Upcoming Events in California
PAW Patrol
The heroic PAW Patrol dogs need your help in Adventure Bay! Based on the hit preschool series PAW Patrol, this interactive exhibit gives visitors an opportunity to run rescue missions and work together to overcome challenges. The hands-on exhibit is a fun way for the whole family to learn bravery and heroism with exciting stories.
Dates: January 28～May 14
Location: Discovery Cube Los Angeles
Cost: $10
Maya: the Exhibition
The exhibition features over 250 authentic artifacts (真品) highlighting the ancient Maya civilization. Through priceless artifacts and hands-on exhibits, visitors can discover how the ancient Maya built and sustained complex cities in the heart of the rainforest.
Dates: January 15～March 2
Location: California Science Center
Cost: $7
Centennial Farm Discovery Days
Centennial Farm Discovery Days is an unguided tour program and open to all grade levels and ages. During a discovery day, "farmers" are stationed around the farm available to answer questions and provide information. There are also opportunities for children to pet a chick, plant a seed and see a milking demonstration.
Dates: June 1～November 8
Location: Centennial Farm
Cost: $50
It's Magic!
It's Magic! features an all-new cast of award-winning performers from around the globe, ready to leave audiences speechless with excellent stage tricks, comedy and variety acts. "It's the best magic show in town!" cheers the Los Angeles Times.
Date: May 21
Location: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
Cost: $75
When Alex Lin was 11 years old, he read an article about e-waste. The article said that people were dumping (倾倒) their e-waste in places it should never go. This was dangerous, the article said, because e-waste contains poisonous chemicals. These harmful substances can get into crops, animals, water supplies—and people.
"I was really worried," Alex remembers. He showed the article to a few of his classmates. They were worried, too. "What if it's happening here? We could be poisoning the environment and not even know it."
"Maybe we can help," Alex said. They made this their next project. First, they had to find out what the situation was in their town. So they sent out a survey. What they found amazed them: Of the people who answered the survey, only one in eight even knew what e-waste was, let alone how to properly dispose of (处理) it. One man had dug a huge hole in his backyard and dumped about 50 old Mac computers inside it.
Alex and his friends went into action. They advertised in the local newspaper, asking residents to bring their unwanted electronics to the school parking lot. The drive lasted two days, and they collected over 21,000 pounds of e-waste.
The next step was to set up a permanent e-waste drop-off center for the town and to find a company to recycle the waste. That was when Alex and his friends learned another scary fact about e-waste—some recycling companies don't dispose of e-waste safely themselves. Instead, they ship it overseas to countries where local environmental laws are not enforced (施行) and kids their age work at picking apart and burning e-waste with no protection. After a while, these kids get very sick. "We checked carefully online to make sure the company we chose didn't do this," Alex says.
Because of the work of people like Alex and his team, more and more people are getting the message about safe disposal of e-waste.
The Planting Hope Company Inc. has introduced a new kind of sesame (芝麻) milk to the market. The company has termed its new product as the world's most planet-friendly and nutritious plant-based milk.
The milk is produced from sesame seeds, a development that has been made possible by the company. For over five years, Planting Hope has invested in the development of the product, which is now taking the vegan milk market by storm.
"Planting Hope has brought important breakthrough innovation to plant-based milk, opening a whole new category, sesame milk, that unlocks the good nutrition of the extremely sustainable and planet-friendly sesame seed," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and cofounder of Planting Hope. "We're very excited to bring our innovative sesame milk line, in our eye-grabbing, colorful new packaging, to Canadian consumers."
Sesame milk is not the first plant-based milk product in the world. The plant-based milk market is currently worth $38.9 billion globally. According to Data Bridge, plant-based milk's market value is 7.7 times larger than that of plant-based meat.
One of the main factors driving demand for plant-based milk is intolerance to dairy milk (牛奶). Almost 70% of the world's population is intolerant to dairy proteins. Besides the concern about allergic (过敏的) proteins, there is concern about greenhouse pollution. Raising livestock (牲畜) contributes heavily to greenhouse gases like methane and CO2. This has seen more people shifting to plant-based alternatives.
On the other hand, the journey to plant-based milk is not all plain sailing. Some types of plant-based milk such as almond (杏仁) milk have been found to be equally stressful to the planet. Almond farming uses plenty of water and harms bee populations. However, more friendly milk options such as sesame are now popping up.
With rising consumer awareness about climate change, the growth of the sesame milk market is unlikely to desist. In addition, it is important that the globe finds the type of plant-based milk that offers value without serious disadvantages.
For generations, Nafisa Bayniyazova and her family have made a living growing melons, pumpkins and tomatoes on farms around the Aral Sea. Bayniyazova, 50, has spent most of her life near Muynak, in northwestern Uzbekistan, tending the land. Farm life was sometimes difficult but generally reliable and productive.
Now, Bayniyazova and other residents say they're facing a disaster they can't beat: climate change, which is speeding up the decades-long disappearance of the Aral, once the lifeblood for the thousands living around it.
Decades ago, deep blue and filled with fish, the Aral was one of the world's largest inland bodies of water. Thousands of migrants from across Asia and Europe moved to the Aral's shores for jobs popping up everywhere from canning factories to luxury vacation resorts. Today, the few remaining towns sit quiet along the former seabed of the Aral—technically classified as a lake, due to its lack of a direct outlet to the ocean, though residents and officials call it a sea.
Much of its early disappearance is due to human engineering and agricultural projects gone wrong, now paired with climate change. Summers are hotter and longer; winters, shorter and bitterly cold.
Without the moderating influence of a large body of water to regulate the climate, dust storms began to blow through towns. Strong winds caused dunes (沙丘) to swallow entire towns, and abandoned buildings were filled with sand. A dozen fish species went extinct, and businesses closed down. "The fish factories closed, the ships were stuck in the harbor, and the workers all left," said Madi Zhasekenov, former director of the Aral Sea Fisherman Museum in Aralsk, Kazakhstan. "It became only us locals."
On her Uzbekistan farm, Bayniyazova's family has dug an earthen well, hoping to hold on to the precious little water that's left. "If there is no water, it will be very difficult for people to live," Bayniyazova said. "Now people are barely surviving." She doesn't plan to leave her farm but yet knows more hardships are likely ahead.
The pain we feel may be nature's way of telling us it's time to take notice of our inner selves. Should you be facing painful times, we urge you to reach out to get the help and support you need. Maybe you feel you shouldn't expose your pain since you're supposed to be cool and act like you can handle things. Even though you may feel that no one can help you get over your pain, the important thing is to reach out. Here are some positive ways to deal with pain.
● Talking about what hurts is an important first step. Even if you feel that no one can do anything to make the hurt go away, talking to someone you trust can ease the weight of painful feelings.
●Keep a journal. This is a good way to measure your progress in "getting to the other side" of things. That way when you read how you felt about something a week or a month ago, and then read how you feel about it today, you'll see how you are progressing. Should you feel things aren't getting better, that is good information, too. .
●Be extra good to yourself. Especially when life hurts, it's time to take extra good care of yourself. Get enough rest, eat properly, get the exercise your body needs to burn off the tension, listen to soft music, and don't forget those extra hugs for your pet. Be sure to be that for yourself, as well.
●See a professional counselor (咨询师). Seeing a trained professional is an excellent way to work through painful times. Ask your parents or school counselor to help you find one.
A.Try to bear your pain.
B.Don't keep it all inside.
C.Be sure to date each entry.
D.Maybe you believe that no one will understand you.
E.You know what a source of comfort you are to others.
F.It is also a good way to improve your writing skills gradually.
G.It means you may need more outside support than you're getting.
I signed up to volunteer at a local hospital last year. I knew the 1 would look good on my college applications.
On my first day, having been given a tour of the 2 and a tablet with maps and basic information, I was 3 to answer questions that came my way. I sent a few visitors in the wrong direction, but I did my best. It wasn't a big 4 , and my second day there was much the same.
But on the third day, everything 5 . I was in the middle of my 6 when I noticed a wheelchair speeding in my direction. The young boy sitting in it asked, "Who are you? You're in my hospital and I don't even 7 you!"
I introduced myself and 8 that I was new. David's parents told me that he was there for his weekly check-up. David began to tell me about his medical 9 , his favourite football player and other 10 of his life.
After David had gone to his 11 , one of the administrators 12 me and said, "That was 13 . You were a different person when you were talking to him!" "We needed volunteers to work in the children's department. And I think you'd be 14 at it," she added.
This 15 my becoming a regular in the children's department, and also to my decision to study medicine at university and become a paediatrician (儿科医生).
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be held from July 26 to August 11 and the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8.
Phrygian caps (弗里吉亚帽) will be the Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots (吉祥物) in celebration of the French revolution's spirit, which is not only a symbol of revolution, (free) and struggles, but it's an icon (标志) seen over centuries, from the Notre Dame Cathedral to Eiffel Tower. More specifically, it's the red cap famously (wear) by Marianne, the artistic representative of the free French republic. The Phryges (弗里热) aim (show) sport can not only change everything, but it deserves to have a vital place in (we) society as well.
The Phrygian caps were favoured over animals mostly have been the (one) choice in other Olympics for ages—such as the "Bing Dwen Dwen" panda at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The mascot must represent the French spirit. It's a kind of belief that (carry) the values of France and has been built up over time.
The red Phrygian caps come in two versions—the Olympic one and the Paralympic one with a blade (镰刀) leg. When a national spirit is combined the Olympic spirit, the mascots are also being packaged into nearly 10,000 types of products, ranging from toys to clothes, electronics trunks.
The only life that Jeffrey had ever known was on the streets. He has been homeless since his parents fell ill and passed away.
As much as he tried, Jeffrey couldn't find a permanent job when he grew up. He only had a few clothes, blankets and shoes. With no family or friends, he relied on his local shelter and soup kitchen. He would often ask the workers at a local burger (汉堡包) place for their leftovers to survive.
Jeffrey knew many people in the area and would help new tenants (房客) move into their apartments for a bit of money. He desperately wanted to find a job, but he knew he didn't look the part (穿着与工作相宜). One day, as Jeffrey was looking through the garbage can outside the burger shop for food, he noticed a black object near the surface.
He picked it up and realized it was a wallet. Maybe one of the cooks dropped it, he thought. However, when he looked inside, he could recognize the I. D. picture. The wallet belonged to Alan, an old man who stayed a few blocks away.
Alan's cards and cash were still inside the wallet, meaning he'd lost it by mistake. There was also a check for $3,000 inside the wallet. "This is life-changing money. I could get some fresh clothes, maybe rent a small studio apartment and finally get a job," Jeffrey said to himself.
Jeffrey sat down with the wallet in his hands and decided to think about it first. He remembered asking Alan for money a few weeks before. Alan didn't give him money because he would have an operation soon. Jeffrey knew he couldn't live with the guilt of knowing a man would suffer if he took the money for himself. Even though he initially felt that the check may have been a gift, he quickly realized that it was more of a test.
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。
Jeffrey walked a few blocks to Alan's office.
A few weeks later, Jeffrey was outside the burger joint eating some leftover fries.
