Architect Daniel Libeskind is the designer of such global landmarks as New York's One World Trade Center and Berlin's Jewish Museum. In his new book, he reviews his life's work and its inspirations — including these books.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. I love Lewis Carroll; he's a total genius (天才). His two classic works are children's books for grown-ups because they show aspects of the creative mind that we all have but seldom use in adulthood. Inspired by Carroll, I make a habit of trying to learn seven amazing things before breakfast.
Ulysses by James Joyce. Joyce once said that if Dublin were destroyed, you could recreate the entire city from this novel. You can't do urban planning without Ulysses because it is a labyrinth (迷宫) you can never leave.
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Proust's great novel is really a book of reflections about how architecture — our living spaces — creates a blueprint (蓝图) for our dreams, our desires, our emotions, and our memories. Where we have lived, what we have eaten, and what kind of cups we use — all of those aspects are examined here in minute detail.
Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Emily Dickinson. From childhood onward, Dickinson collected, pressed, and classified the plants she grew in her garden in Amherst. Through the pictures in this book, you can see how her poetry — all her symbols, all her metaphors (隐喻), the colors she mentions — mirrors nature. You don't even have to read her poetry to see what a great artist she was.
Home party marketing originated in America in the early twentieth century. At that time, direct selling had become a very common part of American life. Door-to-door salesmen would travel throughout the country selling anything from sewing machines to cure-all medicines. In 1931, a man named Frank Stanley Beveridge who had dug enough gold by doing this selling started a company called Stanley Home Products. The company sold cleaning supplies to housewives.
Soon after Mr. Beveridge began his company, one of his salesmen began selling Stanley products at home parties. The salesman would organize a Stanley Party where he could give a cleaning demonstration (演示) to a room full of guests. It allowed him to sell Stanley products to many different customers at once, and it proved to be much more effective than standard door-to-door sales. The practice quickly became the main marketing strategy (策略) of Stanley Home Products.
Next, during the 1940s, many housewives started selling Stanley products to make extra money for their families. The job was perfect for housewives because Stanley sellers could work from home and set their own schedules. A single mother named Brownie Wise took full advantage of this opportunity and quickly became one of Stanley's top sellers.
Not long after that, she started her own direct selling business called Tupperware Patio Parties, which focused on selling a new type of plastic food container, Tupperware, using the Stanley home party system. Wise had realized Tupperware was perfect for the home party system. She could show her customers its patented (专利的) airtight seal, and she could also take away their anxiety about the safety of plastics -a fairly new invention at the time. Wise's company was very successful, and it was soon selling more Tupperware than department stores.
Today, many other companies have adopted home party marketing plans. So, next time you leave friend's party with a hundred dollars' worth of new Tupperware or jewelry, you can thank Frank Stanley Beveridge and Brownie Wise for your unintended purchase.
Christina Horsten and Felix Zeltner tried not to panic when they were hit with a $400 rent increase on their Park Slope apartment in 2016, and realized they would have to move for the second time in two years. Instead of feeling intimidated by the unexpected event, they hit upon an unconventional idea: Why not move to a new neighborhood every month for a year?
At first, things went remarkably well. They found their next apartment, a beautiful apartment in Chinatown. The next months brought stops in Staten Island and Harlem. As September approached, their next place to live proved difficult to find. When their Harlem lease (租约) ended, they took a road trip, then fell for a false advertisement in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, when an apartment they found advertised online wasn't actually available to rent. And eventually they got their money back through Paypal. "That was rock bottom," Ms. Horsten said.
Over the rest of the year, they spent time in a townhouse in Mott Haven, as well as apartments in Chelsea, the East Village, Hell's Kitchen, and Williamsburg. "In the end, we were like, 'Why should we even stop doing this?' "Ms. Horsten said. But then a lease takeover on Listings Project caught their attention: a two-bedroom apartment atop an Upper West Side townhouse.
A second daughter, Lily, was born in January. And with a newborn, they have no intention of moving again anytime soon. Still, many aspects of their adventure have remained with them. "In the same way that we've tried to keep minimalism (极简主义) in our life, we try to stay in touch with all the people we've met," Ms. Horsten said. "We realized it was a lifelong project to try to get to know NewYork City," she added. But there is one member of the household eagerly waiting for a repeat: their 4-year-old daughter Emma." I think she loved it the most," Ms. Horsten said. "At all the places we stayed, she found things I never noticed: children's books, a dollhouse, a drum set. Even now, she's like, ‘When are we moving to a new home?' And we're like, 'We kind of like it here.' "
Medical developments and discoveries often provide the best things for controversies (争论).This is because whenever a new discovery or theory is proposed, there is always disagreement. Only via objective scientific evidence can such arguments be cleared. But, as is often the case, a clear solution is not instantly found. However, once the technology catches up with the area of the discovery, it shows exactly how valid the theory is. Since this is a slow process and can take years, the development of controversies is unavoidable.
Over the years, various such controversies have been developed, examined, and either rejected, or proved right for the good of mankind. Now read the following examples.
Firstly, cancer was largely regarded as an incurable disease, since its exact cause was unknown. Later, professors and doctors came up with various theories regarding the cause. Some claimed it was the result of chemical processes, while others believed it was a sort of poison. After a few decades, a doctor proposed that cancer was caused by the inhalation (吸入) of pollutants, in the form of smoke, gas, etc. His claim was rejected by many researchers and doctors. However, due to various scientific studies, this claim is now clearly common knowledge, though there may be other causes.
Many people worry that the use of cell phones can cause cancer. Recent studies suggest that this common threat is actually quite true. Numerous studies indicate that the long usage of cell phones (at least an hour per day) increases the risk of developing brain tumors.
After the discovery of X-rays, they were widely used, from doctors' clinics to shoe stores to see the fit of shoes. People thought they could offer the benefit of visualizing the skeleton (骨骼) of a person without causing any danger to the person. However, in 1956, the National Academy of Science reported the harmful effects of these rays on the human body, and the practice was then given up. Presently, we all know that exposure to X-rays may lead to radiation poisoning, tissue breakdown, and even death.
As long as there have been exams, students have found ways to cheat. Today the correct answers are just a few taps away on a smart phone. So countries have come up with new ways to stop the funny business. Some use metal detectors, surveillance (监控) cameras, and mobile phone jammers (干扰器).
Cheating in high school leaving exams got so bad in Mauritania and Algeria that this year the authorities turned off the Internet for the entire country. Algeria did so for at least an hour during tests (which last about a week). Other countries, such as Iraq, Uzbekistan and Ethiopia, have for years been shutting down the Internet during exam time.
In each country students are under high pressure to do well in the tests, which often determine whether they can continue their education at a good university. But high marks are rare. In Algeria only around half of students passed the exams in recent years. In Mauritania the rate is much lower.
Darrell West of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, estimates that in 2015-2016 Internet shutdowns ordered by governments cost countries at least $2.4bn.
A. Turning off the Internet is expensive.
B. Teachers try to help — in their own way.
C. Others have taken a more severe measure.
D. A splendid grade may mean a scholarship abroad.
E. Mauritania cut access from morning until evening on exam days.
F. For that kind of money, countries could even improve their schools.
G. With so many students cheating electronically, governments are taking extreme steps.
It was my twenty-eighth birthday, and I was seriously upset. I was a newly divorced mom, raising two small children on my own. Feeling1myself had become comfortable for me.
The evening before my2, my six-year-old son Nick said," Tomorrow's your birthday, Mommy! I can't3!"Unable to return his enthusiasm, I kissed his cheeks and4he could forget it the next day.
The next morning, I5noises in our living room and then I heard Nick6his baby sister Maya, telling her to "make Mommy smile today." It suddenly hit me. I'd been so7in my sadness that I hadn't realized how it was affecting my children. Sensing my8, my little boy was doing his best to9something about it.
I marched into the living room to hug my children — and was10in my tracks. There sat Nick on the floor, Maya on her blanket next to him, and in front of them was a pile of11.
I looked wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the presents, then back to my son. "Happy Birthday!" he cried. "I12you, Mommy, didn't I?" I knelt (跪) down next to him and asked how he'd13to get me the presents. He reminded me of our14to the Dollar Tree store, and I15remembered him telling me he was going to spend the pocket money he'd been saving for ages. I had almost16him for spending everything he had so carefully saved. I would never have imagined that he was17gifts for me.18the presents, I suddenly saw the beauty in my life. The sadness19from my heart. I hugged my son and daughter and told them how20I was to have them in my life.
My dear grandson, your mother tells me that you (start) smoking some time ago and now you are finding it difficult (give) it up. By the way, did you know that this is you become addicted in three different ways?
Firstly, you can become physically addicted to nicotine, is one of the hundreds of harmful chemicals in (cigarette). This means that (accustom) to having nicotine in it, you feel good. But when the drug leaves your body, you get withdrawal symptoms. I remember (feel) bad-tempered and sometimes even more pain.
Secondly, you become addicted habit. As you know, if you do the same thing over and over again, you begin to do it automatically. Lastly, you can become (mental) addicted. I believed I was (happy) and more relaxed after having a cigarette, so I began to think that I could only feel good when I smoked. I was addicted in all three ways, so it was very difficult to quit. But I did finally manage.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，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。
I used to think visiting museums was boring. One day, I was taking to an art museum that there were a group of other kids. "Not having funs?" the guide whispered, watch my face. I sighed but followed the group. "Since the parents are gone, let's find something specially!" the guide said. We saw a painting of people in a café and the guide asked why was wrong with them. I found out that table legs was all missing. The guide praised me and then said, "Our brains play tricks us, making us ignore small changes, and the painter just made a good use of it." From then on, I started to love museums.
