Feeling the need to change, Leah star ted playing with future possibilities by exploring her interests and ______ new capabilities.

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Walk Out of the Comfort Zone and Try New Things

    For most high school students, free periods are useless. From what I have seen, few do homework, instead many are on their phones and talking, making it impossible for those who actually want to do work to complete any. As a senior next year, I think extra periods should be used to take optional subjects.

    Our school offers many classes. Now is the time to experiment in different fields of study. We will never know if we are interested or talented in a subject if we don't try it.

    In my 8th grade, I was told that I had to take an art class as a graduation requirement; so in the 9th grade I took Studio and Art. One of the projects was to build a clay pot, but I built mine incorrectly, so it broke in the kiln (窑). I found out that I have no artistic ability at all, and now I know for sure that I do not want to be an artist. However, the class was one of my favorites that year. I was able to try new activities and test my ability.

    Walk out of our comfort zone and try new things! College is when we should focus on a specific major, but high school is when we have to figure it out.

    Half of all college students change their major at some point. By doing that hundreds of dollars are wasted on classes that they would have never needed to take. So use our extra periods to find out what we want to do in college. The classes we choose can impact us in future. Taking optional subjects will enrich our mind. It will also show colleges we are diverse students.

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Traveling by train may seem like a pain when there are faster ways to get around, but unless you've taken a long journey by train, there is no way you can begin to understand how amazing an experience it can be. Trains offer a certain romance(浪漫) which planes and cars never could.

Trains offer you a view like no other. When you fly in a plane, yes, the view is breathtaking for the first part of the flight and the final part, but the flight itself means pretty much clouds or darkness—both of which get real boring and real fast. And by car, the actual act of driving and navigating(导航) means that you don't really get to fully take things in. The train offers a comfy(轻松的) spot that gives you the chance to relax and enjoy the beauty around you. Many have said that they'd never known how beautiful their own country is until having the chance to see it from the train. There is something magical about travelling around the country using one of the oldest known methods of transportation. It's so... Orient Express... without the murder of course!

If you're inspired by this article enough to want to consider a trip enjoying the train, then my first suggestion would be a trip in and around Europe. You've likely heard of Eurail which is the best way to get all around Europe, but before we get into that, know that many European countries still use the old fashioned locomotives(火车头) for regional trips. Imagine travelling along the beautiful countryside of Portugal or Austria in a compartment. The quiet setting, the history and the magic is enough to take your breath away. That really is the ultimate in travel.

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    The worst outbreak of desert locusts (蝗虫) in decades is presently underway in the Horn of Africa. It is the biggest of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia — and the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years.

    What we are seeing in East Africa today is unlike anything we've seen in a very long time. Its destructive potential is enormous, and it's taking place in a region where farmers need every gram of food to feed themselves and their families. Most of the countries hardest hit are those where millions of people are already vulnerable (脆弱的) or in serious humanitarian need, as they endure the impact of violence, drought, and floods.

    We have acted quickly to respond to this outbreak. The primary method of battling locusts is the aerial spraying of pesticides (杀虫剂). FAO's "Locust Watch" service explains that "although giant nets, flamethrowers, lasers, and huge vacuums have been proposed in the past, these are not in use for locust control. People and birds often eat locusts but usually not enough to significantly reduce population levels over large areas."

    The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $10 million from its Central Emergency Relief Fund to fund a huge scale-up in aerial operations to manage the outbreak.

    But the window to contain this crisis is closing fast. We only have until the beginning of March to bring this infestation under control as that is when the rain and planting season begins. If left unchecked — and with expected additional rains — locust numbers in East Africa could increase 500 times by June.

    We must act now to avoid a full-blown catastrophe. And we will. At the same time, we need to pay attention to a bigger picture. This is not the first time the Greater Horn of Africa has seen locust outbreak approach this scale, but the current situation is the worst in decades. This is linked to climate change. Warmer seas mean more tropical storms, generating the perfect breeding conditions for locusts.

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

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限一词。

2）.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Dear Ralph,

    I'm a senior student. I have be in love with a boy for three years. But he is a shy boy, so I wrote him a letter firstly to express my feeling. And he wrote back. In his letter he said, “We are students. Our task is study. Let us wait to see until we have any chance after graduation.” So after graduation I telephoned to him, asking him about go out . But he said he didn't want to. He just wanted to sleep and watched TV. How do you think I should do? Do you think I should continue to love him and give up.

I really look forward to (hear) from you as soon as possible.

Insurance statistics show that most wives ______ their husbands ,which means that women have stronger hearts.

人们普遍认为查尔斯·巴贝奇发明了第一台电脑。

Charles Babbage is generally considered the first computer.

Self confidence is a kind of quality and that is        it takes to do everything well.

The handwritten and illustrated book by J. K. Rowling was u sold for £ 1. 95 million, although it had been expected to be sold for £ 50,000.

The (beautiful) of the city invites me to have a longer stay.

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    A typical child plays many roles, such as friend, neighbor, son or daughter. Simply reminding children of that fact can lead to better problem-solving and more flexible thinking, according to new research from Duke University.

    Better problem-solving was just one positive finding of the study, said lead author Sarah Gaither, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. After thinking about their own various identities, children also showed more flexible thinking about race and other social groupings—a behavior that could be valuable in an increasingly diverse society.

    In a series of experiments, Gaither and her colleagues looked at 196 children, ages 6 and 7. In an experiment, one group of children was reminded that they had various identities, such as son, daughter, reader or helper. A second group of children was reminded of their multiple physical attributes, such as a mouth, arms and legs. All the children then needed to handle a few tasks

    Children who were reminded of their various identities showed stronger problem-solving and creative thinking skills. When shown pictures of a bear staring at honey-filled beehive(蜂窝)high up in a tree, these children had more creative ideas for how the bear might get the honey, such as turning over a bowl so that it became a stool(凳子). In other words, they saw a new use for the bowl. Children who were reminded of their multiple roles also showed more flexible thinking about social groupings. When asked to categorize different photos of faces, they suggested many ways to Spso. They identified smiling faces such as unsmiling ones, and old and young faces. The other children, meanwhile, primarily grouped people's faces by race and gender(性别).

    The-study suggests ways to promote flexible thinking for the young, which could be especially valuable for teachers." Gaither said.

    "We have this tendency in our society to only think about ourselves in connection with one important group at a time," Gaither said. "When kids think that they have various identities, they show greater abilities."

Sometimes I wonder how (有关的) chemistry is to these students.