Student Volunteers Needed! On Wednesday, May 3rd, from 10 a. m. until 4 p. m. , Moonlight Middle School will hold a music festival in the school gym. The special event will feature a variety of professional musicians and singers. Task Time Date Make posters 1 p. m. —4 p. m. April 26th Set up gym 11 a. m. —4 p. m. May 2nd Help performers 9 a. m. —4 p. m. May 3rd Welcome guests 10 a. m. —2 p. m. May 3rd Clean up gym 4 p. m. —7 p. m. May 3rd Interested students should speak with Ms. Lin, the music teacher. Students who would like to help at the festival must have written permission from a parent. |
My 10-year-old nephew came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I told him to stay inside by joining him in an online game. After being repeatedly beaten by a more experienced player, I suggested that we relax for a while.
"Look, Aunt Alice, " he said excitedly as he ran over to me. "I found a kite. Could we go outside and fly it?" Glancing out of the window, I noticed there was no wind outside. "I'm sorry, Tripper, " I said. "The wind is not blowing today. The kite won't fly. "
"I think it's windy enough, I can get it to fly, " he answered as he hurried out the door. I looked out the window to watch him. Up and down the yard he ran, pulling a small length of string tied to the kite. The plastic kite remained about his shoulder level. He ran back and forth, looking back hopefully at the kite trailing behind. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful efforts, he came back in.
I asked, "How did it go?"
"Fine, " he said, not wanting to admit (承认) failure. "I got it to fly some. " As he walked past me to return the kite to the shelf, I heard him say under his breath, "I guess I'll have to wait for the wind. "
And it dawned on me how easy it is for us to depend only on our own efforts to complete what we want to do. We wait for the "wind" only after we have used up our own strength. Sometimes, what we need is just a little outside help.
Leoh Ming Pei, one of the world's best-known architects(建筑师), left over 50 designs during his long career. These amazing works stand as his gifts to the world.
The glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France might be Pei's most famous work. Back in the 1980s, the Louvre Museum was having trouble with traffic. To solve the problem, Pei planned to dig an underground hall and place a glass pyramid on top. Many people didn't like the idea. They said it was too modern for the classical museum. However, the idea turned out to be a success. It is not only the museum's main entrance, but also a huge skylight (天窗).
In 2006, Pei was invited to build a museum in his hometown Suzhou. He tried to include local and historical ideas in his design. He built small halls with traditional white walls and dark roofs, just like the classical Chinese gardens. Moreover, the lines and windows in the roof bring something modern to the museum.
His style may come from his ____. The famous Lion Grove Garden(狮子林) in Suzhou used to be owned by Pei's family. Pei spent some summers there as a child. Maybe that was when Pei developed his interest in architecture. Pei spent most of his adult years in the US, first studying at universities and then working in different places. Even though he was trained in the US, the beauty of Chinese Classics was well displayed in many of his designs. "I've never left China because home is a place your heart always belongs to, " Pei once said.
Over the last century, many building trends(潮流)have come and gone. But the works of Pei have not. "A lasting architecture has to have roots. " Pei once told The New York Times. That may explain why he and his works have stood the test of time.
Success is often considered to be the opposite of failure. To teenagers, it is the achievement of a goal or completion of something they really need, such as good grades and the ability to get along well with their classmates. Some schools used to agree with most parents who measured (判定) the success of their children according to grades, but now they pay special attention to moral (道德的) education and character-building to make sure teenagers achieve success in building human relationships.
Schools give chances to students to discover their hidden ability so that they can enjoy some form of success. For example, those good at speaking skills are advised to take part in speech competitions while those interested in arts are expected to perform in front of their classmates. Teenagers also get the pleasure of success when they join their favorite clubs.
Teenagers are often told that success is not easy to achieve and that success lies in hard work. Great efforts have to be put into project work. Doing things much later than planned should be avoided as this will lead to a mountain of work which finally makes them nervous. Another good quality is a sense of responsibility which makes them remember that a task has to be completed.
Sticking to moral values is the key to success too. Honest teenagers will win the trust of friends leading to good relationships. Self-motivation is another quality to be developed, for self-motivated teenagers will have the strong will and drive to perform a task and finally get to enjoy a sense of achievement.
A. Lend a hand. B. Keep your eyes open for something unusual. C. Be seen, but not to be heard. D. Get to know your neighbors and make friends. E. Volunteer in the local community. F. Keep your own home safe and attractive. |
Tips for being a good neighbor
No one likes a noisy neighbor. Do you hold parties that last all night? Do you leave your dog outside to bark all day? Keep noise to a minimum(最低限度).
It's much easier to solve any problems with neighbors if you have a friendly relationship with them. You may realize that you have things in common with them and make life-long friends.
Once you know your neighbors, you'll know if something seems out of place in the neighborhood. Are strange people carrying expensive things out of your neighbor's house? Have several days passed since your elderly neighbor last collected his newspaper? The benefit of keeping an eye out for unusual behavior in the neighborhood is that others will do the same for you.
Offer to drive an elderly neighbor to the grocery store. Offer to collect mail while a neighbor is on vacation. The more often you lend a helping hand, the more likely that your neighbors will do the same for you when you need help.
Don't just limit your neighborly actions to your block or street. Remember that everyone who lives in a community has the ability to help make it a better place. Think about your passion and find a way to do it on a voluntary basis in your community.
In the Western Jin Dynasty there was a man named Yue Guang. He was generous. One day, he invited a friend of his to have a 1 at his home. When they were drinking, Yue Guang's friend took notice of a small 2 in his own cup. Though uncomfortable, his friend still 3 the wine. As soon as he got home, he was 4 .
Several days later, Yue Guang heard of his friend's illness and the 5 . He thought that there 6 be a snake in the wine cup. So he went back to go over the place in 7 they had the drink and 8 he found the cause: there was a colorful bow on the wall of the hall, and the shadow of the bow happened to throw 9 at the place where his friend had put his wine cup. Yue Guang 10 to his friend's home and told him about this. As soon as his friend came to understand that it was not a snake 11 the reflection of a bow in his cup, he felt 12 terrible at once.
We can learn a lot from the story. First, be open-hearted, do not doubt without 13 . Second, be good at thinking and have the courage to make 14 . Third, don't be 15 by the illusion (错觉) of things.
If you are a teenage boy and want to succeed, you'd better read this great book. From Boys to Men, by American writer named Michael Gurian, tells teenage boys that they are living through the best years of their lives. There is no reason them not to love life.
You may think that only your body is growing at the moment, the book says your mind is growing too. The book tells that you need to help your body and mind to grow. To do this, you should stop spending much time (play) computer games and you should start doing sports. Doing sports, the book says, helps you become (healthy) than before. And they teach you important life (skill). They also teach you how to be a leader and how to work as part of a team.
The book also tells you what to do you're bullied. It says you should stop being afraid of such bullies.
To become a successful man, you must believe in (you). However, the book says, most (important), you must always dream of success. Never be satisfied with what you've got. Real men always manage to get more.
It is such a good book that it (love) by lots of teenage boys. Just have a try and I believe you will get a lot.
Born in the 14th century, Naxi ancient music is one of the world's oldest music types. The Naxi ethnic group(纳西民族) living in Yunnan (创造) it with their own instruments. But today, few people can hear it or even know of it.
"One of my classmates is from the Naxi ethnic group, " LiuYunong told Teens. "When she mentioned the beautiful music that is (很少) played in our life, I thought we could probably do something. " The 15-year-old from Tianjin TEDA No. 1 Middle School is a music lover and guzheng player. She set up a project to make Naxi music more popular (在……中间) the young.
"How to interest young people in a fun way was the most difficult job, " said Liu. "So (举行) the activity of using comic strips was to introduce Naxi music. And it turned out to be (有价值的). " "Many of our schoolmates loved this form and more than 300 people joined in our online activity, where we (讨论) a lot more about the music and it has made them all feel proud of it, " Liu said. "We also planned to invite Xuan Ke, one of the most highly-respected Naxi (音乐家)to give us a speech. But Mr Xuan passed away at 93 in early January. What a (遗憾)! His death made us all realize the importance of protecting (传统的) music, " Liu added.
After the activity, some young people (纪录)videos of themselves playing Naxi music pieces, such as Shan Po Yang(《山坡羊》), on the piano or guzheng. "When we received the videos, we felt everything was worth it, " said Liu.
Hi , Li Ping! How is everything going? I've recently spent a wonderful holiday with my family and traveled a lot. What about you?How did you spend your winter holiday? Did you do anything meaningful? By the way, I know you're busy preparing for the entrance exam(中考)? Do you have a general plan for that?Could you share something with me? I'm looking forward to your reply. John |
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Dear John, Li Ping |