My Year Abroad
This month in Travelers Corner there are three teenagers' experiences in year-abroad programmes.
Mariko Okada - Tokyo
My year abroad in the United States was a fantastic experience. I'm not a shy person, and I was very comfortable speaking to everyone. So I got lots of speaking practice. I also learned lots of interesting things about American culture. When I got home, my friends all said that I had improved so much! I hope to go back again in the future.
Carla Fonseca - Rio de Janeiro
I spent last year studying English in London. I'm from a small town, and London is a very big city. Sometimes I felt it was too big. There were so many people to talk to, but I always felt bad about my English. I missed my family, and I really missed my two cats. My roommate was always using our telephone, so I hardly had the chance for a nice long talk with my parents. I think it was a good experience for me, but I'm glad to be home!
Alvin Chen - Hong Kong
Studying in New Zealand was an interesting experience for me, but it was also lots of hard work! I had English classes six hours a day, five days a week—with lots of homework. I also kept a diary of my experience. I like to write, and I wrote two or three pages in my diary every day. On Saturdays, my home stay family took me to lots of interesting places and showed me so many wonderful things about the culture. I'm really glad I went!
Being an astronaut sounds cool, doesn't it? In space, they get to do some pretty amazing things, like floating (漂浮) in zero gravity(重力).
However, there are also plenty of things that astronauts can't do because of their weightless environment(环境), and that's very sad. What's worse, they can't even let their sadness show -because it's impossible to cry in zero gravity.
Of course, astronauts can still produce tears. But crying is much more difficult in space, reported The Atlantic in January. Without gravity；tears don't flow downward out of the eyes like they do here on Earth. This means that when you cry in space, your tears have nowhere to go — they just stick to your eyes.
In May 2011, astronaut Andrew Feustel experienced this during one of his spacewalks. "Tears," he said, "don't fall off your eye...They just kind of stay there."
Besides making your vision(视觉) unclear, this can also cause physical pain. Back on Earth, tears are supposed to bring comfort to the eyes. But that's not the case in space. The space environment dries out astronauts' eyes, and when tears suddenly wet the eyes, it can cause pain rather than comfort. "My right eye is painful like crazy." Feustel told his teammate during the walk.
Since gravity doesn't work in space, astronauts need some extra help to get rid of the tears. Feustel chose to rub his eyes against his helmet to wipe the tears away. Another choice is to just wait — "When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eye and float around," astronaut Ron Parise told The Atlantic.
There are lots of small things — things like crying — that we are so used to on Earth, we usually take them for granted, until they become a problem in a totally different environment, like space. There, astronauts can't talk to each other directly. They also can't eat or drink in normal ways. They can't even burp (打嗝), because there is no gravity to hold the food down in their stomach. If they do burp, they just end up throwing up (呕吐) everything in their stomach, according to the UK National Space Center.
Thus, perhaps it's only space explorers who can honestly say, "Gravity, you're the best."
It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views (观点）of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, "a brilliantly (精彩地) written book". However, he then went on to talk about Mr. Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven't. In the World Book Day's “Report on Guilty Secrets”. Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various author: which people have lied about reading, and as I'm not one to lie too often (I'd hate to be caught out), I'll admit (承认) here and now that I haven't read the entire (全部的) top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell's 1984.I think it's really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven't read him, but haven't lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to "impress"（使留下深刻印象) someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in-depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I'll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
It was New Year's Night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful (悲哀的) eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies (百合花) on the surface of a clear calm lake. He had already passed sixty and brought from his journey nothing but errors (错误) and regrets. Now his health was poor, his mind vacant and his heart sorrowful (悲伤的).
The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads—one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and filled with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and devils and poisonous snake hissed (发撕嘶声) and crawled (爬行).
He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol (象征) of himself. His regret like a sharp arrow (箭) struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood. But they had made their way to success and were now honoured and happy on this night.
The high church clock struck and the sound made him remember his parents' early love for him. They had taught him and prayed for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing (绝望的) effort, he burst out a cry: "Come back, my early days!"
His youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year Night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.
Those who still wander (徘徊) on the entrance of life, hesitating (犹豫) to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble (绊脚) on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain (徒劳): "Oh youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!"
The jobs of the future have not yet been invented. By helping them develop classic skills that will serve them well no matter what the future holds.
⒈Curiosity
Your children need to be deeply curious. Ask kids, "What ingredients(配料) can we add to make these pancakes even better next time?" And then try them out. Did those ingredients make the pancakes better? What could we try next time?
⒉reativity
True creativity is the ability to take something existing and create something new from it. There are a dozen different things you can do with them. Experimenting with materials to create something new can go a long way in helping them develop their creativity.
⒊Interpersonal Skills
Understanding how others feel can be so challenge for kids. We know what's going on inside our own head, but what about others? Being able to read people helps kids from misreading a situation and jumping to false conclusions. "Why do you think she's crying?" "Can you tell how that man is feeling by looking at his face?" "If someone were to do that to you, how would you feel?"
⒋Self Expression (表达)
There are many ways to express thoughts and ideas—music, acting, drawing, building, photography. You may find that your child is attracted by one more than another.
A. Encourage kids to cook with you.
B. And we can't forget science education.
C. We can give kids chances to think about materials (物质，材料) in new ways.
D. So how can we help our kids prepare for jobs that don't yet exist?
E. Gardening is another great activity for helping kids develop this skill.
F. Being able to communicate ideas in a meaningful way is a valuable skill.
G. We can do this in real life or ask questions about characters in stories.
Jim and his sister May walked in the street, and then they noticed a pet store. It was a very small pet store that didn't have many 1. The owner of the shop, Mr Smith, greeted Jim and May when they 2. May said, "We would like to buy a dog." "Ah, well, our shop is not very 3," Mr Smith told her. "So we only have two dogs to choose 4."
They asked Mr Smith to 5 them the dogs. Mr Smith took them to see the two dogs. One was a big Bulldog named Buster. The other was a tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. May wanted Teacup, 6 Jim wanted Buster. They walked outside to 7. They couldn't agree 8 a dog. May 9 they race home for it. The one who won the race could choose the dog.
Jim agreed, and then told May her shoelace was loose. When May 10. he ran off to get a head start. Jim ran as 11 as he could because he really wanted that Bulldog. When he looked back, he found May was so 12 behind that he couldn't even see her. Jim finally got home. He was 13 but happy. He knew he was the 14. May arrived a few minutes later. She congratulated him and they 15 the pet store together. However, when they arrived they 16 saw Teacup. They asked Mr Smith where Buster was.
Mr Smith gave them a(n) 17 that a few minutes after May and Jim left, two boys walked in and bought the Bulldog.
Jim looked at May, and she held 18 a smile. Jim 19 and turned back to Mr Smith. "Sometimes you win the 20, but not the prize!" Jim smiled sadly. "We'll take the Chihuahua, please."
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号( 
),并在其下補写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last summer vacation, my family and I went to Qingdao by train. There were always sunshine and fresh air, where made us so comfortable. We went to the seaside but the sea was as blue as the sky. Bath in the sunshine on the beach was really a enjoyable thing. I also picked up a lot of colorful shell with my little sister.
There we bought many interesting souvenirs; I planned to send they to my friends. We eat many things there, such as fish, prawns and so on. They were very delicious. Then we lived in a clean and tidy hotel, the price which was not so expensive.
I like Qingdao very much, and if I get a chance, I hope to go there again; it is so a beautiful and interesting place.
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With the development of our society, the (connect) between people becomes inevitable (不可避免的). People need to communicate with others as long as they are in the world. As a result interpersonal relationship becomes more and more important.
A good interpersonal relationship promotes (促进) people's success. Throughout human history, we can know no one can do everything well and become (success) alone. Most great men have a good relationship with other people. For many people, the interpersonal relationship and their abilities are equally important to their success. By (keep) a good relationship with others, people can easily get help from others facing difficulties. In other words, excellent interpersonal communication skills can help people remove obstacles(障碍) on the way success. Besides, a good interpersonal relationship can help people live a happy life. (create) a harmonious environment, people should keep a good relationship with the people around them. These friendly people will form a happy atmosphere, will make people work efficiently(高效的) and put them in a good mood in daily life. It is certain that people will receive (happy) in the end.
