One sunny day, I decided to go for a walk with my husband. I was wearing a special1 ring that day. It was my 20th birthday gift from my grandmother.
As we were walking in the park, I just looked 2 at my hand and found the diamond on my ring was missing. I was really 3 so I went back to look for it. I knew how small the chances were of finding it, but I still wanted to give it a try.
As I was fixing my eyes on the ground, I ran into an old gentleman 4.
“What's the matter, love?” he asked nicely.
“Sorry that I ran into you,” I said. “But I lost something important. I'm really nervous.”
I explained about the missing diamond and showed him the5 in my ring.
“That's not going to be easy to find it,” he said. “Tell you what, love, I take a walk here every day. I'll6 my eyes open for it.”
I thanked him, expecting7. However, a few days later, my husband and I met the old man again in the park.
“Guess what,” he said. “I found your diamond!”
I couldn't believe what I saw when the gentleman handed the diamond back to me. Then my husband8him money for his help, but he refused.
As the diamond is worth several thousand dollars, the old man could have easily kept the diamond 9sold it, but he did neither of these.
Now thanks to this man, I always look at my ring and remind10 that there are still kind and generous souls out there. I'll spend more time trying to do something equally nice for other people.
Kirsten:Have you read the book, The Travel? I just finished it yesterday.
Renee: No, but I've wanted to. Is it good?
Kirsten: It is! But it's quite grim.
Renee: How so?
Kirsten: In the story, a mother and her son were on a trip when they were caught by a group of crazy people. They were kept in a small dark room and treated terribly. It really broke my heart to read that the mother chose to stay and fight with the bad guys. She was almost killed when trying to help her son run away.
Renee: So it's this grim from the first page to the end?
Kirsten:Yes, but there's still a bright side in it. You get to see how strong parents can be when they want to keep their children from being hurt.
Renee: I see. I'm surely going to borrow it from the library.
Kirsten: Then you must hurry. When I borrowed it last Friday, they told me that many people were waiting to read it!
Millions of Chinese have been playing a mobile game called Travel Frog recently. You play as the “mother” of a frog who lives alone and enjoys traveling. You need to prepare food and tools for his trips. The frog will send you postcards while he is away.
The game's popularity may have something to do with how lonely people are these days, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Many players have said that the lonely frog is just like them. But playing with the frog helps them forget their loneliness for a short time.
Loneliness seems to be a common problem today. According to the Guardian, a British daily, about 40 percent of American adults say they're lonely. And in the UK, about one in five people in the country are “always or often lonely”, the Telegraph reported.
This might be why the UK government announced the country's very first “Minister of Loneliness” (孤独大臣) in January. The minister's job is to find ways to help UK citizens feel less lonely. The minister's office will provide more money for activities that connect people together.
This loneliness problem may be partly because of social media. When we see pictures of friends having fun or posting pictures on WeChat or Microblog, we may compare their “perfect” lives with our own and feel sad and lonely.
But we should remember that no one is born to be lonely. As UK poet John Donne once wrote, “No man is an island. Every man is a piece of the land, a part of the main.” Here are some tips to get rid of loneliness:
Sing your favorite songs.
Connect with a friend.
Do something creative, such as drawing a picture.
Imagine some place you'd like to visit, like a fun gathering or a sporting event.
Hi, my name is Murray Wenzel. But my friends call me Muz, Muzza, Wenz or even Moon. Yes, I have lots of nicknames. But in Australia, where I am from, that's quite common.
In fact most men in Australia call their friends something other than their real name. It is part of our culture to shorten or make up names for those we know and love. For example, one of my friend's names is Alex, but we call him Al. Another is named Jayson, but everyone knows him as Jase. In Australia most men called William are known as Bill, while Jeremy is Jez, James is Jim and Joseph is Joey.
Sometimes we use the person's surname in their nickname, like my friend Karl Schussig who we call Schuzza. Sometimes we combine them, like my friend Troy Cassels being called TC. And we sometimes make up a new name for our friends. My friend Nathan's nickname is “Prez”, because when we first met he joked that I should call him “El President”.
Even more confusing is when we are given ironic(讽刺的) nicknames. For example, a man with red hair will be known as Bluey, a tall man will be called Shorty or a large man will be known as Slim.
Most of my friends call me Muz, but those who I play hockey(曲棍球) with call me Moon. However, my parents still call me Murray.
So, I have different names depending on who I am talking to. Nicknames are so popular that sometimes people forget what the person's real name is.
I think it is our way of showing affection to those we are close to.
Only humans speak using words. But all kinds in the animal world can communicate in one way or another. Maybe you have heard about the way bees dance around to send messages to each other and the way dogs bark in different ways to give warnings, to be friendly or to be playful. But did you know about infrasonic communication used by elephants? This is how it works:
Humans hear low sounds like thunder rumbling in the sky. But we don't hear sounds lower than this. However, animals such as elephants and hippos can hear much lower sounds than humans can. And what's more, they can make those low sounds as well, and they use them to communicate with each other. This is known as infrasound.
The amazing thing about infrasound is that it travels over several kilometers. Higher-level sounds like the one people can hear, don't travel well through walls, leaves, trees and so on, which is why we can't hear sounds from more than 100 meters away. But infrasound is much stronger and things like grass and trees have no influence on it. Therefore, it can travel much further. Elephants can hear infrasonic calls from four kilometers away!
There have been reports of people watching groups of elephants feeding or resting and then the elephants suddenly all stopped what they were doing for no reason at all. They obviously heard a warning call from a long way away, but the people didn't hear a sound. In places like a zoo or wildlife park where you can get nearer to animals, it is a bit easier to sense when infrasonic sounds are made. When you stand near mother elephants with their babies in a zoo, you may notice a slight rumbling in the air every few minutes—not loud or strong, but clearly noticed. This is infrasonic communication—the mother elephants “talking” to their babies.
a seaside city visiting have been places of interest open |
Henry: Hi, Emily. The May Day holiday is coming. What's your plan for it?
Emily: Well, let's have a trip together, OK?
Henry: Good idea! Where shall we go?
Emily: What about going to Qingdao?
Henry: I'm afraid that's not a good idea. Qingdao is not suitable for travelling at this time of year.
Emily: I see. Then how about Beijing? There are many
Henry: But I there a few times.
Emily: Then what's your idea?
Henry: I hear Jiuzhaigou is to the public recently. And it's much more beautiful than before.
Emily: Yeah. It's really a place of nature. And our government spends much money rebuilding it.
It's well worth .
Henry: OK. Turn on the computer and find more information about it.
Chinese social network companies began to take away the smoking emoji(表情符号) from their products to support China's new indoor smoking ban(禁烟令).
The smoking emoji usually s for the feeling of “cool” or “relaxed” in many apps before. Since the new ban was announced, China's technology companies have been a to take this kind of emoji away.
“Smoking is not cool,” said Zhang Jianshu, head of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association. “It's not pto take smoking as being cool”. He pointed out that the major social network users are younger people, who were much e to be influenced.
In response, Sina Weibo took away the emoji of a smoker in September on its smart phone apps and c Two months later, Tencent followed Weibo's footsteps on November 6, 2017 to change the smoking emoji w a green leaf. However, the action was only taken on QQ's mobile app. QQ on PC still r the same. Tencent's another popular social app, Wechat, has also been required to change the emoji.
China is home to 300 million smokers and produces the world's l number of cigarettes. It is reported that about 27.7% people sin China in 2017, according to the government. Zhang said, taking the smoking emoji away was to prevent it spreading the wrong i among the public.
The BTAC hopes to use the social network to make more people develop a healthier lifestyle.
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。
More and more British people are deciding not to eat meat and animal products. As a result, vegetarianism(素食主义) is increasing in the UK. According to the Vegetarian Society, 2000 people are giving up meat and “going veggie(素食)” in Britain every week. There's even a National Vegetarian Week organized every year to encourage people to try a meat-free lifestyle.
Vegetarians and vegans
Vegetarians are people who don't eat or use any animal products. They are becoming more and more common in the UK culture. A recent survey showed that 3 million people (5.7 percent of the country's population) were vegetarians.
A healthy diet
So why are British people cutting out meat? Many are unhappy about the poor treatment of animals and the effects of meat and fish production on the environment. Worries about food safety, for example mad cow disease, also play a part. Others choose to change their eating habits to get healthier. According to the Vegetarian Society, a meat-free diet could help prevent the certain cancers, as well as heart disease and high blood pressure(压力).
Organic(有机的) farming
Another rising trend appears in the UK's food production. They want their food to be organically produced. Organic farmers use very few or no chemicals. Organic meat is produced without the use of drugs. Organically farmed animals also have more living space and more good food. According to the Soil Association, three out of every four UK families now buy some type of organic food.
Vegetarianism is becoming in the UK | |
Vegetarianism is increasing in the UK more and more British people are choosing to live a meat-free style. The government a National Vegetarian Week every year to encourage people to stop eating meat. | |
Vegetarians and vegans | Vegetarians don't eat or use any products. It is reported that the of vegetarians in the UK is about 3 million . |
A healthy diet | Three for cutting out meat Some people think the production of meat and fish may harm both the animals themselves and the Some people are about food safety. They don't think the meat they eat are safe enough. A meat-free diet could help reduce the of the certain cancers, as well as heart disease and high blood pressure. |
Organic farming | Organic farmers use very few or no chemicals. Organic meat is produced without drugs. At present, about 75% of UK families buy some type of organic food. |
I will move to your community and stay for two months. I want to know something about your community. What is your community like? What activities do you usually have? How can I get along with your neighbors?
Write soon!
Yours,
Ben
假如你是Li Ming，请用英语给笔友Ben回复邮件。
注意：
1)文中不得出现你的真实姓名和学校名称；
2)语言通顺，意思连贯，条理清楚，书写规范；
3)词数80左右，邮件的开头与结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Ben,
I'm very glad to know that you will come to our community.
Yours,
Li Ming
