One day after more than a month of classes, I read aloud a paragraph from my book, recognizing all of the characters smoothly except one. I sat back and started to register a sense of achievement: I was actually reading Chinese. The language was starting to make sense. But before the sense of satisfaction was half formed, Teacher Liao said, "Budui!"
It meant, literally, "Not correct." You could also translate it as "no", "wrong", "nope", "uh-uh" and "flatly and clearly incorrect". There were many Chinese words that I didn't know, but I knew that one well.
A voice in my head whined "All of the rest of them were right; isn't that worth something? " But for Teacher Liao it didn't work like that. If one character was wrong, it was simply budui.
"What's this word?" I asked, pointing at the character I had missed.
"Zhe—the zhe in Zhejiang."
"The third tone?"
"The fourth tone."
I breathed deeply and read the section again, and this time I did it perfectly. That was a victory—I turned to Teacher Liao and my eyes said (or at least I imagined them saying) "How do you like me now?" There seemed to be some satisfaction in her eyes, but she simply said, "Read the next one."
It was her way of teaching. Success was expected and failure was criticized and immediately corrected. You were right or you were budui; there was no middle ground.
I grew to hate budui. The bu was a rising tone and the dui dropped abruptly, just as my confidence was built and then it broke down all at once. And it bothered me all the more because I knew that Teacher Liao was only telling the truth: everything I did with the language was budui. I was an adult, and as an adult I should be able to accept criticism where it was needed. But that wasn't the American way; I wanted to be praised for my effort; I didn't mind criticism as long as it was candy-coated. For Teacher Liao, the single B on the report card matters much more than all the A's that surround it: Keep working; you haven't achieved anything yet.
And so I worked harder. I was frustrated but I was also stubborn; I was determined to show Teacher Liao that I was dui.
For many of us, summertime means road trips to the beach or mountains, or at the very least some additional dust on the outside of our vehicle. The extra dirt leads us to do one of the two things: wash our car in the driveway or head to the car wash. But which choice is better for the environment?
The main concerns with either choice are the amount of fresh water used and the types of chemicals used to get rid of the dirt. Both of these concerns can be closely monitored when washing the car at home, says Katy Gresh, spokeswoman for the Southwest Region of the Pennsylvania department of Environmental Protection. She advises car owners to keep a set amount of water in a container for the entire wash. "You don't want to leave the water running or use more than you need for the job," she says. But even following this piece of advice comes with an environmental risk: Washing your car in the driveway gets the dirty water into drains (下水道).
"Drains are not made for treating waste," says John Schombert, executive director of 3 Rivers Wet Weather. Even when car owners use natural soaps to wash the car, Schombert says they are probably ineffective in breaking down grease (油脂) anyway.
The commercial car wash knows full well the rules regarding wastewater in drains. According to the International Carwash Association (ICA), professional car washes must use special water treatment systems. These processes not only keep the dirty water out of drains and regular water treatment systems, but also work to reduce water usage at commercial facilities.
As experts point out, cleaning our car at home can use 100 gallons of water. Compare that to self-service car washes, which allow you to use only about 17 or 18 gallons of water. And most full-service car washes average about 30 to 45 gallons of water per vehicle.
We are the products of evolution (进化), and not just evolution that occurred billions of years ago. As scientists look deeper into our genes, they are finding examples of human evolution in just the past few thousand years. People in Ethiopian highlands have adapted to living at high altitudes. Cattle-raising people in East Africa and northern Europe have gained a mutation (突变) that helps them digest milk as adults.
On Thursday in an article published in Cell, a team of researchers reported a new kind of adaptation, not to air or to food, but to the ocean. A group of sea-dwelling people in Southeast Asia have evolved into better divers. The Bajau, as these people are known, number in the hundreds of thousands in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. They have traditionally lived on houseboats; in recent times, they've also built houses on stilts (支柱) in coastal waters. "They are simply a stranger to the land," said Rodney C. Jubilado, a University of Hawaii researcher who studies the Bajau.
Dr. Jubilado first met the Bajau while growing up on Samal Island in the Philippines. They made a living as divers, spearfishing or harvesting shellfish. "We were so amazed that they could stay underwater much longer than us local islanders," Dr.Jubilado said. "I could see them actually walking under the sea."
In 2015, Melissa Ilardo, then a graduate student in genetics at the University of Copenhagen, heard about the Bajau. She wondered if centuries of diving could have led to the evolution of physical characteristics that made the task easier for them. "It seemed like the perfect chance for natural selection to act on a population," said Dr. Ilardo. She also said there were likely a number of other genes that help the Bajau dive.
A The truth is a different story. According to a new poll, Americans visited the library more often than they did other activities in their free time.
B On the contrary, libraries are free, and so are many of their services like Wi-Fi, in addition to the endless supply of books.
C Although it is not the only reason, cost appears to play a part. Activities at the bottom of the list such as visiting theme parks and zoos are typically expensive.
D Nowadays, people are given a wide range of entertainment options. As a result, visits to the library may seem like an old-fashioned activity.
E The poll surveyed 1025 adults throughout the United States who were asked how many times they participated in nine different pastimes, including visiting a library or attending a sporting event. Library visits came out on top as the favorite.
Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn't matter if the words come from ourselves or someone else. The positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes. In fact, we really shouldn't be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit. This "self-talk" helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative.
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. And the clerk will probably respond in a similar manner. However, critical language may cause anger and defense.
Many of us regret something we once said. We remember unkind words said to us as well. Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn't pass this test, then it's better left unsaid.
Words possess power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. The choice is ours.
A. How should I say it?
B. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal?
C. Generally people like positive and pleasant words.
D. We're usually too embarrassed to admit it, though.
E. Words possess power because of their lasting effect.
F. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak encouraging words to ourselves.
G. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange.
For many, finding an unattended wallet filled with £400 in cash would be a source of temptation (诱惑). But the 1 would no doubt be greater if you were living on the streets with little food and money. All of this makes the actions of the homeless Tom Smith even more remarkable.
After spotting a 2 on the front seat inside a parked car with its window down, he stood guard in the rain for about two hours waiting for the 3 to return.
After hours in the cold and wet, he 4 inside and pulled the wallet out, hoping to find some ID so he could contact the driver, only to 5 it contained £400 in notes, with another £50 in spare change beside it.
He then took the wallet to a nearby police station after 6 a note behind to let the owner know it was safe. When the car's owner John Anderson and his colleague Carol Lawrence returned to the car—which was itself worth £35, 000—in Glasgow city centre, they were 7 to find two policemen standing next to it. The policemen told them what Mr. Smith did and that the wallet was 8.
The pair were later able to thank Mr. Smith for his 9.
Mr. Anderson said: "I couldn't believe that the guy never took a penny. To think he is sleeping on the streets tonight when he could have stolen the money and paid for a place to stay in. This guy has nothing and rather he didn't take the wallet for himself; he thought about others instead. It's unbelievable. It just proves there are 10 guys out there."
Mr. Smith's act 11 much of the public's attention. He also won praise from social media users after Mr. Anderson 12 about the act of kindness on Facebook.
Now Mr. Anderson has set up an online campaign to 13 money for Mr. Smith and other homeless people in the area, which by yesterday had received ￡8,000. "I think the faith that everyone has shown in him has touched him. People have been approaching him in the street; he's had job 14 and all sorts," Mr. Anderson commented.
For Mr. Smith, this is a possible life-changing 15. The story once again tells us that one good turn deserves another.
Newspapers, magazines, even online articles offer reading materials. More strictly speaking, reading means reading books. However, online materials are taking place of books and reading books seem to go out of fashion nowadays. reading habits have changed can be felt from the amount of time young people spend (sweep) through short videos on their smartphones.
Some people claim that short videos contain much information, and are easier to look through. It might be true that reading articles and short posts online (play) an important role in gaining knowledge. But by (compare) with books, short videos have fragmented (碎片化的) and disorganized contents, which could affect people's understanding of a subject. Worse still, fragmented knowledge could prevent us from acting in a (practice) manner or thinking logically.
A country's true development is measured from several (aspect): its philosophical development, its scientific development and its technological development. Cultural development, too, is important. Yet the help of books, people cannot take the development forward. Since more and more people could (bare) discover the charm of reading now, there is a need (seek) proper ways to guide them towards books.
Don't distract her from her studies.
The only access to the village is by boat.
The actor of Mr Bean has got a great sense of humour.
She's a very demanding child and needs an effective teacher.
The speaker gave an interesting presentation on city transport.
A. having and expressing strong feelings
B. expecting a lot of work or attention from others
C. a talk giving information about something
D. the method or possibility of approaching a place
E. quality of being amusing or comic; ability to be amused
F. to make someone stop giving their attention to something
G. to have control over a place or a person, or to be the most important person or thing
Mr. Lin is an ambitious businessman.
He showed his approval by smiling broadly.
He told the extraordinary story of his escape.
The doctors made one last desperate attempt to save the boy's life.
There's no point buying him expensive wines - he doesn't appreciate them.
A. ready to do anything regardless of danger
B. very unusual, special, unexpected or strange
C. having a great desire to be successful, powerful or wealthy
D. to recognize that something is valuable, important
E. to make a small hole in something, or to get a small hole in something
F. a positive opinion of someone or something
G. a basic idea or rule that explains or controls how something happens or works
