Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. Here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.
Goodreads
Goodreads is the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the best book review site to visit. There are an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore.
Fantasy Book Review
Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books. It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time.
Booklist
Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews. You can see parts of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe.
YouTube
YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online. However, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read.
Although it's easy to be attracted by an impressive book cover, it's always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you'll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time.
The power of "seeing"
A spoon-billed sandpiper (勺嘴鹬) steps into the frame, heading straight for a small bug placed there. It swallows its food with its spoon-shaped beak.
The performance is for Joel Sartore, founder of Photo Ark, a personal effort to document animals around the world.
The critically endangered bird, of which there are fewer than 1, 000 individuals in the wild, is the 13, 000th species Sartore has photographed in 16 years. His goal is 20, 000.
Before he started Photo Ark, Sartore spent more than a decade working as a photographer for National Geographic, mainly covering conservation stories in the field. He had seen wildlife decreasing firsthand, but felt like the public wasn't interested.
Sartore thought of a new way to inspire people. He picked up his camera and set about taking shots of wildlife-but rather than recording animals in the wild he wanted to photograph them outside their natural habitat. He visited zoos, aquariums and rehabilitation (康复) centers and photographed portraits of individual animals against a white or black backdrop (背景幕).
"This allows you to look them in the eye and see that there's great beauty there and that they are worth saving, " he said. "We are primates and we respond to eye contact above all else. "
The response has indeed been huge. Sartore has more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram and a best-selling series of Photo Ark books. Part of the proceeds (收益) from his books goes to fund on-the-ground conservation efforts.
Gary Ward who works at London Zoo where Sartore has shot before said, "Seeing is the first step to caring, and caring is the first step to conservation action. "
By choosing animals outside their natural habitat, Sartore admits he will only show a small part of the world's wildlife. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are more than 2 million described species on the planet, and he plans to photograph just 1% of them. But doing so allows him to spotlight species that are already extinct in the wild, and those that would be difficult to take portraits of in their natural habitat. It also enables him to shoot in a controlled environment, meaning the animal can be kept safe and comfortable, with zookeepers or carers on hand to advise on its behavior.
If you followed the Rio Olympic Games, you may have noticed that several athletes, including US swimmer Michael Phelps, had circular bruises (青肿) on their bodies. These bruises were the result of "cupping (拔火罐) therapy", a traditional Chinese medicinal practice that has been around for more than 2, 000 years.
Many athletes say that they have benefited from the therapy. Phelps used the therapy in the fall of 201 and has used it about twice a week since, reported ABC News. Another US swimmer, Dana Vollmer, also believes that "it really helps with blood flow".
However, some have said that the supposed health effects result from people's feeling that the treatment works, rather than any physical effect of the treatment. To figure out cupping therapy has any physical effect, last year researchers from Germany carried out a test in which a false treatment was provided.
In the study, the same type of cups was used in the real treatment and the false treatment. But in the false treatment, the cups had a hole at the top so that they couldn't create the proper suction (吸力).
The tested patients, who suffered from a disorder that caused a lot of pain, were told that they would receive either a traditional cupping or "soft cupping". But they were not informed that the so-called "soft cupping" was a false treatment.
It turned out that most patients correctly guessed which kind of cupping they had received. In both groups, patients also experienced about the same reductions in pain. "The results suggest the effects of cupping therapy might come from factors that are not necessarily part of the treatment itself, " the researchers told the Live Science website.
The question of whether cupping therapy works still needs to be answered. "But because the treatment is relatively safe and it could be helpful for some people, the therapy can be used as part of a comprehensive treatment program involving other exercises, nutritional choices and lifestyle changing, " Dr Brent Bauer, director of the US Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic, told Live Science.
What do the random, scribbled (潦草的)drawings crowding the margins (页边空白处) of most high school students' papers mean? When a student is caught doodling (乱画) in class, he will probably be criticized for daydreaming. But doodling while listening can help with remembering details, rather than implying that the mind is wandering, according to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.
In an experiment conducted by the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, 40 subjects were asked to listen to a two-minute tape giving several names of people and places. Half of the participants were asked to shade in shapes on a piece of paper at the same time, without paying attention to neatness, while the rest were given no such instructions. After the tape had finished, all participants in the study were asked to recall the names of people and places. The doodlers recalled on average 7.5 names of people and places, compared to only 5.8 by the non-doodlers.
"If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream. " said study researcher, Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology, University of Plymouth. "Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient (足够的) to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task. "
"In psychology, tests of memory or attention will often use a second task to selectively block a particular mental process. If that process is important for the main task, then performance will be impaired. But my research suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction (分心) that we should try to resist doing. " said Andrade.
Dan Ware, a social study teacher, used to consider doodling a distraction from learning, but after teaching kids with all personality types he learned scribbling away during lectures helps certain students remember more information. "In my first few years of teaching, I thought, ‘Well, this kid isn't paying attention. He's daydreaming. ' But I had some really powerful experiences with students and came to understand in many cases that was their way of focusing, and those students were probably paying more attention than other students. " Ware said.
A majority of the people do not read the classics. Their reasons begin with the language being too difficult and end with the storyline to distant to the present context. Love for classics is obviously not at first sight. We begin as acquaintances (泛泛之交) and eventually become close friends with private jokes between us. So how does one approach a classic?
Don't be afraid to be confused.
We get it: it's hard to power through confusion. It doesn't feel great when a book makes you feel confused. Every reader has to start somewhere. Instead, be proud of yourself for trying, and get excited about all the new things you'll learn.
Research, research, research.
Researching the author-and the time and place they were writing about-can help you situate yourself during tricky passages. The author's experience, viewpoint, and historical context might help you make the connections you might not have otherwise.
Just pick the book up.
This step is self-explanatory. While it's not hard to just pick a book up, we know how difficult it can be to convince yourself to do so. Take a deep breath, then leap onto the deck (甲板) of Melville's Pequod or step cautiously through the gates of Castle Dracula.
Remember: there is no right answer.
There is no perfect way to read a classic text. There is no defining interpretation, no singular, exact answer. Your goal as a reader is to discover what aspects and insights are meaningful to you. Enjoy the process. Even if your interpretation of the work isn't quite perfect, it is still valuable!
A. It is a gradual affair.
B. Allow the book to grow with you.
C. It has some form of historical influence.
D. Before you turn to page one, do some digging.
E. Never beat yourself up for not knowing something.
F. Remind yourself that it's a new learning opportunity.
G. Consider what confuses you, read with intention, and think critically.
For years, Sammie Vance, 14, has been helping kids who feel lonely make friends. She has been 1 the Buddy Bench program since the third grade. The program was that anyone at school feeling 2 could sit on the "buddy bench", telling other kids he or she needed a friend.
Sammie got the 3 for the program at a summer camp in 2017. She thought it would be cool to have a buddy bench in her 4 , so when she returned, she 5 the idea to the headteacher.
Getting 6 for the project was just the first step. "There have been a lot of other 7 , like money, " Sammie says. To cut down costs and be eco-friendly, Sammie decided to make the bench out of 8 material. So she got her community to gather bottle caps.
9 of the project got out, and soon Sammie was getting caps from people in all 50 states, and even from people in Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries. 10 , she collected more than 1, 200 pounds of bottle caps. A company called Green Tree Plastics was 11 of upcycling (升级改造) these into three benches.
Not long after that, 12 her own school, more than 200 schools and parks nationwide, in Mexico and Australia 13 benches through the program as well. Her work continues to spread 14 far and wide. "We recently got a bench in Ghana, Africa, " she says.
Sammie thinks her small gesture can make other people's day and that even small acts of kindness can 15 .
The silver jewelry produced by the Miao ethnic group has been the key to driving rural development in Taijiang County, area located in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture(自治州)of Guizhou Province.
The jewelry is a magnificent treasure of Miao culture, (present) delicate silver jewels and traditional craftsmanship. The Miao ethnic group(keep)the tradition of decorating themselves with handmade silver ornaments for over 400 years. In May 2011, the silver forging skill of the Miao ethnic group was recognized and included in the third group of(nation)intangible cultural heritage list.
(drive)by the popularity of ethnic festivals and people's growing interest in silver jewelry, the local tourism industry has enjoyed a boost in recent years. To (far) encourage development, Taijiang County has focuseddeveloping the ethnic folk handicraft industry, aiming to enhance the promotion of traditional Miao silver jewelry, create more job (opportunity)and boost regional tourism. By the end of 2021, there were 102 local enterprises devoted to making silver jewelry, total output value reached more than100 million yuan($13. 68 million). This significant growth in the silver jewelry industry has laid a strong foundation for the county (promote)rural revitalization.
注意：1. 词数80词左右；2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
Notice
Students' Union
Two Golden Hearts
Meg and her eight-year-old daughter, Haley, were on their way home from school, and it had just stopped raining. "What's that squeaky(吱吱作响的) noise?" Meg asked. She looked down at the girl's shoes and noticed her shoes had been tor open. Water on the road had leaked into Haley's damaged shoes, making the squeaky noise.
Meg immediately took her daughter to a shoe store to buy her a new pair of shoes. She had some money for groceries but thought getting Haley a new pair of shoes was more important. "How about these?" asked Haley, who was checking shoes in the section only for boys.
Meg frowned and approached her daughter.
"Mama, I want these sneakers(运动鞋). Buddy needs them badly. "
Meg was surprised. Not only did she not have money to afford two pairs of shoes, but she wondered why Haley was too interested in getting her classmate Buddy a new pair. "Why do you want to do that?" asked Meg. Haley's tone became serious. "Buddy is from a very poor family, mama. Poorer than us. His shoes are tom. Everybody laughs at him. Please, can we buy these shoes for him? You can buy mine later. "
Meg thought for a while and decided it would be best if she bought her daughter shoes for now. "You will fall sick if you keep wearing your wet, tom shoes. I'm sorry, honey, but I really can't afford two pairs. "
Haley sighed (叹气) heavily but agreed.
As Meg and Haley left, Bob, the shoe store owner who knew Meg well, walked to the entrance and sighed. He had overheard everything and knew what it was like to live in poverty. He wanted to help Haley complete her mission of helping Buddy but didn't know how. Moreover, the sneakers Haley wanted to get for Buddy was a limited-edition collection. They were pretty expensive, and he could not just give them away for free.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右:2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, Bob remembered the store's basement where unsold shoes were stored.
The next morning, Haley was surprised to find a shoe box on the doorstep.
