—It was wonderful.
—OK, Mum. I'll do it right away.
—Sure. Once a week would be OK.
The alarm clock went off for the second time. Tired from staying up late to watch a movie, Maddie unwillingly dragged herself out of bed. She loved movies, and she often stayed up late to watch them on TV. She 1 got dressed, took a bite of her breakfast, and raced to school.
During the first lesson, Maddie had a 2 time focusing. She was staring out of the window when her teacher, Ms. Lorenz called her.
"Maddie, I think you've forgotten your homework again, "Ms. Lorenz said. "How about finishing it today at school?"
Maddie agreed. After school, she thought about the.3 for a while. Then she decided to write ahout a girl who loved movies. To make the story more fun, she decided to give the girl the ability to jump into the action of any movie she wanted. Maddie became so 4 in writing her story that at first she didn't hear Ms. Lorenz tell her she could go home. When she had finished it, she gave it to Ms. Lorenz.
When Ms. Lorenz returned the story, there was green ink everywhere. Maddie.5 her way of feedback — Ms. Lorenz used green ink to make corrections because she thought students connected red ink with bad feelings.
That night, Maddie examined her story. She 6 when she reached the last page and saw the words, "Nice job, Maddie! Your plot is exciting. I wish I could jump into movies! Write another piece to corect your mistakes and give it to me next week. " The words made Maddie want to do better. Right away, she rewrote the story, taking care to.7 her mistakes.
The next morning, she put her story into the homework box. And she got more encouraging words and instructions from Ms. Lorenz.
Little by little, Maddie got better about completing homework and turning it in on time. She also worked on new movie ideas and discussed them with Ms. Lorenz. Her writing and grades were gradually improving.
Her love for movies, along with her teacher's8 , opened up a new world of learning.
|
A. Pet and Feed Animals
|
B. Pick Your Own
|
|
C. Grow Vegetables
|
D. Buy Fresh Products
|
For questions 21-23, match the activities with the headings (A-D). There is one heading you do not need.
If you are looking for a place for you and your kids to spend some quality time, a local farm is a good choice. Here are the activities you can do there.
Whether it is tomatoes or beans, your kids can grow them with the help of a farmer. They can dig their hands into the soil, plant seeds (种子), water the plants and finally get full-grown vegetables. They can have much fun while learning the basics of farm work.
Have your kids ever tried picking fruit or vegetables directly from the plants? It's a hands-on activity that can help kids experience the hard work of farmers. They can also learn about different kinds of produce.
A local farm usually has animals that your children can feed or pet, such as pigs, ducks, and chickens. Kids can touch the animals, play with them, and feed them. Even adults can enjoy the pleasant experience.
It was a school trip. My friends and I were taking photos in the street of Vienna, trying to record the beauty of a foreign country. The change in climate had made my contacts(隐形眼镜) dry out quite often, so I was wearing my glasses.
But I didn't think the glasses looked good on me, so for any photo I was in, I would take them off. When I took them off in front of Vienna State Opera, I heard a tiny "ping!"—a screw(螺丝) fell off my glasses and they separated in half.
Hurriedly, my friends and I began to search for the tiny screw. We looked everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. I was close to tears. How could I enjoy the rest of my trip if I could see nothing clearly?!
Just at that moment, my friend saw a store with a sign in German whose windows were full of various pairs of glasses. To try our luck, we raced into the store. Not speaking any German, we did our best to explain the situation. A friendly old man smiled gently and took my glasses into the back of the store.
After a while, he came back into the room. Smiling softly, he handed me my glasses, fully fixed. I tried to ask the man how much it would cost. However, the man just smiled at me and said, "For you? I will do it for free. "
That is the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for me. While I was in a foreign country and unable to even speak his language, this man, with a business to run, still gifted me that tiny, necessary screw —thus the ability to see for the rest of my trip and also a memory to be treasured.
Most kids know it's wrong to shout at or hit someone. But what if that someone is Alexa — an AI (Artificial Intelligence人工智能) speaker, or Roomba — a robot cleaner?
A new study by Teresa Flanagan, a developmental psychologist from Duke University, found that kids aged four to eleven felt neither Roomba nor Alexa should be shouted at or attacked. However, that feeling weakened as kids grew into their teens.
Flanagan was inspired to do the research after watching some movies about robots. "In those movies, we see adults interacting with robots in terrible ways, " said Flanagan. "But how would kids interact with them?"
Flanagan invited 127 children aged four to eleven to take part in the study. The kids were asked to watch a video of the two devices(设备)and then answer a few questions, like whether it was wrong to attack AI devices and how smart and sensitive they thought Alexa was compared to Roomba. Flanagan studied the survey data and found something encouraging.
Overall, kids decided that both Alexa and Roomba, unlike humans, probably weren't ticklish (怕 痒) and wouldn't feel pain when they got hit. However, they gave Alexa, but not Roomba, high marks for mental and emotional abilities, such as being able to think or getting upset when someone was mean to it.
"Young children think Alexa, even without a body, has emotions and a mind, " Flanagan said. "But they don't think Roomba does — maybe that has something to do with Alexa's ability to have verbal (语 音的)communication. "
Although they believed the two intelligent devices had different abilities, children across all ages agreed it was wrong to hit or shout at the machines. However, the older kids got, the more they reported it would be more acceptable to attack devices.
The findings offer new ideas about the changing relationship between children and intelligent devices and raise important questions about how we are supposed to treat them in general and as parents. Should adults, for example, model good behavior for their kids by thanking AI devices for their help?
For now, Flanagan is trying to understand why children think it is wrong to attack intelligent devices.
Awe is the feeling of amazement and respect mixed with surprise. Research shows that awe experiences decrease stress and anxiety and increase positive(积极的) emotions and overall satisfaction in life. It can also improve our relationships, making us more likely to help others and more supported. Most of us connect awe with something unusual and beautiful: nature, music or a spiritual experience. But ordinary people can bring about awe too. Research shows we can be awed by our nearest and dearest — the people sitting next to us, or talking on the other end of the phone. Psychologists call this interpersonal awe.
Often, this interpersonal awe is how people respond (反应) to life's big changes, like seeing a baby's first steps or a friend fighting against cancer. Yet interpersonal awe happens in our everyday life, too. John Bargh, a psychologist, said he was "truly awestruck" by his then-5-year-old daughter while dining in a McDonald's years ago. When she heard another child crying across the restaurant, she took the toy from her Happy Meal, walked over and handed it to him.
We can't make someone else behave in an awesome way, but we can get prepared to notice it when they do and take steps to strengthen the emotion's positive effects.
To increase your chances of feeling awed by people around you, Marianna Graziosi, an expert in positive psychology, suggests you direct your attention to people's positive sides and catch them at their best. You may think your brother or friend is selfish; there may be a little truth to that, but it's never the whole story. "Try to find examples of him helping others or doing something great. In other words, become a field scientist, like Jane Goodall, " Graziosi said.
To help you recognize and remember a special experience, say out loud "Wow, that was awesome!" when awe strikes you. Enjoy it in the moment and tell others about it. This will strengthen your positive emotions. And recall it or write about it later. Studies show awe can be drawn again simply by remembering an awe experience.
When you feel awed by people around you, thank them and let them know just how much their actions affect you. This makes the other person feel good and can give your relationship an improvement.
And you'll also have high levels of happiness and psychological well-being.
Awe could be anywhere. Perhaps awe, while an ordinary response to the extraordinary, is also an extraordinary response to the ordinary.
It's easy to see the fun in buying a huge ice cream or going shopping with friends, but saving money can be even more exciting. That's because saving creates opportunities and opens the door to all kinds of adventures.
The key to successful saving is setting a goal. Get a pen and paper, and write down how much it costs, then work out how much you can afford to save each week and how long it will take you to reach your goal. It's important to be realistic because you'll soon get bored if you plan to save every single penny. Some weeks you might decide to save a little more than planned so that you can reach your goals even faster.
To avoid accidentally spending your savings, it's a good idea to keep them separate from the rest of your money. You could do this by using a money box or a savings account (账户).
When you save your money in a savings account, you have the opportunity to earn interest. This is money that a bank pays you for leaving the money there— and the longer you leave money in a savings account, the more interest you will earn. Some savings accounts allow you to take out money whenever you like, but some will keep your money locked away for a certain time. Some parents set up a savings account because they want to put some money away for their kids' future.
Once you get the hang of saving, you can set some more bigger goals. Perhaps you want to start saving for university, or you'd like to travel the world when you finish school. Remember, you can save for more than one thing at a time, as some of your goals might take months—or even years— to achieve.
If you're new to saving, start off by thinking of some fun goals, like taking a vacation or going to a concert. Every penny you save brings you one step closer to reaching your goal—and what could be more exciting than that?
题目1
假如你是李华, 某英文报社正在发起"为未来的自己画像"的征文活动。请你用英语 写一篇短文投稿，畅想一下十年或二十年后你的样子，并简要介绍你将如何去遇见更好的 自己。
提示词语： work, personality, make efforts, ensure(保证), meaningful
提示问题：
● What will you be like in the future?
●How are you going to ensure a better future?
I'll be quite different from what I am today in the future.
题目2
耳朵是通往心灵之路。
假如你是李华, 你校英语社团正在开展以"倾听"为主题的交流活动。请你用英语给社 团公众号留言, 谈谈你在与人交流时是如何倾听他人的，以及你对倾听的理解。
提示词语： smile, eye contact (目光交流), patient, respect, understand
提示问题：
● What do you do as a good listener?
● Why is it important to be a good listener?
Listening is more than using our ears.
