When I was in seventh grade, I was a volunteer at a local hospital in my town. Most of the 1 I spent there was with Mr. Gillespie. He never had any visitors and nobody seemed to care about his 2 .
I spent many days there holding his hand and talking to him, helping with anything that needed to be done. He became a close friend of mine, 3 he responded with only an occasional squeeze of my hand. Mr. Gillespie was in a coma (昏迷).
I left for a week to vacation with my parents, and when I came back, Mr. Gillespie was no longer there. I didn't have the 4 to ask any of the nurses where he was, for fear that they might tell me he had died.
Several 5 later, when I was a senior in high school, I was at the gas station when I noticed a familiar face. When I 6 who it was, my eyes filled with tears. He was 7 ! I got up the nerve to ask him if his name was Mr. Gillespie. He8 yes. I explained how I knew him, and that I had spent many hours talking with him in the hospital. His eyes welled up with tears, and he gave me the warmest hug I had ever 9 .
He began to tell me how, as he lay there comatose (昏迷的), he could hear me talking to him and could feel me holding his hand the whole time. Mr. Gillespie 10 believed that it was my voice and touch that had kept him alive.
Although I haven't seen him since, he fills my heart with joy every day. I know that I made a difference between his life and death.
In the early 1800s, Stanislas Baudry built public baths in the center of a town in France. To encourage people to come, Baudry drove a large vehicle around to give people a ride to the baths. He called the vehicle "an omnibus", is a Latin word meaning "for everyone". Then he (learn) that many passengers would get off at stops during the journey to the baths. So Baudry shifted the focus of his omnibus service. He created permanent(永久的) route for passengers to board and get off. Eventually, the omnibus became known (simple) as a bus.
In the film Frozen 2, Elsa and Anna are sisters who live in a kingdom called Arendella. Elsa is born with special powers that allow her (create) ice and snow. Elsa's powers are considered dangerous, she must hide them. Eventually she loses control and changes summer to winter. Then Elsa flees from home, and Anna goes on a dangerous journey to find her sister. Along the way, Anna teams up with a man (name) Kristof and his reindeer（驯鹿）)Sven. A talking snowman, Olaf also accompanies them. In the end, it's Anna's love for her sister that saves the day.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, only about 3, 890 tigers are left in the wild. India is home to 70 percent of them, and its role in (make) sure the big cat's survival can't be understated. Tiger numbers in India are believed to have dropped from about 40, 000 at the beginning of the （nine）century to just 1, 800 in the early 1970s, when India launched the conservation program Project Tiger. Kanha was one of the original nine (area) set up under that program.
Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother. Expecting a whole day to relax, he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months. "This will be like a walk in the park," he'd told his wife. "I'll look after the kids, and you can go visit your mom. "
Things started well, but just after eight o'clock, his three little "good kids"—Mike, Randy, and Alex—came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted "breakfast, daddy. " When food had not appeared within thirty seconds, Randy began using his spoon on Alex's head as if it were a drum. Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat（节拍）. Mike chanted "Where's my toast, where's my toast" in the background. Brad realized his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast. Mike wore Randy's underwear on his head. Randy locked himself in the bathroom, while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants. Nobody could find clean socks, although they were before their very eyes. Someone named "Not Me" had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Brad knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o'clock, things were out of control. Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter. Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colour pencils. Randy, thankfully, appeared to be reading quietly in the family room，but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands. Brad realised that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11:17, Brad called the daycare centre (日托所）. "I suddenly have to go into work and my wife's away. Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes?" The answer was obviously "yes" because Brad was smiling.
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as "That was a very clever thing you did. " or "You are such a smart child. "
Most people looking for ways to quit smoking worry about weight gain, and with good reason. Smokers who quit tend to pack on an average of 5 pounds after they stop smoking cigarettes. A new study, published by the journal Science, explains why this happens.
The new research explains that nicotine appears to combine with appetite-regulating neurons (调节食欲的神经元) in the brain, besides the receptors (感受器) that bring about addiction. These neurons help regulate how much food gets consumed, but under the influence of nicotine, they lose their self-control. This is why when smokers quit, they tend to eat more and gain weight.
The researchers believe that their discovery will lead to the development of drugs that aim at nicotine receptors on brain cells that control appetite. In the future, weight gain may no longer be a reason for smokers to delay the decision to kick the habit, but that's no reason to wait. Nicotine-replacement treatment, while not for everyone, can help. Here are a few more ways to quit smoking and stay slim.
Drink water. To improve metabolic (新陈代谢的) rates, make half of those glasses ice water. Juice can be too high in calories, something you'll want to keep an eye on your journey toward being a slimmer non-smoker. Plan your snacks. Healthy snacks help keep your metabolism working, so you continue to burn calories while stopping wild hunger pain, or fake hunger.
Keep moving. Exercise kills two birds with one stone. It helps you burn calories and prevents you from eating when you're not truly hungry. It's also a feel good stress reliever (缓解物). Focus on your fitness and how being healthy makes you feel. Make exercise a goal and think of quitting as your reward for being physically fit.
The benefits of walking to school
Encouraging your child to walk to school has many benefits.
The rates of childhood obesity and illnesses such as type II Diabetes (糖尿病) can be prevented by a healthy dose of walking. On average around half of all children do not do the minimum one hour a day of physical activity advised by the Health Education Authority. A quick walk to school can help them get their daily exercise and arrive at school or home, refreshed and energetic.
There was very strong evidence that walking to school improves children's social development. This related to social contacts, independence and road sense. The walkers reported a happy social experience. It is believed that getting a lift to school each day can lead to a child becoming lethargic (无生气的).
According to research, the average drive to school and back releases 800g of CO₂ into the air. If walking to school once a week can save 20 per cent of CO₂ gas produced by driving every day, how much CO₂ can be saved a year!
Last but not least, encouraging your child to walk to school will save you money.
Since walking to school has so many health, social, environmental and economical benefits, why not let your child walk from now on?
A. The following are some of them in different aspects.
B. You will spend less money on transport fares or petrol, of course.
C. Furthermore, 50 per cent of children still don't regularly walk to school.
D. It is enough to blow over 60 balloons.
E. Walking can have a positive effect on a child's emotional health.
F. Parents, children and teachers are asked to think about the benefits of walking to school.
G. In fact, walking helps protect the body from many serious illnesses later on in life.
In 1987, I was 18 and working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia.
I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately，the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride(搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the extreme heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he he assured me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the scorching heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, "You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same."
I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
The author pulled over to pick up the elderly man in 2003 because he recognized the elder was the very person who ever helped him.
pour into; drop out; on behalf of; retire from; stay in |
