The Self-Portrait Challenge
Have you ever done a self-portrait in an art lesson at school? Today, we're challenging you to write self-portrait poems. It's not uncommon to feel like the way people see you on the outside doesn't quite match up with how you feel on the inside. So creating a self-portrait can be a good opportunity to address those differences and present the realest, truest version of yourself.
Your challenge is to create a self-portrait in lines, using words instead of paint. Read on for some more inspiration.
Writing Tips
• Have a go at writing a list of metaphors exploring your physical appearance, starting from your head and working your way down towards your feet.
• Instead of representing yourself directly, take on another character, such as a fictional character, a historical figure, or even a different version of yourself.
• Play around with personification, by taking on the voice of a physical object in your poem. Think about what a self-portrait from the point of view of a mirror, or a bowl of your favourite food would look like?
How to enter
This challenge is for writers aged up to 25 based anywhere in the world. The deadline is 23: 59 GMT, 17 March 2024. You can send a poem, or poems, written down, or as video or audio files. We are using Submittable to accept submissions to this challenge. You will need to make a free Submittable account to submit in this way. Using Submittable helps our team to administrate and process entries more quickly. Selected poets will be published on Young Poets Network.
Late one night in July 2020 in Reykjavik, Haraldur Thorleifsson was wandering around the city's main shopping street with his wife and two kids. During their walk, his three-year- old son was thirsty and wanted a drink from the corner store. But Thorleifsson soon discovered he couldn't help with the simple request: A 20-centimetre step blocked his access to the store.
The barrier was all too familiar. Born with muscular dystrophy, which causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle, Thorleifsson, now 46, has been using a wheelchair since he was 25. As he waited outside, he recalled, "I thought about how strange it is that we separate families in this way. I thought about all the times I wasn't able to join my friends at restaurants, pubs and stores that are inaccessible.
Living all over the world as a creative director and digital designer in cities such as San Francisco and Tokyo, Thorleifsson had witnessed first-hand how different cities consider and plan for accessibility, from ramps （斜坡） and sidewalks to public transportation.
Having recently sold his digital creative agency, Ueno, to Twitter, Thorleifsson now had the financial means to make a difference in his hometown. He decided to start with a project to make Iceland wheelchair accessible, one ramp at a time.
Ramp Up Reykjavik was launched as a non-profit in 2021 with a goal to build 100 ramps, mostly in the city's down-town, within a year. Unlike portable and temporary solutions in other cities, these ramps are permanent structures that match the aesthetic of the buildings, making them appear as if they've always been there. It's a design detail that helps provide a sense of inclusivity.
With the help of government funding and other sponsors, the Ramp Up team finished ahead of schedule and has broadened its scope to all of Iceland, with the goal of building 1, 500 ramps countrywide by 2026.
We've all done it before-dropped a box of unwanted household belongings at a flea market and driven off with a sense of accomplishment. But have you ever stopped to think about where those items actually go?
Business journalist Adam Minter began considering this while cleaning out his late mother's home. Seeking reassurance that his mother's donated items would be put to good use rather than destroyed, he started a journey worldwide that resulted in his latest book, "Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale". He found the industry significantly in the dark, with a disturbing lack of data on secondhand goods, despite their crucial role in clothing, furnishing and educating people worldwide.
In this book, Minter fully reveals himself as an investigative journalist. He doesn't shy away from the commonly-accepted assumptions about the global trade in used goods. First, Minter questions the idea that shipments of secondhand clothes from developed countries to Africa have destroyed local textile industries （纺织业）. That's overly simplistic, he says. He further explains that multiple factors, such as declining cotton production in local areas and economic liberation, have influenced the situation.
Minter then explores the topic of car seats, making a statement that recycling car seats, instead of selling them secondhand, is wasteful and might compromise （危害） safety for children in developing countries. It is disturbing to say so in a society that prioritizes child safety and highlights zero risk, but when you consider the excessive caution that might endanger children's lives elsewhere, the situation starts to look different.
Minter calls it "waste colonialism," this idea that developed countries can apply their own safety standards onto the markets of developing countries-and it's deeply wrong. Why label an used car seat or an old TV as unsafe if someone else, with different skills, is perfectly capable of repairing it and willing to use it, especially if they lack access to new products and other options?
The book explores the huge problems of handling surplus （剩余的） items and how producers discourage repairs and promote the sales of new products. Minter calls for initiatives to enhance product repairability and increase product lifetime.
Nir Eyal was part of a team of Stanford MBAs and also one of the brightest investors in Silicon Valley. He documented his experiences, reading and observations of hundreds of companies to know how mind manipulation （操纵） worked—how products change our actions, and create desires. The result of his research is the Hook Model.
A trigger is the actuator of behavior. Triggers come in two types: external and internal. Habit-forming products start by alerting users with external triggers like an email, a website link, or the app icon. For example, suppose Barbra, a young woman in Pennsylvania, happens to see a photo in her Facebook taken by a family member from a rural part of the state. It's a lovely picture and since she is planning a trip there, the external trigger's call-to- action intrigues her and she clicks. By cycling through successive hooks, users begin to form associations with internal triggers, which attach to existing behaviors and emotions.
The simple action takes Barbra to a website called Pinterest, a "pinboard-style photo sharing" site where she is dazzled by other fascinating objects related to what she is generally interested in-namely things to see on her upcoming trip.
Variable rewards are one of the most powerful tools companies implement to hook users. Research shows that levels of the dopamine （多巴胺） rise when the brain is expecting a reward. Wanting rewards creates a focused state, which suppresses the areas of the brain associated with judgement and reason while activating the parts associated with wanting and desire.
When Barbra lands on Pinterest, she's spending more time hunting for the next wonderful thing. Before she knows it, she enjoys endlessly scrolling Pinterest, and she builds a desire to keep the things that delight her. By collecting items, she'll be giving the site data about her preferences. Soon she will follow and make other investments, which serve to increase her ties to the site and prepare her for future loops through the hook.
Standing on a hill at Cliveden Gardens on a sunny winter day, its dark-green lake surrounded by centuries-old trees took my breath away It's just a local park near London that I'd never heard of during my eight years living in the UK. As I admired the serene garden, it taught me a lesson about the British culture of understatement.
"The English landscape is more beautiful because its beauty is understated, "my friend Will said to me later as we walked through an exhibition at Tate Britain. He pointed to a painting of a peaceful countryside. "This is the landscape I grew up with", he said. Unlike grand waterfalls or wild forests, this scenery doesn't shout about its beauty. .
I wonder if Chinese tourists will explore beyond London. Indeed, Oxford and Cambridge and the beloved Lake District National Park are some iconic symbols of Britain. But it would be a pity if they miss out on the lesser-known parts of the English landscape.
. I remember a straight-A classmate once telling me he "survived exams" and another friend from Oxford introducing himself as "studying in the countryside". This modesty also has its mirror in Chinese culture. I remember my parents' telling me to work hard but not to brag about my achievements. Chinese culture is full of proverbs such as "real gold will shine sooner or later", to encourage long-term dedication to one's chosen area of expertise.
Experiencing both cultures, I've realized that the English and Chinese both express achievements with understatement. It reflects the unspoken charm in both British and Chinese traditions. And it's an off-the-beaten-path attraction well worth exploration.
A. Cliveden isn't a famous holiday place.
B. Rather, its beauty is reserved for the locals only.
C. I've been impressed by British humor all the time.
D. They tend to prefer places with a strong reputation.
E. But the more I looked, the more I saw its quiet elegance.
F. Over the years, I've become familiar with British modesty.
G. This mix makes me appreciate the unusual beauty of Cliveden.
The rural girl from India, Anjali, was born blind. However, she has always been determined to live a full and 1 life.
Although poor, her parents 2 to send her to a local blind school, where she could learn to read and write in Braille. At first, Anjali was scared and 3 . She didn't know anyone, and she felt like she didn't belong here. 4 , she met her teacher, MrsGupta, a kind and patient woman, who often encouraged Anjali to 5 her dreams. With Mrs. Gupta's help, she quickly 6 in her studies and made many new friends. Additionally, she participated in extracurricular activities, such as drama and music.
One day, Anjali was 7 to audition for a role in a school play. She was nervous, but she practiced her 8 for hours a day, and she finally felt ready to audition. At the audition, Anjali gave a powerful 9 . She delivered her lines with confidence and emotion so she 10 the attention of the entire audience. Finally, she was 11 the lead role in the play.
The play was a success, and Anjali became a star. After the play, Anjali was invited to speak at a local conference on 12 . She spoke about her experiences as a blind girl and inspired others to never give up on their dreams. She finally found her 13 , and she was ready to share it with the world.
Anjali is now an actress and a 14 speaker. She travels the world, sharing her story with others. She is a shining example of the power of 15 and perseverance.
The cheongsam is a female dress with distinctive Chinese features and enjoys growing （popular）in the international world of high fashion. The name "cheongsam" （mean）simply "long dress" entered the English vocabulary from the dialect of China's Guangdong Province. In other parts of the country including Beijing, however, it （know）as "qipao", which has a history behind it.
After the early Manchu（满族的） rulers came to China, the Manchu women wore （normal） a one-piece dress which came to be called "qipao". the 1911 Revolution ended the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the female dress survived the political change and, with later improvements, has become the traditional dress for Chinese women.
The cheongsam neck is high, collar closed, fits well the Chinese female figure, and its sleeves may be short, medium or full （long）, depending on seasons or tastes. In addition, it is not too complicated （make）. Nor it need too much material. Another beauty of the cheongsam is that it can be worn either on casual or formal occasions. In either case, it creates an （impress）of simple and quiet charm, elegance and neatness.
1. 活动感受；
2. 改进建议。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Philip found himself at a crossroads. Although Mrs. Ford, his head teacher, appreciated his stories, the label of "nerd"（智障者） from his classmates cast a shadow over his passion for writing. Discouraged and feeling that his writing served no purpose in the eyes of others, he thought about giving it up.
One day, during recess （课间）， as Philip was absentmindedly taking down some random events of the day, he heard an anxious voice calling out for help. He put down his pen, glanced out of the window, and saw a gathering of people near the playground fence. With concern, he walked over and joined the crowd.
In the centre of the crowd was Robin, a sporty boy in the class, who was injured on the knee and bleeding heavily. Robin was playing kickball when the ball unexpectedly shot over the playground fence, landing in the old park next to the school. As he ran to get the ball, he tripped over the overgrown weeds, his left knee crashing into a broken bench. Robin's face paled, perhaps from both pain of the bleeding knee and his panic. Concerned classmates surrounded him, and Mrs. Ford hurried to the scene, providing some initial care before sending him to see the doctor.
Amidst the lively discussion of the crowd, Philip absorbed the information that the park had been abandoned for ages. Turning his attention to the park, he was astonished at its awful state. Overrun with weeds, broken benches, rusty sports facilities, and scattered rubbish, the park was practically a dangerous place for students.
Philip was probably a nerd when involved in reading or writing, but he was never ignorant of the world around him. He felt a strong desire to do something, and the only way he could think of was to pick up his pen.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
The next day witnessed Philip getting down to work.
As the article spread, offers of help poured in.
