A hobby can be almost anything that a person likes to do in his free time. Hobbyists raise pets, watch birds, paint pictures, play the piano and grow flowers. They also go to concerts, climb mountains, go fishing, skate and swim. They collect everything from books to butterflies and from boxes to stamps.
People follow hobbies because these activities offer enjoyment, friendship，knowledge and relaxation. Sometimes they even make money by following a hobby. Hobbies help people relax after hard work, and provide a balance between work and play. Hobbies also offer interesting activities for persons who are retired. Anyone, rich or poor, old or young, can follow an interesting hobby.
Hobbies can also help a patient to keep healthy. Doctors have found that hobbies are useful in helping patients (病人) recover from illness. Hobbies give patients who can’t move around something to do, and provide interests that keep them from thinking about themselves. Many hospitals treat (治疗) patients by having them take up interesting hobbies. Anyone, old or young, sick or well, rich or poor, can follow a good hobby, in spite of his age, health or money.
In early times, most people were too busy making a living to have many hobbies. But some persons who had spare time did enjoy hobbies. People today have more time than ever before for hobbies. Machines have now reduced much time that people must spend on their jobs. More people retire at an earlier age than before. Those who have developed hobbies never need to worry about what to do with their newly-found free time hours.
Sir William Osler, a famous Canadian doctor expressed the value of hobbies by saying, “No man is really happy or safe without a hobby. ”
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Nowadays more and more people like to travel, especially when vacations come. A great number of people rush out of their homes or companies to travelling spots. They either drive or take a bus, a train, a ship and so on. Some even ride bikes.
However, there is another way of travelling—poorism. People have a tour in the poorest areas of the world. Some people may take one-day poorest tour, and some even pay to stay in very poor neighborhoods to experience the lowest living standards in the world. Poorism tours take place around the world, and not just in the third world countries. You can, for instance, tour New York neighborhoods in the Bronx, in the Bund of Shanghai. Such tours can take people into the heart of poor areas within large and in some rich cities. These tours may awaken people to pay more attention to long-standing poverty, or the effects of war.
Some suggest that tours in the poor areas can raise social care. And the money from the tour can be donated to help the people there.
I often hear some students say English is difficult, and it gives them a headache. But English is very easy for me. I'm good at it. I'm very glad to tell you something about how I study English.
First, I think an interest in English is very important. When I learned English first, it was fresh for me. I was interested in it, so I worked hard at it. Soon we had an English exam and I got a very good mark. How happy I was! After that, I learned English harder and harder. Our English teacher often teaches us English songs, and the songs sound nice. I often think how interesting English is!
Second, I think English is a foreign language. I should learn it well in the following ways: Listen to the teacher carefully, speak bravely, read aloud and have a good vocabulary. Then practice again and again, never be tired. And I also have a good habit: Asking whenever I have a question. I must make it clear by asking our English teacher. How happy I am when I understand!
Besides this, I often read English stories, jokes and easy novels. They help me understand a lot of things. So to do more reading is an important way to learn English well. And I also write English diaries. English has become a close friend of mine.
Rainforests (热带雨林) cover six percent of the earth's surface (表面). There are rainforests in many parts of the world. About 75 percent of animals live in rainforests. There are many beautiful birds, insects and so on. Some of them live on the ground, some live under the ground and others live in the trees, over 30 meters from the ground. It is always hot in the rainforests and the ground is always wet. It is also very dark there.
The rainforests are very important for us. We need them! The trees and other plants in the forest help to make the air clean. They also help to control (控制) the temperature.
Unfortunately, in many places, the rainforests are in danger. For example, many years ago there was a large rainforest in Java, but now there is nothing. The same thing happens now in many other parts of the world. It's time to take action to save the rainforests. We can never imagine a world without rainforests. If rainforests disappeared from the earth, we wouldn't find any trees, flowers or fruits. What's more, we wouldn't get clean air, and we wouldn't find any animals. The worst result would be that we wouldn't find any humans.
The umbrella is a very common object. It keeps the 1 and the sun off people. Most umbrellas can be folded up so it is 2to carry them. However, the umbrella has not always been as 3 as it is now. In the past, it was a symbol of importance. Some African countries still use umbrellas in this4. Someone carries an umbrella and walks behind the king or important persons.
Umbrellas are very old. People in different parts of the world began to 5 umbrellas at different times. The Chinese had them more than 3,000 years ago. From there, umbrellas 6 to India and Egypt. In Greece and Rome, 7 wouldn't use them. They believed umbrellas were only for women. England was 8 the first country in Europe where common people used umbrellas against rain. The weather there is very 9and umbrellas are very useful.
Everybody uses umbrellas today. The next time you 10 one, thinking that for centuries only great men and women used them, you'll feel you are an important person too.
Preparing to go to Chinese university is tiring enough. But when studying abroad, you need to worry about things like new tests, essays, recommendations, college choices and visa applications(签证申请).
The first thing you should do after picking the country you want to study in is to make a list of universities, including a dream school (a school you may not get into, but is at the top of your list), a safety school (a school you can definitely get into), and several schools in between. Look at the websites of those universities and you will get a complete list of everything you need for your applications.
The most important thing in any application will be your test scores, so pick a time as early as possible to take an exam preparing course. If you are in a lecture hall with a teacher telling jokes, you are probably just wasting your time. However, US students who attend top universities spend between 500-1,000 hours studying for the SAT, so probably you should do more. You are also going to need to think about how to tell a story about yourself. Chinese students have a reputation for being very hardworking, but also for sometimes lacking creativity or intellectual curiosity(求知欲).
You need to show the university that you are excellent because of your own personality, not because your parents have forced you to be excellent.
Are you interested in sports? Make sure to play on your school's team. Universities want to see that you have interests of your own and can show initiative(主动性).
Finally, find a consultant(顾问) to help you through the application process. You will need this help, but please open your eyes wide and be as cautious as you can. Some agents will try their best to help students fulfill their dreams, but there are some irresponsible ones who care more about the fees paid by students.
Come and see the Indian elephants and the new tigers from America. The bears(熊) are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from China are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you.
Tickets
Grown-ups(成人)：＄2.00
Children：Over 12＄1.00 Under 12 free(免费)
Opening time: 9:00 a.m.— 4:00 :m.
Except(除了) Friday 10:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.
Keep the zoo clean!
Do not touch, give food or go near the animals.
Where do you like to live? For this question, different people have different answers. Some people like to live in a city because there are many shops and supermarkets. They think it is convenient(方便的) to buy things. But some people think it is good to live in a quiet town because they don't like the dirty air in the big city. They dislike pollution in the city.
Today, some people like travelling, so they would like to buy house cars. House car is both a house and a car. You can't buy it with a little money. There is a driving area in the car. You can do lots of things in the car. There is a bed and a lamp in the bedroom. You can make dinner in the kitchen. You can also find a fridge and a sink in it. You can listen to music and watch TV in the sitting room. If you are tired, you can have a shower or a bath in the bathroom. You can do most things you want to do. Life is travelling. Do you want to live in this kind of car?
Why Wisdom （智慧）Doesn't Work as Well as We Think It Does
We relate wisdom to age. Most of us believe that gaining wisdom is like picking up stones on a path: the longer you're on the path, the more stones you'll collect.
It seems a reasonable inference, then, the older you are, the more wisdom you have. Older people usually make fewer careless mistakes, and they often know the best course of action in a given situation. But I think there's another explanation at play here, which we might consider in the light of what we know about human decision-making.
There are two different ways of decision-making: plans and habits. Here's an example of how these ways differ. If you're driving somewhere for the first time, you'll need a plan. You will need to know whether to turn left or right, because you don't already have that information stored away in your head. On the other hand, you don't need a plan when you're going somewhere familiar （熟悉的） because the order of steps that will take you there is stored as a habit. But if you find that the road is blocked by fallen trees, you'll have to think about another way. Such a plan allows you to more easily deal with new situations, but they require a lot more attention.
The use of plans and habits changes over the course of our lives. A baby can't use habits to make decisions, because any situation she's in will be a new one. As we build up a store of familiar situations, the more we can depend on habits. The older you are, the more likely your behavior is based on tried- and-true habits rather than fresh planning.
But what does this tell us about wisdom? Well, it suggests that wisdom is interactive, not static: it is a relationship between a person and their surroundings （环境）. The reason that wisdom seems to come out so effortlessly from well-seasoned minds is that they have a store of habitual information about how to act in a given situation.
But it also makes a worrying prediction: if older people were put in a new situation, with which they had no familiarity, they wouldn't make better decisions than someone who is young. It is the same with mistakes. Older, seemingly wiser people make fewer mistakes because they're familiar with surroundings they often deal with. If you controlled for the familiarity of the situation, then people in different age groups would probably make the same number of mistakes. Younger people might even make fewer mistakes, because they are better at coming up with fresh plans.
While wisdom gives you expertise within a particular environment, it doesn't mean that you'll be able to generalize that to new experiences. It's not that we necessarily get wiser as we get older, but we put ourselves in fewer situations where we are likely to make mistakes.
The summer vacation is coming. During the vacation, you can do what you like and prepare yourself for the future. You'll enjoy this period of time to the fullest with the help of the following 1.
Take exercise. After working hard for months, you must be bored. Taking exercise is the best way to get 2 again. Swimming and walking are perfect choices for you. All kinds of exercise 3 your health.
Master some basic life skills. You will live an 4 life one day. Therefore, you should learn some necessary and useful skills such as washing clothes and cooking. At the same time, you can help your parents 5 housework to express your thanks to them.
Go travelling. The world is a book. Those who don't travel only read one page. Travelling is so 6. Have you made your own travel plan? If not, do it 7! During the trip, you will have a chance to learn more knowledge. While learning about different cultures and customs. You will also make a lot of friend.
Enjoy time with family members. Family members play an important role in your life. They give you love, care and support all the time. Don't 8 to spare some time to get together with them. You will find 9 great to stay with them, talking about dreams, hobbies or anything you like.
10 you follow what is mentioned above, you will have a wonderful vacation.
Have you ever seen the film "Titanic"? "Titanic" was one of the largest and finest ships in 1912.It hit an iceberg (冰山) on its first sailing (航行) from England to America and sank very soon, leaving a love story to the people. Do you know what an iceberg is?
The earth is round, like a ball. The top of the earth is the North Pole. The bottom of the earth is the South Pole. At the top and the bottom of the earth, there is a lot of ice. It is very cold there. Sometimes there is no sunshine for many months. There is ice everywhere all the time. Large pieces of ice fall into the sea. They don't go to the bottom of the sea. They float (漂浮) near the top of the water. We call these large pieces of ice "iceberg". Some icebergs are bigger than a tall building. Icebergs are dangerous for ships. Sometimes a ship hits an iceberg. Then the ship sinks.
You can make a small iceberg. Put a piece of ice in a glass of water. Look at it. The ice does not sink.
Drinking Kungfu Tea is one of the most famous customs in Chaoshan area. In Chaoshan, family has tea sets. Tea must be several times a day. Chaoshan people can not be without tea for a day, so the hing Chaoshan people usually treat guests is to make tea.
Kungfu Tea is not a kind of tea. It's a to make tea. The reason why it is called Kungfu Tea is because it is made in a very particular way. The word "Kungfu" in Chaoshan dialect means to pay to the way of doing things. Here it refers he way of cooking and tasting tea. Chaoshan Kungfu Tea has become mportant part of the study of Chaoshan culture. Drinking Kungfu Tea kind of social activity in people's daily life, which leads to many customs.
It seems that there are so many cultures and emotions in a cup of Kungfu Tea. Chaoshan people enjoy a slow pace of life. It's really wonderful for them to make a cup of tea after a day's work and taste it .
Have you ever tried to hide your emotions from someone during a conversation? It's not always easy, as the color of your face might tell the truth.
Scientists from the Ohio State University have found that people are able to tell other people's emotions according to changes in the color of their faces, The Guardian reported.
Scientists studied pictures of people's facial expressions. They found that every facial expression has an only color pattern. For example, happiness makes our faces red around the cheeks and temples and a little blue around the chin. Disgust creates a blue-yellow color around the lips, but also a red-green color around the nose and forehead.
"We believe these color patterns are due to small changes in blood flow triggered by the central nervous system," lead researcher Aleix Martinez told The Guardian.
But this raises a question: Is it the color alone, or also facial expressions, that help people tell others' emotions?
To work this out, scientists added color patterns to pictures of faces that showed no facial expressions. They asked volunteers to tell what emotions the faces were showing. Volunteers were able to accurately tell the emotion 75 percent of the time.
This might explain why there are some sayings that connect emotions to the color of one's face. For example, when two people are heatedly arguing over something, we say they are "red in the face". When a person is very angry, we'd say he or she is "blue in the face".
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Word Bank: emotions 情感 pattern 模式 expression 表情 cheeks 脸颊 temples 太阳穴 chin 下巴 disgust 厌恶 triggered 触发 nervous system 神经系统 accurately 准确地 |
Bi Sheng was born in Song Dynasty. He lived in a small village which lies in Huanggang today. He was the world's first inventor of the printing. It is about 400 years earlier than the printing in Germany.
The printing is also called the movable-type printing(活字印刷). But how did it work in the past?
First of all, the clay was made into movable types. Then words were engraved(雕刻) carefully onto the types. After that the words were chosen and put in the right order in a box according to the text. Next, the workers brushed ink onto the movable types. Finally the types could be used for printing. They could be used again and again for different books.
The movable-type printing plays an important role in Chinese culture. With the help of it. Chinese culture spread around the world more quickly. At the same time, the movable-type printing was widely used in the world at that time. As a result, more and more culture communication among countries took place.
The movable-type printing, the compass(指南针), gunpowder and the paper-making are called the four great inventions of China. They make China own an important and even top position in the history of human civilization(文明).
Have you ever heard of e-waste, which can be produced every day? How do you deal with your computers, MP4 players and mobile phones when they're broken or you want a new one?
Most people just throw them away. With the development of electric industry, e-waste pollution has become a serious problem. According to the United Nations, in 2014, people around the world produced 41. 8 million tons of e-waste and only recycled 6. 5 million tons. The US was the biggest waster, producing 7.1 million tons. China came second, with 6 million tons,
It's important to pay attention to e-waste. It can either be valuable or harmful, depending on how we deal with it. E-waste is a valuable urban mine. The value of the metals, like gold and silver in the waste around the world, is amazing. And the metals can be reused. But if people throw them away, the toxic chemicals can get into the earth or air, affecting the environment and people's health.
Apple, for example, now reycle people's used products in China when they are buying new ones. The company will test and repair the used ones and sell them at lower prices. To help reduce e-waste, we can also take computers and phones to see if companies offer recycling programmes.
Welcome to Great Minds. Today we're going to talk about three famous people in history.
Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879, and (die) in the US in 1955. He is considered (be) the greatest scientist of the 20th century. His theories explain the way the universe (work). In many photographs, you can see his (smile) face.
William Shakespeare lived about 400 years ago. During his life, he wrote around 39 plays as (good) as hundreds of poems. He's the most popular writer in the English language. One of his most famous plays (call) Romeo and Juliet.
Confucius lived over 2, 000 years ago in China. He was a teacher and philosopher. He spent much of (he) life travelling and meeting many different people. He is remembered for his wise sayings. They were written down by his students.
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China has built and operated the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统) independently. On July 31, Beidou started providing global (全球的) services. It provides around the clock, all-weather and highly accurate positioning (精准定位), navigation, timing and messaging services to people around the world. |
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It is one of the four global navigation systems, along with US'GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo. Since 2, 000, 59 Beidou satellites have been launched. More than120 countries are using Beidou services. |
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The Beidou system has been used by: |
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6.6 million taxis, buses and trucks around China |
more than 70,000 Chinese fishing boats |
at least 50, 000 farm machines |
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more than 70 percent of Chinese mobile phones |
300 general aviation aircraft(航空飞机) |
51, 000 postal service vehicles(邮政服务车) |
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Beidou spirit (精神) On July 31, President Xi Jinping called on Chinese people to carry on the spirit of the scientists who developed Beidou. They have been always carrying forward the Beidou spirit of the "independent innovations, unity and collaboration, overcoming difficulties, and the pursuit of excellence." |
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Mike is an Australian boy. Now he studies in Guangzhou. He is1Grade Seven. He has a dog. It's black2 white. The dog's very clever. Mike likes it very much. 3favorite food is the bone. Every day when Mike 4 home, the dog meets him in front of the house.
Mike's friend, Amy is 5 English girl. She is in Guangzhou, too. They are in the same grade, 6 in different classes. She has a pet panda. It's 7 a black and white one, but it 8 a real panda. It's a toy. The panda is very clean. Amy often washes 9 in water. 10 is the panda now? Oh, It's sleeping with Amy.
