Automation has pioneered innovation, your phone is probably in your pocket or your hands at all times, and it's easier now, more than ever, to communicate with anyone in the world. Technology is everywhere these days. What are your thoughts on technology, social media, or your phone? Do you feel excited every time you get a message, or do you feel trapped by these digital chains?
However you feel, we want you to represent technology in artwork — paintings, cutout (剪贴), digital art, photography, etc. You may even see your art work in future issues of our magazine, so keep your eyes wide open!
Deadline: June 21, 2024.
Rules:
·You must be a teen (aged 13 — 19) with our website account to enter.
·No inappropriate content.
·Submissions must focus on the topic: Technology.
Guidelines and Details:
·Your entry must be art work created by yourself for the first time.
·There is no limitation on the number of art work you can submit.
How to Submit:
·Submit entries through our website. All entries submitted to us are automatically considered for the contest. See our submission guidelines for more information.
·Submit your work to the appropriate art category. Include "technology" in your submission's labels. You can do this by using the "additional labels" field in your submission form.
Prizes:
·The winner and the nominees (被提名者) will have their entries published in our magazine.
·The overall winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card and also three months' free access to our magazine.
At the end of 2019,I learned that Here After AI, whose goal is to let the living communicate with the dead, was looking for applicants of its new AI project. Interested in what it was promising, I applied to experiment the software on my very-much-alive parents.
At first, I thought it would be just a fun project to see what was technologically possible. Then their health condition added some urgency to the experiment. I was frightened that my parents might die since my father had been diagnosed with cancer and my mother was recently developing symptoms of early Alzheimer's disease, and that with the distance between us, I might never have the chance to say goodbye.
The first step was an interview. My parents were asked questions by a techician for hours-about everything from their earliest memories to what they believe will happen after they die. Whether through illness-generated concerns or a willingness to humor their daughter, my parents put up zero resistance. The company then took their responses and started to create the voice assistants. A few months later, my virtual parents arrived via email attachment.
When I communicated with them through the app on my phone, my hands were shaking. I hadn't seen my actual, real parents for six months. They told me personal stories I'd never heard. They gave me life advice and told me things about their childhoods, as well as my own. It was mesmerizing.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about my experiment. I'm glad to have my virtual parents. They've enabled me to learn new things about my parents, and it's comforting to think that those softwares will be there even when my parents aren't. On the other hand, I can't help but find it sad that it took a stranger interviewing my parents for me to properly appreciate the complex people they are. But I feel lucky to have had the chance to grasp that-and to still have the precious opportunity to spend more time with them and learn more about them, face to face, no technology involved.
We all know fresh is best when it comes to food. However, most produce at the store went through weeks of travel and covered hundreds of miles before reaching the table. While farmer's markets are a solid choice to reduce the journey, Babylon Micro-Farm（BMF）shortens it even more.
BMF is an indoor garden system. It can be set up for a family. Additionally, it could serve a larger audience such as a hospital, restaurant or school. The innovative design requires little effort to achieve a reliable weekly supply of fresh greens.
Specifically, it's a farm that relies on new technology. By connecting through the Cloud, BMF is remotely monitored. Also, there is a convenient app that provides growing data in real time. Because the system is automated, it significantly reduces the amount of water needed to grow plants. Rather than watering rows of soil, the system provides just the right amount to each plant. After harvest, users simply replace the plants with a new pre-seeded pod（容器）to get the next growth cycle started.
Moreover, having a system in the same building where it's eaten means zero emissions（排放）from transporting plants from soil to salad. In addition, there's no need for pesticides and other chemicals that pollute traditional farms and the surrounding environment.
BMF employees live out sustainability in their everyday lives. About half of them walk or bike to work. Inside the office, they encourage recycling and waste reduction by limiting garbage cans and avoiding single-use plastic. "We are passionate about reducing waste, carbon and chemicals in our environment," said a BMF employee.
As humans, we might believe that we are the smartest and perhaps the only creatures in the world capable of having feelings and subjective experience, but is this really the case? A new study finds that bumblebees (大黄蜂) like to play. They like to roll around small wooden balls with no apparent motivation — it likely makes them feel good.
Previous evidence suggests that bees have positive and negative emotion-like states usually when they are given food rewards to test their abilities. However, in an experiment of the new study, some researchers had trained bumblebees to roll balls into a target in exchange for a sweet treat. They noticed that sometimes bumblebees would roll the balls outside of the experiment area for no reward.
This observation gave rise to new questions: What are they doing? Why? Is this random or intentional?
To answer these questions, the researchers set up more experiments. In the latest experiment, they watched 45 bumblebees in an enclosed area where they could walk through a clear path to reach a feeding area, or they could go off the path into areas with wooden balls. They found the bumblebees went out of their way to sit on the balls or push them. Each rolled the balls between one and 117 times during the experiment.
The researchers say that because they did it repeatedly with no food payoff, it suggests that the ball rolling was rewarding.
"The behavior was voluntary," says study first-author Samadi Galpayage. "Bees have a reputation for being hard workers, but the prospect of bees engaging in something like play is really novel and exciting because it shows that bees may experience pleasure and don't only carry out duties that are strictly essential for immediate survival."
Galpayage adds, "Personally, I find this behavior fascinating because it tells us that bumblebees, like many other animals, are more than little robotic beings, but have a richer behavior and life than we would have previously thought."
The voice within can be your inside guidance system toward development and optimism. But sometimes, that inner dialogue also presents a critical voice that points out shortcomings, limits and concerns. .
●Identify negative thoughts. So you must first learn how to identify these thoughts to break the bad cycle of negative thought patterns. It is important for you to write down any negative thought that may be coming to your mind. You may replace negative thoughts with healthy ones as you begin to change your way of thinking.
● If you want to live a happy and fulfilling life, it's vital to surround yourself with people who want to see you do good and support your highest self. Spend a lot of time together with friends who express healthy thoughts and a positive mindset, and then your own thought pattern can be positively influenced.
●Shift your mindset toward growth. A growth mindset is a belief that your talents will develop over time. A person with a growth mindset tends to be less likely to suffer mental health problems than someone with a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset tend to become stuck in their ways, with repetitive thoughts circling around their heads. It can guide them toward happiness and success.
●Choose to respond rather than react. Often, when people feel touched, they react without thinking. However, by choosing to respond mindfully rather than react, you are controlling your thoughts in a healthy way. So next time you notice a powerful thought coming up, take a moment to reflect before reacting.
A. Choose your friend circle wisely.
B. Spend much time with all kinds of friends.
C. Here are some ways to train your inner voice.
D. It is easy to change your way of thinking and mindset.
E. This usually ends with saying something they may regret.
F. People who lack confidence can allow negative thoughts to guide them.
G. However, those who develop a growth mindset often express determination.
When I suggested my 13-year-old try tennis, she quickly turned me down. "I'm not 1 , so stop trying to get me to do sports," Julianna said. I suggested it because some of my recent happiest memories were of playing ping-pong with her. Tennis seemed like a natural progression from ping-pong and a great way to2 some of her growing teen worries on a larger playing field. But my suggestion was always met with 3 .
Still, I was undiscouraged. I was convinced that 4 some physical energy would help Julianna. I've seen how sports help deal with stress, which was 5 to me when I was a teenage girl.
Midway through summer, we stayed at home one afternoon,really bored. "Do you want to play tennis?" I asked. "Sure," she said. Arriving at the 6 , we set down our bags, picked up our rackets (球拍), and 7 towards our sides of the court. The net felt like the visual representation of a growing 8 between us-I desiring a connection and my teenage daughter longing for independence.
I started by hitting a ball over the net, and Julianna took a big swing and 9 . We repeated this several more times. I held back the 10 to tell her she was 11 the racket too close to the neck or to step more into her forehand. We just repeated the 12 of me hitting the ball and her missing it a few times before she finally got it back over the net. "This is fun," she said with a mixture of surprise and joy and then she smiled 13 .
Now we always find time to play tennis. We're both eager for an activity that can 14 tensions between us in daily life. It's nice to have a place where both of us can release our 15 feelings and let them go.
单词或括号内单词的正确形式。The golden snub-nosed monkey is unique species found only in the mountainous forests of central and southwestern China. These monkeys get their common names from their golden-orange fur and snub noses.
The golden snub-nosed monkey is a large primate (灵长类动物), with males (weigh) up to 25 kilos and females around 15 kilos. They have a thick coat of fur that helps them adapt the cold, mountainous environment. Their diet (consist) mainly of leaves, flowers and fruits. The monkey is also known for its playful nature, often (see) swinging from branches and playing with each other.
Unfortunately, the golden snub-nosed monkey is facing numerous threats to its (survive). Habitat loss due to deforestation and agriculture has (significant) reduced the monkeys' living space. Additionally, hunting for their fur and body parts poses a constant threat to these (endanger) creatures.
In recent years, conversation efforts have been made to protect the golden snub-nosed monkey and its habitat. Many protected areas have been established in their range, including nature reserves and national parks, provide safe shelters for the monkeys.
The golden snub-nosed monkey is not only a symbol of China's rich biodiversity, but an essential part of the ecosystem. Their conservation is, without doubt, of vital (important).
1. 活动时间及集合地点；
2. 活动内容：探访孔子故里曲阜，诵读孔子经典名句；
3. 活动准备：了解孔子生平。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Ryan,
I'm Li Hua, chairman of the traditional Chinese culture club.
Yours,
Li Hua
Beyond the Horizon
Oshima was sitting at the sea side but the beautiful site did not make her feel good. Her face was dull and gloomy. She was staring at the setting sun without an expression on her face.
But she was not an unhappy child like this always. Six months before, Oshima was a happy child who loved playing at the beach with her brother and sister. Her brother Mittsu used to make sandcastle and Oshima and her sister Osheen collected the sea shells. Her father always shouted, "Come home, it's late", but they would not listen. The seaside was like their second home. At house also, they were a happy family who always laughed and played and had no problems to bother for.
One day all of a sudden something terrible happened. A violent tsunami came and took the entire country in its grip. It was a huge natural disaster. Most of the houses were washed away. The cities and towns were flooded with water. Oshima's town was near the sea and so the tsunami flooded her town as well. Her house was washed and they lost all their belongings.
Her grandmother Midori cried and cried and was totally shocked. She has not seen such destruction in her whole life. They were homeless. Oshima wept and wept and complained that why a violent tsunami hit her city. She was very angry.
The government shifted them to a refugee (难民) camp where many families shared the living space. Helicopters dropped food packets and they had to stand in long queues even for drinking water. Their life had turned upside down. Oshima could see the sadness visible in her parents' eyes. Now she did not like the sea at all and always felt that the sea had broken her trust and was very disappointed with the waves. For her the sea was very cruel who had taken her beautiful house away.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One day Oshima saw two little children playing in the camp without any trace of sadness on their face.
A new ray of hope filled her spirits, making her cheer up.
