Anna's Talent Show
It was very late, but Anna was still awake. She lay on her bed, thinking about the coming talent show tryouts(选拔赛).
As the organizer, she had thought the talent show would be exciting, but she had not been prepared for the 13 . For the past week, many students had been trying to convince(使…信服) her of their talents and hoping to14 her decisions about who should be in the show.
Anna knew who really had talent, but some of them were her friends. If she chose them, some students might doubt whether her decisions were fair.
"I'll just tell everyone not to talk to me until after the talent show," she thought. "I'll explain that I have to remain neutral(中立的)and make sure the best acts are chosen. And everyone will 15 me. Won't they?" With that thought she fell asleep. As soon as Anna arrived at school the next morning, Josh rushed up to her.
"I've been practicing on the guitar," he told her. "You'll love my new song!" Anna smiled weakly. "Thanks, Josh. " she said in a quiet voice and16 turned away.
Just then Patti came up and said, "I'm working on a new monologue. You'll love it!" Anna sighed. She believed Patti, but if she included everyone, the whole school would be in the show. Anna asked her closest friend, Margaret, for17 . Margaret thought for a few moments. "Maybe you can find teachers to be the judges for the tryouts. But remember to keep their names secret so that students won't18 them. " "You've saved the day, Margaret. Thanks!" Anna took a deep breath and smiled. "That's the perfect19 . " Early the next day, Anna visited several teachers. They were all happy to help. Anna then spread the news that anonymous(匿名的) judges would decide the winners of the tryouts. Her worries were gone, and she felt20 again.
When I was in primary school, I enjoyed learning about interesting things. But one thing 1 me. I could never get a perfect mark on my math tests like some of the girls did.
Every time I brought home my report card, before my mom read it, she could guess what the math score was — it had always been sitting just above 90. My mom even 2 about it. She said sweetly, "Could you bring home a perfect mark just once?"
One day I talked to my mom about this. She asked me to think about why this was so. I thought about it. After a lot of thinking, I understood what my problem was.
"Mom, some questions are really simple. I know how to solve them right away. So I work them out fast. " "Oh?" Mom listened carefully. "Yes. They are so easy that I get 3 . And I make mistakes like copying my answer with an extra zero. And I don't check. "
"I see," Mom said. "When the questions are simple, you are not careful enough. So any mistake 4 you the perfect mark. "
She continued, "But I don't think copying an extra zero is a 5 mistake. If you're calculating (计算) a number of a spaceship, extra zero may cause a total failure of the launch (发射). "
"I see. I'll try to be fast and careful, too. " Our 6 continued. "How about the difficult questions?" asked Mom.
"I tried to solve them, but they are hard. "
Mom laughed, "Difficult questions take a long time to solve. The first thing you have to do is to understand the question. Then you do your best to solve it. And you never give up easily, right?"
Mom's 7 made it really easy. I could hardly 8 until the next math exam.
You know what? A few weeks later, I did finally get a perfect mark!
Going Green
Four students are sharing their experience about living a greener life on the school board. Their schoolmates can read the passages and get some advice for their own lives.
A In my free time, I use old clothes that our family don't wear anymore to make other useful things. It's meaningful and environment-friendly. I usually use old jeans to make handbags with different designs. They look very cute. When I go shopping, I often take them instead of the plastic ones. I'd like to share different ways to use old clothes and bring them back to fashion again. |
B In our daily life, there are some good ways to save water. We can begin with small things. While I brush my teeth, I usually turn off the tap to use less water. Taking short showers also helps to save water. In my family, we watch less TV and use low energy light bulbs. I usually shut off all the lights before I leave home. I think it's the best way to save electricity at home. |
C Nowadays, everyone is encouraged to take a bus or the subway to travel around the city. I usually go to school by bike. I can take some exercise and breathe the fresh air on the way to school. I seldom let my parents drive me to school. If I travel on a holiday, I'll choose the green travel properly. In this way, I can help to improve the environment and the traffic condition. |
D It's very important to sort and put the waste into different bins. In my daily life, I do a lot for waste sorting. I learn how to sort the waste online. Then, I sort the waste by preparing some bins in different colors at home. Whenever I see litter or other things on the ground, I pick them up and throw them into the right bins. I also collect used batteries and put them into the bin that contains harmful things. |
Please choose the proper passage for each of the following students.
Edward walked slowly past the school field where his elder brother, Leon, was playing basketball. Edward did not stop and ask if he could join, because last time he joined in the game, Leon's friends couldn't stand his poor skills and refused to play with him.
"Sorry, man," Leon tried to be kind. "Everyone has a talent for something," he told Edward. "Basketball is just not your thing, like math is just not my thing. " Edward had always been good at math, and he could solve many difficult math problems.
A few days later, Leon's math teacher told him he was going to fail if he could not get a good grade in the following test. Leon wished that he had his brother's math ability, so he asked Edward if he could help him out.
Looking down at his book, Edward said, "You know, I'd really like to get my basketball skills improved. I can help you with math, but you'd have to help me, too. "
Leon knew how hopeless Edward was at basketball. But, then again, he felt the same about math, too.
"Let's try it. " Leon said.
The boys agreed that over the next two weeks they planned to spend an hour each day after school working on math problems and then an hour playing basketball.
Several days later, Leon got his test. "We did it!" he shouted as he raced into their home after school. "I got an A. I'm going to pass this class after all. And it's all because of you," he said, hugging his brother.
Then, the next day, they came to the pickup court. Leon asked his friends to allow Edward to play on his team. Finally, the brothers won!
"That was a pretty good basketball game for a math whiz (高手)," said Leon as he and Edward headed home.
"Just like your math grade, right?" said Edward, still excited from his victory (胜利). "It was a pretty good grade for a basketball star. "
PhoneSoap: Charge and Clean Your Phone
You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phone touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won't surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them – specifically, the bacteria called E. coli.
The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of PhoneSoap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation (辐射) used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges,
"There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones," says Wes Barnes, the PhoneSoap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. "He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones," said Barnes. "In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines. "
PhoneSoap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you'd plug it into the PhoneSoap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes say, "The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully. "
The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PhoneSoap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling PhoneSoap nonstop. "We're shipping almost more than we can handle each day," Barnes says. "It's been a great adventure. "
Research has already suggested that opening a book may help improve brain function and reduce stress. Now, a team led by Joanna Sikora of the Australian National University is looking into the benefits of growing up around a book⁃filled environment; the researchers' new study suggests that homes with libraries can arm children with skills that last well into adulthood.
The study looked at data from 160 000 adults from 31 countries, including the United States, Australia, Turkey and Chile. Participants (参与者) filled out surveys with the Programme for the International Assessment of Competencies, which measures proficiency (水平) in three areas: literacy (读写能力), numeracy and information communication technology. People, 25 to 65 years old, were asked to tell how many books were in their house when they were 16 years old. The research team was interested in this question because home library size can be a good sign of "book⁃oriented socialization. " Participants were able to choose from a given range of books that included everything from"10 or less" to "more than 500. "
The surveys, which were taken between 2011 and 2015, showed that the average (平均的) number of books in participants' childhood homes was 115, but that number varied widely from country to country. The average library size in Norway was 212 books, for example; in Turkey, it was 27. In all, however, it seemed that more books in the home was linked to higher proficiency in the areas tested by the survey.
The effects were most marked when it came to literacy. Growing up with few books in the home resulted in below average literacy levels. Being surrounded by 80 books raised the levels to average, and literacy continued to improve until libraries reached about 350 books,at which point the literacy rates leveled off. The researchers saw similar things when it came to numeracy; the effects were not as pronounced with information communication technology tests, but skills did improve with increased numbers of books.
So, what does the new study tell us? Take, for example, an adult who grew up with hardly any books in the home, but went on to get a university degree compared to an adult who grew up with a large home library, but only had nine years of schooling. The study found that both of their literacy levels were almost the same. "So, literacy⁃wise, bookish childhood makes up for a good deal of educational advantage," the study authors write.
Further research is needed to decide exactly why exposure to (沉浸在) books in childhood encourages valuable skills later in life, but the study offers further evidence to suggest that reading has a powerful effect on the mind. And so home library size might be important because, as the researchers note, "children emulate (模仿) parents who read. "
Are you often in mind-wandering, enjoying the state of having nothing to do, or just standing and staring? Did you dream to get good grades and devote yourself to the tasks for a few days, however, your dream fell to zero as a TV play attracted you some day?
Do we need to have a dream? The founder of Wal -Mart, Sam Walton, says high expectation is the key to everything. The important thing in life is to have a great aim and the determination to achieve it, J. W. Goethe, the famous German poet and dramatist says. Successful people suggest that those who believe in the beauty of their dreams tend to have more self-motivation (自我激励) to keep on trying and enjoying the beauty of life.
Thomas Edison dreamed to light the world by the power of electricity. He tried over 2,000 different materials before he was able to create a market light bulb. It's hard for many of us to imagine spending so much time and energy in exploring a possibility, which is most likely to come to a dead end but for Edison, who sticked to his dream, it was just an enjoyable process. As Edison says, The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Helena, a 17-year-old girl, dreamed to build the magnificent sculpture (雕塑) in the world. She devoted herself to observing faces around her and making sculptures. She was woken up by her dream every morning rather than her alarm clock. She said she became passionate (有热情的) out of her dream, which kept her going through any difficulties and found pleasure in it.
You can benefit a lot from your dream, but do you know the behavior that is necessary to fulfill your dream? You have a dream and you truthfully want good grades. However, you can't help playing on the smart phone and let go your homework. Or you rush through it so that you can get back to the smart phone. This is the case when the present-desire to play on your smart phone beats the will to reach the future goal, which is called immediate gratification. If you always behave like this, you may lose the chance to meet with your dream.
Your dream can inspire you. It can give you motivation to work hard. It helps you to focus on a path so that you are moving forward. Meanwhile, you need to set a long-term goal and work for it. The key to dream is concentrating on small wins, which gradually lead to genuine confidence. You will enjoy the whole process of rea lizing your dream as well as involving yourself into the pa ssion of the coming life.
Students at Bullock Creek High School in Midland, Michigan found an unusual way to raise money for their robotics team.
Every year, 28 students on the Blitz Creek team take part in a national robotics competition, where students are challenged to create a robot that can perform certain tasks. They design robots, build them, and write the programs that run them.
But building robots isn't cheap. Maxton Herst joined the team in the ninth grade, and later he became the captain of the robotics team. By accident, Maxton Herst saw a video about a toilet paper pyramid. Maxton realized that it was possible to build a record-setting pyramid, and then sell the toilet paper to get money for their program. All the team members agreed to try his idea.
Blitz Creek has been planning the pyramid since last May. One challenge was calculating(计算) how many rolls of paper were needed. The answer turned out to be 27,434.
In late December, team members gave up part of their winter holiday to build the pyramid. The pyramid was so big that they had to build it from the inside before backing out and filling in the areas where they had been standing. It took about 16 hours, with many people working, to complete the pyramid. The final height of the pyramid was 4. 95 meters tall, which is about 61 centimeters taller than the current(当前的) Guinness World Record.
The pyramid opened for viewing on January 4, 2020. Sadly, because the pyramid was in the school's front hall, it could only stay for three days. With all the excitement caused by the pyramid, it turned out to be fairly easy to sell the toilet paper. Many supporters did help. Families and teachers bought half of the paper. A large company bought the rest. The team made about $10,000 from the event, which will help pay for its activities.
Maxton talks about the success of his crazy idea. "If you've got an idea, and you know that this idea is good, push it," he says. "Don't stop. "
