5 of the Most Interesting Customs in the World
Switzerland—Honesty shopping
There are little shops in the middle of the Swiss Alps that allow you to buy your fresh cheese, milk, bread, honey, and butter without anyone to watch you. In fact, no one watches these shops because they are owned by farmers who are out taking care of the animals.
South Korea一NOT tipping
Tipping is in the blood for someone who is raised in the United States along with many other European countries. But in South Korea. employees in the food service industry are given fair wages and take pride in their work, and it is insulting (侮辱人的) to attempt to tip them.
Iceland—Christmas Eve books giving
People puzzle over the eternal (永恒的) question of Christmas gifts. Iceland has solved this problem with the Christmas Eve tradition of giving a book. After everyone unwraps the books, they spend the evening reading together.
Japan—Pushers on the subway
Japan's subway is crowded during rush hours. But instead of settling for the inefficiency that personal space demands, Japan has "pushers". They are exactly what they sound like-employees whose only job during rush hour is to push more people onto the train.
Russia一Offering vodka
It is the custom to welcome new friends with shots of vodka. What better way to break the ice than with some stomach-warming shots of this Russian tradition? That's something we can all toast to, or, as they say in Russia, "Na zdorovye!".
Mona Zipay was there almost from the beginning when her boss decided to become an independent insurance adjuster (理算员) in 1955.
Fifty-eight years later, she decided it was time to retire from Dorner Adjustment Co. "I love what I did." said Zipay, 83, of Whitney Point. New York. "I still do. But it's time to stay at home now. "
The secretary has helped customers through natural disasters and fires. She has lived longer than her boss John M. Dorner and remembers when women were not allowed to wear pants to work. Not only has she used manual typewriters, electric typewriters and computers, but she's also adapted to a wave of technology so she could type out reports sent to insurers.
But what has served her well through the years has been her typing and customer service skills, said MaryAnn Dorner. daughter-in-law of John Dorner. "She's an excellent typist," MaryAnn Dorner said. "She's accurate and she's fast.M She's professional on the phones, keeping a good temper when dealing with irate customers, said Patrick Dorner. who now operates the company.
Dorner Adjusting wasn't the only place Zipay worked. She graduated from high school in 1951, taking business courses because she knew she would not be able to afford college and didn't want to work in a factory.
John Dorner invited her to his new company in 1955 from the General Adjustment Bureau in downtown Binghamton, New York. There they had worked together until John Dorner decided to become an independent agent.
Now, Zipay wears pants but always dresses professionally.
"That was one of the things that impressed me about her," MaryAnn Dorner said. "She's always dressed up."
Children moving from primary to secondary school are ill-equipped to deal with the impact of social media, which is playing an increasingly important role in their lives and exposing them to significant emotional risk, according to a report by the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England.
The report shows that many children in Grade 7—the first year of secondary school, when almost all students will have a phone and be active on social media—feel under pressure to be constantly connected.
They worry about their online image, particularly when they start to follow celebrities on Instagram and other platforms. They are also concerned about "sharenting"—when parents post pictures of them on social media without their permission—and worry that their parents won't listen if they ask them to take pictures down.
The report, which was created with data from focus group interviews with 8- to 12-year-olds, says that though most social media sites have an official limit of 13, an estimated 75 percent of 10- to 12-year-olds have a social media account.
"Some children are almost addicted to likes", the report says. Aaron, an 11-year- old in Grade 7, told researchers, "If I got 150 likes, I'd be like, that's pretty cool, and it means they like you." Some children described feeling inferior to those they follow on social media. Aimee, also 11, said, "You might compare yourself because you're not very pretty compared to them."
Anne Longfield from Children's Commissioner for England is calling on parents and teachers to do more to prepare children for the emotional impact of social media as they get older. She wants to see the introduction of compulsory digital literacy and online resilience (适应力) lessons for students in Grades 6 and 7.
**It is also clear that social media companies are still not doing enough to stop under-13s using their platforms in the first place." Longfield said.
"Just because a child who has learned the safety messages at primary school does not mean they are prepared for all the challenges that social media will present, Longfield said.
It means a bigger role for schools in making sure children are prepared for emotional demands of social media. And it means social media companies need to take more responsibility, Longfield said.
Nothing feels more like summer than a neighborhood barbecue. But the annoyance of summer gatherings remains: the buzzing (嗡嗡声) of mosquitoes around our ears.
"The buzzing in your ear is mostly just a side effect of the mosquito's wings beating." said Michael Riehle. a professor at the University of Arizona. "The sound doesn't have a long range, so you notice it most when they are flying around your ears."
"From a distance, mosquitoes track carbon dioxide that we give out," Riehle told Live Science. "They fly back and forth to follow that concentration level back to the source (源头)."
But in fact, that buzzing you hear is likely from a female mosquito. That's because male and female mosquitoes lead very different lives. The males typically hang out and feed on the sweetest part of flowers; they couldn't care less about the humans wandering about. The females, however» need to find a blood meal in order to have enough energy to produce eggs.
As she approaches, the female mosquito zeros in on body heat and the carbon dioxide to land on the victim. The female mosquito uses taste sensors on her feet to determine whether the human, or any blood-bearing animal, is adequate to tap for her next meal.
But while we feel mosquitoes buzzing around our ears, Riehle noted that most mosquitoes are not attracted to our heads. Rather, these bloodsuckers may be more likely to seek out our feet, which have bacteria that give off attractive smell to mosquitoes. However, most people probably don't notice a mosquito buzzing around their ankles, he said.
Another study found that female mosquitoes were more attracted to men who had less diverse bacteria on their skin than to men with more diverse skin bacteria ； these bloodsuckers also perfer those who wear dark colors, such as black.
When it comes to elite universities like Cambridge and Harvard, students often worry that they are not clever enough to get in. But the truth may not be as simple as that.
According to The Guardian, most applicants to top schools have equally perfect test scores. Voice of America (VOA) recently interviewed Julie Soper, an admissions officer for American University in Washington. Soper said she and her colleagues place a lot of weight on the way applicants present themselves in their personal statement essays. Personal charm may carry more weight than a straight A academic record. ，" she said.
Elite Reference recently interviewed a former admissions officer from Harvard and found that the school probably won't consider violin skills an advantage since they already have too many violin players. But if an applicant has mastered an instrument that only a few people can play, he or she might be able to gain an upper hand.
When James Keeler, the admissions tutor at Selwyn College, UK, went through a pile of essays for medical school candidates, one of them caught his eyes. "He's been volunteering with St John Ambulance, and also training to be a special policeman.
. He's clearly doing something worthwhile. He's currently volunteering at a care home. That's a tick for me," Keeler told The Guardian.
"Unfortunately, most essays fail to highlight what's unique about each applicant. Students are often obsessed with maintaining a faultless image of themselves and are afraid to show who they really are. They write an essay, and then it gets passed through the English teacher and the parents and the aunt and uncle and the guidance counselor. ," said Keeler.
A. We are eager to meet straight A students
B. By the time it gets to us, it's just so wonderful that it's hard to really get a sense of that person
C. We want them to be as individual as possible
D. In terms of extracurricular activities, universities are also looking for distinguish!ng excellencew
E. Students get rejected largely because they failed to shine as a person
F. No single student will be admitted unless they are academically top "A"
G. That's something I've never seen before
When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and publish my own books. Half the students sneered, and they 1 fell out of their chairs 2 . "Don't be 3! Only geniuses can become 4 ," even one of them said rudely. "And you got a D last semester." I was so badly hurt that I 5into tears.
That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and 6 it to The Capri's Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two 7. I was a published and paid writer! I showed my fellow students my work. "Just plain dumb hick," they said. However, I tasted 8. I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That was 9 than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of 10, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had several scrapbooks(剪贴簿) 11 with my published works. After graduation, I never 12 my writing to my classmates again.
I had four children later. While the children 13, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I 14. It took me nine months to finish my first book. I 15 a publisher at random（随意地）and mailed it without making a copy of the manuscript.
A month later I received a contract, an 16on royalties(版税),and a request to start 17another book. Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a 18and was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and was sold worldwide.
Writing is easy, it's 19and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck
doesn't 20 .
"Today, we mourn the passing of a true food hero. Chinese scientist Yuan Longping saved (million) of people from hunger by (develop) the first hybrid rice strains," the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs tweeted.
"He passed away today at 91 (due to illness) but his mission (end) hunger will live on and his legacy (remember) for generations," it said.
Having spent over five decades in hybrid rice research, Yuan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has helped China work great wonder— feeding nearly one-fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's total land.
Qu Dongyu. Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, on Saturday expressed his sadness over Yuan's passing.
"I am (deep) saddened by the death of Prof. Yuan Longping. my dear Master. He devoted his life the research of hybrid rice, helping billions achieve food (secure)," wrote Qu on his Twitter account.
Born in Beijing in 1930, Yuan (succeed) in cultivating the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973, was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（A），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：在错的词下划一横线，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。
Health is most important for any of us. In order to stay health, we need to know some common knowledge.
Firstly, we should eat lots of fruit and vegetable because they are rich in fiber and low in fat. When a proverb says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Secondly, exercise is necessary. Regular exercise can keep ourselves from getting fat. People do running every day usually have strongest hearts than those who don't. Final, form good living habits. We should sleep for about 8 hours every day. Overwork and little sleep will lead to ill. What's more, stay away cigarettes.
These are the things we should pay an attention to so as to keep fit.
