It differs greatly between wanting to become a great magician and actually doing it. In high school, I staged a show and my entire world came out to watch—friends and family members, everyone I want to impress.The audience all looked on in horror, fascination and pity, siting there mute, enduring the spectacle and waiting for the show to end.
A few years later, I staged a Harry Houdini-style underwater escape in the river that flowed through the middle of the campus of the University of lowa, where I went to school. I stood on a boat in the middle of the river wearing nothing but biking shorts and weights around my wrists and ankles. The sky was dead and gray, and the water was dead and gray, and a freezing breeze blew across its surface.
Technically, I succeeded. I jumped into the water, sank to the bottom, and escaped from the locks and the chains before swimming to the surface, But it didn't feel like a success. When Houdini did it, thousands of people turned up to watch. I had about a dozen who stopped on their way to class, and the police showed up because someone thought I was going to kill myself.
I am living proof, though, that if you throw enough time and effort at something—maybe even anything—you can become good at it. I found inspiration in Houdini's words: The real secret to my success is simple: I work from seven in the morning to midnight and I like it. " This quote lived on a piece of paper stuck to the wall by my bed for ten years. I had hit Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice by the time I turned 22, and he's right-I got pretty good.
The week after I finished school, I drove to Los Angeles to begin my career as a Professional magician. I have never held another job.
You're stuck in a sen of standstill traffic when it begins: hunger pangs, the kind that release a steady stream of fast food fantasizing. With your grumbling stomach growing louder, your options are limited: You can wait a few hours for the roadways to clear or pull a Michael Douglas in the movie falling Down, leaving your car idling on the freeway while you set off on foot (please don't do this).
Now burger King, is betting that hungry drivers will welcome a third option: a direct-to-driver delivery concept the company has labeled the "Traffic Jam Whooper."
Reached by email, Gustavo Lauria, co-founder of the advertising agency We Believers, which developed the vehicle delivery concept, said the new approach allows the burger chain to capitalize on a time of day in which the city's terrible traffic typically slows business. "This was an opportunity for Burger King to generate new profits out of those hungry drivers" Lauria added.
Lauria claims Burger King is the first fast food brand to deliver food to people in the middle of a traffic jam. In Mexico City, the company said, delivery drivers are already receiving an average of 7,000 orders per day, mostly to homes and offices. To make the traffic jam delivery process possible, Burger Kings Mexico app activates the service after identifying crowded areas in Mexico City during periods of high traffic. Customers can only place an order if the app determines that the driver will be locked in traffic for at least 30 minutes and they are within a 1. 8-mile distance of a Burger King restaurant, the company said.
Early on, Lauria wrote, the initiative was met with skepticism. The challenges were complex: making sure real-time geolocation data was accurate enough, and the creation of a hands-free way to take orders on cellphones in a country that has adopted serious punishment for drivers who use cellphones behind the wheel.
Though the company did not offer a timeline, Burger King says it expects to roll out the Traffic Jam Whopper in other overcrowded cities, such as Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.
Our carbon footprint is the estimated amount of carbon dioxide given off as we go about our daily lives. While the global average carbon footprint is about 4 tons per person each year, Americans contribute approximately 20 tons of greenhouse gas per person each year. Compared to other countries, even those who use the least amount of energy in the US still contribute double the carbon emissions than the global average per person. And, not surprisingly, a person's carbon footprint increases in size as his or her income increases.
How is it possible that people in the US who live simple lifestyles, children or the homeless, make such large contributions to greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is simple: Each US citizen has access to various basic government services such as firefighting and police departments, road and bridge repair, libraries, prisons, the military, etc. when these public services are divided equally among the entire US population, it significantly raises the carbon footprint per person.
While it is admirable to make changes in lifestyle to reduce a carbon footprint, in reality, it is very difficult to do. The MIT study revealed that a "rebound effect" occurred when someone made an effort to reduce his carbon footprint. Take the example of a person who made the deliberate choice to buy a hybrid (混合动力) car instead of a large SUV to save money on gas costs. Very often that person would use the money he saved to do something else, e. g, take a long airplane trip. In this case, just one long airplane trip produces more CO2 emissions than driving the large SUV for a year. This ends up having a negative impact on a person's carbon footprint by making it bigger!
Can Americans reduce their carbon footprints? According to the study, it is possible, but it would require lifestyle changes such as giving up long-distance travel and buying fewer smartphones and tablets that have large energy cost to produce and deliver. Another way is to add a CO2 tax on food housing, and transportation. Unless we can find a way to reduce our carbon footprints, the price we may ultimately have to pay is much higher than the amount Americans will ever have to pay in taxes.
Exercise for a Better Brain
Most of the time, your brain is the boss of your muscles--directing how you hit a ball, play the piano, or open a cereal box. When you're active, they send chemical signals telling your brain, "Hey, it's time to grow!"Recent research suggests physical activity is good for your brain and encourages the birth and growth of new brain cells.
In a study, people who ran for 45 minutes three days a week boosted their levels of a brain-derived neurotrophic (神经营养的) factor, a chemical that acts like fertilizer for new brain cells
Studies suggest that in younger adults, exercise can add to the overall number of cells in the hippocampus(海马体). It's a good deal because these new brain cells are very active and get involved in more memory circuits than older cells do. At any age, you might notice that you have an easier time remembering things after you start a new exercise.
If you're inactive, walking around the block may be the only way to neuroplasticity. People who don't like to move but tried to walk daily by 7500 steps or more brains than those who didn't exercise—the same to 1. 4 to 2.2 fewer years of brain aging advisable for people at any age to get involved in light activity, such as doing housework, gardening, or walking the dog.
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A. Again, a little goes a long way B. Tips have been offered as to how to properly exercise C. After four months of workouts, their scores improves on a memory test D. Besides this, studies have also suggested that dying cells can be cleared with regular exercise E. But when it comes to growing new brain cells, more and more researches show that when you exercise, your muscles take charge. F. Exercise also helps keep brain cells alive longer and replaces old cells with new ones G. The more light activity study participants logged, the greater the overall size of their brains. |
Over the years, I've been guilty of hurriedly shutting the front door to many strangers when they came knocking with the intention of selling things. But around Easter time this year, a dear friend of mine had an experience that1my mind towards these "unexpected visitors".
Alice, who recently moved to a new neighborhood, had been housebound (足不出户的) all week2from the severe flu when, early one morning, there was the annoying knock on the door. Peering out the window, she saw two young ladies seriously3leaflets and a TV set model. She knew a large TV set establishment nearby and assumed a message was about to be4."This is the last thing I need today, "she muttered to herself and5opened the door.
Coughing, she poked her head out and impatiently6them that she wasn't the slightest interested in any TV products.7, she added, she was feeling quite unwell and abruptly shut the door. The ladies politely turned and left 8. A few hours later, the same two ladies were back again. Really9this time, she opened the door ready to give them a piece of her mind.10she could speak, with11looks on their faces, these women handed Alice a dish, saying"Were so sorry we12you earlier. We thought you may like this homemade chicken soup.13it might make you feel better. "Alice was surprised by this lovely14. Being new to the area, she didn't know many neighbors or people who could15her with shopping so the gesture was really 16. She could only smile embarrassedly and sincerely thanked them. With that, the ladies left.
After Alice told this story to me, I thought how17this dead was. Especially i today's world where sadly, kindness and18 seem so rare. I also realized that19others and showing20is the real essence of love.
Multitasking-doing several things at a time was once applauded as the best way to work. But does it actually help you get things (do), or does it make you less effective?
To some people, the advantages of multitasking seem obvious. If you can actually do two or more things at one time, that clearly (save) time. It might also make you feel productive, can in turn make you happy. , a growing body of research shows that multitasking is not as productive as it appears. It turns out that when most people multitask, they don't actually focus more than one thing at a time. Instead they switch back and forth between concentrating on two or more tasks. But changing your focus constantly uses up mental energy that could (spend) working. It also causes you to take longer and make more (mistake). If you do want to multitask, experts recommend (pair) a mentally challenging task with a simple physical task.
Multitasking may sound productive but it (actual) works against the goal of getting things done. Doing things one at a time usually helps people produce (good) work and have things done more efficiently.
I looked out at the smiling faces packed into the school hall. Flashes from cameras lit up in all directions. The applause filled my ears. I had done it. I had really done it.
Just a few months earlier, I would never have pictured myself acting in a play in front of two hundred people. But when the time came I got up on stage and faced one of my greatest fears-and proved I could do more than l ever gave myself credit for. I found a new person inside me, a much more daring, outgoing person who had been hidden all along, just waiting for the opportunity to appear.
If not for my teacher, Mrs, Sather, I might never have found that opportunity.
In the first and second grade, I was extremely shy. I had friends, but it just wasn't in my personality to be very outgoing, even when I knew someone well. I was afraid I would do or say something wrong, so usually I just smiled and listened to other people's conversations. I did well in school and I loved to write. However, I would escape into my writing, where I could be myself and never had to worry about what other people thought of me In my stories, I was never shy.
My teacher, Mrs Sather, always encouraged me to write more. She told our class to go after our dreams and dig in with both hands. I think she was one of the first people to see my inner strength. One day, she announced that our class was going to perform a play she had written. " I'll begin to cast everyone tomorrow, "she said. "I need someone who is not afraid to be on stage in front of the public to play the lead part of Dorothy. Anybody want to try? "A few excited hands shot up—mine, of course, was not one of them-and Mrs Sather smiled We'll talk more about it tomorrow "she said. Then the bell rang and my classmates slowly left the classroom.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
3）续写部分分为两段每段的开头语已为你写好;
4）续写完成后请用下划标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1: When I was loading up my backpack, Mrs. Sather asked me to go to her.
Paragraph 2: Fast-forward through five months of practicing, we were ready.
