When French students go to school, they have to leave one of their most prized possessions at home — their smartphones. French lawmakers passed a law on July 31, 2018, banning students 15 and under from bringing smartphones and tablets to school, or at least requiring they be turned off at school. Officials in support of the new rule described the policy as a way to protect children from addictive habits and to safeguard the sanctity of the classroom.
"We know there is a phenomenon of screen addiction," education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said. "Our main role is to protect students. It is a fundamental role of education, and this law allows it."
The law, however, makes exceptions for educational use, after-school activities and for students with disabilities. French high schools can choose to force a less-strict ban on Internet- connected devices.
Even before the new policy was voted in, French law carried out in 2010 prohibited students from using their phones while class was in session. But during the 2017 French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron promised to force a school ban on phones entirely.
This isn't the first French law designed to beat back the influences of digital technology in everyday life. In 2017 the government passed a law requiring French companies to draft rules that limited work emails and work-related technology outside the office. Referred to as the "right to disconnect," French officials said the law aimed to reduce job-related stress and prevent employee burnout.
"Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic tie," said Benoît Hamon, former French education minister. "The texts, the messages, the emails: they control the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down."
A company has just launched what it calls “the world's first free standardized English test” recently. Anyone can take the test for free. The new exam is called the EFSET, which is short for Education First Standardized English Test. The company, Education First, is known by the letters EF.
It is estimated that there are two billion English language learners worldwide. Many of them are interested in attending an American college or university. To do so, foreign students need to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language—better known as TOEFL. However, many foreigners are not wealthy enough to take the TOEFL. In addition, test-takers often have to travel overnight to reach an official testing site. The World Bank says an average Cambodian worker earns only about $1,000 per year. Approximately the cost of taking the TOEFL is 17.5 percent of the average worker's yearly wage.
It is not just individuals who find the test pricey. Some governments also find it prohibitive. What's more, not everyone needs official results from the TOEFL or IELTS—the International English Language Testing System. In the future, it's likely that the government may use the EFSET to test millions of employees and students.
Experts believe that the EFSET meets the highest value in language testing. It uses special computer software that makes the questions easier or harder, depending on one's performance. The EFSET measures all the English learners' levels while the IELTS and TOEFL only measure learners' levels from intermediate to advanced. The EFSET is unique in the sense that it gives free online access to anyone interested in measuring their English level.
There is a 50-minute and a two-hour version of the test, which its developers are calling the EFSET Plus. Both versions test only reading and listening skills. It's hopeful that speaking and writing skills will be tested in the future. The IELTS and the TOEFL still use humans to rate the speaking and writing sections. It's a huge deal for students who are in areas where they can't get to the TOEFL or the IELTS. However, it is too early to know whether the EFSET results are acceptable for colleges and universities in America.
Failure is a word that no one wants to hear. It is human beings' biggest fear yet it is faced by every human being. Sometimes, people's fear of it is their biggest barrier to success. Here are some tips which can help you get on the positive side of life.
Never give up. Before starting anything that you think will give you success, promise yourself that you will never give up. Remember that it is never too late to do so.
This is the opportunity that you should not let go of. Suppose you are on a football ground. You strike the ball for 9 times in a row and fail. But at the tenth attempt, you succeed. The tenth attempt proves that you have somehow learnt from your mistakes.
Never think that you've got only one plan. The worst thing you can do after failing in some project is thinking that it was the only plan you could ever think of. If Plan A fails, turn to Plan B or Plan C. If you are into achieving something, no one or nothing in this world can stop you.
This is the most important thing that you need to live a happy life. Always think positive. Never let yourself down. Positivity is all we need to grow and establish ourselves in this world
A. Keep on trying.
B. Keep a positive attitude.
C. Learn from your mistakes.
D. There is always another way.
E. Therefore, you need to learn how to deal with failure.
F. Just as the saying goes, failure is the mother of success.
G. This promise helps make your mind ready for both failure and success.
How to Control Weeds When Planting
No matter what you choose to grow in the garden, at some point, you will have to deal with unwanted plants, known as weeds. Even a tomato plant can become a weed if it grows where you don't want it to.
Weeds can bring many problems. They steal nutrients and water. Weeds can also bring harmful bugs and diseases into your garden. Some weeds release chemicals that can slow the growth of nearby plants.
It is important to note that some weeds are not all bad. In fact, you can eat them. Dandelions (蒲公英) are also viewed as a weed by many people. And you can eat or use nearly every part of the plant. But even other weeds can do good things in our garden. The roots of weeds can prevent the soil from being blown away by wind or washed away by rain.
However, left to grow on their own, weeds can take over a garden. To slow the growth of weeds, add a layer of weed - free, organic material to the top of your garden, around the plants.
A simple and effective method of weed control is to break up the surface layer of the soil. But you must do this regularly. Do not turn the soil over. If you turn the soil over, you give those seeds the light and air they need to grow. Probably the best way to fight some weeds is to eat them! Just make sure they are, in fact, eatable.
A. But their leaves are also full of nutrients. B. This makes it difficult to reshape a garden. C. A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place. D. This improves the soil and keeps weeds from growing. E. Besides being unwanted, what else do weeds do to a garden? F. Buried in the soil are weed seeds, waiting for the right conditions. G. So, before we hurry outside to kill all the weeds, consider their good side. |
My family and I met the breeder at a dog show. We drove for four hours to her house where she showed us three puppies, two males and one female. They were all Welsh Corgis and were so cute with their little legs, long bodies and heads that looked too big for their bodies. It took me a long time to figure out which one I wanted, but I finally decided when the female came up to me and licked (舔) my face. I named her Dion.
It took a while for Dion to get used to our home. Every night, she cried in a way that made me burst into tears. She cried almost every second of the day. But after a couple of weeks, she got used to us. That's when we began to train her.
My mother and I took Dion to puppy kindergarten. It was funny to see all the disobedient (不温顺的) dogs. They all barked (吠叫) very loudly, making my ears hurt. The only one who didn't bark was Dion. She was very shy and hid from people. But she was very friendly with the other dogs. The trainer says that she is doing very well for a four-month-old puppy.
If you are thinking about getting a dog, consider all the time and effort you must put in. There are a lot of responsibilities. I walk Dion four to six times a day. I feed her, spend time with her and watch her when she is out of her doghouse. Even if my favourite TV programme is on, or a good part in a movie is coming up, I still have to take care of her. It is a lot of work to keep her clean. Sometimes when I brush her I end up with hair all over me.
However, it is all worth it. I have benefited in many ways from having Dion around. For one thing, she provides constant love. She is always there to lick me, lie on me and comfort me. I always have someone to keep me company. I enjoy playing with her. Dion is always there to talk to. Even though she doesn't talk back, I think she can tell when I am happy, sad, angry, confused or troubled.
Dion is a big responsibility but she is the most comforting friend because she is always there, with me.
A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin (顽童) was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.
Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…"He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He wished he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes, I'd love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said. “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast.
He was carrying his little. crippled (残疾) brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it… Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I've been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his cat. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in and three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.
—Did you have trouble finding the city library?
—Not really. Mr Li had given us good directions and we ________find it.
A.dared B.would
C.could D.were able to
A. basing B. which is based C. bases D. to base
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech—“I Have a dream”, you may notice that he stumbles(结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.
People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speechmaking as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performance. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
32.The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.
A.be smarter than you B.notice your mistakes
C.do better than you D.know what you are talking about
33.You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because________.
A.your attention is on the content B.you don’t fully understand the speech
C.you don’t know what the speaker plans to say
D.you find the way of speech-making more important
34.It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A.giving a speech is like giving a performance
B.one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C.the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D.the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be
35.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.How to Be a Perfect Speaker B.How to Make a Perfect Speech
C.Don’ t Expect a Perfect Speech D.Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech
Shanghai Disneyland Park , _______ in 2015, will attract tourists over the world.
A. completed B. being completed
C. to be completed D. to have been completed