Don Powell was pulling letters from the mailbox outside his house when he noticed something unusual. A(n)1 doll couple were sitting on a love seat inside it with a note reading, "We've decided to2 here. " It was signed from Mary and Shelley.
At first Powell thought it was a 3 . He asked the neighbors whether anybody had left dolls in their mailboxes, and everyone told him no. "Someone must be 4 with me, " he thought. So he kept them in the mailbox to see what would happen.
A few days passed and 5 got the dolls back. Over a year later, the couple still live in the mailbox. And they're 6 getting more things, a painting, a cat and another 7 — their cousin Shirley.
"It's getting a little crowded, " says Don. Every month or two, especially around holidays, the Powells would find something 8 in the mailbox. Last Christmas, a decorated(装饰) tree was left9 tiny presents. Things were taken back right after Christmas, however, before Don could open the boxes to see 10 there was anything inside.
Don has recently put a tiny letterbox inside. "Their letters are mixing up with ours and may get 11 in the mail, " he says.
Don first posted about the dolls on the local Internet page last August, 12 to solve the mystery(谜). But he now wants it to continue. The neighbors also find it's13 to follow his updates online.
"People in the neighborhood are enjoying it and sometimes 14 to ask questions, " he says. "Some people ask if I've thought about putting an outdoor 15 . But personally, I like the mystery of it. "
Studying in France is turning out to be a great experience, but does living abroad also bring challenges? Here are some answers.
| You know those Hollywood films where the foreigner is living a nice, easy, comfortable life in another country? Well, forget it — that's not how it is. You have to do all kinds of things like finding somewhere to live, paying bills, and so on. These things aren't easy and they take time. |
After a few weeks I start to miss all kinds of things (and people) from back home. The special food, those TV programmes, and the friends whom I used to hang out with. Well, I know it's a phase I have to go through. I hope the homesickness won't last forever. |
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| Before I came, I thought my French was pretty good. But now I know I'm not good enough. People talk to me in the way they talk to each other — fast! There's new vocabulary which you have to pick up — the first time I went to a hairdresser, I didn't know what to say! Speaking French all day wears me out. Often, at night, I'll watch anything on TV in English! Anything! |
Riace is a small village in Italy, which is very pretty but also quite poor. Riace once had a population of 3, 000, but in the 1990s, many people left the village to find work in other places. The only school closed. There were no restaurants and very few shops. Many houses were empty. Riace was becoming an empty town. But these days it's a different story, because of one man whose dreams have turned Riace into a village with a future.
One day in 1998, Domenico Lucano, a teacher from Riace, was driving near the sea when he saw a large group of people on the beach. They were refugees(难民). Lucano had an idea of how to help these people and how they, in turn, might possibly help him save his village. He decided to welcome them into the village and to give them food and living places in return for work.
It was the beginning of a plan. Lucano created an organization called City of the Future. The idea was simple: The village began to welcome refugees from Somalia, Iraq and other places. Lucano used buildings which had been empty for years to house the new arrivals(到达者), and he created workshops for them to work in.
Riace is now home to about three hundred refugees, who live happily alongside the locals. Most of the women make handicrafts to sell in local shops, while the men repair empty houses to rent(出租) to tourists. And because there are more children, the school is open again. Lucano, who became mayor of Riace in 2004, has managed to create jobs and to stop the villagers moving away, while at the same time helping some of the poorest people in the world.
For centuries, the power of Chinese emperors(皇帝) fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it once was, but it is still the longest man-made river in the world.
The first canal system began around the year 605. China's Emperor Yang realized that he needed a better way to feed his army and move food quickly from China's southern rice-growing area to the north. So, he ordered to build the first part of the Grand Canal, connecting other canals, lakes and rivers.
Over the next 500 years, the canal's importance grew. However, by 1127, many parts had got worse. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and build new parts of the canal. That created a more direct north-south way to and from Beijing. Future rulers continued to improve the waterway, and it became more and more important.
Besides moving rice around China, the Grand Canal also connected the south and the north in other ways.
Soldiers, businessmen and artists transported ideas, local foods, and cultures from one part of China to another. It's said that is how Peking duck, a dish from Shandong Province, and the Peking Opera, from Anhui and Hubei, were both brought north through the canal.
Even today, the country's watery highway plays an important role in China. Boats carry tons of coal, food, and other goods to points between Hangzhou and Jining — now the northernmost city the canal reaches.
This development comes at a price, though. "Traditionally we talk about 18 main cities on the Grand Canal, and each had something special about it, " said Zhou Xinhua, the former director of the Grand Canal Museum in Hangzhou. "But now many of these cities are all the same: a thousand people with one face. "
An affirmation is a strong and positive statement(陈述) of something that is said as a fact. Statements you make to yourself, such as, "I'm a good dancer" or "I can't draw", are self-affirmations. They matter because you hear your own voice all the time. So if you tell yourself you're good at something, you're more likely to have a go.
Affirmations can help you or they can hold you back. Maria Evans, a coach for young people, says everyone has a voice inside their head that tries to protect them from risks. "It can stop us from doing things that feel big but exciting, like trying out for the school play or the basketball team. You don't try so you never know what you are able to do, making you feel regret, " Instead, using positive self-affirmations builds your confidence. Evans says, "The sooner you can start telling yourself positive things, the more enjoyable your life will be. "
To make your affirmation, think about the positive way you want to be or feel. For example, you may want to be brave or feel you can improve at Math. Now put that in a sentence and say "I am brave" or "I can get better at Math". Avoid using negative(消极的) words, because if you say "I don't feel scared" your brain hears the word "scared". By focusing(聚焦) on the positive, your brain hears what you want to feel. Also, if the affirmation is short and snappy it will be easier to remember.
Grace, 15, shares her self-affirmation, "When I'm feeling down and I have to do something like a test, I know that it's useful to try and turn that around by saying to myself, ‘I am filled with energy, I can do anything I put my mind to, I am capable. '"
calendar | discuss | seven | general | electronic |
How did people communicate in the old days? Cave paintings are an early (形式) of communication. Some of them, for example, are (几乎) 30, 000 years old. These paintings don't have written words, but they tell stories of hopes and fears.
Sometime between 4000 and 3000 BC, people in Egypt developed the skill of writing. They "wrote" text on stones first. But it was (不可能的) to carry stones from place to place. Later, Egyptians began to write on papyrus(纸莎草). The invention of papyrus (允许) documents to be moved easily.
Paper was invented in China as early as 105 CE. The world's oldest known printed book is from China, too. It was published on (五月) 11, 868 CE. In Europe, books were written by hands until the middle of the 15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in (德国). Since that time, about 140 (百万) books have been produced worldwide. For many people, one of the life's greatest (愉悦) is spending a few hours in a bookstore reading books.
Books will be around for many years, of course. But some people (更喜爱) reading e-books. Now you can buy your books (无论何时) you want without having to leave the comfort of the your home.
A new game is becoming popular with young people: tens or even hundreds of people come together, choose to be "cats" or "mice", and play hide-and-seek in open-air space. Young people say that this game not only makes people (exercise) but also brings back happy childhood times. It turns running into a fun game.
Last Saturday I went to experience the activity. There were around 30 people. The game had two rounds. In the first round, five people (choose) as "cats" and the rest were "mice". With five minutes for "mice" to run and hide, the "cats" found them using the locations(位置) they shared on a map app. The second round was group competition.
It (turn) out to be a joyful experience. The use of GPS made this childhood game much (interesting). "It was a creative way of bringing something new to old games with technology, " said Lily, a friend of (me). "It's also fun as you never know you will meet. "
For me, it's good that this activity got me moving since I do not work out (regular) in my daily life. However, I could have more fun the park wasn't so big. The long run was too hard an exercise for me to take.
填入 71~74 题，并回答 75 题。
Can you imagine how much rubbish you create in a month? The man in this picture is wearing all the rubbish that he has created in a month. He looks funny, doesn't he? Actually, he is an activist(积极分子) for environment protection. And he is doing it to get more and more people to know about pollution. To protect the environment, it is important to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Recycling is making something new from something that has already been used. Instead of throwing things away, we can collect and recycle them to make new things. For example, we can recycle glass, metal, plastic and paper. Let's look at plastic. We use it every day. Only some kinds of plastic are easy to recycle. Some plastic is hard to recycle.
First, we collect the plastic. It is separated into different kinds. Then it is cut into small bits and washed. After it has been washed, the plastic is melted(熔化) and made into small pellets(颗粒). Now, the old plastic can be used again.
We can make many things out of recycled plastic, like clothes, furniture or toys.
It is good to recycle because too much rubbish is bad for the earth. Then what can we do in our everyday life? We can reduce how much we use. We can reuse things. And we can recycle. But more importantly, we need all of you to join in.
A. Now, what is recycling?
B. Then, how do we recycle plastic?
C. But why does he do that?
D. What can we recycle?
E. What new things can we make?
What can you do to protect the environment? Why?
注意：(1) 邮件必须包含 Steve 所要了解的所有内容（who, when, what 等），并适当发挥。(2) 文中不得出现与你身份相关的信息。(3) 词数：约 100。短文开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Steve,
Yours,
Li Hua
