A Special Appointment
Years ago I moved to Woodland Hills to take a job in a small hospital's emergency department. No one wanted to work on Christmas Eve, so the shift (轮班) went to me. I kissed my family goodbye and went off to spend the night in the hospital. It was a thankless job.
At 9 pm, the ambulance brought in a man in his 60s who was having a heart attack. His face was pale, and he was frightened. The whole night I did my best to save his life. Before I left in the morning to spend Christmas with my family, I stopped by to see how he was doing. It was still tough, but he had survived the night and was sleeping.
The following year I got Christmas Eve duty again. At 9 pm sharp, the ward clerk told me there was a couple who wanted to speak with me. When I approached them, the man introduced himself as Mr. Lee and said, “You probably don't remember me, but last Christmas Eve you saved my life. Thank you for the year you gave me.” He and his wife hugged me, handed me a small gift, and left.
The following year a new doctor had joined the group, but I wanted to see if Mr. and Mrs. Lee would return. This time, I volunteered for the shift. I kept an eye on the door. Once again, at exactly 9 pm, the Lees appeared, carrying a warmly wrapped bundle. It was their new grandchild. Mr.Lee, his family and I spent 13 Christmas Eves together. In the later years the staff all knew about the story and would work to give me time with him in the break room, where we spent a half-hour each Christmas Eve.
The last year I saw him, he brought me a gift. I carefully opened the package and found a crystal (水晶) bell inside. It was engraved (镌刻) with a single word: Friendship. Now, my family, friends and I ring that bell every Christmas Eve at exactly 9 pm and offer our best wishes to the man who we won't forget.
Warley Woods Community (社区) Trust
Welcome to our third news letter of the year!
Our main activity for March is our Walk for the Woods fundraising events on Saturday, 17th March, starting any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We will be walking the distance between Warley Woods and Tipperary. It is indeed a long way — 80 miles. The more people that you can get sponsor you, the more money we can raise to helplook after our beautiful woodland. More information is available at ourwebsite.
The Sunday volunteers planted two beeches and an oak last week. This was thanks to the money from the Big Tree Plant and to Lisa and Gordon Whitiker, whose friends gave money forthe big trees instead of for their wedding presents. Thanks to everyone who took part.
There were 15 volunteersat the Oral History Training Day which was led very ably by Julia Letts. The group will be meeting again and will start to interview the local people whohave offered to tell their stories. We are happy to hear from others who would like to be interviewed about their memories of the Woods for the project. If you or anyone you know is interested, please call Viv Cole at the office. This project is financed by Heritage Lottery Fund.
There was a huge response to the Forest Schools activities held at half term. These will be held again during the Easter holidays on the following dates: 4th April from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for over 8s. On 12th April form 10 a.m. to 12 noon, there will be a Teddy Bears' Picnic for the under 8s. All these must be booked in advance.
Finally, don't forget the Easter Egg Roll on Bank Holiday, 9th April, staring at 11 a.m. Bring your ownhard-boiled and decorated egg to roll down the hill in the woods. The firstpast the finishing line will win a large chocolate egg! This year, due to popular demand, there will also be an Adults' Easter Egg Roll following the children's competition.
We look forward to seeing you all soon, at one of our many events.
In Britain, it's bottoms up from the week before Christmas till the last firework explodes in the sky announcing the new year. The last Friday before Christmas, popularly known as ‘Mad Friday', is one of the busiest periods for the country's pubs and clubs.
But it's not just the bars that get busy. Ambulances and A&E departments around Britain get packed out too. Head injuries, cuts, falls…it's easy to end up hurting yourself or others when self-control disappear and your head is spinning due to alcohol revelers have been warned by the health authorities about the dangers of deadly drinking but drinking crazily seems to be part of the festivities for some.
The charity Alcohol Concern is running a campaign of restriction by encouraging people to have a dry January.
Jackie Ballard, the charity's Chief Executive, believes the campaign has been successful in recent years. She says, “More than two-thirds of people even six months later are drinking at reduced levels having had amonth off drink. But also a study has shown the impact it has on people's health reducing their blood pressure and blood sugar levels.”
The study by the University of Sussex followed up nearly 900 participants in Alcohol Concern's Dry January campaign and found out that 72％ of them hadkept harmful drinking sessions down and 4％ were still not drinking.
Moderation (适度) seems to bethe key to everything. The official recommendation for women is not to regularly drink more than 2 to 3 units of alcohol a day. The limit for men is 3to 4 units of alcohol — no more than a pint of 5.2％ ABV lager, beer or cider.
Phrases like “tiger mom" and "helicopter parent” have made their way into everyday language. Many of us find ourselves drawn to the idea that with just a bit more parental hard work and effort, we might turn out children with bright futures. But is there anything wrong with a kind of“over parenting style”?
Parental involvement has a long history of being studied. Many of the studies, conducted by Diana Baumrind, a famous psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that a good parent is the one who is involved and reacts to her child in a positive way, who sets high expectations but gives her child independence. These “authoritative parents”appear to hit the sweet spot of parental involvement and generally raise children who do better academically, psychologically and socially than children whose parents are not strict and less involved, or controlling and more involved. Why is this parenting style so successful?
Authoritative parents actually help improve motivation in their children. Carol Dweck, a social psychologist at Stanford University, has done research that indicates why authoritative parents raise more motivated children. In a typical experiment, Dr. Dweck takes young children into a room and asks them to solve a simple puzzle. Most do so with little difficulty. Butthen Dr. Dweck tells some, but not all, of the kids how clever they are. As it turns out, the children who are not told they're smart are more motivated to solve increasingly difficult puzzles. They also show higher levels of confidence and show greater progress in puzzle-solving.
As the experiment suggests, praising children's talents and abilities seems to shake their confidence. Dealing with more difficult puzzles carries the risk of losing one's status as “smart”. Dr. Dweck's work strongly supports that of Dr. Baumrind, who also found that reasonably supporting a child's independence and limiting interference (干涉) causes better academic and emotional results.
The central task of growing up is to develop a sense of self that is independent and confident. If you treat your young child who is just learning to walk as if she can't walk, you reduce her confidence. Allowing children to make mistakes is one of the greatest challenges of parenting. It is easier when they are young. The potential mistakes carry greater risks, and part of being a parent is reducing risk for our children.
It was my sister Sandra's first Christmas without her husband. Last Thursday, she was in the store 1 for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 2the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something 3to each of them, as she knew they would have a(n) 4 place in their heart this holiday season.
Finally, she found the one that expressed the 5 feeling. 6 , a sharp pain pierced (穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 7 “mom and dad”. She stood, holding it close for a long time, unable to move from the spot. 8 began to run over her cheeks.
“Is there something I can do for you?” a 9 voice asked. She 10 to face a stranger, a woman. “Uh..oh...OH!” Sandra 11 , “I can't give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the12 card.”
The stranger's face softened with 13 and love. She reached out and 14my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken 15 to cry in the protection of her embrace (拥抱). She 16 held my sister until her 17 returned.
During her telling of this event I was feeling 18 that I hadn't been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 19 . “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My guilt 20 in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.
Since the day of its birth, the United Nations has been the subject of much debate.
Others think that it is too weak. We can better understand this debate if we learn more about the U.N. and its history.
The U.N. was started for two reasons. First, when the idea wasborn, people all over the world were tired of war. They felt that there must be peaceful answers to the world's problems.
The second reason was that modern science had developed newbombs and airplanes.
National borders were beginning to lose theirmeaning. Science would develop even more dangerous weapons in the future. Onlyan international organization would be able to control modern science.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President at the time, believed thatthe Allies (联盟) should plan for peace before the war ended. On December 1, 1943, Roosevelt, Britain's Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin from Soviet Union agreed to start anorganization for world peace.
During the next year and a half, the idea of such anorganisation was debated around the world. Then came the big day. On April 11,1945, the first international meeting of the United Nations took place in SanFrancisco. The goal of the meeting was to write the U.N. Charter (宪章). All of thefifty-one nations at the meeting had their own ideas to offer for the Charter.
Every nation present voted for the Charter. Noone voted against it.
A. The U.N. Charter is a beautiful piece of writing.
B. After a long debate, a final Charter was agreed upon.
C. Even the smallest country on earth can have its voice heard.
D. They asked all countries, large and small, to join theorganization.
E. These weapons made it almost impossible for a country todefend itself.
F. Some people attack the organization because they think it istoo powerful.
G. They also felt that only an international organization couldkeep world peace.
We think that life in Chinese high school is an adventure in which we have to survive mountains of homework and all kinds of exams. Yet would it be (surprise) if I tell you that high school life in the US is almost as stressful and demanding
it is in China?
In US high school, everything must (record) into your studying document, including your grades on quizzes, tests and final examinations. Failing
(turn) in your homework on time will directly affect your grade for a certain course. Perhaps completely different from we used to think of theUS high school students, they pay great attention to (they) academic performance in order that they can get into a distinguished university.
Like university students, US high school students have the (free) to choose the courses that most interest them. Even a ninth-grader can sit the same classroom as 12th-graders. But this also (mean) he orshe has to work very hard, because the teacher will not treat him or her (different).
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。
Last Saturday, my parents and I paid visit to my grandparents by train. There was a large number of people in the crowded train, but everyone help those who had lots of baggage and behaved politely. Along the way, we enjoyed beautifully views. At first, we saw one hill after another. Then what came into our eye were fields with green crops. In a six-hour trip, we arrived at my grandparents' house. Exhausted though I felt, but I was happy to see my grandparents, which I hadn't seen for a long time. It's really an excited trip because it was the first time I had taken so a long-distance train.
假定你是李华，暑假参加了澳大利亚游学活动，回国后给hostfamily写一封信表示感谢，要点如下：
1. 感谢他们一家的照顾;
2. 分享游学体会;
3. 询问你寄的礼物（汉语词典）是否收到;
4. 邀请他们一家来中国游览。
注意：1. 词数100左右。
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Helen，
