In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression in other animals. This sometimes happens with humans also. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, but sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don't get to see this soft side of others. Often, we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only when we stop pretending we're brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that's in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At that moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, "I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can." And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn't get around me because of the stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don't feel that way. But those are few and far between. More often, it would be better if we don't pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.
I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say, "Well, I'm writing a novel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published,
I put it aside.
Then I met an agent (代理商) who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.
Doctors in hospital emergency rooms often see accidental poisonings. A frightened parent arrives with a child who swallowed a cleaning liquid. Or perhaps the harmful substance is a medicine. Or it might be a chemical product meant to kill insects. These are common causes of accidental poisoning.
In cases like this, seek medical help as soon as possible. Save the container of whatever caused the poisoning. And look on the container for information about anything that stops the effects of the poison. Save anything expelled from the mouth of the victim. That way, doctors can examine it.
Millions of people know a way to save a person who is choking on something trapped in the throat. The method is commonly known as the Heimlich Maneuver or abdominal thrusts(腹部按压), which you can do by getting directly behind a sitting or standing person. Put your arms around the victim's waist. Close one hand to form a ball. Place it over the upper part of the stomach, below the ribs. Place the other hand on top. Then push forcefully inward and upward. Repeat the abdominal thrusts until the object is expelled from the mouth. For someone who is pregnant or very fat, place your hands a little higher than with normal abdominal thrusts.
Red Cross experts say taking these steps can save many lives. But they also warn that abdominal thrusts are not for people who have almost drowned. They say use of the method could delay other ways to re-start breathing in the victim. Abdominal thrusts should be used only in cases where a near-drowning victim is choking on an object.
To learn more about first aid, ask a hospital or organization like a Red Cross or Red Crescent Society for information. There may be training classes offered in your area.
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Color is fundamental in home design—something you'll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you'll love to live in. Do you want a room that's full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day? color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.
Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point. they can get a little complex. But good news is that there're really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.
They're the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.
Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves. They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.
The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you're looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant.
A. If you're experimenting with a color.
B. While all of them are useful.
C. Whatever you're looking for.
D. It's not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces.
E. Small color choices are the ones we're most familiar with.
F. So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time.
G. Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways.
She's 14 now, a turbulent (不安的)age.
She walks into the 1. It is night time, and I'm picking her up from an activity, and she is 2. She used to always be happy. 3 it's a 50-50 matter. She 4 me a picture she wants to post on the Internet of her and a friend. She asks if it's OK. I 5 her it's OK. I don't know if it's OK; I'm 6 trying hard to keep up with the rules. She is happy.
We sit in the car, and talk about 7. It is pleasing for a moment not to be asking her about school or homework or friends and 8 for her for a moment not to be 9 about any of it.
"Hey Dad," she says. "Can I have your phone? I want to 10 some music."
"Sure," I say, and I give her the 11. She presses a few buttons 12 this technology comes second nature to her generation. They don't need 13. They just know.
The song begins and 14 I know. It's her favorite 15
I introduced her to this song a while ago. She sings along to every word. I do too.
She looks up at me and 16. Her teeth are straight; the braces (牙箍) are gone. She leans closer to me and says, "Don't you love this song Daddy?" I hear her say "Daddy," and think 17 to a time when she raced over to me at the airport 18 I returned from a business trip several years ago. She's 14 now, a turbulent age. Tomorrow, she may 19 me. But now, in the coolness of the evening, she smiles at me, and we 20 together. We are off key. We are off key together.
Beer and fried chicken — this combo (组合餐) has recently become the (popular) late-night snack eaten inside dorms and documented in weibo and WeChat updates. Thanks to the popular South Korean drama Man From the Stars, this new mix-and-match junk food trend has been very popular young audiences despite its (healthy) nature. Indeed, K-dramas have been major force in the South Korean pop culture wave has captured (捕获) the hearts of young Chinese. Apart from pretty faces, fashion is exciting part. Critics and Industry insiders agree that the recipe for K-dramas' success (consist) of several main ingredients— handsome and cute stars (dress) in the latest fashion trends, youth fantasies, and (create) storylines (故事情节). With love triangles, serious diseases, and Cinderella tales, the storylines in K-drama might seem commonplace. Man From the Stars challenges this norm by (combine) aliens and time travel into these standard stories.
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 
Today is Sunday. The sky is full of sunshine, so does my life. At about 9:00 a.m., I go to the bookstore with my friends. There was a lot of new books. I didn't know what one to buy because these books were all useful to me. At 10:00, we went to cinema. The film was called Titanic but some people were waiting outside the booking office. It took to us about 3 hours to see it. Having seen the film, everyone was deeply moving. Some of my friends even burst out tears. From the story, I understand that love is noble and valuable. That's a really wonderful film. It is very worth seeing again.
What a happy day! I hope tomorrow I will be happier!
注意：发言稿须包含上述要点，但可适当发挥，使讲话完整通顺。
It's a pleasure for me to have a chance to make a short speech today. ……
That's all. Thank you for listening!
