On Monday, I stopped my car in front of my daughter Juliet's middle school. She jumped in the front seat, feeling down. She asked me to help her study for her science test.
"Dad, I need to memorize a unit about the Reproductive Cycle of Plants. And I can hardly make it."
"You know memorizing seems like the best way to study, but in fact you can do better in tests if you work on trying to understand the material."
Juliet was open to my advice. It was Monday afternoon and we had two nights to study before the test on Wednesday. I suggested a plan. "Tomorrow night, you are going to teach the material to me. Tonight, read the unit. Prepare to teach."
Asking her to teach me was an unusual idea but I was determined to do it.
Studies show teaching somebody else is a very useful way to learn. Even if you don't do the teaching, the act of preparing to teach leads to more learning than just trying your best to memorize the material.
On Tuesday afternoon, Juliet sat down with her science book facing me and said, "Okay, Dad, let's study." I wanted her to teach me. But false starts happened. I couldn't be too hard on her. So instead we started with me asking her some simple questions. She knew some but not others. When she didn't know the answers, I encouraged her to check the book.
She started checking things that didn't make sense. And she was actively seeking to test her understanding. I was happy to see it. She wasn't memorizing; she was trying to make sense of things, which was exactly what I had hoped she would do.
Ways to Reduce Food Waste
While many people in poor areas suffer from a shortage of food, a large amount of food is wasted in the rest of the world. Here are some tips on how to reduce food waste:
◆ Learn to store food. Not sure how to keep those greens from wilting (蔫) overnight? Can't keep your tomatoes fresh for more than a day or two? Not sure where to start? Check out Local Produce Storage Guide online.
◆ Recipes often direct you to remove a part of whatever food you're cooking with, but often those food items can be saved. For example, leave the skin on carrots and potatoes (The skins actually have a ton of valuable nutrients!), save the beet greens for a salad, and don't throw away the outer skin of oranges!
◆ Pick the "funny looking" food. Buying food that comes in a different shape, size or colour helps use up food that might be given up.
◆ Understand best-before dates correctly. People often confuse best-before dates with expiry dates (有效期). The best-before date has nothing to do with the safety of the food. So while the taste may not be that good, many food items are still safe to eat for many days beyond the best-before date.
A. Use it all.
B. Keep a "need to eat" list.
C. This will save you time in the long run.
D. It refers to flavour and nutritional value.
E. Food waste is a serious issue that needs to be stressed.
F. Do your research on food storage and you'll get the rewards.
G. Many fruits and vegetables are thrown away because they aren't "pretty" enough.
I got off the bus at 10:00 pm, with some books and a wallet in my hand. I walked to my 1 , thinking deeply about my paper.
A car was driving slowly down the street. As it 2 , I saw the driver. I kept 3 . The car slowed down and 4 . I heard its door was shut. A few seconds later, I heard footsteps (脚步声) behind me. I imagined when I reached my house, the man would put his right hand over my mouth and then I would be robbed (抢劫) of my 5 .
I shook my head and stopped imagining the 6 scene. All I knew was that I 7 to experience that imaginary attack. I turned around and waited for him. He came closer and closer. I could see his eyes8 .
"Would you please leave me alone?" It was neither a question nor a scream. My 9 was low. Nothing could be worse than what I had 10 .
"I'm not going to11 you," he said, then turned around and walked back to his car.
Although this 12 was important to me, it should not be understood as 13 action for anyone else. 14 evil (邪恶) could be dangerous. For me, a young student, the experience combined my imagination and my15 . I did not run away.
When (travel) in a train, a gentleman felt thirsty and got down at a station in search of water. No sooner had he reached the water tap than the engine whistled and started, so he missed the train.
It was getting (dark) and he decided to find a place for a day's stay. So he went to a small hut and asked the villager. The villager(glad) agreed. With the villager's (permit), he could stay in his house for a day. That day the villager served the gentleman food and gave him a room to rest. Surprisingly, the villager neither asked nor expected anything return.
At night, the gentleman heard a knock at the door. When the villager opened the door, the gentleman saw that a man (dress) in rich clothes entered the hut and demanded the villager pay (he) debts. The gentleman realized that the villager was in need of money. The next morning, he put a pocket on the table and (leave). When the villager came to know about pocket, he saw there was a note addressed to him, it read, "You helped me but did not expect anything from me. Yesterday I heard the conversation between you and the stranger and came to know that you were in need of money. This is you need".
n. 占领；职业；消遣
adj. 令人分心的
n.考虑
adj. 相当大的
adv. 必要地
n. 投资者
