flashlight.
