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Earliest Record
The earliest written evidence of a soccer-like game comes from China. During the second and third centuries B.C., Chinese soldiers took part in an activity that involved kicking a ball into a small net. Historians think the game was a skill-building exercise for the soldiers.
Years of Development
In ancient Greece and Rome, teams of up to 27 players played a soccer-type game. In Britain hundreds of years later, during the thirteenth century A.D., whole villages played against each other. With hundreds of people playing, these games were both long and rough. Kicking, punching, and biting were common and allowed.
In 1331, English King Edward Ⅱ passed a law in an attempt to put a stop to the popular but violent game. The king of Scotland spoke against the game a hundred years later. Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ, during the late 1500s, passed a law that called for a week of jail for anyone caught playing "football", or soccer, as we call it. But the game could not be stopped.
The Modern Game Emerges
Two hundred and fifty years later, people in Britain were still playing a game we would recognize as soccer. A well-known English college Eton developed a set of rules in 1815. A number of other colleges soon agreed to use the same rules, and those schools played against each other. Finally, 50 years later, a formal association was formed to oversee the playing of the game and its rules. In 1869, a rule against handling the ball with the hands transformed the game into the sport of soccer that is wildly popular all around the world.
Jonathan the tortoise, the world's oldest land animal, turned 190 over the weekend on the island of St. Helena, where he enjoyed a "cake" of seasonal fruits, leafy greens and vegetables, including carrots carved into the number "190".
Jonathan was brought to St. Helena from the Seychelles in 1882 as a gift. According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan surpassed the previous record holder, Tu'i Malila, who lived in the 1770s until 1965and could be even older. He arrived in St. Helena as a fully mature tortoise, meaning he was at least 50 in 1882.
"The vet is still feeding him by hand once a week to boost his calories, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, as he is blind and has no sense of smell. His hearing though is excellent and he loves the company of humans, and responds well to his vet Joe Hollins' voice as he associates him with a feast, Guinness World Records said.
"The tortoise enjoys the sun but on very hot days takes to the shade. On mild days, he will sunbathe his long neck and legs stretched fully out of his shell to absorb heat and transfer it to his core," according to Hollins. When it's cold, Jonathan has been known to "dig himself into leaf mold or grass cuttings and remain there all day."
In most cases, the lifespan of a tortoise or turtle depends on the species and level of care they receive. They generally live much longer in captivity than in the wild, because in the wild, they must find their own food in addition to evading predators while not getting medical treatment. Larger turtle and tortoise species also tend to live longer than their smaller counterparts. For more information about animal record holders, click here.
A walk around the workplace is also a trip back in time. The office is where colleagues meet, work and bond. But it is also a time capsule, a place where the traces of historic patterns of working are visible everywhere. The pandemic has heightened this sense of office as a dig site for corporate archaeologists.
The most obvious object is the landline phone(固定电话), a reminder of the days when mobility meant being able to stand up and keep talking. Long after people have junked them in their personal lives - less than 15% of Americans aged between 25 and 34 had one at home in the second half of 2021- landline phones survive in offices.
There might be good reasons for its persistence: they offer a more secure and stable connection than mobile phones, and no one worries that they are about to run out of battery. In practice, the habit of using them was definitely lost during the pandemic. Now they sit on desk after desk, rows of buttons unpressed, ring tones unheard.
Landline phones were already well on their way out before covid-19 struck. Whiteboard charts have suffered a swifter reverse. These objects signal a particular type of pain- people physically crowded together into a room while a manager sketches a graph with a marker pen and points meaningfully to the top-right-hand corner, giving requirements never to be satisfied. This manager is still making graphs but is now much more likely to use a PowerPoint. The crowd is still being tortured but is now much more likely to be watching on the screen. The office still has whiteboards, but they are left in corners and the charts on them are slowly yellowing.
Real archaeologists need tools and time to do their painstaking work: brushes, shovels and picks. Corporate archaeology is easier: you just need eyes and a memory of how things used to be. But you also need to be quick as more and more work places are revamped for the post-pandemic era. Now its time to take a careful look around the office: you may see something that will soon seem outdated.
It is easy to be doubtful about announcements of drugs that claim to slow the progress of Alzheimers, the most common form of dementia (痴呆). A new drug called Lecanemab, however, may be the real deal. Results of a clinical trial, conducted by its makers, Eisai, of Tokyo, and Biogen, of Cambridge Massachusetts, have just been announced in the New England Journal of Medicine(November; 2022). After18 months, it had slowed the progress of symptoms by a quarter.
The trial involved 1795 participants who were in the early stages of the illness. Half received the drug. The others, a placebo(安慰剂). It showed two things. One was the modest but measurable slowing of progression. The other was that an explanation of Alzheimers called the Amyloid Hypothesis(淀粉样蛋白假说) seems correct.
Amyloid is a protein which accumulates in parts of the brains of those with Alzheimers, which is an established sign of the illness. Lecanemab, containing a special antibody, is found to be able to attach itself to amyloid and then attracts immune-system cells to clear the protein away (and measurably did so in those receiving the drug).That suggests amyloid does indeed directly create problems associated with dementia and that Lecanemab can slow down the development of the disease.
This is a small first step. Some experts question whether the test used to show an improvement in symptoms is clinically meaningful because amyloid can be detected only with the help of a piece of expensive equipment, which is not something that can easily be turned into a routine program. Moreover, Lecanemab also caused swelling and bleeding of the brain in a number of participants. Now that the new drug has been shown to work, it can be followed up with further tests. Hope for more good news soon.
Tips for online learning
Online learning has the same basic elements as face-to-face leaning. The major difference is that instruction is delivered online. Many of the strategies for effective face-to-face learning also apply to online learning. Here are some strategies we recommend.
Create space to learn. Invest sometime to understand your needs and preferences as a leaner, and what an effective study environment looks like for you. For example, you might need a quiet place to study or you might need to listen to classical music. Consider what equipment you might need. Wherever you study, try to minimize distractions.
Manage your time effectively. Spend some time getting familiar with your online courses, understanding what is expected of you, mapping out key due dates, and planning study time. Research shows that learners gain more information if they spread their study over multiple days or sessions. Make sure your routine works with your other commitments so you're more likely to stick to it.
Just as with face-to-face learning, mental energy counts: take time to reflect on whether you have understood the materials, try to remember and sort the information you have learned to aid memory test your understanding, mix different concepts and skills into the same study session to build connections and fluencies, ask questions, participate in class discussions, and try teaching concepts to others.
Ask for assistance! In an online leaning environment, you may need to ask lots of questions and take ownership over shaping the leaning experience so that it meets your needs.
Finally, if you're facing specific challenges such as illness, mental health, accessibility, balancing childcare responsibilities, etc., it's important for you to reach out to your instructors or the relevant student support services for discussion and creative problem-solving.
A. Regularly reflect on the course materials.
B. Actively engage with what you have learnt.
C. A consistent routine will help you stay on track.
D. However, online learning may require some additional skills to be successful.
E. At the end of the week, reflect on how you did, and adjust your routine as required.
F. This might mean asking your instructors or peers for help, or attending study groups.
G. Work with your roommates or family to create boundaries so you can stay focused.
Misty Copeland spends most days twisting, spinning and 1. She practices and 2 the graceful movements of her art. When she isn't performing she is practicing. When she isn't practicing, she is stretching. She takes classes almost every day. She takes care of her body so she doesn't 3 it when she goes to work in a ballet theatre.
"I treat my body with the respect that any musician would to their 4." says Misty. "I love my body," she adds.
Was she 5 confident? Actually, she was a 6 girl and avoided the spotlight. But Misty loved music and movement. When she was thirteen, Misty's teacher suggested she 7 a free ballet class at the Boys&Girls Club. For two weeks, Misty sat on the gym bench watching the class, afraid to 8. Finally, she gave it a 9. At first, she felt 10in the class. She didn't know anything about ballet, and she was 11 than most of the students. Over time, 12, she began to enjoy the lessons. She discovered that her body — especially her long legs and flexible muscles — was just 13 for ballet. After the class season ended, Misty received a scholarship to a nearby dance studio. Most ballerinas (女舞者) start their training much younger than thirteen. But Misty's natural abilities and hard work made her improve quickly.
Over the next five years, ballet was Misty's 14. She practiced, performed, competed and attended ballet programs. "Performing was my favourite part because I felt 15 and open onstage," she says. "For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged."
The artists of Dafen can paint like Van Gogh
The village of Dafen was once thought (produce) the most oil paintings in the world every year. (recognize) as the "world's art factory", Dafen impressed visitors with its many workshops, in which painters created mock masterpieces by Van Gogh, Monet and Warhol. But the village was always seen more as a production line a place of culture. Today the future of Dafen may depend on it is able to earn respect of the art world.
Things started to change for Dafen in 2008, the global financial crisis cut down overseas orders. With more demand (come) from domestic market, artists began painting different subjects. New customers preferred Chinese styles, says painter in Dafen. He learnt the art of Shan Shui which involves representing natural landscapes. In some ways Dafen reflected the broader economy. As exports starts to decline as a share of GDP, domestic (consume) plays a larger role in driving growth.
China is the world's second-largest art market. it is not clear where Dafen fits in. Li Jinghu, an artist from nearby Dongguan, often visits the village hoping to discover new talent. But locals say the demand for their paintings (decline) in the past two pandemic-struck years. "Most people would probably be surprised that Dafen still exists. It does and it will,"says Lisa Movius, a writer in Shanghai who covers art.
April Fools' Day
Nat woke early and jumped out of bed. Today was the best day of the year for him. Nat loved to play tricks, and today was April Fools' Day.
Some of Nat's tricks were big hits. Last year, he short-sheeted his sister's bed. She couldn't understand what was going on and started to think that her legs must have grown much longer during the day. When she realized what had happened, she laughed her head off.
Some of Nat's tricks were not so successful. Mom didn't think finding a furry toy mouse in the fridge was humorous at all. After she calmed down a bit, she said, "That's it! There's a ban on Nat tricks for two weeks."
Nat was also the class clown. He was always making jokes in class. He liked it when he made the other kids laugh. Since it was April Fools' Day, he felt like he had to come up with something really good to provide his classmates with some really good entertainment.
For that, Nat thought long and hard before he came up with his brilliant idea. He bought two toy frogs which were made out of green plastic and looked very realistic. Nat knew just the trick he would play on his classmates.
Nat arrived at school early. To succeed in his plan, he needed to get into the classroom before anyone else. Nat's class had a rainforest terrarium (饲养皿). It had plants, insects, and three frogs in it. Nat's idea was to pretend that the frogs had escaped. He knew that Ms. Lopez, his teacher, wasn't afraid of frogs but several of his classmates, including himself, were.
Nat slipped into the classroom. Good! There was nobody here. He put one of the toy frogs on the floor, near the terrarium and the other on his friend Stacey's desk. Nat knew that Stacey really didn't not like frogs. Also, she played a great trick on him last April Fools' Day. To make his trick more convincing, Nat pushed the lid of the terrarium open. Then he rushed off to morning gathering.
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。
When the students got back to class, no one noticed the toy frogs at first.
……
Nat realized that he had opened the lid of the terrarium.
