—OK we will, Mum.
— To tell you the truth, I really can't go anywhere because I ____ an important visitor from out of town.
—Great. I like weekends because I____get up so early.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites were created to celebrate and safeguard the most unique places around the world. Below are my 4 favorite UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Cinque Terre, Italy
With cars banned here, you'll really get to feel the unique history and character of the Cinque Terre's five centuries-old coastal villages. The breathtaking views of harbors far below the wild coastline along with the rich colors will definitely make it a memorable holiday.
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious (宗教的) monument and it contains impressive remains from the Khmer Empire (9th to 15th century). The site has dozens of iconic temples like Ta Prohm (a magnificent temple ruin hidden in the jungle). Hosting more than two million visitors annually, this artistic masterpiece is a must-see site.
Petra Jordan
Petra's rock-cut architecture has contributed to its nickname, the Rose City, based on the color of the stone it was carved from. The delicate constructions of temples and tombs along with the remains of churches and temples are only a couple of reasons why this world-famous site is a must-visit destination.
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Yellowstone's vast wilderness includes mountain ranges, lakes and waterfalls. One of the main reasons for tourists to visit Yellowstone is to observe the amazing wildlife like grizzly bear, bison, bighorn sheep wander the plains and valleys.
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When I handed my daughter a copy of King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, she looked skeptical. She reluctantly agreed to read it with me after I told her it was one of my favorite stories when I was her age, and her skepticism quickly morphed into enthusiasm as she fell in love with the book.
Watching her connect to the story brought back a flood of memories about my first time reading the book. It was like introducing my daughter to a much younger version of myself. I highly recommend other parents share their favorite childhood books, a sweet activity with lots of benefits.
Every night, I sit on the end of my daughters' beds and read them the stories I've cherished for decades. This distraction-free time gives my kids the chance to ask questions about the book we're reading, the "olden days" when I was a kid, and whatever else is on their minds.
My 9-year-old especially adores this time together and the deeper connection she feels to her family because of it. Reading her a book that holds significant meaning for me brings us together in a whole new way.
There's nothing better than watching my kids' reactions to books I've loved my entire life. They chattered with excitement when Charlie found his golden ticket in Roald Dahl's classic and pulled the covers over their blushing faces when Almanzo asked Laura if he could walk her home in the Little House series.
In these moments, it feels like I'm reaching through time and connecting my childhood with theirs.
Every generation has books that define them. For my kids, it's mostly fantasy and realistic fiction. By reading my childhood favorites to them, my kids step outside their comfort zones and try new genres, authors, and writing styles. My 9-year-old didn't know she loved folklore until we read my favorite collection of Japanese children's stories together. My 11-year-old became obsessed with wilderness survival stories when I read Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins to her.
Any parent of growing teenagers knows their kids' appetite (食欲) can be extremely large. Now, imagine having a young dinosaur checking the fridge. The out size appetites of growing dinosaurs reshaped food chains in their environment and crowded out other carnivores (食肉动物), according to a new study.
Most groups of animals have many small-sized species, somewhat fewer medium-sized species and the fewest large-sized species. However, the extinct dinosaurs—especially carnivores had plenty of species no bigger than modern-day chickens and also many extremely big species, but few medium-sized ones.
Scientists wondered whether teen dinosaurs crowded out medium-sized adults by taking advantage of the habitats and food sources those species might have taken. To test the idea, Katlin Schroeder, a Ph. D. student at the University of New Mexico (UNM), combed a global collection of data to determine the size of more than 550 dinosaur species in 43 ancient ecosystems.
"In most communities, plant-eating dinosaurs were in multifarious sizes. But carnivores were completely different," Schroeder says. Plant-eating dinosaurs came in a range of sizes, while carnivorous dinosaurs between 100 and 1, 000 kilograms were quite rare. "The size of the carnivorous dinosaur is surprising. It's as if you went to the savanna, a large flat area of grassy land, and saw nothing in size between a small fox and a lion," Schroeder says. "Patterns in all the dinosaur communities studied are very similar. We saw the gap in species' sizes for years, but never measured it."
Schroeder and paleontologists Eelisa Smith of UNM and Kathleen Lyons of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, modeled the role that young carnivorous dinosaurs might have played in ecosystems. "If the teen dinosaurs are really using up this space, how many of them would you expect?" Smith says. Their study showed that "the teenagers fill the gap," she says. "If you fill them in, then you get a community that looks like what you'd expect."
"The effect maybe stronger in meat eaters because each carnivorous dinosaur species hatched (孵化) from small eggs; then they grew very quickly. They had to change diets and hunting methods to adapt to their new sizes and compete with a range of other species along the way," Erickson, another scientist, says.
"The study's stress on how animals' niches (生态位) can change as they grow offers fresh understandings," says Mike Benton, a scientist at the University of Bristol.
The curb cut（路缘坡）is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder—in more ways than one.
Pushing a baby stroller onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car—all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind.
It's hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps（斜坡）to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb "might as well have been Mount Everest" for wheelchair-bound people. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help disadvantaged people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the "curb cut effect" a lot when working on issues around health equality. The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equality as "a zero-sum game（零和游戏）". Basically, there is a deeply rooted social belief among them that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. What the curb cut effect reveals though, Blackwell said is that "when society-creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins."
One such example is closed captioning（字幕）, originally intended to help deaf people understand movies and TV shows without needing to hear dialogue or sounds. But it's easy to think of other applications for closed captioning: it's convenient for customers watching TV in a noisy bar or gym, second-language learners who want to read as well as listen, or students who use it as a study aid.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk—think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. Climate change can cause extreme events like wildfires and floods.
How does climate change make you feel? The news of melting glaciers and oil spills may seem overwhelming and can make you feel angry, frightened, hopeless or upset. This is called climate anxiety. If you feel worried about what's happening to the world, good for you. It's normal to be upset when things you care about are getting hurt.
There are lots of things you can do to help adults take better care of the world. Turn your fear into power by doing something. Breaking the problem into bite-sized chunks is a good way to start. Think of something you feel passionate about, such as protecting ocean life or saving forests, and join a community group or charity that supports that cause. Local charities like Plastic Free Coast organize beach cleans, and the Rainforest Team has lots of planet-saving ideas, such as reducing food waste.
Positive action can inspire others too. Sisters Kim and Stella King from the charity Fights Against Plastic have picked up 90,000 pieces of plastic. They ask schools, businesses and organizations to follow their lead.
A. Why is there climate anxiety?
B. And it is a normal, healthy response.
C. This risks the lives of humans, animals and plants.
D. Remember, it's important to get support from people around.
E. No one can fix climate change on their own but we can all play a part.
F. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle.
G. So, tell friends and family what you're up to and encourage them to join in.
Miss Patty is a force of nature. Years ago, Miss Patty 1 that many students that rode her bus never had hats on cold days. Being a caring woman, she 2 to do something about it.
Patty Reitz, 3 known to students as Miss Patty, has left friendship and warmth with the students of Clarence Central School District. Over her 4 , she has crocheted (用钩针编织) a(an) 5 7, 083 hats for the students and the school.
Reitz's 6 of crocheting began in 2005 when she was caring for her mother in the hospital and needed something to keep herself 7 . "I needed something to do. "she 8 . Later, she took up the craft on her bus while waiting for the students to 9 .
"She 10 her students. Any student that has been on Miss Patty's bus gets a hat, and they also 11 a friend. Miss Patty is one of their 12 . " said third-grade teacher, Deborah Bosworth.
"I'm going to keep doing it until I can't do it anymore." she said. Miss Patty's act of kindness and 13 is inspiring. She is a great example to all of us that we can 14 a difference in the lives of others, even if it's something as 15 as making hats.
Traditionally, robots have been hard, made of metal and other rigid material. But a team of scientists at Harvard University in the US has managed to build an (entire) soft robot — the "Octobot".
(describe) in science journal Nature, the "Octobot" could pave the way for (intelligent) robots that could be used in search, rescue and exploration than the traditional ones. "The Octobot is a minimal system which may serve a foundation for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous robots," the study's authors wrote.
Researchers (work) on building soft robots for decades. They've taken (inspire) from nature, looking to animals from jellyfish to cockroaches, which are often made up of more flexible matter.
However, creating a completely soft robot (remain) a challenge. Even if engineers build a silicone(硅酮)body, is still a grand challenge to construct flexible versions of essential parts, such as a source of power.
" soft robotics is still in its early stage, it holds a great promise for several applications, such as search-rescue operations and explorations," Barbara Mazzolai of Technology, Center for Micro-BioRobotics, wrote in a comment. "Soft robots might also open up new approaches to (improve) wellness and quality of life."
注意：1.词数100左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.提示词：保护生态环境，建设绿色家园 Protecting the Eco-environment；Building a Green Homeland
An English Speech Contest
