2024 "Chinese Bridge" Competition
for Eastern United States Region
To provide a platform for young Chinese language learners in the United States to show their proficiency and talents, ignite (点燃) their interest and enthusiasm, and promote Chinese language education in the U.S., the 2024 "Chinese Bridge" Competition in the Eastern United States Region is officially launched for college students, secondary school students, and elementary school students. This event is organized by the Chinese Consulate General in New York and hosted by China Institute in America. We warmly welcome all eligible (具备条件的) Chinese language learners to apply.
Eligibility
●Applicants must currently enroll in an accredited (官方认可的) school in the United States.
●Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have a native language other than Chinese.
●Applicants must currently reside in the Consular District of the Chinese Consulate General in New York which includes New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island.
●Students who attended the 2023 final "China Bridge" global competition in China are NOT eligible to apply.
Format and Requirements
This year's competition consists of two rounds: the preliminaries (预赛) and finals. Registration is open now for the preliminary round. To enter the competition, applications must submit the following materials.
A Chinese Speech Video (80% of the total score) that:
●is no more than 3 minutes in duration
●is in MP4 format
●is shot clearly
Typical topics include self-introductions, aspects of Chinese culture, or personal stories related to China.
A Chinese Cultural Talent Performance Video (20% of the total score) that:
●is up to 4 minutes
●is in MP4 format
●is shot clearly
Content may include a showcase of Chinese cultural talents, such as dancing, singing, martial arts, calligraphy, paper cutting, or stand-up comedy.
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Deadline for Preliminary Round Entries: 5:00 PM, April 25, 2024
Teachers always do their best within the classroom, but actual learning happens outside those four walls during excursions, says Sherielyn Choi, an English teacher at the all-girls secondary school, Canossa College, in Hong Kong.
"Excursions offer valuable hands-on learning opportunities and help students consolidate (巩固) what they learn at a theoretical level in class," Choi says. "Additionally, every time our students return from their excursions, I observe that they improve socially and emotionally, with better communication and cooperation skills."
She speaks from fresh experience since her students recently took part in the educational tour, "Macau Unlocked: A Journey of Discovery for Students 2023-2024", jointly organised by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and South China Morning Post.
The day trip has been specially designed for young people to help them learn about Macao's rich history, vibrant (充满活力的) culture and sustainable practices.
Jayde e Lai, a Year 11 student at Canossa College, says, "I'd never been to Macao before the tour, so as a newcomer, I felt that the tour did a good job of compacting (压缩) Macao's 400-year history into a day's event. I definitely learned a lot of fun facts, history and culture of Macao."
The tour was led by experienced MGTO tour guides, who are knowledgeable about Macao's history and culture. Students taking part in the tour went to many historic sites that are not often visited, including the Old City Walls, Natacha Temple, the Ruins of St. Paul's, Macao Museum and Mount Fortress.
Lai says she was most fascinated to learn about some of Macao's sustainable practices. "Besides the exhibits in the Macao Tea Culture House, we also learned how tea leaf residues (残渣) are recycled to produce items such as cups and even furniture," she says. "We were asked to smell these products, and they really do smell like tea!"
Choi feels it is great that her students had the opportunity to go on such an interesting tour. "They were talking excitedly about the activities they did and I think it really helped to arouse their curiosity," she says. "Excursions are truly necessary for students to become well-rounded individuals."
Over the past few years, libraries and archives (档案馆) across the world have worked to digitize their resources. Many have been investing heavily in expanding digital collections for their records. A recent attack on the British Library (BL) has raised some questions about it.
On Oct. 28, 2023, the British Library's website was hacked, making it nonfunctional for several weeks. The library didn't restore its home page until Dec. 19, and it was a month before its basic catalogue was searchable again. The bulk (主体) of the library's online resources will take much longer to restore, leaving students and scholars with research plans across the world in trouble.
Digitization has been a powerful weapon in the battle against both intentional destruction and the neglect of records. It helped scholars preserve the records while also allowing understaffed libraries to preserve materials suffering from the degradation (毁坏) of neglect. It enables users to access records from all over the world, helping them overcome the barriers of geography and the costs of travel. Digitization can help us hold ourselves to account for the past.
The hack at the British Library, however, exposes the vulnerabilities (易受打击) of digitization. It forces us to ask: what happens to our records if a cyberattack severs us from our digital records? Since the BL has physical (if somewhat outdated) catalogues, restoring access for scholars won't be a mission impossible. But it is still extremely expensive. So what happens if digitized collections in other countries are attacked in the same way? As with the BL, it could prevent our access to physical records by destroying digital catalogues and reference material. That means even though the original physical records may still exist, we may struggle to access or use them effectively. And repairing the damage could require resources that the institutions in question might not have.
Digitization has been a transformative tool for scholars and a valuable shield against the dangers that threaten paper-based historical records. But it's time to consider the vulnerabilities of digital repositories as well. Fires, theft, and physical neglect are no longer the only major threats archives face: now we must also add ransomware (勒索软件) to the list.
You see a woman on the street who looks familiar — but you can't remember how you know her. Your brain cannot attach any previous experiences to this person. Hours later, you suddenly recall the party at a friend's house where you met her, and you realize who she is.
In a new study in mice, researchers have discovered the place in the brain that is responsible for both types of familiarity — vague (模糊的) recognition and complete recollection. Both, moreover, are represented by two distinct neural (神经系统的) codes.
The brain's signature for strangers turns out to be simpler than the one used for old friends — which makes sense, says study co-author Steven Siegelbaum, given the vastly different memory requirements for the two relationships. "Where you were, what you were doing, when you were doing it, who else was there — the memory of a familiar individual is a much richer memory," Siegelbaum says. "If you're meeting a stranger, there's nothing to recollect."
The action occurs in a small sliver (小块) of a brain region called the hippocampus, known for its importance in forming memories. The sliver in question, known as CA2, seems to specialize in a certain kind of memory used to recall relationships. "The new work really emphasizes the importance of this brain area to social processing, at least in mice," says Serena Dudek, a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, who was not involved in the study.
CA2 is unlikely to act alone in this process because it connects to other brain regions that also play roles in social learning, memory and behavior, Dudek says. But if the findings in mice apply to humans, the work could help researchers uncover the roots of social difficulties in people.
From there, researchers might find ways to improve social memory. "How many different disorders of memory are there?" Siegelbaum says. "Do they all involve the same type of changes in neural processing, or are there more specific changes that are associated with different forms of disease?" Having a better way to classify these changes may lead to more targeted treatments, he adds.
Biodiversity doesn't only revolve around species we consider rare and threatened but around every living being.Here are some ways to protect biodiversity in your backyard garden.
Pesticides are known to be poisonous to humans, animals, and the Earth. Thus, to protect biodiversity in your yard, avoid using harmful and poisonous chemicals.These organic fertilizers provide the necessary nutrients needed for plant growth without harming the Earth. Prevention is the best way to discourage and deal with pests and diseases. Check your plants regularly for unwanted visitors.
Another way to protect biodiversity in your garden is to create various habitats. To do so, you can choose to plant fruit trees or berry bushes and add a bird feeder or other open water sources. Perennials (多年生植物) can provide shelter for some species..
Plants grow better in their native habitats, where climate and soil are perfect for their development and growth. Plants also form symbiotic (共生的) relationships with other native plants that help them spread their seeds and discourage pests and diseases.Easier to build such relationships, native plants require fewer resources to grow healthily compared to non-native plants.
Plants that aren't native to your area can be invasive (侵入性的), take over your garden, and threaten the growth and survival of native plants. Their removal provides space for native plants to develop. These plants are part of the local ecosystem in your garden and provide habitat for other animals.
A. Instead, turn to natural pest control and natural fertilizers.
B. Insects aren't the only reason for the great damage to your plants.
C. Creating a flowering wall is a good way to beautify your backyard.
D. Relationships like this help native plants defend themselves naturally.
E. Balanced biodiversity in your yard positively impacts the environment.
F. Removing invasive and non-native plants leaves more space for other plants.
G. Even a dead tree can also serve as a habitat for insects, birds, and other animals.
My family appeared perfect from the outside. But inside, we were overwhelmed by constant 1 .
This particular fight started just like the others. I packed my bag for an overnight team-building event at my school club. I did everything to stall (拖延) to 2 my parents and a potential fight. However, I walked down the stairs only to find they were staring up at me.
My mother's brow wrinkled (皱起) with 3 ."You never tell me where you are going or when you will be home!" she yelled, staring at me coolly.
I pretended not to hear and left. That night I 4 myself in self-pity, unwilling to talk.
The next morning, my 5 handed me an envelope with my name on it. She explained she had asked everyone's parents to write a letter to their child before the team-building event. I walked to an empty classroom to open it 6 .
In the letter, I 7 the deep love from my parents. Their honesty made me 8 our relationship in the past sixteen years, the role I played in the arguments and our 9 of communication. In reality, everyone 10 . And it was time for all of us to make a change.
My family was 11 when I returned home. My parents and I had a newfound respect for each other. We still have disagreements 12 , but there are no more 13 stares. Even though we cannot change the past, each day we slowly learn how to 14 as a family, ensuring that another sixteen years won't be 15 as well.
Serving as more than just fabric, the traditional Chinese hanfu has a history of nearly4,000 years. In recent times, there has been a resurgence (复苏) of interest in hanfu in China and the United States, as more people (draw) to wearing it.
Rachel Yu, from Boston, said that her (introduce) to hanfu came unexpectedly one day when she was browsing (浏览) art documentaries online. It was a chance encounter with a hanfu video that caught her attention. Yu developed her interest in hanfu after marrying her Chinese husband, gifted his wife her first set of hanfu and introduced her to more knowledge about the traditional clothing. She always asks questions, (express) fascination whenever encountering hanfu online or seeing people wearing different kinds of attire (服装).
Yu said that she had tried to learn some knowledge about hanfu, the research process was very hard for her as a foreigner. She searched online for specific questions and usually found answers through blog (post). Yu is now learning Chinese to know more about the traditional clothing from a (distance) country.
To encourage herself to learn Chinese, Yu opened accounts on online platforms (record) the process. To her surprise, she has gained as many as 53,000 followers who are interested in the Western girl. (additional), these followers were also learning English content about hanfu.
Yu is not only a student but also an ambassador who is a bridge Chinese hanfu culture and international fans around the world.
Truman's parents were scientists, and he also wanted to be a scientist, so he was determined to be at the top of science subject. With only one week and one assignment to go before the summer holiday, Truman knew that to secure the top spot, his final report had to shine.
The topic was beehives (蜂巢), a subject that Mrs. Lawrence, his teacher, had emphasized the need for a unique perspective to earn an A+.
Truman opened the door to find his four-year-old brother, Bryan, who sat on the floor in the living room with paper tubes all over the floor.
Bryan called, "Truman, help me build a city!"
With a sigh, Truman replied, "I'm sorry, Bryan, but I have to write a report about beehives." Stepping carefully between the scattered tubes, he went into his room, deep in thought about his project.
Shortly after, Bryan appeared at the door, his eyes sparkling (发亮)."Truman, I know where there's a beehive," he said.
Truman followed Bryan to the garage where they found a real beehive hidden among the firewood. Bending down, he removed the beehive from the wood. As Truman examined it closely, he was fascinated by the hexagonal (六边形的) structure of each cell. "Why the hexagon?" he thought.
After dinner, Truman did the dishes. He glanced at the clock. If he didn't think of something soon, his chance to get an A+ would be slim.
As Truman turned around, he stepped on something. He hadn't seen Bryan play with paper tubes behind him.
"Get your tubes out of here, Bryan!" Truman said angrily.
Bryan ran into the living room, crying.
Truman sighed and gathered the paper tubes. Suddenly, he found that they were arranged with one in the middle and surrounded by six others. They reminded Truman of the beehive. The center tube formed a hexagon, just like the cells of the hive. Truman tried to use different numbers of tubes to surround the center tube, and then Truman got the new angle. But what else did he need to accompany his report? Maybe a model beehive!
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。
Thinking about this, Truman rushed into the living room, his heart pounding.
……
Bryan smiled and began picking out his tubes.
