Four Libraries of Oxford University
Education Library
Located within the Department of Education at 15 Norham Gardens, the Education Library supports all members of the University studying and researching in the field of education. The books we hold are based around the Department's teaching. We also have journals, online resources, study rooms and super staff to help you throughout your studies and research.
Opening hours: Mon-Wed: 8:30 a. m.-5:30 p. m./ Thurs-Fri: Closed
English Faculty Library
Established in 1914, the English Faculty Library (EFL) primarily serves all those reading and teaching English at Oxford. The EFL holds over 104,000 volumes to support the range of teaching, study and research in the English Faculty. Most of the EFL's collections are borrowable. We offer borrowing services, IT and printing facilities and a variety of study lounges (自习室).
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs: 9 a. m.-5 p. m./ Fri: Closed
Social Science Library
The Social Science Library (SSL) is one of the University of Oxford's busiest lending and reference libraries, supporting staff and students in the Social Sciences Division. We have around 250,000 books on a range of subjects and extensive collections of academic journals. We offer a wide range of individual study rooms, as well as printing and IT facilities and research support.
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs: 9 a. m.-7 p. m./ Fri: 9 a. m.-5 p. m./ Sat: Closed
Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library
The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library is one of the Bodleian Libraries' principal research libraries, with collections focusing on the study of archaeology and the ancient world, art and architectural history. We offer borrowing services, IT and printing facilities and study halls.
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs: 9 a. m.-9 p. m./ Fri:9 a. m.-5 p. m./ Sat-Sun: Closed
When my Dad visited me in London recently, I took him for a classic English afternoon tea at The Ritz Hotel. The thought of showing him a piece of authentic British life excited me for weeks, so when we finally sat down in the Ritz's elegant tearoom, with the sound of a pianist in the background, I was thrilled.
I looked at the polished silver tea stand topped with finely cut sandwiches, freshly baked scones (烤饼), and mouthwatering pastries and teacakes. I was ready to dig in. Then I looked at Dad and a trace of nervousness flashed across his face. He carefully copied what I at e and how to use the knife and fork, and from time to time anxiously looked up at the waiter in his bow tie who was serving our table.
When we got to the scones, Dad took a big bite and remarked how delicious it was. He asked me to explain how the British eat scones, so I supplied him with details about the custom of breaking scones into small pieces, spreading cream and strawberry jam on top, before consuming each piece in one mouthful.
"Oh, why did you not tell me earlier?" Dad's face turned red in embarrassment, suddenly realizing his mistake. For the rest of the scones session, he busied himself with neatly spreading the cream and jam like an obedient (听话的) child.
Suddenly, I felt a complex mixture of happiness, sadness and loneliness. Growing up, Dad was my hero, my mountain. I still remember flying into his arms after school at the kindergarten gate. Through the sound of his voice, I learned to feel and understand the world.
After moving to London alone, I have learned to achieve academic grades, found a job, and started a new life all by myself. But I did not fully realize how much I had grown up, until I saw how dependent Dad was on me in London. Although he is still a mountain in my heart, I realized I have in the meantime built a strong mountain of my own. And by being away from Dad's protective wings I have come to understand more of myself and to find my own place in the world.
We've all heard the phrase "use your time wisely" in our lives. How can we use our time "wisely"? In an increasingly urbanizing world, we are busier, required to do more to get into college or other higher academic institutions, or to get a job and do well at it. Because of that, things we do to relax, like reading a book, going out with friends or napping, are becoming rarer.
Doing something that doesn't quite directly help you reach your goal (like the things for relaxation) is often viewed as "wasting your time" because we only have limited time. But even if relaxing or having fun takes time away from being "productive", they shouldn't be considered "a waste of time". If we don't do things for fun, what is there to enjoy in life?
There have been numerous studies indicating how relaxation and going out with friends can improve your mental and physical health. Being able to take part in an enjoyable hobby or spend time with someone you enjoy being around can help release "feel good" hormones (荷尔蒙) that can reduce some stress in your daily life, thus improving physical health in the long run.
But of course, as a part-time hypocrite (伪善者) on this topic, sometimes when I find myself enjoying a book, playing a video game, or scrolling on TikTok, I get this awful feeling instantly after that I could have used that time to do something productive like taking textbook notes or finishing an assignment. Or maybe I would go out with my friends during the day and come back to my dorm just to think about how I could have used that time to study for an upcoming exam. We've all been there.
However, even if it isn't evident, doing those little things prevents us from burning out too fast. It creates some positive memories hanging in your mind that will hopefully get you through a tough patch. You need to relax in order to be productive later on. The popular concept of a work-life balance also tells us you should do things that you enjoy to keep the balance, and therefore, would not be considered "a waste of time".
When we are tired or injured, we often go to bed earlier to recharge and mend our bodies. That's because we often think that night is a golden time to deal with stress or injuries. But is it true?
Nathaniel Hoyle, a scientist of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, has been leading a study into this topic. The team discovered that fibroblast cells(成纤维细胞) in the body switch off at night. These cells help close up a wound after the skin is broken and lay a foundation for new skin to grow. Why exactly are these cells less active at night?
It's all to do with your body's circadian (昼夜节律的) rhythm—a 24-hour internal clock that helps your cells do their jobs on time. New Scientist reported that a group of 30 genes that control the fibroblasts worked only daytime shifts, causing the slower healing process at night.
To test its theory, the Cambridge-based team examined data from the International Burn Injury Database, which records details of burn victims around the world. This analysis revealed that nighttime burns, on average, took 11 more days to heal than burns during the day.
A similar result occurred while experimenting using live mice. Those that were cut during night-time hours recovered more slowly than those during the day. "You can see by eyes, when the cell is wounded only 8 hours apart from each other, in a different circadian periods, the daytime wounded ones take off, and the nighttime ones drag," research team member John O'Neill told Science Alert.
He added, "The time-varying response may be an evolutionary adaptation. As people are more likely to sustain injuries when awake than when sleeping, perhaps our bodies are prepared to respond more quickly in the daytime." He went on to say that it could be beneficial to schedule surgeries in time with people's circadian rhythms, earlier for early birds and later for night owls, in order to lessen recovery time. However, in any case, it might be best not to use anything sharp once the sun goes down.
The Best Ways to Get Good at Any Sport
If sports are something that interests you, it stands to reason that you would want to be good at them. Succeeding in a sport takes skills, and skills take patience and determination._____ Skills alone may take you far, but you'll never go all the way unless you have the right attitude and team spirit to back it up.
Join a sports team.
If you want to become a sports superstar, joining a team is a good way to start. Even if your skills are currently low, joining an amateur league will sharpen up your skills. Sports teams are everywhere, and most of them are free to join. If you go to school, you should go for team tryouts when they're happening.
Practice until your skills become second nature.
If you're wondering at what point a skill becomes mastered, it is when you're able to do it automatically and without thinking. This is called the autonomous stage, and it's where you want to be at if you want to play sports competitively. When you're in the fight of a game, you won't have time to think everything through, so practice until it's all automatic, so you'll know you're ready.
Set ambitious but realistic goals for yourself.
Instead, you should take a look at what you are, and figure out where you think you would like to be. Give yourself a suitable amount of time to achieve that goal, and break it down into smaller parts if the goal is especially big.
One of the biggest reasons people join sports teams in the first place is to make friends with new people. Chances are you'll develop friendships with at least some of them. Making these friendships a priority is a good move if you want to become great at sports. You can practice together on your own time. The morale (士气) boost of playing with friends helps as well.
A. Set your sights wide.
B. Promote friendships with other players.
C. Recreation centers are often host to sports teams as well.
D. This doesn't mean saying you'll be professional within a year.
E. But if the desire is intense enough, you will do anything to realize your dreams.
F. Given enough time and repetition, a skill will eventually fall under this category.
G. However, you need to think about other things if you want to be a good sports player.
It all started when I learned to read, or rather, before I learned to read.
When I was two years old, my grandma decided it was time to 1 me to poetry. I didn't understand the words, but my parents said my first complete sentence was the recitation of a poem because my grandma had read it to me so many times that I could 2 it.
Throughout my childhood, I always had a bunch of 3 about who I would become when I was older, like an inventor, a doctor, or a dancer. But these ideas 4 in middle school. I spent a few years wandering 5 through life, having no clue what I was 6 about.
7 , in my first year of high school, I met Miss King, who 8 my life. She was enthusiastic and encouraging. I loved her and I wanted to make her proud of me. So I worked hard and put my 9 into every essay she assigned. I even practiced 10 in my spare time and brought what I wrote to her for feedback. One day, she said to me encouragingly, "I recommended you to the school newspaper, and you can write for it."
Her words 11 something in me. Suddenly, I wasn't 12 anymore. I had a destination. I'd become a 13 . Doing well at the school newspaper was the first step to get there.
Thanks to the first poem my grandma read to me and Miss King's 14 , now I'm writing for newspapers all round the world. It's still the bottom of the ladder, and I've got miles left to 15 , but at least I've made somewhere.
53-year-old Diarra Boubacar was welcomed by a hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan, as a specially (invite) expert.
Boubacar was born in the African country of Mali, whose people found difficult to get affordable healthcare. This was Boubacar continued the family tradition of training to be a doctor. In 1984, he joined a government-sponsored program to study in China. In his freshman year, Boubacar (earn) a grade as low as 40%. The frustrated man was not defeated by hardship of learning the ancient Chinese language to read traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) (classic), and he was gradually absorbed in TCM.
However, the greatest challenge he faced was to convince people that even though he was a foreigner, he could still treat them (effective) with TCM. Fortunately, his fluency in Chinese got improved and it helped. In 1997, he became the first foreigner (receive) a doctoral degree in acupuncture(针灸) from Chengdu University of TCM.
Besides his work, Boubacar has been helping patients in (distance) villages in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Due to his contributions in the community, where he has also been helping train village doctors in TCM, today Boubacar is known "China's barefoot doctor" and the "African Norman Bethune".
After a few months of borrowing his old white Ford and my constant begging, dad finally agreed it was time for me to own my very first car. So we headed straight to the used car section. A little cute car caught my attention. My dad wanted to get it thoroughly checked out before purchasing it, but not me. I was in a hurry. "Daaaad. Let's just pick one already. I want this one..." Finally, he had to give in.
No sooner had I driven off the lot than the problems started. First, the overheating. Next, the knocking coming from the engine. But oh no! I was not to be stopped. I just wouldn't look at it. Annoying little sound coming from the engine? I could just turn up the radio. Problem solved!
Ignoring all the warnings, I was heading out the door to a Friday night party in my college town. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. But as the night arrived, an unexpected winter snowstorm came along.
My dad tried to persuade me to stay at home. But I was not listening. I was an adult, thank you very much. I was not about to miss that party. I swung by and picked up my friend Carrie and the two of us started on our thirty-minute drive in the snow.
Just as we hit a long stretch of somewhat deserted highway, something happened. My precious little car spit and sputtered (发出) its final breath... and died! Luckily, I had just enough time to move to the side of the highway, just barely over the line onto the shoulder, before it came to a complete stop.
And there we were. Two eighteen-year-old girls stranded (使滞留) on the side of the road on a snowy dark night. We called 911 for help, but unfortunately the signal was so weak that we could hardly hear each other. After several vain attempts, we began to wave down passing cars, but with no luck.
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。
We were anxious and at a loss what to do when I heard my phone ring.
Forty minutes later, my dad came out of the familiar white Ford.
