Paul's Birthday Surprise
Paul woke up feeling very happy. Today was his birthday. He was now twelve years old.
At breakfast，Dad poured Paul some milk into a bowl. Then he handed him a sandwich. "See you later，Paul. " Dad said. He took his lunch hurriedly and ran out the door.
Paul ate a bite of sandwich. He felt1 . Dad always made him a special pancake for his birthday. He made it with chocolate. Did Dad2 his birthday today？
Paul looked across the table at his baby brother. Chip was only one year old. He needed help to do everything. Mom put a spoonful of baby food in his mouth.
Paul frowned（皱眉）. He wanted his birthday to be special. It was not3 out that way.
After breakfast，Mom had to give Chip a bath. She put him in the bath tub. She reached for the shampoo（洗发水），but the bottle was 4 . " Paul，please come here!"
Paul got to the5 and Mom handed him Chip's favourite toy duck. "Please play with your brother until I can get a new bottle of shampoo. "
Paul handed Chip the toy. Chip threw it down in the water. The duck bounced out of the water and on to the floor. Paul picked it up and gave it back to Chip. Chip6 it again. He laughed.
Paul knew Chip was having fun，but he got everything wet. Mom came back to the bathroom with a new bottle and an extra towel（毛巾）.
"Thank you for helping，Paul，" she said. She handed him the towel.
Paul turned to7 . Chip started to cry. " Paul!Paul!"
Paul looked at Mom. "Did he just say my name？"
"Paul!" cried Chip.
Mom laughed. " Well，I guess your8 is his first word. "
"That's a pretty special birthday present!" Paul smiled. His birthday was turning out to be a wonderful day after all.
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When I started junior high，my only plan for myself was to stay unnoticeable. Everyone seemed so smart. They were everything I wasn't but wanted to be. So it was strange how eagerly I expected to run for eighth grade secretary from my heart.
Anyone interested in running should see the math teacher for qualification forms（资历表）. I followed the crowd to the math classroom. Without even thinking twice，I filled out and turned in the forms，but I had no idea what I had got myself into.
The only thing you could see in the eighth grade hall were posters. Bookmarks and flyers littered the hallways. That week，my friends and I passed out the bookmarks we'd made by ourselves. Everything was going as planned…until it was time for my speech.
As I got ready to present my speech，my sweat glands（汗腺） went into overdrive as the camera fixed on my face. What did my hair look like？Did I look at the camera？And most of all，did I look as frightened as I felt？
Somewhere between handing out bookmarks and delivering my speech，I asked myself one question："What are you doing，Jack？!" I felt lost. But in the midst of the anger and fear was something unexpected. I had learned some amazing things about who I was. Not only did I give a speech in front of 300 kids，but I introduced myself to people I'd never even met before. In fact，I felt unbelievably confident.
I can't remember every detail about the election（选举）. But what I do remember is that I won!The shy and quiet boy won! Stay unnoticeable？NO!Why be unnoticeable when you can shine？
I'm already planning my re-election speech. And I've learned the importance of taking a chance and believing in yourself. And next time if there's something you want to do，just do it!
While the pandemic（流行病） has prevented people from traveling afar，there's a silver lining in that dark cloud：micro-tourism，or mini-vacations.
Micro-tourism refers to short-distance（短距离） travel in which people drive two or three hours to a nearby place and spend two or three days there. Instead of requiring a plan with lots of details and money，micro-tourism allows travelling to be simpler and less expensive.
According to China Daily，micro-tourism began catching on about seven years ago. With the pandemic prevention making long trips less convenient，more and more people choose to take short trips instead.
Mark Hou from Beijing is one of them. Before the pandemic，he preferred taking long trips abroad or visiting other places in China. But the pandemic meant he had to adapt （适应） to a new travel style.
"Traveling a long distance means you should take public transportation，like planes. But that would be likely to increase the chances of infection（感染）. " Hou said. "To stay healthy，short-distance travel is the better choice. " But that doesn't mean Hou has lost fun during his short trips.
After a long and tiring week at work，Hou likes to invite friends and drive to the countryside near Beijing on weekends. "Walking in the mountains or having a hot spring，we can get the fresh air and have some exercise，" Hou explained. "That can really move the stress out of our daily life. "
To meet the new needs，many cities have also created more chances for tourists. For example，Shanghai started a number of micro-tourism products for half-day and one-day tours，including exploring cultural heritage （遗产） sites in the city and experiencing country life.
"With these programs，young tourists no longer look to get 'distance'，but are willing to find new ways to experience their cities，" Feng Rao，head of a tourism research center，told People's Daily. Travel doesn't mean you need to go far away to find a place to relax. That's also the aim of the micro-tourism.
The science behind learning from other people's advice
Every day，we need to make decisions about what advice to trust. Should I listen to a friend about what directions to take to the park，or look for road signs to follow？We know that humans' decisions are influenced by their beliefs，which may be based on advice from other people or on information from non-human sources（来源），such as road signs. But which source do we find more reliable（可信赖的），and do our brains process differently when following human or non-human sources？
A new study by my team tried to find out the differences in how people consider information from human advice and from non-human objects. We also checked brain activities while people made these decisions.
In our study，participants（参与者） completed tasks by finding a hidden dot. In one task，people needed to mark the hidden dot on a circle after they received a message from an image of a human face （social advice）. In another task，they did the same work，but the message was provided by an object （non-social advice）. Another important factor in the study was that we could record learning process. People received the information repeatedly from different advisors and objects，and they had to learn over time which of the two sources was more reliable. We also asked participants to report on how reliable they thought the advice was each time they decided.
Looking at how people performed on the task，my team discovered that participants found social advice more reliable than non-social advice. They also changed their beliefs less on the information from human even when the information didn't match with their original ones. This suggests that people may form more stable opinions about the reliability of information from humans. We also found that certain parts of the brain were connected with social information.
These findings could be important for understanding disorders of social cognition，such as psychopathy（精神障碍）. More obviously，our work shows that even a piece of advice from a human can change how people view the information，which is especially important because humans spend increasingly more time in the digital world. Realizing our bias（偏好） on human advice will have great help on designing interactive tools to guide human decision-making as well as ways to develop critical thinking.
Digital Citizenship Week
Every third week in October，schools around the world celebrate Digital Citizenship Week （数字公民周），which focuses on the healthy and responsible use of online technology. This was originally created by Common Sense Education. It is the time for students to know about their digital footprints（足迹） and why they matter so that they can develop good digital citizenship.
During the week，the teachers always stress the importance of digital citizenship. It involves online safety，speaking up against cyberbullying（网络霸凌），protecting personal information，respecting copyright law and more. Good digital citizenship helps students understand the importance of balancing technology use with other non-digital activities. It also encourages students to connect with one another and create long-lasting relationships online. The key idea behind good digital citizenship is to treat other people，places，and things with respect.
However，students might not understand what information is not safe to share on social media，how to properly check sources，and the possible results of having online communications. Helping students understand digital citizenship helps them to manage Internet risks and succeed in the digital world. Teachers need to think about how digital citizenship is taught and learned in the school. There are some useful resources and models on the Internet that can help teachers develop a digital citizenship framework and program.
One of the important things of digital citizenship that students need to understand is their digital footprints. Every person who uses the Internet has a digital footprint. Because digital footprints can't be erased，students' digital footprints have the possibility to influence their whole life. Students' digital footprints can also leave them easy to get social engineering attacks or cyberbullying.
Since digital footprints may influence students' online safety，some suggestions are necessary for them. For example，they need to clear cookies（网络浏览数据） from time to time. They should also be careful about what they share with online service providers，and who they share their information with. The most important thing is that they should be responsible for what they post on social media.
题目①
假如你是李华，你的外教Tony 暑期将回国探亲，他想给家人或朋友送一些有中国特色的小礼物，现给你发来邮件征求建议。请你给Tony 回复一封邮件，推荐一个（些）有助于了解中国文化的礼物，并简单说明推荐理由。
提示词语：paper-cut，celebrate，decorate，good luck
提示问题：What gift（s） would you like to suggest？
Why do you give the suggestion？
Dear Tony， I'd love to give you my suggestion about Chinese gifts. …… I hope the above is helpful. Yours， Li Hua |
一分耕耘，一分收获。某英文网站正在开展以"Practice makes perfect（熟能生巧）"为主题的征文活动。假如你是李华，请用英语写一篇短文投稿，谈谈你对该谚语的理解，并分享一次你在生活中践行它的经历。
提示词语：work hard，result，improve，top
提示问题：What's your understanding about this saying？
How did you do to put it into practice？Share your experience.
Have you heard about the saying " Practice makes perfect"？ |
