Grandma is ninety this Christmas. I remember once visiting her, crying when my big sister told me "There is no Santa Claus!", because I knew she always told the 1 .
"No Santa Claus?" she snorted (哼着说). "Ridiculous! Don't 2 it. That rumor has been going around for years. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.
"Where" 3 to be Kerby's General Store. As we walked in, Grandma handed me twenty dollars. "Take the money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you outdoors."
I was only eight years old, and had never 4 for anything alone. For a few moments I just stood there, 5 , wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.
Suddenly I 6 Bobbie, a kid sitting behind me in the classroom. He didn't have a coat; he never 7 during the winter. I held the bill excitedly. I would buy Bobbie a coat. I saw a red one with a hat to it. It looked really 8 . He would like that.
That 9 , Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it. Then she drove me to Bobbie's house. Grandma 10 down the street, and we hid in the bushes by his front walkway. Then Grandma pushed me 11 . "All right, Santa Claus, get going!" she whispered.
I took a deep breath dashed for his front door, 12 the present down, rang his doorbell and flew back. Together we waited 13 in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.
Forty years haven't 14 the excitement of those moments. That night, I realized those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said: they were 15 . Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
Editor's note: An increasing number of Chinese people especially the young, are more willing to celebrate Western festivals. Should we celebrate foreign festivals? Forum readers share their opinions. You're welcome to add yours.
Dinah (China)
I enjoy the happy atmosphere of both Chinese and Western festivals. As long as it is meaningful for me, I will celebrate it with my boyfriend, and my parents! I like Western festivals and often celebrate them without even knowing the origins of them. Why? Because what I really appreciate is just the happy atmosphere.
SharkMinnow (Canada)
Western Festivals are more like parties or games for some Chinese. Also, spending money = good for economy. Most Chinese don't take Western festivals as seriously as their own. It's like a game or party in my eyes. A way to blow off steam and have fun (and spend money).
Travis (UK)
As an Englishman teaching here in China for two years, my friends have got used to and enjoy celebrating my festivals. My school also likes it as well, although this year they asked me not to scare the teachers so much on Halloween. My Chinese friends enjoy taking part in my festivals, as they also learn more about my culture, and the history that goes with it…
Leesinchina (US)
Cherish your own festivals. It would be a pity if the Chinese accepted these Western days — first, because they have absolutely nothing to do with traditional Chinese culture. Second, they are a big trick by the big stores to get more money out of you. Stick to your own festivals — they actually mean something to you — rather than following western customs for no good reason.
Every morning at 5 am when most people are asleep, a figure would be busy in the kitchen, cooking meals until the rest of the volunteers arrive. Day in and day out, Mr Tay and his team prepare, cook, pack and deliver the food to various parts of the island.
His journey started when one of his neighbors, Lisa, asked him to collect vegetables and give them away at Bukit Ho Swee, a poor and less-privileged neighbourhood, and thus, he continued to do so for a period of time. During one of these visits, his wife noticed that the elderly folk did not take the vegetables. Asked why, one replied that she could not cook, so she only ate the rice delivered to her. Mrs Tay then offered to cook for her, and that single meal sparked Willing Hearts, which has since served about 650,000 meals.
The soup kitchen sees many volunteers, some of whom are new, while others have been around since the organisation's early days. They learn how to cook, interact with people from all walks of life, pick up different languages, gain greater knowledge about social issues, and most importantly, they will form a strong tie with one another. Through Willing Hearts, Mr Tay hopes to make "the country's backyard" known to the younger generation, to allow them to see and experience firsthand what goes on behind closed doors.
As a non-profit organisation, Willing Hearts depends heavily on donations and food collections. However, this does not faze Mr Tay. He believes that you have to let things flow in gradually, and not be stopped by concerns which create an unnecessary amount of stress. He calls the volunteers of Willing Hearts the organisation's eyes and ears, as they are always on the lookout for the poor to lend a hand.
U. S. teens spend more than eight hours a day on screens, and there's growing concern over it. Now, a new study published by the American Psychological (心理的) Association, confirms that teens seem to feel better about themselves when they cut back.
"Social media can feel like a comparison trap (陷阱)," says study author Helen Thai, a doctoral student in psychology at McGill University. Her research found that limiting screen time to about one hour a day helped anxious teens and young adults feel better about their body image and their appearance. "What I noticed in social media was that I couldn't help but compare myself." Thai says. Reading posts from famous people and influencers, as well as people in her own social network, led to a lack of self-confidence.
So, Thai and a team of researchers decided to test whether reducing time on social media would improve body image. They gathered a few hundred volunteers, aged 17-25. all of whom had experienced symptoms (症状) of anxiety or depression — which could make them easily influenced by social media. Half of the volunteers were asked to reduce their social media to 60 minutes a day for three weeks. The other half continued to use social media with no limits.
The researchers gave the volunteers surveys at the beginning and end of the study, including statements such as "I'm pretty happy about the way I look," and "I am satisfied with my weight." Among the group that cut social media use, the overall score on appearance improved from 2.95 to 3.15 on a 5-point scale. The change may seem small, but any change in such a short period of time is worth noticing.
"It's encouraging that college students were willing to cut back screen time, even for three weeks," psychologist Andrea Graham says. While this study included people with symptoms of anxiety or depression, Graham says it's worth applying this approach to other groups, such as people with eating problems.
Many people have participated into lots of virtual meetings these years. Some research shows this adjustment might not impact workplace productivity to any great degree. A new study, though, suggests otherwise.
In the study, 602 participants were randomly paired and asked to come up with creative uses for a product. They were also randomly selected to work together either in person or virtually. The pairs were then ranked by assessing their total number of ideas, as well as those concepts' degree of novelty, and asked to submit their best idea. Among the groups, virtual pairs came up with significantly fewer ideas, suggesting that something about face-to-face interaction generates more creative ideas. The findings could stiffen employers' resolve to urge or require their employees to come back to the office.
"We ran this experiment based on feedback from companies that it was harder to innovate with remote workers," said lead researcher Melanie Brucks. "Unlike other forms of virtual communication, like phone calls or e-mail, videoconferencing copies the in-person experience quite well, so I was surprised when we found meaningful differences between in-person and video interaction for idea generation. "
When random objects were placed in both the virtual and physical rooms, the virtual pairs of participants spent more time looking directly at each other rather than letting their look wander about the room and taking in the entire scene. Eyeing one's whole environment and noticing the random objects were associated with increased idea generation. On platforms, the screen occupies our interactions. Our look wavers less. "Looking away might come across as rude, " said Brucks,"so we have to look at the screen because that is the defined context of the interaction, the same way we wouldn't walk to another room while talking to someone in person. "
Like most educators, Brucks has primarily taught virtually in the past three years, and she did notice some benefits of the approach as well. Her students were more likely to take turns speaking and her shyer students spoke up more often, rid of the anxiety that comes from addressing a large classroom. Brucks found that one solution to improving virtual idea generation might be to simply turn off the camera, for her students felt "freer" and more creative when asked to do so. And this may be sound advice for the workplace.
Virtual teamwork can't replace face-to-face teamwork. Idea selection proficiency (能力) is only valuable if you have strong options to select from, and face-to-face teams are the best means to generate winning options. Perhaps the workplace will find a compromise—a sweet spot in the middle that balances working from both home and office.
You listen to music every day. Some music hits your hearts. Some music makes you full of joy. In order to analyse functions of music, let's see the benefits it brings.
Music makes you express your emotion.
. This way your brain conveys the thoughts without speaking a word. When we try to express some sad emotion, you will use soft and deep music.
.
Music is an extremely unique way to develop the capability of memorising. The best example to prove this sentence is that you can easily learn something in the form of songs. The reason behind learning a song quickly is that your mind enjoys music.Whatever your minds enjoy, it keeps it.
Music makes youcreative.
Music is key to creativity. It helps you in improving your mind by making it more artistic. No matter what the great invention is, it requires art. Creativity is fulfilled by music. .
Music improves your fine reasoning skills.
During a study of children, it was shown that if children are exposed to three or more years of musical training, these same kids performed better. . They had better listening and speaking skills than those who had none. The children even tested better for vocabulary and reasoning skills.
A. This was the result
B. Music is an art of beauty
C. Some music makes you tearful
D. Music makes you live a better life
E. Music makes learning more pleasant
F. You should choose some kind of music with powerful beats
G. You usually play the music that reflects your thoughts or your emotions
The Chinese couplet (对联) refers to two poetic lines obeying certain rules, often written on red paper for (appreciate).
As a form of Chinese literature, the couplet (vary) in content and style. Some express people's love to their motherland, some describe the beauty of nature, some convey best wishes for the coming year.
Chinese couplets (originate) in the Five Dynasties, and became widespread in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was a custom for people (hang) peach wood charms to drive away evil spirits during the Spring Festival. Nowadays, couplets are used a similar way.
It was said that the (early) couplet was written by Meng Xu, king of Houshu State and it was (extreme) popular in the Northern Song Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty, to write couplets (regard) as a mark of the cultured life of scholars.
The couplet has two equal-length lines. However, number of characters in each line can be from four to seven or more. The first and the second lines have opposite tone patterns. The last character of the first line is of an oblique tone (仄声), and its opposite in the second line, of a level tone (平声).
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1. 活动概况；
2. 活动内容和反响；
3. 邀请Mike参加下一届活动。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
