The New York Times Best Fiction Books of the Year are listed below. The star rating and number of reviews are from Amazon, com. In parentheses after the star rating and number of reviews are the number of pages in the book. Click the buy from Amazon, com link to be taken to the Amazon, com website where you can purchase the book from the online bookseller. (The former price is for a paperback version while the latter price is for a hardback version.)
The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
★★★★★ 4310 reviews (816p)
The 2020 NAACP Image Award-winning poet makes her fiction debut with this National Book Award-longlisted, magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the force of Homegoing.
Price: US$13.99 US$18.40
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
★★★★★ 2587 reviews (192p)
When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction.
Price: US$15.99 US$54.37
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
★★★★ 3037 reviews (224p)
Fragmentary and sincere, No One Is Talking About This is at once a love letter to the endless scroll and a profound, modern meditation on love, language, and human connection from a singular voice in American literature.
Price: US$11.94 US$12.68
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
★★★★ 0244 reviews (256p)
Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis.
Price： US$12.56 US$19.74
Dad loved basketball and hoped that one day I would play the game. He taught me a lot, and I was pretty good until the accident. We were on the highway. Our little car spun off the road. Then everything was suddenly dark. The next thing I remembered was being told I wasn't going to be walking again.
Mom and I learned to live with it Dad took it hard "Sometimes I think he blames himself," Mom said.
One day Mr. Evans, an elder in our neighborhood, asked me if I wanted to join a wheelchair basketball team he was starting. When I told Mom, she was all for it, but Dad just looked at me and mumbled (嘟哝) something. I didn't know what to make of Dad's reaction, but I knew I wanted to play.
I began my first practice on a Friday afternoon. What surprised me most was that I found Dad sitting in the stands and watching us go through our drills. We finished our regular practice, and Mr. Evans motioned for my father to come down to the court.
"Jim, I happen to know that you played pro ball," Mr. Evans said. "I think you can show the kids some fundamentals." Dad agreed he would like to give it a try.
We practiced the whole summer. Dad came every day. "I thought you were terrible at first," he said one afternoon. "But I think you can play with Madison (a very good teen wheelchair basketball team) now."
Dad only comes to practice once in a while now, but he comes to the games when they're on the weekend. I didn't want to push him though I liked him coming to practice, but I know he believes I can do well without him now.
The climate change may lead humans to shrink in size. Steve Brusatte, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, believed that the way that other mammals (哺乳动物) have previously responded to periods of climate change could offer an insight into humans' future. He compared the possible difficult situation of people to that of early horses. Those horses became smaller in body size as temperatures rose around 55 million years ago.
In his book, Brusatte mentions that animals in warmer parts of the world today are often smaller than those in colder areas. "Becoming smaller was a common way that mammals deal with climate change." Brusatte told The Guardian, "That's not to say every species of mammal would get smaller, but it seems to be a common survival trick of mammals when temperatures rise very quickly."
In a recent study, researchers studying human remains over the past million years have also suggested that temperature is a main predictor of body size change, while scientists studying red deer have said that warmer winters in northern Europe and Scandinavia may lead to the body size of these animals becoming smaller.
However, not all experts agree that rising temperature causes mammals to shrink. Adrian Lister, an expert from the Natural History Museum in London, said, "The relationship shown by the recent human remains study is weak. I prefer to believe that the strong connections between temperature and mammal body size may often depend on the availability of food and resources."
Lister has also expressed doubts about the idea that humans will shrink as the climate heats. "We are not really controlled by natural selection," he said. "We wear clothes. We have got heating. We have got air conditioning if it is too hot."
For years, the Colorado State Fair has held its fine art competition under little media coverage. But when its judges picked an artificial intelligence-generated work "Théȃtre D'opéra Spatial" as a winner in August, 2022, this event immediately received different comments.
"Théȃtre D'opéra Spatial" is an example of AI-generated content (AIGC), created with a text-to-art generator (生成) program. Several other AI-driven art-generating programs have also appeared in 2022, and the variety reflects a wide range of artistic styles. Stable Diffusion, for instance, is focused on western-style artwork, while Baidu's ERNIE-ViLG produces images influenced by Chinese art. Meanwhile, AIGC can also include articles, videos, and various other media offerings such as voice synthesis (合成), which can be applied in voice navigation (导航) for digital maps.
As AIGC becomes increasingly common, it could make content creation more efficient by getting rid of repetitive tasks for creators. For instance, filmmakers have long had to pay money for countless hours of video editing. AIGC may soon make that unnecessary.
Besides increasing efficiency, AIGC could also increase business growth in content creation and demand for personalized digital content. Insight SLICE forecasts that the global digital creation market will on average grow 12% annually between 2020 and 2030. AI has the potential to meet this massive demand at a tenth of the cost.
AIGC can also serve as an educational tool by helping children develop their creativity. StoryDrawer, for instance, is an AI-driven program designed to improve children's creative thinking. When a child describes an imaginary picture to the system, it then generates an image while providing prompts to inspire the child to expand on the image.
As with every new technology, it's anybody's guess how AIGC will develop. But just as past technologies have helped expand art, AIGC is set to put the power of creativity into the hands of more people.
Don't Get Lost in the Term of Eco-tourism
Given that tourism produces harmful emissions, the term "green travel" can seem contradictory. Green travel will not solve the climate crisis, but knowing what to look for can allow you to make choices that do less harm and more good if you do choose to travel.
Don't get hung up on the terms.
The key to better understanding and identifying sustainable travel options is recognizing that it's actually actions—not words—that matter. Definitions can vary from person to person.
Ask questions.
Before you book a tour or hotel, prepare questions. For example: Do they support the local economy? Are they ensuring the preservation of the natural environment? However, if you can't find answers on the website, contact the property or tour operator directly.
You don't have to plan a responsible travel and the ever-changing term alone. Contact organizations that provide training, accreditation and transparent standards. You can also join responsible travel communities on social media, where you can ask questions, share resources and learn alongside other travelers who share your values.
Start now.
You can't do everything at once right away. Decide what you can do. Maybe it's contributing to a conservation or community project. Anyway, when you know better, do better.
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A. Lean on and learn from others. B. Find an operator who shares your personal values. C. But it's the truth behind the term that really matters. D. Ask what the local government can provide you with. E. Search for the answers such as data and policies on a company's website. F. Here are some expert tips on how to understand the vocabulary of green travel. G. Maybe it's immersing yourself in one destination rather than rushing around to see three. |
I get up in the dark hours of the morning for three reasons only: to attend ANZAC Day service, to1a cheap flight, or to witness an astronomical (天文的) event. It was the last of the three that pushed me to set my2for 3 am on Sunday May 8 this year.
I was3at my best friend's place in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. That morning it was so cold. I got out of bed before I had time to change my4. I grabbed a jacket and headed outside, pausing at the corner of the cottage to5. The Milky Way was blazing (闪耀) in a cloud-free sky and within seconds a shooting star6across my field of view. Then I woke up my friend and7her it would be worth her while. She had not been as8as me. Only one minute later I saw the next shooting star. I9, "There!" "Where?" "Over there!" I said,10as though it could help. "There's another!" She was11to get excited. The rewards were coming from all12now. We observed some ten more stars within minutes, most13before one of us could draw the other's attention.
An hour and a half—and several dozens of shooting stars—later, my friend and I were cold and14we had seen enough.15at what had felt like our own private show, we held our arms tightly and headed back to the cottage.
China has long been known as the "land of ceremony and propriety" (文明礼仪之邦). (consequent), there are certain manners should be observed at banquets or formal dinners.
Chinese people attach great importance the seating order at banquets or formal dinners. In the past, Chinese people often sat around so-called eight-immortal table (八仙桌) (dine). The two seats (face) the door were the most important. The host sat on the right and the most honorable guest on the left. Opposite these two seats sat two specially invited (guest) who were supposed to help entertain the main invitees. The other people (arrange), according to their age, to sit on the other two sides of the table. The two seats closer to the host and most honorable guest (be) considered more important than the other two seats.
Nowadays, most Chinese people still consider an important custom to arrange seats at table.
A Young Teacher
Charles Rose lived in the country with his father, who taught him to read and to write. Mr. Rose told his son that, when his morning lessons were over, he might amuse himself for one hour as he pleased.
There was a river nearby. On its bank stood the hut (小屋) of a poor fisherman, who lived by selling fish. His wife kept her wheel (纺织机) going early and late. They both worked very hard. But they were greatly troubled for fear their only son should never learn to read and to write. They could not teach him themselves j and they were too poor to send him to school.
Charles visited the hut of this fisherman one day to inquire about his missing dog. He found the little boy, whose name was Joe, sitting by the table, on which he was making marks with a piece of chalk. Charles asked him whether he was drawing pictures.
"No, I am trying to write," said little Joe, "but I know only two words, and I am trying to write them. If I could only learn to read and write? I should be the happiest boy in the world."
"Then I will make you happy," said Charles. "I am only a little boy, but I can teach you that. My father gives me an hour every day for myself. I can spend it with you."
Both Joe and his mother told him it was what they wished above all things.
So, on the next day when the hour came, Charles put his book in his pocket, and went to teach Joe. Joe learned very fast, and Charles soon began to teach him how to write.
Sometime after, a neighbour called on Mr. Rose, and said, "I often see your son go to the house of the fisherman. I fear he goes out in their boat." Mr. Rose was much troubled. He had told Charles that he must never take risks on the river, and he thought he could trust him.
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。
The moment the gentleman left, Mr. Rose went in search of his son.
Then Charles noticed his father and felt a little confused.
