Setting of fireworks during festivals is said to have a history of about 2000 years. It does add to festive atmosphere. But let's stop and 1 the price we pay for just a few minutes of 2
First, the amount of money we spend on fireworks is 3 .The excitement is gone 4 . Let's face it, what we really are doing is burning 5 . Those tax dollars would be 6 to much better use.
Second, there is the matter of7 .Fireworks contain chemicals that are harmful to people and animals. Over the years, these chemicals will8 the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Third, let's consider the rubbish left behind after a fireworks 9 . What a 10! One would probably 11 those who set off the fireworks would have the politeness to12the trash afterwards.13 they don't. The mess 14 the kind of attitude people have toward our15 .
Fourth, fireworks are16 . Some fireworks can damage your17 , especially the fireworks used meanwhile that give off a big BANG. Losing your hearing is too high a price to pay.18 all the safety warning, we still see injuries and deaths as a result of fireworks. Approximately 10,000 Americans are injured every year by fireworks.
In my view, all consumer fireworks should be19 . Public fireworks displays should be kept to a minimum and should be paid for through volunteer funding, not tax dollar. Finally, those people in charge of fireworks displays should be20 for cleaning up the mess they make.
The Terracotta Army Museum is one of the must-visit attractions for all travelers to China. The attraction is located in Xi'an, in west China's Shanxi Province.
What's special?
The terracotta Army is the buried army of Qin Shi Huang, an ancient Chinese emperor. These ancient sculptures were built and buried over two thousand years ago near the city of Xi'an. They were discovered in 1974 by farmers digging a well looking for underground water. Over a thousand terracotta warriors and horses have been uncovered since then. Each warrior is made of clay (泥土). They are around two meters tall. The sculptures are so detailed that it is possible to guess the age, rank and personality of each one. None of the soldiers are the same.
The best time to visit
The Terracotta Army is an indoor attraction, which is not likely to be affected by weather, so it can be visited all year round.
As the Terracotta Army Museum is one of the must-visit attractions in China, it is crowded most of the time. We advise our customers to avoid the following periods when the museum is particularly crowded:
National Day holiday(October 1-7), when it is fully packed.
Labour Day holiday(May 1-3)
Weather in winter is dry, cold and the least comfortable, and it's also the worst season for air quality, but it's also low season.
Travel style: private, group or independent?
A private tour means a lot of flexibility and you will be well taken care of by a private guide and driver. The museum is crowded most of the time, but our guides know how to escape the crowds, and help our customers to enjoy more in the museum. See our 3-Day Terracotta Warriors Private Tour.
Going with a group you won't get lost, but i lacks flexibility and personal service.
Travelling on your own you may meet a lot of trouble, such as wasting time on finding a taxi or public bus to the attraction, lining up for tickets, reading maps, making sense of Chinese signs, etc.
Banker Chip Paillex had never planted so much until he moved to the countryside in Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. Surrounded by working farms, he quickly became interested in the grow-it-yourself idea and rented a piece of 30-by-30-foot land. He planted tomatoes, eggplants and other vegetable—enough to feed his family of four for the summer. He ended up with so much produce; he couldn't give it away. He found a local food factory and donated 120 pounds of fresh vegetables.
The following year, with a handful of volunteers and a memorable name—America's Grow-a-Row, Paillex harvested 1, 500 pounds of fresh vegetables, all of which he donated to area food banks--places that give food to poor people. Soon Paillex had a hundred volunteers and needed more land. He visited Meredith and Jeremy Compton, who farm Peaceful Valley Orchards in Pittstown. Could he work their land?
“I guess we were feeling honored, " says Meredith. Not only do the Comptons welcome Grow-a-Row volunteers, they also work on the land.
What began with a few empty fields has turned into a large local farm. This year, Grow-a-Row will deliver about 250, 000 pounds of fresh produce to food banks. Their secret for getting all of this done? Family power. " Each week, a couple of families 'own' the garden, " says Paillex." They water, pick, and deliver, and then hand it off on Sunday night to the next group of families."
Paillex also welcomed local school kids. On a Friday morning in May, some kids worked on a field. "We' re growing food, " one fifth grader said proudly.
"The program shows kids that there are people in need, " says Paillex. “When these kids become tomorrow's leaders, they'll be much more likely to encourage their co-workers or employees to get involved in something like this. “
"Chip makes people want to help, " says Colleen Duerr, a mother of two. "And families love this. Chip has given us a way to raise our kids with a giving heart. "
A Japanese company, Next Technology, has created a robot dog that can tell you how bad your feet smell, by using a powerful sensor fixed in its nose. If you feet don't have a bad smell. Hana-chan will happily wag its tail, if it's exposed to feet that are mildly smelly, it'll start to bark, and if they give off an extremely bad smell, it'll just fall over like the smell caused it to faint(昏倒).
Foot odor (脚臭) is a big deal in Japan, where it's a custom for people to take off their shoes whenever they enter someone's home. In fact, exposing others to bodily odors can be considered annoyance in Japan. Some of the most brilliant minds in the country's tech industry have been trying to solve this problem. Last year, Thanko started selling axmpit (腋窝) fans designed to keep people's armpits nice and dry Now, we have Hana-chan.
The robot dog has a special sensor for a nose, and can tell you if your feet smell just by sniffing them for a few seconds. According to some media reports, Hana-chan can help solve the problem of extremely smelly feet by spraying them with air freshener, but it's unclear whether this feature comes built-in, or if you'll have to pay extra for it.
According to researchers at NextTechnology, the idea for Hana-chan was inspired by a person who desperately wanted some way to know if his feet smelled. "He told us his daughter had said his feet were smelly, " NextTechnology's Kimika Tsuji said. “But he didn't want to know how bad the odor was because he would feel hurt. That's why we developed this cute robot. "
You may be able to make Hana-chan faint with your smelly feet, but it can have the same effect on budget-conscious people. NextTechnology plans to start selling the feet-smelling robot dog for ￥100, 000 ($9, 280) next May.
Crown shyness (树冠羞避) is a mysterious natural phenomenon in which the crowns of some tree species do not touch each other, but get separated by a gap clearly seen from ground level. The effect usually occurs between trees of the same species, but has also been observed between trees of different species.
There are many theories going around, most of which make sense, but no one has been able to prove without the shadow of a doubt why some trees avoid touching each other.
In his 1955 book Growth Habits of the Eucalypts, Australian forester M. R. Jacobs writes that the growing tips of the trees are sensitive to abrasion (擦伤), which results in crown shyness phenomenon. This theory was also supported by Dr. Miguel Franco. Some experiments have shown that if trees displaying crown shyness are artificially prevented from swaying (摇摆)in the wind and touching each other, they gradually fill up the gaps between them.
But while the above theory is arguably the most widespread, it's certainly not the only one. Some scientists have suggested that crown shyness is a mechanism to stop the spreading of leaf-eating insects. The gaps mean pests wouldn't be able to reach other trees, so they are the tree's natural defense method.
One Malaysian scholar studied many trees, but found no traces of abrasions, despite their clear crown shyness. Instead, he suggests that the growing tips of the trees were sensitive to light levels and stopped growing when they got too close to other trees. Plants are able to sense how close they are to other plants and in order to get more light, they give off some chemical to stop other trees from growing too close.
Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure, plants are more intelligent than people.
US City Bans Texting while Walking
Parents usually teach their children how to cross the street safely, by looking both ways for cars. But do they also teach them to put away their cell phones?
The city of Honolulu, Hawaii wants everyone to learn that lessonBeginning on October 24, you could be fined from $15 to $99 if you step into a Honolulu street while looking at your phone. Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban what is called "distracted (分散注意) walking. " It recently passed a law in a seven to two vote. The law says; “No pedestrian shall cross a street or highway while viewing a mobile electronic device. "
The law's creators hope it will lower the number of people hit and killed by cars in the city. Mayor Kirk Caldwell told Reuters news agency, "We hold the unfortunate distinction (区别) of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our elders, than almost any other city in the country. "
The law includes all electronic devices with screens: cell phones, tables, gaming devices, digital cameras and laptop computersPedestrians may use such devices in the street to call emergency services and rescue workers, such as firefighters and police officers.
The Governors Highway Safety Association, or GHSA, says pedestrian deaths in the United States increase 25 percent between 2010 and 2015. That trend continued in 2016 with the number of pedestrian deaths rising to almost 6000, 11% higher than in 2015.
If you still want to text while walking, you could avoid being fined in Honolulu (and be safer, in general) by using a voice-controlled digital(数字的) assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant
A. The law does permit an exception.
B. Or you could just wait until you are again, safely, off the street.
C. You will be sentenced to prison while using cell phones in the street.
D. Pedestrian deaths have been increasing as the use of cell phones rises.
E. Texting while crossing the street will soon be banned in the city.
F. The law permits people to watch TV while crossing the street.
G. In other words, do not look at a screen when you cross the street or you could be fined.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1).每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2).只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It is universal accepted that filial duty (孝道) is an important virtue in China. It means respecting and caring parents and the elderly. Take my parents for an example, after my grandma passed away last year, my parents spent much more time chat with my grandpa, going out for a walk with him and cooking him delicious food. At first, my grandpa seemed to be happy. And as time went by, he became uneasy, because he was not used to leading so a comfortable life. Therefore, my parents encouraged him to attend some activity in our community. They also encouraged her to go to a drawing class in a school for the old, which gave my grandpa a great sense of achievement. He becomes very happy again.
My parents set a good example to me. In my opinion, the real filial duty is giving the old that they really need.
Most of us use memes(表情包) when (talk) to our friends on WeChat or QQ. And all the file formats(文件格式). GIF is probably the most popular.
A GIF is usually short funny video that only lasts for a few seconds.
The GIF turned 30 this year, is even two years older than the World Wide Web itself. Ever since the GIF (create) in 1987, it has long been overlooked. It wasn't until the age of smartphones and social media it became part of our daily lives.
The GIF does a (good) job of showing people's feeling than short text messages do. It is also a very small file format compared with regular videos, which helped it become popular among smartphone (use).
Because of its (popular), Oxford Dictionaries name “GIF” the word of the year in 2012. There are even search services specifically(专门地) for GIFs, such as Tenor and Giphy. And if we can't find anything we like there is easy to create our own GIFs on apps like DSCO and Giphy Cam.
注意：1). 词数100左右；
2). 可以适当发挥，以使行文连贯；
3). 参考词汇：中医 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
