A
New York Times best-selling author Susan Casey travelled globally, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet. She takes us on an interesting journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom. Throughout this journey, she learned how important the deep is to the future of the planet, and how necessary it is that we understand and protect it. The Underworld is Susan Casey's most beautiful and thrilling book, a wonderful show of the natural world.
Event location: The lecture and book signing (签名) will be held at the Linda Hall Library,5109 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Missouri.
Event time: Thursday, January 14th,7:00 pm-8:00 pm
Book signing: Hard copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of Rainy Day Books. A book signing will immediately follow the lecture.
Admission package (admits one)
Click to order tickets through the Kauffman Center. Admission is $
40.00 plus Kauffman ticket fee and includes one hardcover of the book and one admission ticket. Reserved seating.
Please note: Attendees (参与者) will receive their books as they arrive at this event. Your electronic ticket will be needed for event entry and to receive your hardcover of the book as you arrive.
Disclaimer (免责声明): All Rainy Day Books Author Event sales are final and non-refundable.
B
An owl (猫头鹰) named Flaco escaped New York's Central Park Zoo last week after his cage was broken. This set off a bird-hunt of police officers and park rangers (护林员). Zoo officials worried that Flaco, who had been kept in his zoo cage for 13 years, may have lost the survival abilities he needed in the wild. They placed some of his favorite treats in the open air to attempt to trap him.
Flaco was not fooled. Instead, he was sighted flying over5th Avenue, and Central Park's skating rink. A number of New Yorkers came into Central Park to try to catch a glimpse of Flaco, taking photos with excitement.
But this week, zoo officials announced they accepted that Flaco remained in Central Park because he had been seen bringing up bones and fur from the park's community of rats. "He has been very successful at hunting and consuming lots of rats in the park." zoo officials told the New York Post." And that's amazing. He's hunting on his own. He's flying better. Flaceo really seems to be enjoying himself out there."
There is a caution attached to this story of an owl who is making it on his own in the city that never sleeps. Owls are nocturnal. They go around searching for food at night. They sleep during the day, or try to, like lots of people who work the overnight shift. Yet some New Yorkers who don't know proper bird-watching behavior reportedly see Flaco sleep in a tree during the day, and begin to shout at him. It interrupts his sleep. Flaco can't try to say "shh, shh" with the traditional New York reply. After all, a bird can't give someone the bird.
C
Workers continue to search the ruins of a large earthquake that hit Morocco Friday. Officials say almost 2,500 were killed in the quake, but that they expect that number will rise. The United Nations said the magnitude
6.8 earthquake affected 300,000 people. The damage was great because the starting point of the shaking was not far below the ground.
It is the strongest quake to hit the North African nation since
1900. And, it is reported to be the country's deadliest since 1960, when at least 12,000 people were killed in and near the city of Agadir.
So far, Morocco has accepted support from four countries — Spain, Qatar, Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates. Other nations have offered help as well. Groups from the Moroccan army left Monday from Amizmiz to move into the small mountain villages. Heavy equipment was sent to clear the roads and both visitors and local people lined up to give blood.
Many people continued to sleep outside, fearing smaller earthquakes that often follow a major one. In the village of Imgdal, women and children gathered outside and some kept warm around an open fire on Monday morning.
On a road near the town of Adassil, near the epicenter (震中), one rescue worker, Ayman Koait, was trying to clear the rocks that were restraining trucks from getting by. He said other roads were in bad shape. "We're trying to open them, too," said Ayman Koait.
People said they dug through the ruins of their homes looking for relatives They also moved rocks and walls looking for important items.
Many of the homes are made from wood, rock and mud, which made them fall easily when the ground started shaking. One military (军方的) worker said "it is difficult to pull people out alive" because the walls turned into ruins and did not leave any space for air.
D
The Mogao Grottoes were a center of Buddhist life and some of the world's great cultures for hundreds of years. However, by the late Qing Dynasty they had been abandoned and nearly forgotten and many of the caves had become damaged by the elements. Around 1900, with the discovery of a library of thousands of ancient documents, the caves received new interest from Chinese and foreign researchers. Unfortunately, this resulted in tens of thousands of items from the caves being taken to foreign museums
In the 1940s, many researchers and artists visited the area to study traditional Chinese art. Copies of some of the artwork painted by respected artists such as Zhang Daqian and GuanShanyue helped people all over the country learn about Dunhuang. These artists were also inspired by the artwork they saw in the caves and it began to influence their painting styles. Others staved in the desert for much longer, Chang Shuhong stayed for the rest of his life — struggling to record the cultural treasures and protect them from the weather. As a result of their efforts the Dunhuang Academy was formed to protect and study the Mogao Grottoes.
In 1987, the Mogao Grottoes were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the caves are open to the public, access is now limited in order to protect the artwork. However, the caves can be seen online in digital form so that people around the world can study and enjoy them.
Despite its remoteness, the Mogao Grottoes continue to draw visitors. And just as the sand and desert have survived largely unchanged through the centuries, this small art gallery in the desert has also survived largely unchanged providing an amazing look at a world long ago past.
How similar are language and music?
Language is part of our daily lives, no matter where we live in the world. Both language and music play a huge role in our culture and here are some of their similarities.
Both language and music have a writing system.
Both language and music have their own systems of notation. Language uses alphabets to represent sounds and create meaning. By reading and writing in these systems, we can communicate and preserve ideas and compositions through time.
Listening to the language someone speaks can provide valuable clues about their geographical origin. In the same way, we know that styles of music are different around the world, giving us the opportunity to explore many different cultures through their music and providing us with music for every situation.
Both share emotion.
While you may be able to perceive it through my facial expressions, you can judge it with certainty through my words. Similarly, music has the ability to convey emotions such as anger, sadness, or happiness through its sound. Music can show you exactly how the composer was or is feeling, and allows us to share that emotion. When you feel happy, you might want to sing and dance to a happy song to celebrate your happiness. I think we have all used music to express or process our emotions, often combining it with language in the form of song lyrics (歌词).
A. Both are expressive.
B. Both vary with culture.
C. How do you know that I am annoyed?
D. Similarly, music is part of many people's lives.
E. Equally, music uses notes to represent pitches and rhythms.
F. We use language to express our thoughts.
G. In contrast, you probably also listen to sad music when you are feeling down.
It was a regular school day, and the air was filled with the usual sounds of chatter and laughter as students prepared for their lessons. Little did I know that this day would soon take a 1 turn, making it an unforgettable day.
As the bell rang, signaling the beginning of our English class, we entered the classroom, completely 2 of the coming danger. The teacher began the lesson, and we were really 3 our literature lesson when, out of nowhere, a loud fire alarm 4 everything.
Panic spread as we understood how 5 it was. Smoke filled the hallway, and a sharp burning smell hung in the air. The neat classroom turned into a mess as everyone 6 to the door, trying to get away from the coming danger.
In all the chaos, I noticed my 7 Sarah looking obviously scared by her desk. I quickly 8 she needed help. Without hesitation, I rushed over, took her shaky hand, and told everyone to stay calm. We went through the thickening smoke together, and each 9 felt like a really long time.
As we reached the door it felt hotter, and we knew we had to hurry. With hearts 10 , we hurried into the playground where teachers and students were making sure everyone stayed sate.
Outside, we took a moment to catch our breath, 11 by the loud sounds of approaching fire trucks. Seeing parts of the building on fire, a sense of 12 washed over us, knowing that we had made it out unharmed.
After everything happened, I couldn't help but reflect on the events of that day. 13 it taught me it's important to stay calm when things get 14 and how helping others during hard times matters. It was a day when ordinary students became unlikely heroes, bound together by the shared 15 to overcome the unexpected challenges.
Exciting action, excellent organization and touching stories of athletes made the just finished 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou a huge success, will benefit the host city and growth of Chinese para sports.
The whole world was (amaze) by the high standards of the event as well as the improvement in the living conditions of people with (disable) with the help of para sports in China. They (live) better lives now thanks to para sports.
The Hangzhou Asian Para Games attracted over 3, 000 athletes from 44 countries, making it the (large) one in the history of the Asian Para Games.
Organizing such big event that went off smoothly losing quality was not easy at all. The organizers will ensure the future use of all the facilities will keep building more so that more disabled people can enjoy sports.
At the Games, Team China won 521 medals, (include) 214 gold medals. It's said that it is the most successful Asian Para Games that (hold) so far.
