Reading is fun. When you read, would you like a paper book or an e-book(电子书)? Some people choose e-books, some love paper books, and others prefer reading both.
Li Ming, a university professor (教授), is busy doing some research. So he is often on business. When he is at the airport or on the train, he especially loves reading e-books. He also likes reading paper books in the library for the research work. Besides, he enjoys the smell of the paper books.
What's more, Li Ming would like to read with his family. There is a reading time from 8:00 to 9:00 each Friday evening at home. Everyone reads and shares what they learn from the books. One Friday evening, Grandma took out an old paper book and said to her grandson, “Li Lei, this is the first book your grandpa gave me. There is his name on the front page. Whenever I read it, I can get something new from his notes. And I can still remember the happy life we lived together.” Li Lei said, “But I enjoy reading e-books. E-books need no paper. Many forests will be saved.” Grandma advised, “Don't read for a long time, or your eyes will get sore.”
Different people have different ideas about e-books and paper books. No one knows whether e-books can replace (代替) paper books or not. Somehow, books are our friends. No matter which kind of books you choose to read, you can learn more about the world through them.
Once a king got two nice falcons(猎鹰) from his son. He had never seen such beautiful falcons before. He loved them so much and he ordered the best falconer to train them to fly.
After several months, the king came to see how the training was going on. He found that one falcon had already been able to fly high in the sky, while the other one was staying on the branch(树枝) of a tree quietly without moving.
The king called all his falconers together and ordered them to try every way they could to make it fly. But none of them succeeded. One day, while the king was taking a walk in the forest, an idea came to his mind. He decided to find someone who knew the natural environment well to solve the problem. Then he sent for a farmer who lived in the forest into his palace to train it at once.
The next morning, the king saw the other falcon flying above in the sky freely. "It is unbelievable!" shouted the king. "How could you make it happen?"
The farmer replied, “It's very easy. I just cut off the branch where the falcon rested.”
It is always the same to humans. We all have "two flying wings in our hearts as well, but we often seem not to notice them and stay where we feel safe and comfortable. We won't realize we can fly so high and freely until the "branch" we are resting on breaks.
Mr. Beynolds, my teacher, handed us a list of thoughts, and asked us to write a paper on one of those thoughts. I chose the topic “I wonder why things are the way they are.”
I wrote down all the questions that puzzled(困扰) me about life. I realized that many of them were hard to answer, and perhaps others could not be answered at all. When I handed in my paper, I was afraid that I might fail because I did not answer the questions.
The next day, Mr. Reynolds handed me the paper and asked me to read it for the class. The other students became quiet as I began to read my story:
Mum, why are the roses red? Why is the grass green and the sky blue? Why do I have to graduate(毕业)? Why do I have to grow up? Why do I have to be called “Grandma” on day? ...
Dad, why can't I stay out until 12:00? Why do I miss my old friends? Why do I miss being at home? Why do you love me so much? ...
Mum, Dad, why did you have to leave me? I need you.
At the end of my story, I looked at Mr. Reynolds, and I saw a tear slowly coming down his face. Then I realized that life is not built on the answers we receive, but on the questions we asks.
Once, when the food we ordered at a restaurant arrived, the first thing we wanted to do was to eat right away. Others want to take at least five photos of their food to share on social media, such as Wechat.
“Foodtography” has been around for longer than one would expect. Take US photographer Irving Penn (1917-2009) for example. In 1947, Vogue magazine published many food photos taken by Penn. Looking at the carefully put salad ingredients or the cakes on stands(货 架), it would be easy to think Penn's 70-year-old photos were taken just last week.
Besides Penn's efforts, it seems that social media is behind the recent rise of foodtography.
And the star posts just one delicious-looking food picture with the place where it was taken. It can bring hundreds of new customers for the restaurant.
So while it's fun to share pictures of delicious dishes with your friends, just remember the most important thing:
A. Don't forget to eat your meal afterwards.
B. But now, some people just want to eat their meal.
C. Today, a social media star may have thousands of fans.
D. In fact, taking pictures before meals is not a recent thing.
Most of us think the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.In fact, an Italian named Antonio Meucci was officially recognised(认定)as the inventor a few years ago. Who is Meucci and why wasn't he known for his invention at the time?
Antonio Meucci was born in Italy in 1808. He studied engineering and drawing. During his studies, Meucci started to experiment with electricity. When two places were connected with wire, people in those places could hear each other talk.
In 1850, Meucci and his wife. Ester, moved to New York. Meucci was worried about his wife, because she had become very ill. To solve this problem, he connected metal cables between his home and his workshop. This way, they could talk to each other conveniently.
Meucci invited a group of people to see his new invention. They listened in amazement as the voice of a singer was heard through the wires.
Even worse, Meucci never applied for a patent (专利) on his invention. Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell was working on the same idea and in 1876 the patent for the telephone was given to him.
In 2002, more than a century after Meucci's death, his work was finally recognised by the government.
A. He discovered that sound could travel through metal cables. B. However, he wasn't the first person to think of the idea. C. Unfortunately, only a few people attended this talk. D. He will now be known all over the world as the telephone's inventor. E. He needed to keep in touch with her at all times. |
When it comes to the letter grade on your test or homework, you might notice that there is no letter E. Have you ever thought about why that is so?
In the A, B, C, D and F grading system, the first four letters are typically considered passing grades. An F in this system simply stands for“fail”.The word“fail”happens to start with the letter F, which seems to leave out the letter E. The fact”．Some schools have U grade for“unsatisfactory”,or I grade for “incomplete”.
Even with all this said, we should also point out that E grade actually has been used pretty commonly throughout the history of letter grades in the US.
The first college in the US to use a letter grading system like the ones we use today is Mount Holyoke College. In 1897, they began to use the following grading scale:
A: 95-100%(excellent) B: 85-94%(good) C: 76-84%(fair)
D: 75%(barely passed) E: below 75%(failed)
We can see the inclusion of E instead of F.
Gradually,the letter grading system became more popular throughout the US. However, many schools decided to drop the E grade and go straight to F.There is no evidence(证据) to really support this, but one possible explanation is that teachers were worried that some students and parents might mistake E for “excellent”.
Why do we have letter grades? Well, part of the reason is that they made grading simpler during a time of great change for schools. As the 20th century began,growing cities and an increase in immigration led to larger school classrooms. Most teachers at that time thought this new letter grading system was an easy, fair and clear way to grade students.
Today, more and more people argue that letter grades don't fully reflect(反映) student learning. However，as teachers try to improve grading methods, many parents continue to favor the letter grades they got as kids, they are familiar(熟悉) and easy for parents to understand. So while they might not be perfect, the letter grades probably aren't going away any time soon.
A. Each part has a different meaning. B. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. C. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. D. Also, mobile phone numbers can be recycled. E. The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. |
Have you ever counted the number of digits(数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. Why is that?
The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service provider you are using. For example, 135 is for the China Mobile Communication Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you which area the number is recorded in. And the last four digits are random (随机的).
We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999.
Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers, according to the Xinhua News Agency. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China. Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted (联络) for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.
Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0.Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with l0 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the world's shortest: they use seven digits.
A good book can be satisfying, can improve your knowledge and can teach you a lot. There are several ways to develop a lifetime reading habit.
Set times. You should have a few set times every day when you'll read for at least 5—10 minutes, no matter what happens. For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast and lunch (and even dinner if you eat alone).
Always carry a book. No matter where you go, take a book with you. When you leave the house, make sure to have at least one book. You may keep the book in the car, or into the office or to anywhere you go, unless you' re sure you won't have time to read.
Make a list. Keep a list of all the great books you want to read. You can keep this in a pocket notebook. Be sure to add to it whenever you hear about a good book. Keep a running list, and cross out the ones you have read.
Find a quiet place. Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair without television or computer near the chair. There should be no music or noisy family members.
Set a high aim. For example. Tell yourself that you want to read 50 books this year. Your best to finish reading them. Just be sure you're still enjoying the reading.
Title: Ways to a lifetime reading habit |
Set times | ●Read for at least 5-10 minutes, no matter what. ●Make it a to read during breakfast and lunch. |
Always carry a book | ●Carry at least one book whenthe house. ●Keep the book no matter you go. |
Make a | ●to it when you hear about a good book. ●Cross out the ones you have read. |
Find a quiet place | ●Sit in a chair. ●Make sure no music or noisy family members trouble you. |
a high aim | ●Do your to finish reading them. ●Be sure to enjoy the reading. |
