Many islands far from the continents should fire the imaginations of adventurers or explorers nowadays.
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha, the southernmost inhabited(有人居住的) island of the British territory (领土) in the southern Atlantic, is located approximately 2,100 km south of the nearest inhabited land, with a coastline of 34 km and a cloud-covered volcanic cone.
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen, Norway's largest island, about 950 km north of the European coast, is covered in snow and ice, with a sizable population of polar bears. Its main settlement, Longyearbyen, sits less than 3.2 km away from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault—a secure facility intended to safeguard the seeds of the world's food plants in case of a global disaster.
Pitcairn Island
This small volcanic island, the only inhabited island of the British overseas territory of four islands in the South Pacific, is probably best known as the settlement for the mutineers (叛变者) of the British ship HMS Bounty in 1790. It's also near one of the world's largest marine reserves.
South Georgia
South Georgia, part of the British overseas territory in the south Atlantic, is about 4,790 km west of Cape Town, South Africa. Large quantities of animal life there and around have invited a small number of scientists as the island's few inhabitants. It's best known as the final site of the arduous journey made by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who first crossed South Georgia Island in 1916.
Long-time referees (裁判) in different youth sports say there's an expectation for referees to be perfect. Parents want their children to excel, and coaches are under pressure to win. Sometimes, they say, referees become a scapegoat (替罪羊).
Perry Petterle, who is with the USA Hockey Officiating Program, says the number of teen and pre-teen referees is dropping. He says before the COVID—19 pandemic the program had about 4,000 registered referees, but they're now down to about 1,700.
" It's happening in soccer, it's happening in other sports, the abuse (辱骂) that is coming from coaches and parents. It has a bad effect on a young kid, young lady or young man that's out there refereeing, " says Petterle.
Referees have to bear the abuse.
" I've been in rinks (溜冰场) where I've had to go up to parents, and it's happened three times this year, because you have parents banging on the glass, shouting at the official for a missed call (裁判员的判决). Yes, they're gonna make mistakes and I go up and try to educate that parent, ‘Hey, we've got a 13-year-old kid out here. You know, we need him to stay in the program,' " he says.
Of the 41 years he's been involved in refereeing, Petterle says the abuse has become more common in the last 10 years. Carlos Folino, who's refereed soccer for 37 years, agrees.
"For the most part, it's getting to the point where youth used to think that it was a good way to make a few extra dollars, better than flipping hamburgers. But with all the shouting and abusing that they get, it's not worth it. And that word gets to his or her friend and his or her friend won't join because of that, " says Folino, Michigan State Referee Administrator.
Folino says it needs changing. Petterle says education and communication are part of a possible solution to bringing respect for referees back to youth sports.
I enjoy throwing stuff away. I'd love to go full minimalism (极简主义), but my wife and two teenage kids do not share my dream of a house with almost nothing in it. I have tried.
When the kids were little, I taught them my two favorite games — "Do We Need It?" and "Put It in Its Place" — and made them play every few months. Their enthusiasm never matched mine.
If I'm going to be honest, my own tidying skills are not as great as I'd like. My "abandoned" pile is never quite the trash mountain I want because I make up excuses for why things are useful. I consider this unhealthy. I want to be better at moving on.
So, this time I found help — the classics for people like me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. Can I go full Kondo? I will try. One central idea is to clean by category (类别). You start by collecting all clothes and gathering them together for consideration. It makes you rethink how you organize. Next, hold each item and ask if it brings you joy. This way you're choosing what to keep. And that's how I find myself with all my clothes on my bedroom floor. My wife walks by and gives me a look that says I'm nuts. She's probably not wrong.
Somewhere near the bottom of this chaos is my special jacket. I move through the pile: pants, shirts, suits and shoes. Then my last category: jackets. I haven't worn the thing in about 30 years. Somehow, it has survived. Now that I'm striving to follow Kondo — surely, its time has come?
I hold it in my hand. There is a tear just below the collar that widens as I hold it. It's literally falling apart. Will I ever wear it again? Not a chance. Does it feel good to wear? Does it bring me joy? Actually, yes. At this moment, my daughter walks in. She asks about the jacket. I tell her the story. She thinks I should keep it. It's cool and unique and full of memories. She is arguing that nostalgia (怀念) is the very reason.
I'm not entirely convinced by my daughter's arguments. I believe in looking ahead, not backward. However, sometimes it's hard to let go. So I gently place the jacket on the "keep" pile.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could help stop one of the biggest dangers to the Great Barrier Reef (大堡礁), amazingly saving huge areas of coral (珊瑚) from a harmful starfish. Google has teamed with scientists from the CSIRO to create AI software (软件) that could pick out the dangerous starfish, which is one of the natural wonder's three biggest killers.
The new way, using footage from an underwater camera to recognize starfish outbreaks on the Queensland reef, takes the place of an old method and early results show as well as cutting down man's work, the new software has the advantage of correctly picking out more of the dangerous life on coral, stopping damaging outbreaks before they occur.
Professor Russ Babcock, an expert with CSIRO, said Google's AI technology, developed over 18 months, could be trained to find out starfish more easily than the old method developed in the 1970s. "We used to send out divers to count the starfish one by one. Now we just look at the images collected and the program can find 20 at a time," he said.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he was excited about the company's effort put into the reef project. "We have put a lot of effort into the engineering in Australia and we will continue to do more work around AI there," he said. "There are other good ideas about the technology and you will see us build on it. Our goal with our AI research teams is to strike partnerships with other groups, like universities and governments, to give its full play."
Professor Babcock said the AI software, which would be put into use on other reefs worldwide, was not the only solution to the starfish affecting the Great Barrier Reef, but one that could have an wide application.
It's common that everyone wants to get the most out of his teenage years. Working hard as a teen can help you develop good habits you can carry into adulthood. There are many ways you can upgrade your life as a teenager.
Discover what inspires you. Passions(酷爱)should make you feel excited. Considering what inspires you in your day-to-day life can help you make clear of passions. This may mean you have a passion for art or art history. Spend your time pouring your energies into your personal passions.
It's important to have goals as a teen, as they can help shape your adult life. Writing down a lot of goals for a given year, term, or summer can help you upgrade your life.
Clear goals work best. For example, maybe you're interested in animal protection. A goal like "I will avoid using products tested on animals" is a more specific goal than "I will do my part to end animal cruelty".
Do not give in to pressure from people of an age. It's great to be open to trying new things as a teen, and important to make the most of your teenage years. True friends will not try to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. Peer(同龄人)pressure comes in different forms, and can create unnecessary stress and tension in your life. Know how to tell and avoid peer pressure.
Accept your strengths and weaknesses. Everyone is good at different things. You may not have a gift for writing, but you may be good at science courses. You cannot succeed in everything, and that's okay.
A. Do not limit yourself as a teenager.
B. Set your own goals for a special period.
C. Focus on what you're good at and what you enjoy.
D. Maybe you love reading about artists or find going to art museums inspiring.
E. However, you should not do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
F. You'll end up meeting people your own age and developing a group of friends at work.
G. That means when writing goals you should state clearly how you want to go after these things.
Julie Durocher is an art teacher from an elementary school, but now because of the serious flood, there are no students in the school 1 . She's trying to keep her hands 2 , because she thinks the end of the school year left her with an empty feeling. "It is terrible not to say goodbye to the 3 at the end of the year in person, and I really 4 ending the school year like that," said Durocher.
As a(n) 5 teacher of over 20 years, she 6 to use her love for art to create and 7 a coloring book for families. 8 , she has got the help of eleven other kind art teachers to help 9 the spirits of students. "People have a lot of 10 about what is going on in our world today, and I think 11 can give you an opportunity to be creative, and doing creative things can make you less anxious," said Durocher.
Students are not the only people she's 12 . The book costs five dollars, and all proceeds go to the Jackson Interfaith Shelter to help start their own project to help rebuild their kids' area. So far, Durocher and her team have 13 more than 13,000 dollars for the project. "It's exciting to see it being used and making a 14 , and know that I was a part of that is kind of a really 15 thing," said Durocher.
It's well known that March 12th is China's annual National Tree Planting Day. On this day, people throughout China, will take spades and buckets(铲子和水桶) as well as young trees, and go out (green) their hometowns.
As a matter fact, China's Tree Planting Day could date back to a proposal (make) by Sun Yat-sen (孙中山) (1866—1925) and Qingming Festival (April 5th) was adopted (采纳) as Tree Planting Day then. However, April 5th was a late time for tree-planting in Southern China, so it was changed to March 12th in honour of Sun Yat-sen, passed away on March 12th.
In February 1979, the 5th National People's Congress of People's Republic of China (announce) that March 12th would be taken as Tree Planting Day, requiring the whole country to carry out tree planting (activity) on March 12th.
In recent years, the tradition of tree-planting in the spring (observe) by Chinese people. For those living in the big cities, National Tree Planting Day is unique moment for city skipping. It is (extreme) convenient for people to have access to nature with their family members. After their fieldwork together, they harvest not only better environment but also more (harmony) family relations as well as enthusiasm for the future.
注意:1.词数100左右;2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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The Students' Union