Mr. Smith had a 8-year-old son named Tony, who enjoyed listening to music very much. So he bought a piano to Tony, hoping that he can become a famous pianist one day. The little boy put her heart into practicing the piano day after day and seemed enjoy every minute of it. However, half a year later, he told his father that he was tiring of practicing the piano. Heard this, Mr. Smith said, “Tony, it is one thing to be fond of listening to music, and it is another thing to perform skillful by yourself. You can never play the piano well even if you don't practice more. ”
—They hoped to (武装) their children with more knowledge.
—(除了) Lucy, for her leg was hurt.
Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you do, be, and experience everything you want in life.1just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen. Successful people2how their life should be and set lots of goals. By setting goals, you are3your life. It's like having a4to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are5drivers. One has a destination in mind (her goal) which can be found on a map. She can drive straight there without any6time or wrong turns. The other driver has no goal or destination or map. She starts off at the same time from the same place as the first driver,7she drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just8gas. Which driver do you want to be? Winners in life set goals and follow through on them. They decide what they want in life and then get there by making9and setting goals. Unsuccessful people just let life happen by accident. Goals aren't difficult to set and they aren't difficult to reach. It's up to you to find out what your goals really are. You must know what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life, or you'll be 10.
When we read books we seem to enter a new world. This new world can be similar to the one we are living in, or it can be very 1 . Some stories are told 2 they were true. Real people who live in a 3 world do real things; in other words, the stories are about people just like us doing what we do. Other stories, such as the Harry Potter books, are not 4. They are characters and creatures that are very different from us and do things that would be 5 for us.
But there is more to books and writing than this. If we think about it, even realistic writing is only 6. How can we tell the difference between what is real and what is not real? For example, when we read about Harry Potter, we 7 seem to learn something about the real world. And when Harry studies magic at Hogwarts, he also learns more about his real life than 8. Reading, like writing, is an action. It is a way of 9. When we read or write something, we do much more than simple look at words on a page. We use our 10 --which is real—and our imagination—which is real in a different way — to make the words come to life in our minds.
Both realism and fantasy(幻想) 11 the imagination and the "magic" of reading and writing to make us think. When we read 12realistic, we have to imagine that the people we are reading about are just like us, even though we13 that we are real and they are14. It sounds 15, but it works. When we read, we fill in missing information and16 about the causes and effects of what a character does. We help the writer by 17 that what we read is like real life. In a way, we are writing the book, too.
Most of us probably don't think about what is going on in our 18 when we are reading. We pick up a book and lose 19 in a good story, eager to find out what will happen next. Knowing how we feel 20we read can help us become better readers, and it will help us discover more about the real magic of books.
—They are (跳过)there.
—By WeChat.
I was very unhappy. "Another 1 day at school?" Papa asked as I came into the room. Over the past two months I had 2 thrown my bag across the room every time I came home from 3 . Papa thought it had 4 to do with moving to a new house.
"I know this 5 has been hard on you. Leaving your friends behind is painful, "Papa said." But what you must 6 is that, with a lot of hard work and some time, you will make new friends. "
"You don't know how 7 it is. This year my baseball team would have won the championship. They won't even give me a 8 to pitch(当投手) here. All I get to 9 is right field(右外场), and that's the worst!"
Papa turned toward me, "Things will get better, I 10 you. Do you know 11 you were named David Lorenzo? "
"Yes, your name is David and Grandfather's name is Lorenzo."
"And what makes your grandfather so 12 ?"
"He was the first in the family to 13 this country, "I answered.
"That is only partly correct. In Mexico your grandfather had been a (n) 14. When he came to America he could only get manual labor(体力劳动) jobs 15 he didn't speak the language. It took him two years before he spoke English well enough to be 16 to teach here, but he did it, "said Papa.
Papa continued, "Your grandfather taught me that if you let people see your talent, they will 17 you for who you are. I remember that 18 and when you were born I want you to always remember what my father taught me, 19 it takes a few years for people to see who you are. "
I looked down at my feet, 20 of my behavior.
Back in freshman year, I found myself wondering whether it should really be called "volunteering" if students only do it because they have to.
I ended up volunteering at Weyrich Health Center, helping elderly patients with daily tasks. The more I did these tasks, the more disconnected I felt from the seniors. Though I felt bad for them, I did not want to interact with them.
Then one rainy day, I met Colonel Hems worth. He invited me to his table and asked for some company. I regarded this as another boring task. However, when I listened to his stories, I learned that he was a brilliant war veteran(老兵), and I found his tales interesting.
After my brief talk with Colonel, I realized that I shared common characters with all the seniors. I felt like an oxygen molecule(分子)—ready to form a relationship—rather than an isolated gas.
I met with many learned senior citizens who shared their experiences and wisdom. No longer did I walk aimlessly down the hallways. I found myself enjoying talking with these people as I learned their histories. Why hadn't I realized sooner that volunteer work could enlighten me?
Some people argue that volunteering and working for change does not help. However, they fail to realize that the world is constantly changing and humans must adapt. My experience at Weyrich Health Center has taught me that refusing to change one's views and accept new ones leads to short-term goals that finally disappear. Communication with others is an important part of life. Volunteering is not just a requirement or a way to improve your resume; it is a time for service and personal growth.
Now I enjoy volunteering my time surrounded by seniors who bring history alive for me. By communicating with them, I have developed into a more dynamic person.
Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night—as well as during the day, British-based researchers say.
David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clocks, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.
Dr. Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds' health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night.
He told people at a conference, "There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy. "
And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr. Dominoni said, "In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to me saying 'You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls? During the breeding(繁殖) season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep. "
Although Dr. Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.
However, some birds thrive(兴旺) in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌) fleeing to quieter areas.
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keep off stand up for hold out put forward look down on send for keep one's word come about have a gift for talk over with |
Climate change has been blamed for killer hurricanes, sea level rise, and drought, but a new report suggests the effects of climate change might hit the world's coffee supply. Up to 70 percent of the world's coffee supply could be threatened over the next 66 years, according to a new study by researchers at England's Royal Botanic Gardens.
Nearly 100 percent of the world's Arabica coffee growing regions could become unsuitable for the plant by 2080, according to the study. Beans from Arabica coffee plants account for about 70 percent of the world's coffee, but the plant also has to be grown under strict weather conditions: they grow well at temperatures between 64 and 70 degrees Celsius, and are highly influenced by frost or temperatures higher than 73 degrees Celsius.
With temperatures estimated to increase by between 1. 8 and 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the fragile plant might become increasingly expensive and difficult to grow, especially in places such as Ethiopia and Kenya. In that worst case, nearly all of the world's native Arabica coffee would die out. Under more conservative(保守的)estimates, about 65 percent of the regions used to grow the coffee would become unsuitable for it. The evidence from coffee farmers and coffee growing regions around the world is that they are already suffering from the influences of increased warming.
Some farmers would likely be able to move their operations to other areas or would be able to overcome climate change with artificial cooling techniques, but wild Arabica is generally considered to be much more suitable for making high-quality coffee.
If Arabica becomes impossible to raise in its native areas, it could do serious damage to the economies of the mainly third-world countries in which it grows. Coffee is the world's most popular drink and is the second most-traded product in the world, behind oil.
At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of the use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when email is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just an online email, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.
Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. "I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling," said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.
The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.
