After my dad passed away, my mom went into her room and shut the door. She sat on the bed with the lights1 and curtains drawn. That's where she2 for the next two months. I had never seen my mom so3 . I didn't know how to
4 her until I rode past my Aunt Ruby's house one day. I5 just to see if she was all right. I walked to the door and6 . A 92-year-old lady asked, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Aunt Ruby. It's Debbie."
"I need you," she said7 . "Bob's family fell ill and Bob has to leave to take care of his family."
Bob was her personal 8 . For years, she had someone living in her home to look after her. 9 , she was alone on this particular day. Aunt Ruby was trying to take care of herself.
As I got home, I talked to my mom through the bedroom door after 10
her dinner. "Mom, do you know Aunt Ruby has been over there all by herself?" I said. She made a11 "Umm." I knew she was listening and wanted to help. Then she asked me a12 about Aunt Ruby.
"Did she say she need someone?"
"Yes," I answered.
13 , my mom came out. She asked me to drop her off at Aunt Ruby's house. I couldn't14 to get her out of the house. Aunt Ruby15 my mom with open
arms. My mom cooked meals and helped Aunt Ruby. They enjoyed their 16 time together. Mom became 17 again.
There was a spirit of 18 and love between them. I thought that maybe
19 gave them a bond, but caring about each other made a big 20 to their lives.
Free online courses
Greek and Roman Mythology
Instructed by Peter Struck, an associate professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, this three-week course introduces students to mythology, specifically in reference to Greek and Roman cultures. Each week students will be required to watch video lectures, ending with a quiz reviewing that week's lessons.
Scandinavian Film and Television
This six-week course is perfect for those wanting to get familiar with Scandinavian film and television scene throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Instructor Eva Novrup Redvall, an assistant professor of film and media studies at the University of Copenhagen, leads students through weekly modules, kicking off with the early years of Scandinavian cinematic work. Film and TV clips (片段) help bring each lesson to life, as do supplemental (补充的) readings.
A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City
This class starts off with the following question: "What has Rome ever done for us?" Professor Matthew Nicholls in the Department of Classics at the University of Reading deals with that question head-on during his five-week course, focusing on the building of the ancient city of Rome and how it laid the groundwork for the construction of cities throughout the world. In addition to online discussions, the course includes digital models that students can download and view, giving them a 3-D perspective of Rome without setting foot there.
The Bard's Life and Work
Reading Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet or any of the other works by William Shakespeare is practically a rite of passage in high school English classes, but this four-week course explore the life of the English playwright and poet. Stephen Greenblatt, the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, leads students through different approaches to literary analysis and examines how his writing has been interpreted over the centuries.
Many of our family traditions centered around food. We'd gather in the kitchen for every birthday and holiday and enjoy delicious food. My grandparents always held Christmas dinner, which included chicken cacciatore, sausage, meatballs and salad. But right before we sat down to eat, my grandmother would pull me aside to show me the dish she made just for me: fresh pasta (意大利面) with tomato sauce.
It was a simple dish, but to me it was warm food that filled me with happiness. But more than that, it made me feel like I belonged. I was a shy kid and, in many situations, I felt ignored. And here was my grandmother, showing me that I mattered.
Years went by; I moved away and got married. I'd visit throughout the years and my grandmother would serve up a plate of pasta.
When my daughter was born in 2020, for the first time in my life I wasn't about to make the trip back home for Christmas. I cooked my family's traditional foods and my husband and I had a big meal that included, of course, fresh pasta. I had a video call with my grandmother and showed her the pasta. Shortly after the holidays she passed away unexpectedly.
It seemed so unfair that my grandmother passed away soon after I became a parent. I'd hold my daughter and think about how I could tell her what an amazing great-grandmother she had.
In my sadness I came to an answer: food. Late at night after my daughter had gone to bed, I'd go to the kitchen and learn how to make fresh pasta, cooking my grandmother's recipes. Before long I started experimenting, making a bit changes to classic recipes. When my daughter got a little older, I began making special dishes for her with my grandmother's flavors in mind.
I know that no matter how hard I try, my daughter will never have a bowl pasta with sauce exactly like the ones my grandmother would make for me. While that makes me sad, she'll still get to have my pasta sauce. I know there're two things she'll never lack for in this life: pasta and love.
Dogs have been man's best friends for 30,000 years—and now scientists think they know why.
Dogs are usually not relaxed in a lab environment, but with a little petting and lots of treats, they can be trained to sit still even in an MRI (磁共振成像) scanner. That's how researchers at Hungary's ELTE University were able to get images of their brains at work.
Researcher Attila Andics said it helped them better understand the dogs' relationship with humans. "We have known for a long time that dogs and humans share similar social environment, but now our results show that dogs and humans also have similar brain mechanisms (方法；机制) to process social information," said Andics.
After training 11 dogs to stay motionless while their brains were scanned, the researchers checked their neurological (神经系统的) responses to about 200 emotionally
significant sounds, from whining and crying to playful barking and laughing. They then compared the responses from human subjects. They found great similarities. Andics said it opened new possibilities for the research.
"It establishes a foundation of a new branch of comparative neuroscience, because until now it was not possible to measure the brain activities of a non-primate and a primate (灵长类) brain in a single experiment," said Andies.
Evan Maclean, Professor in Duke University, said that the Hungarian results were an important step forward.
"We've known for a long time that dogs have a lot of behavioral similarities compared to humans. But we don't know anything or very little at least about whether some of these behaviors are represented similarly inside the brain of the dog, so this research is providing a first glimpse into whether these behavioral similarities are underlined by similar neural processes," said MacLean.
The Hungarian scientists tell ordinary dog owners to treat their dog companions as intelligent friends, not mere animals, because they evidently understand human feelings.
We sometimes think that everything was much better and easier in the past. It's one of the tricks our minds play on us, especially when we are in low spirits.
Actually, it's unlikely that things were objectively better in the past. This form of thinking is calledrosy retrospection, which is a well-studied cognitive bias. It happens because when we think about the past, we are more likely to focus on positive generalities than annoying details.
If you think back to a holiday with your family five years ago, you're likely to recall the beautiful views rather than the uncomfortable bed. In other words, the negative details disappear from our memory over time while the positive ones remain.
Rosy retrospection can influence how we make decisions, and it's one of the reasons why we easily return into problematic relationships. The longer it is since we experienced the negative influence of a relationship, the more likely we are to let the good memories outweigh the bad memories and to perhaps forgive unforgivable behavior. It's always a good idea to review our nostalgic (怀旧的) feelings with a healthy degree of doubt.
But rosy retrospection does serve an important purpose. It keeps us in a positive state of mind in the present and is important to our psychological wellbeing. In fact, people who tend to remember negative experiences more than positive ones are likely to exhibit psychological disorders. Research generally suggests that our happiest days are still to come. And even if they're not, it's still important to believe that they are. Don't shy away from looking upon the past with a certain degree of nostalgia. But, for the same reason, don't use the past as an excuse to be unhappy in the present.
When 16-year-old Colin Moore is out on the football field, he is putting his heart into the game and looks just like any other teenage athlete out there. But what makes him different than the rest, is that he's playing without part of his arm.
Moore was born without the lower part of his right arm, but he's never let that stop him from achieving anything he's put his mind to in his life, including football. "I've always had to have a mind of steel, heart of gold, and just move forward no matter what." Moore said.
Although his arm difference has never got in the way of anything, it's been a challenge for him. But in everything he does, he's worked twice as hard as everyone else to make sure he would succeed. Moore's goal is to be a starting center, which requires a lot of body strength. Even though he is missing an arm, he makes up for it with his fast movements and strength, making him the perfect choice for this position.
Moore looks up to the Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, and aims to be just like him one day. Moore's hard work even got him noticed by his hero. After seeing a video of Moore playing football, Kelce sent him one back. Kelce told Moore that his perseverance is a great encouragement to him. He even invited Moore to join him and the Eagles at their training camp so they could meet him.
Moore's coach Frank Holmes agrees with Kelce andcompliments Moore's perseverance. "The thing I can say about Colin is this: he was born with a challenging situation, but every day he has a positive attitude and focuses fully on whatever he does. He trains hard."
1）简要介绍推荐作品（如《劝学》、《师说》、《出师表》等……）；
2）说明推荐理由；
3）鼓励继续学习。
注意：
1）词数不少于100；
2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯；
3）开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：
《劝学》 Encouraging Learning
《师说》 On teachers
《出师表》 Memorial to the King before Setting off
Dear Chris,
Yours,
Li Jin
