I had reached the age of twenty-eight. Still, I doubted the letter from my past would make it to me, all these years later. It was a simple creative writing assignment from when I was eighteen. The teacher collected our letters to our future selves in self-addressed envelopes with stamps and promised to mail them ten years later. Yet so much time had passed. Would he even remember?
Thinking back on the letter, I vaguely recalled giving my future self some advice. When you're eighteen years old, twenty-eight seems like a grown-up age but I wasn't feeling as grown up as I believed my younger self had expected me to be.
When the letter finally reached me, I opened it eagerly. It began," How much do you bet this letter will never get to you "It continued to greet me casually as if we were having an IM (instant messaging) chat. My eighteen-year-old self was so stressed! As a senior in high school, facing the SATS and college applications, I was apparently not quite happy and hoped I wouldn't worry so much in the future, and that I wouldn't forget to be present and enjoy my life!
Contrary to my belief, my eighteen-year-old self did not have any demands of me, or expectations I might have failed to meet. Instead, she wrote," I'll stand by whatever you do. Even if you are not who I'm imagining now, I'll support you, because maybe who I' m imagining is someone else, and you are-well you're not someone else, you're me."
I was blown away, and tears welled up in my eyes at this self-acceptance through time. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best version of myself that I could be. However, I came to realize what I would have accomplished in ten years' time would pale in comparison to how I'd feel and who I'd be.
One spring day, once the flowers have begun to open, a bee will hover (盘旋) and zip through your yard and dive-bomb your picnic table. While you're thinking about avoiding an attack, that bee is focused on something else entirely: me.
A honeybee has about six weeks to live. Today, like most days, her task is to fly as many as three miles from home, stick her long, straw-like tongue into a hundred or so flowers. When the bee has had her fill, she'll fly home. There the bee will deposit what she has got into the mouth of one of her co-workers, who will relay it to another, and so on for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is ready to be placed into the comb. Then she and her 50 000 or so mates will hover in the dark all night every night, flapping their wings to create hot, breezy conditions to remove the water from the mixture. Several sunrises later, they will seal me off in a golden cell of beeswax. In her lifetime, our bee may visit 4,000 flowers, and yet will produce only one-twelfth of a tea spoon of me.
The average American consumes nearly a pound and a half of me every year, in tea, on toast, and beyond. If I do say so myself, I am a timeless treasure. Literally—I never go bad.
Alas, my good health is not guaranteed. The problem lies in the growth of industrial agriculture and the use of pest control chemicals, as well as changes in weather patterns, all of which reduce the number of flowers bees have to visit I'd appreciate your letting your own garden grow just a little wild My future depends on all of us fostering spring and summers wild flowers, thus helping the bees, who give so much—to you, to me—without ever asking for anything in return..
Surely, given the near-universal use of home computers and smart devices(设备 )like smartphones and tablets, most of us would suspect that watching TV-seen as out dated or even old-fashioned by some-is on the decline. We probably would. And we would be wrong. A new study on screen time conducted by researchers from Robert Stempel College of Public Health Social Work have found that TV-watching has actually gone up since the moment when smart devices became widely available in 2014.
"The findings are surprising as it feels like mobile devices are omnipresent, but the television still commands more eyeballs than its more advanced brothers and sisters" said Dr. Jenny Radskey" And there is a growing concern over the screen time of children, particularly very young children, for whom watching shows in front of screens is still the most common way to consume media."
According to a study published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) Pediatrics the increase in the amount of screen time for inns and toddlers(婴幼儿) is telling. Specifically, in 1997 children under the age of 2 spent 1.3 hours in front of TV per day on average, while children between the ages of3 and 5 did the same for 2.5 hours. By 2014, however, the latter group showed no significant change, while the former group more than doubled their time spent watching TV, clocking in at 3 hours per day.
The research also shows that too much screen time before age 2 or 3 is associated with language development delays, ADHD, and learning difficulties. A child's brain develops rapidly during the first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.
Based on these findings, parents who worry about the excessive amount of time their children spend glued to their smartphones and tablets might do well to pay more attention to their littlest ones, for whom viewing time in front of the TV should be greatly cut down.
Fun Writing Activities for Struggling Writers
There are dozens of reasons kids struggle with writing. They may have difficulty getting their thoughts down on paper. Perhaps grammar and language barriers are blocking their progress. Whatever the reason, adding a little fun can be a great way to get the creative juices flowing.
Sometimes writers get stuck because they simply don't know where to start. For a child, you can try things that are geared(合适)toward their interests, like My Favorite Toy, or What I Like to Do in the Summer. Remember, it's important to support and guide their ideas, not to discourage thoughts or judge them.
Develop a story map
A great activity to help struggling writers is to build a story map. Write down ideas for the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Or put the topic in the middle of the paper and draw lines out like a wheel for who, what where, and why. This is helpful, because it takes stress out of the writing process.
Make writing relevant
Children are more apt to write if they can identify with the purpose of writing. Writing a letter to a friend or relative can better engage a struggling writer. Or maybe your child has some suggestions for books that the library should have. If writing becomes a more meaningful activity to the child, it can help to make it an easier process.
Make writing enjoyable
You could consider making different writing supplies available like colored pens and pencils, notebooks, etc. Or you could provide a word bank of common words for your kid to use and spell. Afterwards, reward your child's good performance. These all set the stage and invite kids to get excited to write.
A. Inspire ideas
B. Develop an interest.
C. Use the map to guide the writing.
D. Make the process into more of a game.
E. Maybe they lack experiences to write about.
F. There are loads of fun ways to get children writing.
G. Encourage him to write a letter to the person in charge.
In July, I went to New York on business. I had a lot on my plate and was under great 1. I just wanted to 2 and breathe in some fresh air. Suddenly something 3my mind. I'd always longed to 4 on the Greek island of Santorini, admiring its white buildings, and the blue water surrounding it. Thus the idea of taking a two-week European trip 5was born. It was something I had 6 thought I'd be planning this soon in my life. I had always thought, if it did ever happen, it would be when I was 7 and old, free from workload.
I would lie if I said I wasn't 8. I'd driven alone across the US before, but traveling to other countries whose 9 weren't the same as mine terrified me. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone. 10 it dawned on me that I had to 11 my comfort zone if I wanted to follow my dreams. And if I let 12 get in the way, I d never get anywhere.
13 I searched for other places to visit on my trip, I found Mykonos, Greece, which I liked just as much as I liked Santorini. When I arrived, it was like I was inside a dream I couldn't 14 what I was seeing and experiencing. The best part was the bus ride to Venice. Riding on the bus and staring at every 15 thing I saw, I couldn't help feeling I had 16 another dimension of life. I was having the time of my life.
Some people might say, "It's not a big 17 it's just a vacation." But it was more than just a vacation to me. It was about having a 18 and when it was time for it to come true, let it 19. When I did, the 20 was more than I could have possibly imagined.
You Are a Time Traveler
Time travel has long fascinated people. Traveling to the past or future would allow you to live in exciting periods of history or get a glimpse(一瞥) of the future holds. Think about it. If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would voyage far ahead of the present day (meet)your future self! What about watching an original performance of Shakespeare play in Elizabethan England? Or maybe you would pay a visit to (you)as a baby.
Since these ideas are universally appealing to everyone, it is (nature)that time travel interests so many writers, filmmakers, and scientists. It has been depicted in a (various) of media, such as literature, film, and science reports. But you might be surprised to realize that the smallest sense of the term, we are all time travelers. Even as you sit here (read)this article, time is racing forward. The future becomes the past as soon as it happens. The present is so fleeting(稍纵即近)! Everything you do quickly (become) part of the past, and so it is that we move through time. The famous scientist Albert Einstein, assigned a mathematical formula to this idea, is called The Theory of Relativity.
"Every cloud has a silver lining, "It drives me crazy when Mom says nonsense (废话) like that.
I'd barely had time to arrange myself in the passenger seat, my foot already blow up like a balloon when she came out with it, exactly like I knew she would. First, she patted my leg. Then she just couldn't help herself, "Every cloud has a silver lining, you know sweetheart." "Mom I appreciate the thought, but I' m not ready to look on the bright side of this." We hadn't even left the school parking lot yet.
On the farthest side of the field I could see my teammates doing sprints training, Coach Zito striding back toward them. He'd mercifully helped me to the car in silence. Unlike Mom, he knew when it was best to say nothing.
As Mom started the engine, I imagined my teammates cooling down without me while they listened to Coach Zito's pep talk. And next Thursday, they would go to practice without me, and the Thursday after that. When I had fallen and twisted my ankle, I'd cried from the pain, but I was crying out of self-pity in the car. Hours and hours of training, and then this. I told myself there was a glimmer(微光)of hope that everything would um out okay, and that
I'd make it to the track meet next month, but I knew it was just that: a glimmer. The tears fell hot and fast Mom gave me a weak smile. "It'll be okay, Case." I suspected this was another version of the silver-lining thing, but I felt so miserable that I let it pass.
We finally arrived at the hospital. Doctor Van gently moved my ankle around a bit before carefully lowering it I nervously asked how long it would be before I could run." Four weeks maybe, possibly five," he replied," and even then, you'll need to take it easy for a while. Is that possible?" he asked with a smile.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词勤应为150左右
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语：
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1
I couldn't answer.
Paragraph 2:
One month later, I made my appearance on the field.
