Four Great classical pieces inspired by animals
Catalogue of the Birds by Oliver Messiaen
Messiaen transcribed 13 birdsongs to piano pieces. Each piece is written for a French province with a title of bird chosen for each region. Messiaen uses the "colour of tones" at its most powerful, where different sounds interconnect and lay the birdsong among the nature most beautifully.
The Cat and the Mouse by Aaron Copland
We can hear so vividly different plots and the tune is easily accessible to all listeners. Copland uses the pace and rhythm successfully, which creates the animation in the music. Lots of loud and dissonant (刺耳的) chord is fully applied in the entire piece, giving the" storytelling" nature to the music.
The Maid and the Nightingale by Enrique Granados
In the music, the maid sings a mournful song to the nightingale as her lover has gone to fight another guy out of jealousy, and eventually dies. After her mournful "song" ends, the last part of the piece is pure bird sound. Granados mainly uses quick and light single notes to paint the melodies of birdsongs.
Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Sans
The Carnival of the Animals is the most famous work from Saint-Sans. Interestingly, he forbade the work to be published during his lifetime as he felt it did not represent him properly. The different musical techniques and the fast and light rhythm of the full suite truly make this set of works the most typical music for animals.
The star here is 70-year-old Chen Jifang, who used to be a saleswoman in a local food company before retirement, with 3 million likes on her Douyin videos.
"The main group that I wanted to encourage was people aged 30 to 50," says Chen, "They will be motivated to work out in the gym after seeing that a granny like me can. The message I want to convey is that it is never too late to pursue good health. In the past, whenever I felt uncomfortable, I would lie at home for an entire day."
Chen had been in a poor physical condition since she was a child. She even had to give up her job after giving birth to her daughter because her health was severely affected by the pregnancy. Her husband shows his approval by doing most of the household chores.
An overweight Chen started with light jogging, but a fitness coach later advised her to rehabilitate her knee before running. Because of this, Chen entered a gym for the first time on Dec 29, 2018.
"Everyone in the gym was young. They were giving me weird looks," recalls Chen, who made it a point to walk 3. 5 kilometers to the gym every day.
Her daily training started at 8 am with 50 pushups, mountain-climbing workouts, running and weightlifting. After a short break at 9 am, Chen continued working put until 3 pm. She hit the gym every day in 2019. For Chen, her passion for exercising was born out of a need instead of desire to become famous.
When her health and fitness improved, Chen embarked on high-intensity training sessions and dealt with the more challenging workouts like kettlebell swings, battle ropes and deadlifts. Three months later, she lost a whopping 28 kilograms. Her body mass index also returned to normal.
When Dr. Stanley Fineman started as an allergist, he reminded patients to start taking medications and prepare for pollen season in the middle of March. That was about 40 years ago. Today, he tells them to start around the middle of February.
Since 1990, pollen season across the United States and Canada has been starting earlier, about 20 days earlier. And pollen loads, the amount of pollen released by plants, are 21 percent higher. The main reason for this, a new study found, is global warming.
Other studies have demonstrated North America's allergy, season getting longer and worse. But this one, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, is the first study to make scientific connections between an earlier and more intense pollen season with human-caused climate change. The study says the warmer the Earth gets, the earlier spring starts for animals and plants, especially plants that release pollen. Additionally, plants yield more pollen when they drink in carbon dioxide.
Since 1990, about half of the earlier pollen seasons were linked to climate change — mostly from warmer temperatures. And carbon dioxide played a part. Since the 2000s, about 65 percent of earlier pollen seasons can be blamed on wanning. And about 8 percent of the increased pollen loads can be blamed on climate change. Bill Anderegg, the lead writer of the study, said, u climate change is here and it's in every breath we take. This is clearly warming temperatures and more carbon dioxide, giving rise to more pollen in the air. "
Chris Downs of St. Louis, Missouri already has problems with breathing, headaches, and red itchy eyes. His allergies usually hit in March. But the last two years, they came in early February. "As a kid I never saw anything start blooming in February," Downs said, "Now I see a handful of years like that." This is not just a matter of sneezing and watery eyes. There are more serious health concerns. A University of Maryland scientist said the pollen is a risk for other diseases including asthma.
Google has announced plans to stop supporting tools designed to follow Internet users across the web in order to target them with specific advertising.
Such tools are known as cookies-small data files that are stored on an Internet user's computer as they browse (浏览) different websites. This data can be read by web servers to identify web browsing behaviors of the user. Cookies make it possible for users to avoid having to repeatedly enter their user names and passwords to get access to websites they use often. But the use of cookies raises major privacy concerns, with critics saying a user's browsing history should not be recorded just to target them with ads.
Google announced in 2020 it had decided "to remove support for third-party cookies" from its Chrome browser. In another online announcement, Google repeated this promise, saying it will not build new tools to replace current cookie technology.
In explaining its decision, Google referred to a Pew Research study that found 72 percent of Americans feel that almost all of what they do online is tracked by advertisers. Google's decision to remove third-party cookies also followed increasing efforts to protect privacy in Europe and the United States. Google said the current Internet advertising model needs to change to answer "the growing concerns people have about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used."
In January, however, Google's plan was questioned by British competition regulators. The country's Competition and Markets Authority announced it had launched an investigation into whether the changes would give Google an unfair advantage over competitors in Internet advertising. The agency said it received objections to the plan from Marketers for an Open Web, a league of technology and publishing companies. The group accuses Google of "abusing its dominant position" by attempting to create a new advertising model.
In its latest statement, Google said, "We will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products."
Smart glasses could be the next leap in technology
First there was the keyboard, then the touch screen. Some tech companies say a wearable pair of glasses could be the next leap in technology, even if it didn't work out for Google glass. In the future we won't be only limited to our smartphones, when it comes to understanding the world around us.
The US-based company Snap's investment is this, the Spectacles 3 sunglasses. This third version is smarter than the previous ones. It has two cameras. The comer of the glasses lights up when recording video, and allows the wearer to put 3D objects in the video. Here are some flowers.
In a very different application, the AM glass by Hong Kong-based Pacific Future allows theme park visitors to have a different kind of experience through Augmented Reality. During the launch of the smart glasses during Halloween, this park became extra scary. The glasses are used in theme parks in China and Malaysia, with a processor inside. These Augmented Reality glasses are designed for ages 12 and up, because of its weight and size.
He can set a blacklist and the skin in the crowd and find the criminal very soon. Armed with facial recognition software, these smart glasses capture video or images, which can be sent to security officials off-site for analysis. Of course there are privacy concerns with any device that comes with built-in cameras. Still, the race is on for tech companies big and small to turn an everyday item like glasses into something smarter.
A. So this is our early investment in that future.
B. Smart glasses are helpful in many other fields.
C. Thus the wearer can take a clearer picture of the flowers.
D. Users can capture up to a minute of video with smart glasses.
E.That's one of the reasons why consumers rejected Google glass.
F.So there's a ghost everywhere mixed with the real-life buildings.
G.Augmented Reality security glasses made by Beijing-based Goolton can be used by police to identify suspects.
35 years ago, our son, Jared, was born visually-impaired. 1, I learned from Jared's teacher about Seedlings Braille Books for Children, an organization founded by Debra Bonde. Although she did not plan to 2 a nonprofit back in 1984, she 3 helping blind children all over the globe.
As a 4 woman, she initially wanted to find a volunteer job without having to talk to anyone. 5, she signed up for a braille transcription （转录）class and began 6popular children's books, printing them, and selling them for just the 7 of the paper. Word spread and 8grew for more of her books. Friends helped her to form a nonprofit so she could start getting grants and 9 to help with production costs. That first year, she printed 221 books.
From its 10 beginnings 37 years ago, Seedlings has produced and 11 more than 600,000 books across the world, half of their books given away for free.
As a mother, I12 Seedlings providing "typical" experiences for Jared in school so he could check out books just like his 13 classmates.
Jared graduated from Michigan State University and 14 a telecommunications degree. Since 2012, he has 15on the Board of Directors for Seedlings—making an impactful difference in the lives of children, the way Seedlings did for his.
A Chinese dance drama has made its global debut on social media platforms abroad, (generate) a new wave of discussion on the beauty of Chinese culture among art lovers from all over the world.
Li Bai, a classic production by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater, (touch) a chord with global audiences through the telling of a lifelong journey of the literary giant Li Bai so far. After a year of polishing, from plot structure to music (compose), stage settings and costume design, that (influence) work has returned to center stage. was renewed of Li Bai provides the audience with a fresh new feel.
The classic piece greeted audiences at the National Centre for the Performing Arts three months ago with sold - out shows. For those missed it, the streaming event provides another chance to take it in. Art has no boundaries. Li Bai (view) more than 5. 5 million times created a stirring scene on social media platforms outside of China, with more than 1. 3 million interactions. In the history of Chinese poetry, Li Bai was not "one of" "the one". In telling the story of great poet, China has once again passed its heritage and carried Chinese culture forward in its own way.
Norwood, a junior at St. Petersburg^ Lakewood High School, participated in the school's Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy. The program prepares students for various careers in health science with two components. The first one is a hands-on skills component where the students have to demonstrate that they are expert in the skills of adult, child and infant CPR (心肺复苏术), how to help somebody who's choking, as well as how to use an AED (自动体外除 颤仪).And the other is a written test component, showing that they master that knowledge. Norwood took a great interest in the programme, which was in line with her initial career pursuit in the future.
On the first day of the programme, her instructor Miller did vital signs and students learned how to take blood pressure, check pulse, and apply CPR. Norwood watched closely and performed the hand-on skills well.
Norwood and Simmons shared a long friendship. They had been friends since the seventh grade and since then they had built an unbreakable bond. The following day after school, the 16- year-old girl Norwood was driving three friends home in St. Petersburg, Florida, when another driver slammed into her from her left and sent her car rushing forward in an uncontrollable way.
“We crashed in someone's yard and I hit the tree," Norwood said. The impact jammed shut the driver's side door, so Norwood climbed out of the front window. Two of her friends managed to get out of the car unharmed, but the collision caused her 16-year-old friend Simmons to hit her head on the backseat window.
When Norwood turned around, she didn't see Simmons running with them so she had to run back to the car as fast as she could. Simmons was just sitting there unresponsive. Apparently, she passed out owing to the huge impact force. The unexpected crash left the girls in panic. A lot of people started to gather around to see what was happening. The crowd watched in astonishment, open-mouthed. Someone advised to make an emergency call immediately.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右；
2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: And that was when the training Norwood had just learned kicked in.
Paragraph 2: When Miller and her students learned about the news, they were at a loss of words and so proud.
