Rick Snyder, a 69-year-old resident of Manatee County, Florida, refused to sit still after he retired.1, he turned to one of his passions outside of work:2for the cats living throughout his community. He has always liked animals. He's been taking care of cats for years and he started3a lot of change lying around. So he started picking it up and keeping4of it.
Snyder has5to collect $21,495 in loose change weighing more than 1 ton since he got the6 more than 10 years ago. Waking up around 4 am. each day, Snyder would gather coins along his way to take care of the cats. He7anywhere between 45 and 48 miles each week and8an average of $5.60 in change each day. Snyder said he'd like to thank the many who are too lazy to9a penny.
After beginning the collection, Snyder 10an initial goal of $10,000 for himself. Once he surpassed his 11goal of $20,000, however, he decided to 12it all away to the Gulf Shore Animal League. Cheryl Wade, the president of the organization said that Snyder's 13is the largest they have ever received from a single individual. With the change, the league will be able to 14adopting cats.
Then, Snyder and volunteers from all works of life15to move the coins from his 151 peanut jars to plastic bags that could be16to the local bank. After this initial donation has been 17 Snyder continues to gather abandoned pocket change throughout Manatee County and prepared his next18that will help more cats.
Cheryl Wade teaches by 19 We need to do something for someone else. Never 20the true value of a handful of pocket change.
Looking for a great summer read? Kid reporters from Time For Kids have reviewed the season's hottest new books. They have recommended a list of kid-approved page-turners (令人爱不释手的书) to our readers. Whether you're fond of mysterious, fantastic or realistic fictions, there's always one that suits you.
Three Bird Summer
By Sara St. Antoine
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Number of pages: 256
What's the basic story line?
For his entire life, 12-year-old Adam has spent summers at his grandma's cabin in Minnesota. But this year things are different. His parents have divorced. Apart from that, Adam's cousins won't be vacationing at the cabin with him. Also, Grandma seems to be acting differently. At first, she's just a bit more forgetful than usual. But after spending more time with her, Adam realizes Grandma is “slipping.”
There are new neighbors at the cabin this summer, including a girl at Adam's age named Alice. At first, Adam isn't interested in spending time with her. But as time goes by, their friendship flourishes(繁荣). Throughout this unusual summer, Adam searches for hidden treasure with his new friend and begins to uncover family secrets as well.
Are the characters believable?
The characters are believable because they don't have cookie-cutter(千篇一律的) personalities. Adam is quiet and shy and finds girls difficult to understand. Alice is adventurous and unlike any girl he has ever met. Readers will likely see aspects of their personalities in the characters and recognize their friendship too.
Who would like this book?
Anyone who appreciates memories of family vacations or summertime in general will enjoy the vivid imagination that fills ThreeBirdSummer. Readers will fall into the story, almost as if they're actually spending the summer exploring Three Bird Lake with Adam and Alice.
If you find yourself checking your phone first thing in the morning, if you find you're text-messaging while driving, checking your phone instead of working on an important assignment—you are addicted.
Don't worry. The new NoPhone might be just the thing you need. It looks and feels exactly like a smartphone, but it does nothing. It's just a piece of plastic that you can carry around in your hand to fool yourself.
NoPhone is currently a prototype(手机模型) that will cost only $12 once it hits the market. Its makers are trying to raise $30,000 in order to cover the production and marketing costs.
Dutch designer Ingmar Larsen, who helped create the NoPhone, said that he had the idea as a joke along with his friends Van Gould and Ben Langveld. To their great surprise, the idea received a lot of attention online and people from all over the world started placing requests for NoPhone of their own, so that's when the three friends decided to raise money for mass production.
David H said," I used to sleep with my phone in my hand, but my night errors would cause me to throw it across the room in an unconscious panic. With the NoPhone, I can still enjoy the comfort of holding a phone in my sleep, without waking up to a shattered screen, thanks, NoPhone."
If you're interested in NoPhone, but concerned about not being able to takeselfies anymore, don't worry. The makers do have an update at no extra charge—the mirror sticker. That way, they say, you can enjoy "real-time" selfies with your friends when they're standing right behind you.
Have you ever found yourself in this situation：You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia（怀旧）or "blast from the past，"as we say．But it is not a distant childhood memory．The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago．
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language．They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages．
Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20．Then they gave the groups three different types of "listen-and-repeat" learning conditions．Researchers had one group simply speak the words．They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm，or beat．And they asked the third group to sing the words．
All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15minutes．Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered．
Why Hungarian，you ask ? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language．It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages，such as Italian or Spanish．After the tests were over，the singers came out on top．The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance．They did the best in four out of five of the tests．They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them．
Dr．Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language．The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3，or memorable 4，tune 5．
Dr．Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages．On the University of Edinburgh's website Dr．Ludke writes，"This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning，and opens the door for future research in this area．"
Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that man and animals possess if they are used. If fire didn't hurt when it burned, children would play with it until their hands were burned away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn't, a child could burn itself again and again because fear would not warn it to keep away from the fire that had burnt it before. A really fearless soldier--and some do exist--is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which man and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear ought to be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead, to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you; fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you cannot prevent an airplane crashing into your house, and you may not want to go and live in a desert where there are no airplanes. In this case, fear has given you its warning, you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of the particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.
Every one complains. Even if you argue that you are the happiest person in the world, you still complain sometimes. Sometimes you complain without even realizing it, but rarely is it ever helpful. Here are some tips to stop complaining and give up the negative thoughts:
When you find yourself thinking or saying a negative comment about something or someone, stop and force yourself to say something positive instead. Seek the help of a cheerful friend to change you when you complain and help you to see the positive in the situation
Make a list of things you are grateful for.
You often complain about the things you don't have without noticing those things you already have. Be grateful for what you have in your life because you are lucky simply for being yourselves.
Learn to adapt to the changes.
There are many things you can't change.Always find the positive side of each situation, regardless of however difficult the situation is. With parents' and friends' support, you can survive any life changes.
Allow yourself to vent（发泄）your feelings every once in a while.
Constantly ignoring negative thoughts could add up. If you are really going through a rough time, don't be afraid to share your feelings with a close friend or family member or see a therapist.
Find what makes you happy.
Maybe it is time to make the hard decision to move on to another job or career. Uncover what your biggest complaints are about and see if you can change the situation to make you happy.
Choose happiness, focus on the positive, and be kind always!
A. Change the way you think
B． Make positive people friends
C．The best and only thing you can do is to accept them
D．Are you constantly complaining about your present job?
E． Sometimes this list can be easy, full of hobbies you enjoy
F. So how can you manage to force yourselves to end complaining?
G．Set down things you are thankful for and you'll see that you don't have any reason to complain.
In recent years, learning Chinese(become) popular among people around the world. Last month, I received an email from my cousin Jack in Canada. He said he was enthusiasticChinese, and asked me to find him some books(intend) for Chinese beginners. I was very pleased to doa favor. So I went from one bookstore to, hoping to find something suitable for him.（final） I selected a set of Chinese textbooks among (vary) similar ones. Then I went to a post office to have them delivered by air without delay. Several days later, I received Jack's email, (say) that he really appreciated the books I had sent. I'm very glad that Jack is beginning to learn Chinese just like many other(foreign) abroad,I know it may be an enjoyable challenge for him.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1). 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2). 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Taking parts in recreation activities help us keep fit. There are different kinds of activity in our daily life, for example, listening to music, watching TV, playing chess, or going to cinema. But I think we'd better to have more outdoor activities. As students, we usually sit too longer in the classroom, and as a result our eyes and brains getting tired. But it is a good idea to play ball games, go swimming, do some runnings, or even go for a picnic. Our brains also need changes to make itself smart and active. In a word, exercise is good for health.
