Unusual shapes, ambitious designs, new materials and new different styles have come with the modern architecture into construction today. And the world owes some of its strangest buildings to the masterminds of unconventional architects. Here are some of them.
Cubic Houses, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Cubic Houses are an architectural wonder located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. They were designed and constructed by architect Piet Blom in the 1970s. Blom was asked by Rotterdam town planners to solve the dilemma of building houses on top of a pedestrian bridge. They're cubes (立方形) situated in different angles over hexagonal poles (柱), so they look like trees and altogether make a forest. There are 38 small cubes and they are all attached to each other.
National Centre for the Performing Arts, China
The National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), described as The Giant Egg, is an arts center in Beijing, China. The construction started in December 2001 and it took almost 6 years to complete. The building is surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 5,452 people in three halls and is almost 12,000㎡ in size. As one of the strangest buildings, it was designed by French architect Paul Andreu.
Forest Spiral, Germany
The Forest Spiral is a residential (住宅的) building complex in Darmstadt, Germany. It was designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and constructed by the Bauverein Darmstadt company. The building was completed in 2000. It's a really amazing building with a green roof, resembling a spiral(螺旋).
Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada
Habitat 67, a housing complex in Montreal, Canada, was designed by Israeli — Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. Habitat 67 resembles a very interesting arrangement of cubes that kids play with. It looks so original and is a building completely stable and comfortable for living.
A few weeks ago, I found myself taken aback by the strange and rough behavior of a medical practitioner(行医者). For the first time that I could remember, I had missed an appointment, and she called to berate me. Yes, it was my fault, but I think I subconsciously avoided the appointment due to the aggressive communication we had had thus far.
I had a sense of what I was getting into when I chose to go with her — I was warned about her bedside manner — but she came, highly recommended by multiple people, and I did not have the energy to keep looking for other options. So I went with her and made myself ready for the journey.
But I was not prepared. She screamed at me for minutes on end, as I sat there, unable to get a word in, feeling terribly guilty and ashamed of the missed appointment and having wasted her time. There was no calm talk about paying for the missed appointment.
After the phone call, I felt terrible. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that everyone we meet comes into our lives for a reason.
A week or so later, after telling a friend about the event, I was blessed with this insight: This woman's attacking voice was familiar, and it was personified and strengthened by my harsh(刺耳的), critical inner voice. My friend helped me see what a blessing this encounter was. If I could see my inner critic as this woman with her associated foolish behaviour, I would not allow myself to buy into it.
I remember I once read an article which says that when we look at the behavior of others, we are looking at a mirror. According to the "Mirror Theory", when we observe character defects(缺点) in other people, we are really seeing the undeveloped and unresolved parts of our personality. With this in mind, not only do I need to examine how I view and treat myself, but also other people. So eventually, my encounter with this practitioner was for the best.
Unhealthy health care bills, long emergency-room waits and inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and costs. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialists rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare Beneficiaries(老年医保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors — two primary care physicians and five specialists — in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually increasing breakup of care results in a corresponding rise in costs and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed (返还费用). Moreover, the amount of a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive food to medical students by forgiving students loans for those who choose primary care as a career and harmonizing the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at the point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of 76 million Baby Boomers will become qualified for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them？
People have dreamt of flying since written history began. In the 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci drew detailed plans for humman flying machines. You might have thought the invention of mechanised flight would have put an end to such ideas. Far from it. For many enthusiasts, the ultimate flight fantasy is the jet pack, a small piece of equipment on your back which enables you to climb into the air and fly forwards, backwards and turn. Eric Scott was a stuntman in Hollywood for about a decade and has used jet packs to fly into the air more than 600 times. Now he works for an energy drink company that pays him to travel around the world with his jet pack. As Scott says, "I get to do what I love and wherever I go I advertise Go Fast drinks. Existing packs work for little more than 30 seconds, but people are working on designs which could let you fly around for 20 minutes. That would be amazing."
Paramotoring is another way of getting into the air. A paramotor combines the paraglider with a motor which provides enough force and is now becoming popular. Chris Clarke has been flying a paramotor for five years." Getting about is roughly comparable with driving a petrol-powered car in terms of expense. The trouble is that paramotoring is ill-suited to commuting because of the impossibility of taking off in strong winds," says Clarke.
Another keen paramotorist recently experienced a close call when in the air. "I started to get a warm feeling in my back,” says Patrick Vandenbulcke." I thought I was just sweating. But then I started to feel burning and I realised I had to get to the ground fast. After an inspection of the engine later, I noticed that the exhaust pipe had moved during the flight and the equipment had started melting." This hasn't put Vandenbulcke off, however, and he is enthusiastic about persuading others to take up paramotoring.
Fun though it is, the sport fails to satisfy many fliers because they cannot soar as swiftly as birds. Then emerged jet-powered flying, a new technology equipped with jet turbines and special wings, just like those of a bird. Yves Rossy, who has been labelled "the Birdman", is widely recognised as the first jet-powered flying man.
In May 2008, he stepped out of an aircraft at about 3000 metres. Within seconds he was soaring and diving at over 290 kph, at one point reaching 300 kph, about 104 kph faster than the typical falling skydiver. His speed was monitored by a plane flying alongside. Rossy started his flight with a free fall, and then he powered four jet turbines to keep him in the air before releasing a parachute which enabled him to float to the ground. The jet turbines were attached to special wings which he could unfold. The wings were made by a German firm called JCT Composites. Initially he had consulted with a company called Jet-Kit which specialised in small planes, but the wings they made for him weren't strong enough to support the weight of the engines. Rossy says he has become the first person to keep a stable horizontal flight, thanks to carbon foldable wings. Without these special wings, it is doubtful he would have managed to do this.
Rossy's ambitions include flying down the Grand Canyon, and to do this, he will have to fit his wings with bigger jets. The engines he currently uses already provide enough thrust to allow him to climb through the air, but then he needs more power to stay there. In terms of the physical strength involved, Rossy insists it's no more difficult than riding a motorbike. If he makes it, other fliers will want to know whether they too will someday be able to soar. The answer is yes, possibly, but it is unlikely to be more than an expensive hobby.
Guilt is one of the most painful emotions that humans experience but also one of the most common. Nobody enjoys feeling guilty, but this emotion serves an important purpose: it alerts a person when he or she has done something wrong. This enables the person to make amends and work to heal relationships that were damaged by their actions.
Nevertheless, guilt can be destructive if it is not dealt with in the right way. It can cause people to avoid others because they are too embarrassed to apologize for their actions or inaction. Some try to avoid the pain of guilt by turning to other worse habits.
The proper response to guilt depends on what kind of guilt you're dealing with. For false guilt, it's important to recognize that the guilt does not reflect an actual ethical failure.
For example, some false guilt focuses on failing to meet expectations you had for yourself. No one is perfect, and no one can do everything, so admitting your limits is actually a sign of humility.
Even when you don't need to feel guilty, these feelings are real and normal. Try to balance them with positive thoughts, but realize that it often takes time for feelings to change.
If so, don't try to conceal it. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Learn from your mistakes, and try to avoid committing the same acts again. Getting on well with the person you hurt should make your guilty feelings fade.
Guilt is painful, but it can serve a good purpose if you use it well.
A. Other people experience false guilt because of high expectations for themselves.
B. It's possible that you feel guilty because you actually did something wrong.
C. Others try to cover up their guilt by blaming others or becoming angry.
D. It can also motivate people to avoid making similar mistakes later.
E. In this case, it's important to remind yourself that you have limits.
F. Moreover, guilt can result in physical and mental discomforts meanwhile.
G. It's also important to acknowledge what you are feeling.
One spring, two friends and I sought permission to plant a garden. Our school was located in the downtown area of a large city. There wasn't 1of a backyard. Actually, it was a stone-covered dirt parking lot with no extra space. However, we carefully 2 , taking into account the area that received the best sunshine.
The three of us 3 the headmaster with our plan for a small area to plant some squash, tomatoes and cucumbers. The only real 4 involved was to rent a rake(耙), a pickax(丁字镐), and a hoe(锄头). However, getting the headmaster's permission would still be difficult. We will never forget his 5 to our request. With a slightly bored tilting(偏斜) of his head, he 6 replied," You are wasting your time. Nothing will ever grow there! But go ahead if you still want to."
We had received permission 7 ! So what if it wasn't enthusiastic? We rented tools, raked four inches of stones into neat walls 8 the garden, raised the pickax and 9what must have been a former waste area. A gardener dream — dark, rich soil just sitting there waiting to be discovered. We looked at each other, repeating together: "Ah, nothing will grow there." As you might have guessed by now, things did grow there in our garden.
Have you ever 10 that way about your life — Nothing will grow there… Have you felt 11 about your life's progress? Worried about crop failure? Disappointed that nothing good ever seems to 12? Don't believe that "Nothing will grow there". It is never too 13 to be who you might have been. You may not always see the 14 for growth, but it is there. All the rich soil you need may be left just 15 the surface, but can only be discovered after you begin digging.
There is a common expression in the English language (refer) to a blue moon. When people say something happens" only once in a blue moon", they actually intend to indicate the (frequent) of it. This expression has been around for at least a century and a half; there are references to this expression that (date) from the second half of the nineteenth century.
The expression "a blue moon" has come to refer to second full moon occurring in any given calendar month. A second full moon is called a blue moon not because it is (particular) blue or is any different in hue (色彩) the first full moon of the month. Instead, it is called a blue moon because it is so rare. The moon needs a little more than 29 days (complete) the cycle from full moon to full moon. Because every month except February has more than 29 days, every month has at least one full moon, except February, which has a full moon there is a full moon at the end of January and another full moon at the end of March. It is on the occasion a given calendar month has a second full moon that a blue moon occurs. It happens only three or four (time) in a decade.
I grew up in a small town where elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my house and in an age, not so long ago, when we children could go home for lunch and find our mothers waiting. At the time, I didn't consider this to be so important, although today it certainly would be. Actually, our lunch time together in the past years had had a great influence on my life before I realized it.
Our lunch time when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly practised my lines with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained patiently that she needed a narrator and had written a narrator's part to the play, and asked me to switch roles. Her words, kindly delivered, still hurt me, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
I didn't tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard. It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine(藤) was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions(蒲公英) appearing unexpectedly through the grass in bunches, as if a painter had touched our landscape with small amounts of gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one of the bushes. "I think I'm going to dig up all these weeds," she said, pulling a blossom up by all its roots. "From now on, we'll have roses in this garden." I immediately protested, "But I like dandelions. All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions."
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
"Do you mean that every flower has its own beauty?" asked my mother thoughtfully.
Paragraph 2:
"But you will be a beautiful narrator," Mom said.
