In 2012, Kim Stemple, a special-education teacher, found herself in a Boston hospital being treated for one of several diseases she had been diagnosed(诊断) with, including lupus and lymphoma. The normally confident Stemple was naturally getting very depressed. And then a friend gave her a medal.
Before she got too sick to exercise, Stemple had been a marathon runner. The medal came from a racing partner who had just finished a half marathon in Las Vegas and hoped the souvenir would act as a kind of feeling pick-me-up. It worked like a charmand then some.
After Stemple hung the medal near her hospital bed, other patients said they wanted medals too. That got Stemple thinking. "A medal is a simple way to give a positive message," she told pilotonline.com. And so was born her charity, We Finish Together, which collects medals from strangersrunners, dancers, swimmers, singers, and even spelling bee winners-and donates them to all sorts of people in need.
Those who received the medals have included hospital patients, residents of homeless shelters, and veterans. Part of the process involves the donor writing a personalized note on the ribbon. "This gives them a connection to someone," says Stemple. "If they receive a medal, they know someone cares."
Can a simple medal really make a difference? Yes, says Joan Musarra, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis. "I opened my package containing my new medal and the notes of positive, warm thoughts, I was overwhelmed," she wrote to Stemple. "At that moment, I was sitting on my couch breathing through life-support machine because my lungs have been worsening so badly. It means so much to me to feel that I am not alone."
Chocolate could soon be a thing of the past, after scientists warned that the cacao plant, from which chocolate is made, could be extinct within 32 years.
Over half of the world's chocolate comes from just two countries in West AfricaCote d'Ivoire and Ghanawhere the temperature, rain, and humidity provide the perfect conditions for cacao to grow. But the threat of rising temperatures over the next three decades caused by climate change, is expected to result in a loss of water from the ground, which scientists say could upset this balance.
According to the related data, a temperature rise of just 2.1℃ could spell an end for the chocolate industry worldwide by 2050. Farmers in the region are already considering moving cacao production areas thousands of feet uphill into mountainous areamuch of which is currently preserved for wildlife. But a move of this scale could destroy ecosystems that are already under threat from illegal farming and deforestation.
Part of the problem, according to Doug Hawkins, is that cacao farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years. "Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding strains and crop management techniques to realize their genetic potential, more than 90% of the global cocoa crop is produced by small farms with unimproved planting material," he said. "It means that we could be facing a chocolate decrease of 100,000 tons a year in the next few years."
Now scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have teamed up with American candy company Mars to keep chocolate on the menu. Using the controversial(有争议的) gene-editing technology known as CRISPR they are trying to develop a type of the cacao plant capable of surviving in dryer, warmer climates. If the team's work on the cacao plant is successful, it could remove the need for farmers in West Africa to relocate to higher ground, and perhaps even allow cacao to be grown elsewhere in the world.
A night at the movies is always a good idea. But when you leave the theater and realize you just dropped $45 on a ticket and some snacks, you'll wish you had been patient enough to wait until the movie came out on Netflix. The average movie ticket price in the United States in 2000 was $5.39; now, a ticket is over $9.
The main reason that movie tickets have gotten so expensive is because of inflation(通货膨胀). It was actually more expensive to go to the movies in the 70s than it is now. A ticket in 1978 cost $2.34. If you plug that into an inflation calculator, the same ticket would cost you $9.46 today. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average cost for a ticket today is $9.11.
Another reason you need to dip into your life savings to see a movie on the big screen is that theaters are competing with streaming services that produce their own films, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. And let's be honest, sitting at home on your couch or in your bed is more comfortable than sitting in a cold theater.
Because of streaming technology, movie theaters have to do something to bring in customers. Attractionsincluding alcohol, reclining seats(躺椅), surround sound, and 3-D movies are all examples of that. And those upgrades come at a price, leading to more expensive tickets.
"There's all that extra cost, and it's really important for theater owners and companies to make that experience as enjoyable as possible," Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners told Marketplace. "Because you're offering a superb experienceaudience expectations are for the latest and greatest technology. Audiences are willing to pay more for a particular experience."
A Few Universal Truths to Transform Your Life
Life is growth. If you are not reaching the kind of success, the following Universal Truths are just the ones that help to change your life for the better, regardless of where you are, where you've been, or what challenges you are facing.
The best way to achieve your desires is to set a goal. Sometimes we find ourselves "spinning our wheel", struggling through a day-to-day routine that isn't getting us anywhere because we don't know where we want to go. Whatever the case is, figuring out what your goals are and whether your current actions are helping to achieve them is important.
Setting goals is important but isn't enough to drive you to the finishing line; it's important, too, to be able to imagine yourself as the achiever of your goals. How will you feel? Why is it worthwhile to follow these goals and not some other ones? If goals are the final result of a journey, your vision(愿景) is the fuel to get you there.
Whether you regard yourself as a towering tree or a blade of grass, or whether you think you are a high mountain or a small stone, you represent a state of nature that has its own reason of existence. If you truly admire yourself, you'll be courageous.
There is no better time to begin than now. But the truth is that your time is now. No matter what dream or desire you have, you are likely not to have more time in your life to make it happen.
A. Having a vision is undoubtedly necessary.
B. Self-appreciation gets you to be positive to move you towards success.
C. Try to understand and let it be the guide to your life as follows.
D. Be sure that you are more powerful than you know.
E. Read and allow them to change your life in beautiful ways.
F. Sometimes we simply do what is expected of us without considering what we want to achieve.
G. You can make a bunch of excuses that you'll start when more experienced or richer.
Since I introduced animals into my child psychotherapy(心理治疗) practice, my life as a doctor has been full of wonders. One Friday afternoon Diane, a dark-haired five-year-old, who had 1 said a word to anyone outside her home environment, came to me for 2 help.
When Diane and her parents were 3 in the waiting room, my dog, Puppy, and I walked out to 4 them. I noticed immediately Diane sat with her head down, her eyes directed toward the floor in front of her, making no move to 5.
Puppy, walking ahead of me, made a beeline for Diane. Because Diane's head was 6, Puppy was just three feet from her when the girl finally 7 sight of him. Startled by the 8 sight, the girl's eyes became huge and then her mouth curved slowly into a smile. Puppy stopped 9 in front of Diane and laid his head in her lap.
I greeted Diane, but she didn't 10. Instead, she began to silently pet Puppy's head, running her 11 softly over Puppy's ears and nose. Obviously she was still 12, but she was smiling and seemed to be enjoying her 13 with Puppy.
Then I gave Puppy a hand 14 to go back into the inner office. As Puppy walked away, I watched Diane's face fall and her eyes take on a 15 look. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't 16 you wanted Puppy to stay. All you have to do for him to come back is say, 'Puppy, come.'"
After struggling inside, Diane called in a soft 17, "Puppy, come; please come." As Diane's parents watched in tears, I gave Puppy another signal and he ran over to the girl who 18 her chair and hugged Puppy tightly around the neck. Seeing this, I was 19, for Diane had taken the first step in her journey toward being able to interact(互动) with the world outside her home and Puppy had20his magic again.
Mobile payments have made our life (convenient) by freeing us from the trouble of having to take our wallets out with us. But a UK supermarket has gone one step (far), allowing customers to pay using just fingertip.
Shoppers at the Costcutter store at Brunel University in London can pay for items (use) the special vein(静脉) pattern in their fingertips, (report) The Telegraph. It's the world's first store (make) use of such technology.
This new method of payment (mean) that customers can pay for items in just three (second).
Sthaler, the company behind the technology, explained that it uses infrared scanners(红外扫描仪) to read the pattern of veins in the finger. It links this to the customer's bank details, are kept safe by payment provider Worldpay. The firm is also responsible for millions of online shoppers' details around the globe.
The company said dozens of Brunel students are already using the technology, and it hopes to have signed up 3,000 students out of 13,000 November.
One evening, a workman was exhaustedly making his way home after work, when he stopped to rest by the side of the road. A woman came by, pushing a cart full of flowers. The smell of her blossoms so filled the air with sweetness that it seemed to take away the tiredness in his bones and lift his spirits. He had never experienced such wonder from the many blooms of his own garden. "How much must I pay, or what must I do, to have some of your wonderful flowers?" he asked the woman.
"Oh, sir," she said, "take what your wish for."
"What return must I make for them?" he asked again.
"Your gratitude is enough," she said, "and it's a pleasure to share the beauty of flowers with you."
So the man filled his arms with blossoms and hurried joyfully home. His wife and his children were also glad over the remarkable flowers, for they, too, discovered that the sight of them was a delight and the smell of them refreshed the soul.
In order not to lose his valuable possession, the man planted the blossoms in a small plot of land behind his house. Sunlight and water kept them amazingly beautifulthey still performed their fantastic magic.
Every day, his children took delight in playing in the yard and always sang and danced around the flowers. They all liked the lovely gift their father had received and even invited many of their friends to share this fantastic magic together. When children came to play near the flowers, the man over and over warned them against carelessness and wild play for fear that they walk on the flowers and damage them. But the flowers remained strong as long as there was enough sun and water to nourish(滋养) them. Nowhere else could the man or his wife or children find such remarkable relaxation from tiredness, such comfort in sadness, such spiritual nourishment as those remarkable flowers provided.
With the news spreading and more people coming to appreciate his treasure, the man became even more concerned about his remarkable flowers.
注意：
⒈所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
⒉应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
⒊续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
⒋续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
He was determined to protect the flowers.
Paragraph 2:
However, the flowers seemed to fade day by day, so the man went everywhere for help.
