I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I have received was presented to me 1 a stranger. I have never even known his name and I only had a contact with him 2 less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed3 way I think about people and about Christmas.
I hate Black Friday sales. It's often a gathering of people4are there for many different reasons. Some are looking for one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their purposes completely have5to do with the festive time of year, and can just be summed up with one word, "cheap!"
It was several years ago when my wife asked me6her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike 7 she wanted to buy for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manger to blow the whistle. I told my wife8 we got a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.
As9bikes began to gradually decrease, I saw my "polite" opportunity to reach my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I10 it and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up to see one of11gentleman I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his appearance. He was wearing lots of metal spiked leather around12arms and even his neck and he had tattoos too.
I started to return the box13he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping car. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Merry Christmas." All the way home I14that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all prejudice I may have had of certain types of people. The softness of a human heart can be seen in a simple act. I will never15it.
New Zealand is an island that lies off the eastern coast of Australia . It is 1 two large
islands: North Island and South Island. New Zealand is 2by the Pacific Ocean to the north and east, and the Tasman Sea to the south and west . It is about the same size as the Philippines . Wellington, the capital city , lies on the North Island . Other important3are Auckland in the north ,Christchurch on the south and Queenstown, further to the south.
New Zealand has a mild sea climate , while the north is subtropical . It rains quite4. The warmest months are December to February. The 5months are June to August. The ocean and seas surrounding the islands are deep blue and many of New Zealand's cities lie on a bay and have a 6 deep harbor. The sand beaches in New Zealand are also very clean. New Zealand has a very beautiful natural landscape with green hills and mountains. Some of the mountains are7 volcanoes. The North Island is famous for an area of hot springs, some of which8hot water high into the air. Some of this 9near the earth's surface is used to make electricity. There are many plants and animals that only live in New Zealand. The most famous 10and it is a little bird that cannot fly. It is called a kiwi and it is New Zealand's national bird.
It's all about patience(耐性) really.
Chinese walkers, who usually walk the red light together, may be surprised at recent research which showed that they are more patient than people abroad.
A study looked at more than 1,800 walkers at three busy Shanghai crossings(交叉路). It found that an average Chinese walker ran out of patience at red lights after 90 seconds. But there's an interesting fact: the average German's endurance ability (耐性) was around 60 seconds while the British only 45 seconds and the American 40 seconds.
People will take no notice of the red lights when the waiting time exceeds (超过) their patience time. "A lot of Chinese traffic lights are car-friendly instead of walker-friendly," said Ni Ying, who led the research team. As there are more and more car users in the city, city planners are giving them more convenience on the roads, according to her.
The study also found that at some crossings, walkers waited longer than 150 seconds, and at other crossings the wait could be as long as 200 seconds. However, most red lights abroad do not exceed 120 seconds.
The study suggested that planners should think about the walking pace of people from different age groups, especially middle-aged people and seniors, in order to make the roads more walker-friendly. But the city's traffic police do not agree. They argue that the roads are built no just for the walkers, but also for cars. "To give more time for walkers would cut down the time for cars," a traffic policeman said. "On a busy traffic day, it can make traffic problems."
Oscar Bloom was unhappy. It was his eighth birthday: All his friends were going to come over that evening. His little sister Samantha had made him the brightest friendship-birthday bracelet. He had heard his dad whispering to his mom the day before about "picking up the little puppy," and had a feeling that one of his presents might be a little dog that he had been wishing for ever since he was five.
So what was wrong?
Oscar was sad because there was one very, very, hugely important person who was missing today—his beloved Grandma Rose. Last year she fell ill and then one day she just wasn't there.
"Grand ma's gone, but she still loves you very much," mom explained
"I miss Grandma Rose," Oscar said.
"Well, Grandma has a present for you!"
A present from Grandma? How?
"My dear Oscar," the recording began." I'm sorry I can't be there with you today to celebrate such an exciting day, but I'm with you in spirit. I'm with you all the time. As your birthday present, I'd like to tell you about the day you were born, which was the very first day I met you. That was exactly eight years ago. What a tiny little thing you were back then! The doctor hardly had time to pick you up before you started to make sounds! Every doctor waits for the baby to cry, to make sure the baby is healthy, but you, Oscar, you changed the rules on them. Your mother doesn't remember this because she was so tired, but I will never forget it. You opened your mouth, and you gave a little laugh! That's right, you laughed! And only then did you open your mouth wider to start crying like all the rest of the babies in the hospital. I hope you remember this story for the rest of your life, young man," Grandma Rose continued. "This is the beginning of your oral history! My present to you!"
Oscar couldn't believe his ears. His own Grandma Rose was telling him a story he had never heard before. A big smile grew across Oscar's face. What a special birthday this had turned out to be!
People often think of the North Pole and the South Pole as similar frozen wastelands. They are both places with very cold temperatures and few people live there. However, the North is not so similar to the South Pole as people may imagine.
The North Pole has no land, only thick ice. Temperatures seldom go above 32℉, at which water turns into ice . Most of the time , it stays below zero . In winter temperature are usually as low as -30℉.
Although conditions were very poor, people tried for many centuries to reach the North Pole. About 100 years ago, two men, Robert Peary and Mathew Henson, were able to get to this environment full of troubles and difficulties. They reached the North Pole on March 8th, 1909. It was really a hard trip for them .
There are few things more dangerous than crossing the Arctic on foot. People who stayed there may face many problems. very cold temperatures, sudden storms and even hunger. Most of the area is uninhabited. Few people can live in such a difficult place .
People might think that with such low temperatures for most of the year, the ice would be thick and hard. However this is not true in the Arctic. The movement of the ocean water under the ice may often cause many different changes on the surface. Sometimes the ice breaks into two opening lanes of water called "leads". Anyone who falls into a lead can be frozen to death in a few minutes.
About 20 years ago, Nissan introduced the world's first "talking car". Actually, it was just a recorded voice and it wouldn't stop telling you to close the door until you really heard and did it.
Times have changed and the talking car of the near future is a car that you can talk to, rather than a car that talks to you. You'll be able to control your radio by giving voice orders. And you can get traffic reports or directions, and send or receive emails in the talking car. To do all these, you needn't push a button at all.
This is good news for those who spend more and more of their lives in their cars. In fact, the new type of cars will be more like offices on wheels because it has computers, wireless internet and satellite radio inside. Companies are hoping that time wasted in traffic could be put to better use. If workers are able to check their emails, faxes, and meeting time on the way to work, they can spend more time at the offices doing more important tasks.
Microsoft, of course, is hoping that every one of those mobile offices will use Windows."It's a great goal." says Dick Brass, VP of Microsoft's automotive division (汽车分部)." But we'd like to have one of our operating systems in every car on earth." There are already 650 million cars in the world, and every year about 50 million new cars roll off the production lines. If Brass' wish came true, cars could become a bigger business for Microsoft than computers.
According to a common saying, "Honesty is the best policy." But in daily life, honesty can be difficult. Lying often seems like a good way to impress people or avoid blame for mistakes. But besides all this, honesty really is worth the effort.
One clear reason for honesty is that lies are difficult to hide because they are harder to remember than truth. If you make up a story, you have to remember all the details. But if you promise to tell the truth, you will never have details trouble remembering. This saves you effort and makes conversations less stressful for you.
People who believe your lies might make bad decisions because of them. And a lie about someone else could destroy that person's good name. On a personal level, if your friends find out you lied to them, their feelings will be hurt. They will question whether they can trust you or wonder whether you care about them.
On the other hand, if you always tell the truth, you will develop your good name for honesty Business deals, friendship, family and romantic relationships all depend on trust.
Honesty, however, doesn't mean that you have to say everything you think. When you do that, you will feel relaxed and enjoyed stronger relationships.
A. This will help you in every area of your life.
B. Another clear reason to avoid lying is that lying can harm others.
C. And the more lies you tell, the more stories you have to remember.
D. Some people lie out of habit, without even realizing they're doing it.
E. Sometimes it's best to remain silent if your words might hurt someone else.
When I'm in trouble, I always take out a book and read quickly. I put my heart into it so that I can forget all the unhappiness. When I was a little boy, I was interested in storybooks. I often bought some n and copied down good stories. When I grew older, I began to read novels, plays and so on. I found I could get much from them at that time. Last term I won the first prize in the writing competition in our city.
Reading the Emperor's New Clothes makes me laugh a lot because of the emperor's silliness. The little Match Girl lets me feel sad she lives a hard life. Robinson Crusoe takes me into a strange world full of excitement. My favorite book is The Story of My Life because I'm deeply moved by Hellen Keller's spirit of never g up. Also, books tell me other things—how to do things c. In a word, good books can let me know what I didn't r before. So I think good books are just like my best friends.
1）广泛地阅读群书，增加对世界的了解 2）培养良好的兴趣爱好。
3）保持身心健康。 4）学会理解和尊重他人，帮助弱小群体。
5）你的补充：……
How to lead a better life in the 21st century
Hello, everyone. My name is Lihua. Today I will make a speech about "How to lead a better life in the 21st century." I think …
