Top Music Festivals
The festival season is just kicking off, and there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months.
The Pitchfork Music Festival
Anyone who likes indie (独立的) music and up-and-coming artists will have an amazing time at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. It is an indie rock heaven where you can explore more underground and lesser-known bands than at the other big Chicago summer festival, Lollapalooza.
Date: July 14—16
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Music Type: Indie rock
Price: $126—$2,700
The Essence Music Festival
No matter what time of the year it is, New Orleans is an amazing place if you love live music. The Essence Music Festival is a celebration of well-known artists like Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, and Mary J. Blige.
Date: June 29—July 2
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Music Type: R& B, soul, rock
Price: $75—$365
The Sziget Festival
Budapest knows how to hold a party, and Sziget is one of the biggest celebrations of music and culture in all of Europe. You can expect to find favorite artists like Bad Religion and Mac DeMarco playing here during this three-day festival.
Date: August 9—11
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Music Type: Eclectic, Indie rock
Price: $70—$296
The Flow Festival
The Flow Festival is a great excuse to explore the city of Helsinki. Artists including Lana Del Rey and The XX will be playing, among many others. Come to this festival to enjoy yourselves with an earth-friendly belief.
Date: August 11—13
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Music Type: Rock, soul, jazz
Price: $106—$199
For a visiting scholar like me, it's fun to look for the differences between cultures. But sometimes I can also experience embarrassing moments.
One day, I invited some of my Chinese friends to a famous local restaurant in Moscow, Russia. The restaurant was almost full of people, but it was very quiet. My friends and I were very excited about our meeting. We were being too loud. We lowered our voices. But this didn't last long. The waiter came over to us again with the same message. I felt embarrassed.
We must have left a bad impression on the local people. It's so difficult to fight against habits like this. In China, it seems only natural and even important for a host to create a lively atmosphere.
However, in Russia and western countries, having a meal in a public place means you must keep your voice down to be polite to others. Anyway, we were not in our home country, so we believe this is the best for us: when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Cultural differences do not only involve eating habits. I also found another special Russian habit. My Russian friend Andrey would always look around and think for a while before leaving home. I asked him, "Is that a ceremony or something?"
"Aha," Andrey said, "In Russia many people always spend about a minute going over things and plans in their minds before leaving home so that they won't leave anything necessary behind."
Finding cultural differences can always bring you new and surprising experiences. And I would like to keep my eyes and mind open.
Recently, my husband and three kids were playing in Mediterranean(地中海)，swimming and floating in the pictureperfect sea. It was ridiculously beautiful in Majorca，Spain. The way the sun danced across the water and how the blue horizon was dotted with storybook sailboats were such beautiful scenes.
My husband and I always dreamed about taking our kids on a trip around the world. It was one of the things we talked at length about. When we imagined our life with the children, we hoped we would have.
Fourteen years later, we had three boys who were growing up faster by the day. It was time to make good on those plans. We renewed our passports, and then packed our bags. We showed our kids the world. It was about experiencing the dozens of flights and trains and taxis together. We showed them how wonderful, how diverse, and how fascinating the world is. We wanted them to learn all that we had learned ourselves, through our own travels.
But there was something more than that: What we really wanted is to slow down time. We wanted the days to last a bit longer, and the weeks to take their time. The years with our children are going too fast. We wanted to put the brakes on our busy lives for a year, and just be with our kids. We wanted a break from the daily morning routine of making lunches, eating breakfast and going out the door in time for school. We needed family time out.
It was the wonderful two months in Europe, full of incredible moments. When we look back at our lives, I know we'll be glad we did it. I know we'll be happy that this is a chapter of the story of our family.
Last week was Sports Day at my daughter's school. She was part of the Yellow House. She had to wear yellow and race for points. The Yellow House won. I was really pleased for my daughter because last year the Green House won. In fact，when the winning house was announced last year, many little faces turned sour. There were many tears and children were bitter because they had lost.
Losing is never fun. From a young age children know that winning is the best result. As parents, we can talk to children about the importance of everyone having a chance to win; we can teach our children to be happy for their friends when a friend wins.
As children grow older they will be exposed to more and more competition. It is important that we teach our children to learn to "bounce back" from losses, to experience loss in a positive way and to keep on going even when they don't achieve the desired outcome.
By teaching children how to be resilient(适应性强的), we can prepare them for adult life in the future. Our children can learn to compete for fun and learn how to bounce back from life's failures and disappointments.
We can talk to our children about competition. We can teach by examples and show our kids that losing a game or failing a test is not the end. Losing is simply a chance to try again and a chance to become more successful.
Raising emotionally healthy children is very important for the future generation and by teaching our children the above principles we can help them to overcome the difficulties of life and they will learn to compete in healthy ways throughout their lives.
How to Love Your Parents
You love your parents for the fact that they created you, raised you, and are in part, a source of who you are.
Respect them more and value these moments. You can use these moments to learn from them, preparing yourself for when you're off on your own. It's OK to get angry but angry actions don't help you or your parents. Act calmly, cool off, write down your feelings, or talk to a friend.
Obey their requests. It will make your attitude better and earn you more respect from them. It may seem like you are going through hell when you don't get what you want or you have to clean. However, you had better remember they keep a roof over your head when it's cold, raining, snowing, or too hot. Understand that parents are human beings and make mistakes. Since you can forgive your friends, why not forgive your parents?
Keep company with them. Do things with your parents like watching TV, or going somewhere with them. Listen to their old stories and learn from them. You will find they are your teachers in this way or another.
Tell them you love them every morning. A gentle "Good morning" and "I love you" will warm a coldest heart.
Without your parents, you cannot come to this world.
A. Forgiveness is the key.
B. Here are some ways to love your parents.
C. Parents will in turn express their love to you.
D. After this, share your feeling with your parents.
E. Anyway, spend as much time with them as you can.
F. Please remember parents are as important as friends.
G. Remember that they brought you into this world
Last weekend, I had an opportunity to serve as a volunteer at a nursing home in another city.I don't have a car, and even the 1 train station is far away from my house.2, I wasn't sure how to get there.
I posted a(n) 3 for a ride on the ride share board.Soon an individual I'd never met 4 that he'd be able to pick me up and drop me off at the station.He said he'd wait until my train arrived 5 he drove away.My heart 6 and the stress I'd been feeling disappeared 7 and thus our friendship began.
I ended up arriving at the nursing home in 8.The tiny team of servers there were 9 for the additional help.We all worked together as a team.I was glad to be a part of this and be of 10 to the elderly.
That evening when my new 11 dropped me off at the station, he 12 that it was in a deserted area.So he parked his car and said, "We will wait for the train to come together." I couldn't believe his 13.
With five minutes left before the train arrived, he shared with me stories of his childhood.That night he waited with me as my train 14.It didn't rush by but I felt his kindness and generosity.People like him would always 15 me how to love and how to give.
I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet ,so I felt full of (confident) to understand Hamlet in English , but I wonder if I could understand the Peking Opera version of Hamlet . Then while I (watch) The Revenge of Prince Zidan, I found the opera brought a (complete) new sound to me. The (costume) and masks made me (surprise) and the music, exaggerated movements and mime, especially the female voices helped get the meanings to the audience. Using such techniques the opera had (transform) a small stage into the whole universe. I had never seen Prince Hamlet do a backflip before, was my favourite part. It was simply credible. It was so dazzling and energetic I wasn't sure whether the characters were performers or athletes!
I was on the edge of my seat! If you want (see) a show that combines music ,singing ,drama ,poetry and costume design with explosive effect ,The Revenge of Prince Zidan ticks all the right boxes!
At sixty degrees below zero, Harry walked down the trail on a cold, gray day. Pure white snow and ice covered the earth for as far as he could see. This was his first winter in Alaska. He was wearing heavy clothes and fur boots, but he still felt cold and uncomfortable.
Harry was on his way to a camp near Henderson Creek where his friends were waiting. He expected to reach Henderson Creek by six o'clock that evening. It would be dark by then. He was refreshed when he realized his friends would have a fire and hot food ready for him. To make things better, there was a dog accompanying him on the journey.
The dog loved its owner but did not like the extreme cold. It knew the weather was too cold to travel. In spite of this bad situation, Harry with the dog continued to walk down the trail. He came to a frozen stream called Indian Creek. He began to walk on the snow-covered ice. It was a trail that would lead him straight to his friends.
As he walked, Harry looked carefully at the ice in front of him. Once, he stopped suddenly, and then walked around a part of the frozen stream. He saw an underground spring flowing under the ice at that spot. It made the ice thin. If he stepped there, he might break through the ice into a pool of water. To get his boots wet in such cold weather might kill him. His feet would turn to ice quickly and he would freeze to death.
At about twelve o'clock, Harry decided to stop to eat his lunch. He took off the glove on his right hand, opened his jacket and pulled out his food, which took less than twenty seconds. Yet, his fingers began to freeze.
Harry hit his hand against his leg several times until he felt a sharp pain. Then he quickly put his glove on his hand. He made a fire, beginning with small pieces of wood and adding larger ones. He sat on a snow-covered log and ate his lunch, enjoying the warm fire for a few minutes. Then he stood up and started walking on the frozen stream again.
注意：1）续写词数应为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（第一段）:
Several minutes later, the ice broke suddenly and Harry's feet sank into the water.
Paragraph 2（第二段）:
What's worse, his dog ran away and the fear of death came over Harry.
