EARTH DAY CHILDREN'S ART CONTEST
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What: Draw, paint or create a poster showing how you take care of the Earth.
Who: Children aged 6-12 can enter the contest free of charge.
Rules:
◆Each entry must be designed on a white piece of A4 paper by hand.
◆All entries must be original, including the theme "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."
◆A "short" message must be written on the poster. The few words, the better.
◆Send your entry along with your name, age, school name, email address and phone number.
Deadline:
All entries must be submitted by April 16, 2023. Winners will be announced no later than April 22, 2023.
Prize:
— Top three winners will be awarded a $300 gift card each.
— Winners' drawings will be shown at the Green Team website.
How to participate：
Scan or take a phone of the drawing and send it to GreenTeam@gmail.com.
◆For more information, please call Marshall Jackson at 036-9036.
Anna, my 10-year-old daughter, is on a wild ride with the United States Postal Service (USPS) and our mail carrier, Eason. She has a serious letter-writing habit and keeps in contact with her favorite people. If you've been the receiver of her hand-decorated letters and envelopes, then I know they really make your day.
A letter from Anna is likely to include some art, a joke and enough questions to guarantee a response. But when she wrote a letter to Eason, she put something new in it. "You may know me as the person living here that writes lots of letters. You're very important to me, helping me stay in touch with friends. I cheer people up with my letters, and you do that too!" Anna wrote.
The next day, a package arrived with two letters. One was from Eason and the other from his superior, Sara, saying she had shared Anna's letter in the internal newsletter (内部通讯) of the USPS and believed many postal folks wanted to thank Anna. Anna was so pleased with the letter that it perturbed me much, for the possible result of no reply from other mail carriers would come as a blow to her.
Surprisingly, today, we saw Eason come with two boxes of letters from around the country. These letters were so human, filled with stories about family, pets and a sense of kindness. But there was something more in them. People felt seen — some for the first time in a long time. "I work alone in a small rural post office..." "Not many people think about how hard we work..." Anna wrote back seriously.
I'm sharing this not because I'm a proud dad, but because it's relatively easy, if we take the time to give others links they need to be good. We all want to be seen, known and loved. Send a letter. Give a call. Take a step of bravery, like Anna.
To write his book about world diet, nutritionist Harley Paster traveled to the healthiest countries around the world to learn more about what made their meals special.
He noted that Japanese people ate a wonderful variety of seaweeds, and that Chinese people tried to include at least five different colors in every meal. Paster also came away with some valuable observations about how different the North American way of life was, compared with many other countries.
For starters, Americans eat much bigger portions than people in other countries. "We don't prioritize (优先) eating seasonally or locally, and we also add lots of salt, sugar and thickening agents to our foods," explained Paster. Contrast that to the healthy Mediterranean, Nordic and Okinawan diets listed in Paster's book. They all seem to stick to the ethos (特质) of regional, seasonal produce.
For example, a traditional Mediterranean diet includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and olive oil as the main components of nutritional intake. Fish, chicken and red wine make appropriate appearances, while red meat, salt and sugar are used much less often. The benefits of a traditional Mediterranean diet have been studied since the 1970s, and researchers have found that living that olive oil life can help people lose weight, lower their heart disease risk and reverse diabetes (糖尿病). Most other healthy eating cultures also make meals an event—say, multiple courses around the family table, or a glass or two of red wine at a long lunch— rather than fast wolfing down handfuls of cereal above the kitchen sink and calling it dinner.
Each of the healthy eating cultures has its own unique feature. But Paster did take note of one unifying factor in all of the healthy societies he observed. "The only common feature in most of these healthy countries is that they all walk more than the average American," said Paster. "So really, regardless of what you're eating, if someone's walking four miles more than you each day, they're going to be a lot thinner and live a lot longer than you."
Black rhinos (犀牛) have terrible eyesight. Even so, these large African animals can fight against hungry lions and hyenas. With big sword-like horns, their large and thick-skinned body plan has proved to be good enough to survive in a place full of huge predators (捕食性动物). But those protective features are no match for humans with guns.
Today, the species is seriously endangered largely due to illegal hunting. But the rhinos may have an unlikely partner against hunters: the red-billed oxpecker (牛椋鸟). The chatty, sociable birds often hang out on the backs of rhinos, feasting on the ticks (虱子) on their bodies.
"And actually, research has shown that the tick is the favorite diet of an oxpecker. And if they feed on ticks, that is a good thing," said Plotz, a behavioral ecologist. He suspected that the rhinos put up with them because the oxpeckers make loud alarm calls whenever they see humans approach-giving the rhinos an early warning to flee.
To test whether the oxpeckers do, in fact, act as noisy lookouts, Plotz and his team placed radio transmitters (发送器) in the rhinos horns. The researchers found that rhinos without oxpeckers detected an approaching human only 23 percent of the time, at an average distance of 27 meters. But when oxpeckers were present, the birds warned the rhinos 100 percent of the time. And they sensed the human 61 meters away on average. And the more oxpeckers on the scene, the greater the detection distance— which means the earlier the warning.
It makes sense because the more eyes you have on your back, looking out for you, the more chance that you can pick up anything coming. What we think is going on, fundamentally, is that the rhino is listening to the alarm call. There can be no doubt of that. Listening to oxpecker alarm calls brings a really strong anti-human benefit.
Plotz thinks the oxpeckers may have gradually changed and developed their behavior because it protects their convenient food source. And the more lookouts, the better in what seems like a win-win for both species: the birds thrive and the rhinos survive.
An escape game, is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limited amount of time. The goal is often to escape from the site of the game.
Keep it simple
For most escape games, even the very challenging ones with very high difficulty ratings, the puzzles and clues are surprisingly simple. They are just cleverly hidden and worded to make them appear difficult to solve. Don't make things difficult by looking for complex solutions.
Sometimes, the escape game creators add a puzzle to confuse players, but this hardly happens. As usual, every puzzle is important and each clue has the potential for revealing the key. Carefully analyze every puzzle you come across. Don't ignore any, as it may be central to achieving your goal of breaking out. If worse comes to worst, ask for a clue from the game master.
Think like a 4th grader
Escape games can get really challenging. To break out, you need to totally bury yourself in the game. Think outside the box and motivate all your creative juices. Remember when you were a kid and you would think up all these imaginative stories and situations. . Think like a 4th grader and you'll find the game more enjoyable and the puzzles easier to solve.
Experiment with use
Is the honey bucket just a metal thing filled with human waste or is there a clue under it? . We get so stuck on how things are normally used that our minds refuse to think of alternative ways of using them. And just to ease your fears, no escape game will put you in a room with a bucket full of human waste. Like I mentioned earlier, use your imagination and think outside the box.
A. Don't ignore escape game puzzles.
B. You need to imagine you to be a 10-year-old child.
C. You'd better play the game with a child.
D. More often than not, the answer is right there staring you in the face.
E. There are four tips to play escape games.
F. Don't keep the excitement levels high.
G. Or maybe, it can be turned upside down to use as a simple ladder.
My 85-year-old mother came to live with me a year ago last November. She was very ill and I had to put my life on hold to 1 her.
Each morning, I got her up and 2 her and made her breakfast, and sat with her. I rushed for a bowl when she felt sick, and lit fires to keep her warm. I cooked and 3 her to take a few bites.
It's a hard job looking after a sick or dying parent, whoever you are. But it was 4 hard for me, a doctor myself. I couldn't help treating her in two different ways. The medical professional in me led me to examine her in 5 as if she were my patient. As a 6 , I saw the woman who had given birth to me, wiped my nose, sent me to college and had been 7 presence in my life for over half a century.
Also, my mother didn't 8 my hard work or understand that other people's help could have 9 the burden.
None of the treatments her doctors gave her 10 
and finally her life became about comfort. When finally she accepted the painkillers, she accepted the fact that she would 11 .
Illness and need took us across personal boundary I'd never before considered. We used to argue a lot, 12 during this time we shared stories and memories and we became 13 .
When the 14 came, we accepted the fact that we looked at the world in different ways, but what 15 was that we loved each other.
As Xiong Chuanfa, 35, blows a lifelike deer out of molten maltose(麦芽糖) in just minutes, kids stare at him with (astonish), thinking he is a magician.
Xiong has been working on blowing sugar-figures, a Chinese traditional folk art with a history of over 600 years, for more than two (decade). So far, this traditional folk art (list) as a state-level intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产).
Every morning, Xiong prepares the molten syrup(糖浆) and drives to Nanchang (start) his magic show. "Many people, (particular) kids, are attracted by this sugar art." Xiong said proudly.
Xiong explained that blowing sugar figures can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and his family has passed down this cultural heritage for four generations. "My 6-year-old son often blows up a balloon-like sugar figure, just like I used to do as a child," he said. Xiong's wife Wang Li is __ artist of the sugar painting, is a form of traditional Chinese folk art.
In addition to showing their skills at fairs, the couple also stops by colleges to make youngsters get more (involve) in the traditional art and allow them to experience its charm. "We try to combine paper-cutting skills and modern elements modeling on the basis of traditional techniques, (make) them agree with the current trend while achieving a balance between beauty and taste." Xiong said.
Over the summer I moved from Texas to Missouri. This was my second year of high school, but my first year of school in Missouri. I was really nervous about starting a new school and having people like me. I decided that I would be much happier in a new school if I made friends that were so-called "popular". Getting in with the right group of people would make my life a whole lot better. I bought a new outfit so the first day would be perfect.
On the first day of school, scared, yet eager to begin my new life, I walked up the stairs. My first class was geometry, but where was that? I was standing in the hall looking confused, when a short, blond girl wearing glasses came up and asked, "Are you new? You look lost. Do you want me to help you find your class? My name is Diane. What's yours?" Even though she seemed a bit strange, definitely not the kind of person I wanted to be associated with, I decided to answer her anyway. I was, after all, lost.
After exchanging names, I followed her up the stairs and down a hallway on the right. When we reached my room she said, "Well, here you are. It was nice meeting you. I hope I see you again and your day goes all right."
I said a quick thank-you and waved good-bye. Once inside the classroom, I saw one big group of people huddled around someone who seemed to be telling some sort of story. I walked over and got close enough to overhear. All eyes were glued to the guy in the middle of the circle. I decided that this guy was popular.
A few minutes later the teacher told everyone to go find a seat and get ready for the class. I managed to get one right next to the guy. I said, "Hi, my name is April and I'm new here." He said coldly, "Hi, I'm Johnny." That class dragged on and on. Finally, the bell rang. I turned to him and asked, "I'm not sure where my next class is, could you help me find it?" He looked at me and then said a quick no, turned back to his friends, and walked out of the classroom.
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。
As they were walking out, I heard they were all laughing at me.
……
Before I was ready to go home, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.
