It can be hard to keep kids busy sometimes, especially when school is out. Whether your kid is in pre-school or high school, there are fun, educational, and even some free apps on this list for them.
ABCmouse. com
ABCmouse.com is available both as an app and a website. It uses fun storyline-based videos, quizzes, and activities—there's even a virtual map outlining your child's learning path to keep kids engaged.
Ages: 4-8
Cost:One-month free trial, then $ 10/month subscription (订阅).
EPIC!
Epic! is an app for kids with an e-book library that contains over 35,000 children's books. This app is a perfect way to take reading wherever your device goes, and it's great for families with kids of various ages.
Ages: 2-12
Cost: one—month free trial, then $ 8/month.
QUIDK MATH
Kids know that math can be boring, but this app transforms numbers into something more creative and interactive (互动的). Quick Math Jr. is an app for kids with 12 different math games that feature fundamental math skills and concepts.
Ages: 4-8
Cost: free
BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week
For 20 years, BrainPOP has been providing kids all over the world with in-depth, yet easy to understand educational videos on everything ranging from Mozart to food allergies. BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week is an app that helps younger kids get these videos, plus short quizzes on them.
Ages:6-9
Cost: free, optional subscription(订阅)is $6.99/month
Many of us have heard of Alex Honnold, who made history in 2018 when he became the first man to climb El Capitan without ropes or safety equipment. But his mother, Dierdre Wolownick, just became the oldest woman to conquer the famous peak: She reached the top on September 23—the morning of her 70th birthday.
Dierdre, the writer and language teacher, decided to take up climbing as a means of connecting more with her son. In 2008, accompanied by her son Alex, she visited a climbing gym and completed 12 routes that first day with his help, but it was months before she worked up the courage to return and practice on her own.
Dierdre became committed to the sport, and began to meet friends and sharpen her skills. She scaled parts of Half Dome Trail and Cathedral Peak at a time when many people at her age are thinking about retirement and slowing down. The writer would go on to publish a book about her climbing experiences with Alex called The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story.
"As a mother, I am impressed by this role exchange process. Parents and children often wind up changing roles in life as they get older," she writes in her book. "But never, I thought, is that transformation as obvious as when they climb together."
On September 23, Dierdre and her friends set out in the dark, at 6 a.m. The route is steep enough to require all fours, grabbing rocks and trees and whatever else will hold the weight. Yet despite all difficulties, the team made it to the top. "It was really inspiring to watch her and then to have her on top with all of us," said one of Dierdre's friends. "There was a special look on everyone's face. We knew where we were. We knew how amazing the moment truly was.
Ever since the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, locals have complained that Venice, its former capital, is being overrun by visitors. Having spent decades trying to attract tourists, the city council is now rethinking its approach.
Earlier this year, the city proclaimed that visitors who enter Venice are demanded to pay a fee ranging from 3 to 10 euros in the peak season when the city is very crowded, unless they have booked the ticket into Venice beforehand. This regulation will come into effect in January 2023.
It is not only Venetians who think there are too many tourists. In Amsterdam, locals are fed up with drunk visitors leaving a trail of litter. Some of the protests even attacked tourist buses and left the graffiti saying "tourists go home, refugees welcome." The word "over-tourism" is created to describe the consequences of having too many tourists. Even so, the rise in the number of the tourists is not the real problem. Says Alex Dichter of McKinsey, "People in 99% of countries in the world are crying out for more tourists, not fewer." He explains, "The problem is that these tourists are all traveling to the same places."
This has surprised many in the travel industry. The spread of the Internet was meant to disperse (分散) tourists by making less well-known places easier to find. Analyst at Skift, a travel website, attribute it to the rise of the "bucket list", which featured a "list of things to do before I kick the bucket." And the result is obvious —— tourists are all directed to the same "must see" places.
Local authorities are working on strategies to cope. An extreme reaction is to ban tourists entirely or to limit visitor numbers. A more subtle approach is to make changes to taxes and charges. Tourists staying in the city center pay a higher tax rate than those staying far away. Thordis, Iceland's tourist minister says, another part of the answer is to spread visitors out by making different marketing campaigns or improving tourist attractions for unfavorable seasons.
Venice is currently improving its infrastructures to encourage tourists to visit more than just the main sights. Traditionalists may refuse to build any new infrastructure in beautiful old cities. But more links can benefit locals and visitors alike. One Chinese tourist thought this was a good idea, "I might be able to see more of the history that way."
This summer, NASA launched its latest robot Perseverance on a seventh-month journey to Mars. During the past decades, robot explorers on Mars have made great discoveries about the red planet, but they have never found clear-cut signs of creatures currently living there. Life, at least as we know it on Earth, simply does not seem probable on the Martian surface.
"If there's any life on Mars now, it needs at least some liquid water," Dr. Sumner said. "The surface of Mars now is very dry. Extremely dry. If there's life on Mars now, it would be found deep underground." Actually, there has been some evidence that liquid water is locked away beneath the surface, so perhaps there are sunless ecosystems hidden there, which are beyond the direct reach of our rovers and landers.
"Recent findings of methane and other gases in what's left of Mars' atmosphere are a potential signature," Dr. Farley said, supporting the theory about underground water. Many microbes on Earth produce methane, so it is possible that the gas on Mars could be related to alien life-forms deep underground.
However, methane can also be created by a wide range of natural processes that have nothing to do with life. Some experts, like Dr. Sumner from the University of California Davis, say that the presence of the gas on Mars is "not a surprise" because it has all the geological processes it needs to produce the gas without life.
But even if we never find Martians, "Mars is a place we can go to answer some of the questions about life on Earth," Dr. Sumner said. The red planet remains a time capsule of the era when life first began on our own world, and the direction it could have gone had all the factors that made our world possible, yet it turned out just not the right way.
Lacking chances to practise English? Thinking in English can bring you a huge step closer to fluency! It is not very difficult. Today, we will share some mental exercises with you.
A good first step is to think in individual words. Look around you. What do you see?
As you continue with this, it becomes a habit. Things are going to flash into your head—computer, telephone, chair, desk, etc., whatever it is and wherever you are. For example, if you couldn't think of the word "garage", you can say in your mind, "The place inside which I put my car" or "It's next to my house. I keep things there".
The next exercise is thinking in simple sentences. For example, when sitting in a park, you can tell yourself things like, "It's such a beautiful day" and "People are playing". You can also practise describing your daily activities. As beginninglevel learners, you can describe the day using the simple present verb form, like "I put on my shirt" and "He drives the bus". You can also mentally make plans in the morning or list things you've done before going to bed. So the skill level is a little higher.
When you are practising it every day, over and over again, little by little, you are thinking in English.
A. But it takes effort and practice.
B. It is extremely easy to understand.
C. This would require other verb tenses.
D. At some points, you will need a dictionary.
E. Try to name each object in your surroundings.
F. Then describe objects you don't know the words for.
G. Once this becomes easy, you can move on to more difficult sentences.
Joey Acuña from California, the US had been undergoing dialysis (接受透析). Every1lasted up to 10 hours, but he2the situation wouldn't go to the point where he needed a kidney transplant (肾移植). However, last year he reached this3.
Joey4to find himself a donor. He wasn't fighting just for his own5, but also for his wife and children. He posted a6through his account on social media, seeking a donor (捐赠者) willing to save him.
It was then that Joey received a (n)7message on social media: "How can I help? " from Julia, one of his8. You may wonder why Julia chose to be so9. The reason was simple. Many years ago, her aunt10a kidney donor for another of her aunts. They both 11to live happily. Although she's an ordinary colleague (同事) and there were12she wished Joey to have a happy life with his family. So Julia13and chose to be a donor. She underwent medical tests and was confirmed as a14for Joey. Finally they underwent a transplant surgery (手术).
Donating a kidney is no small act, representing the spirit of love and15. The story shows that there are unbelievably kind people in the world.
The Leshan Giant Buddha is a statue of Maitreya (弥勒) in sitting posture lies to the east of Leshan City, Sichuan Province, (face) Min River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River. In December, 1996, the Buddha (include) by the UNESCO on the list of the World Heritage Sites.
The construction of the statue began in the year 713 in the Tang Dynasty, finished in the year 803. The Buddha is 71 meters high. The 9-meter-long instep is big enough for one hundred people to sit on and the 24-meter-wide shoulder is large enough to be a basketball playground.
monk called Hai Tong is connected with the Buddha forever. At that time, wild waters brought out many boat accidents and people just put the disaster down to the presence of a water spirit. So Hai Tong decided to make a statue beside the river thinking that the Buddha would bring the water spirit control. After 20 years' begging from door to door, he finally collected enough money for the plan. When some local government (official) tried to get this amount of money, Hai Tong said that they could get his eyeballs but not the money (raise) for the Buddha. After Hai Tong (dig) out his eyeballs, they ran away in horror. The project was half done when Hai Tong passed away, and two of his disciples(弟子) continued the work. After a total of 90 years' hard work, the project was (eventual) completed.
The skies were dark. Rain fell in big drops. Thunder and lightning flashed across the skies. I shivered with cold and fear as I walked through the streams of muddy water. Some people were rushing by, completely wet in the heavy rain.
Along the way, I saw some schoolchildren carrying their heavy schoolbags and rushing home. I also saw that some road repair work had been abandoned by workers. Obviously, the workers had left in a hurry because of the storm. There were few signs and it was hard to see what was on the road. There were pieces of wood and slabs of metal and it looked like a hole had been dug and hurriedly covered with planks.
I moved on but suddenly stopped as I heard some sounds. It sounded like children crying. I quickly turned back and went back to the place from where the sounds came. I was horrified! To my shock, I found that two small children, about eight years old, had fallen into the gaping hole on the road. The children were so scared that their faces were pale, crying for help. They were running back home when suddenly the planks moved away with the force of the rushing water. They fell into the hole by accident. I could barely see the children, as it was dark all around me. I got down and tried to reach them with one of my hands, but it was too deep to reach them. I comforted the children with words and told them that I was going to get help.
I was not sure of what to do or where to go but decided to go to the nearest house for help. I knew the man, Mr. Lee, who lived there. He was a kind-hearted man who was always ready to help others. I decided to turn to him for help. It was the only way that I could think of.
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。
I knocked at the door and told Mr. Lee about the problem.
The parents of the children who had just arrived from work were totally shocked to hear of what had happened.
