修改时间:2024-07-31 浏览次数:260 类型:期末考试
Better known by his stage name KUN, Cai Xukun is a phenomenon, opening up the music industry in China.
Last year, after participating in the reality TV show Idol Producer, receiving the most votes from fans, the singer-songwriter rose to fame overnight. At just 21 years old, Cai has topped Chinese music charts with multiple singles.
On July 26, KUN released his newest single Young. Within just 20 seconds, it reached a million sales.
KUN wrote the song to share his understanding of youth. He mixed R&B and electronic beats (节拍) to make it more cheerful. A reviewer wrote on QQ Music, "When you listen to the song, you just seem to go back to youth again."
The song was an early birthday present to himself which he celebrated on Aug 2. KUN also hopes that he always has the courage to pursue (追求) his love of music, no matter what people think. "My works are like my children and I have put my best effort into them." he told the Global Times.
Indeed, KUN has written and produced most of his songs on his own. "I want every piece of my work to have my own spirit in it," he told music website Soundigest, "I feel more enjoyment when I'm performing my own work."
Although KUN loves performing onstage, when the lights go down, he prefers to fall back into his own world and darkness at night. "I always get inspired when it's quiet, late at night/' he told I-D magazine, "It's a great moment for me to create new things. Sometimes, I can write songs with a melody (旋律) I heard in a dream."
To develop his introspection (反思) and find new inspiration, KUN attends different kinds of musical performances — from festivals to opera houses. "I just like to do everything, all for my music, all for my art," he told I-D.
With such talent and dedication to music, it seems that KUN will continue to make his mark in the competitive Chinese music industry.
Reading books and looking at pictures is great, but nothing facilitates (促进) learning like travel, especially for teenagers. Not only do they get to see a world beyond their neighborhood, they also get to experience it, feel it, taste it, hear it and better understand the world around them.
After nearly four decades in the classroom and traveling the world, Phyllis Duvall Bailey knew this perhaps better than anyone else.
Becoming involved in the work in AKA Sorority Inc in US, she worked to educate children about the United Nations. There was no doubt in Bailey's mind that the lessons would mean so much more if the students could see things for themselves.
Starting in 2015, Bailey, 82, set out to take her students to the UN Headquarters in New York City to give them a "Window Seat to the World", and thus transformed them into global citizens.
Indeed, it is a great opportunity to give students national and international exposure. Since Bailey saw the students as future leaders, she was desperate to expose them to the UN, its mission, its agendas (议程) and its supporting organizations.
She decided to give $10, 000 of her own money to pay for the late June trip, enough to take 10 students aged 14-17 on a four-night stay in New York. There, they had guided tours of the UN Headquarters and the New York City Harbor (海港).
It was Quenyaun Payne's first trip to the city and Taylor Sappington's second. Payne, 17, is a senior at Mceachem High School in the state of Georgia, US. Sappington, 15, is a junior at Therrell High School in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Both said their visit to the UN was inspiring.
"I like not only how countries are working together but they're focused on common goals like global warming and keeping peace," Sappington said.
Payne commented, "The trip was amazing. I'm so thankful Mrs. Bailey made it possible."
Actually, there are a lot of people grateful for the retired teacher's effort. The United Nations Association of Atlanta recently gave Bailey its Humanitarian Award, and the United Nations Association of the US-awarded her with the National Education Award.
But Bailey wasn't looking for recognition or even gratitude. Over those four days in New York, she'd already felt it and seen it in the eyes of those 10 teenagers, Payne and Sappington included, who made the trip.
"It has been a real joy to get to see and watch their reaction to new experiences," she said.
Nature calms our stressed-out soul. Nature is the best medicine, but new research is showing how little time we need to set aside to harvest the benefits.
In one new study, researchers tried to find the most effective "dose" (药剂) of nature within the context of normal daily life. As more doctors prescribe (开药方) nature experiences for stress relief and other health benefits — sometimes referred to as a "nature pill"— the study's authors hoped to make the details of these treatments clear.
"We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it is unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us," says lead author MaryCarol Hunter in a statement. "Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisone (压力荷尔蒙激素), you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature."
A nature pill can be a low-cost, low-risk way to curb the negative effects of urbanization and indoor lifestyle. To find the most efficient dosage, Hunter and her co-authors asked 36 city citizens to have nature experiences of at least 10 minutes three times per week over eight weeks.
Every two weeks, the researchers collected saliva (唾液) samples to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisone, both before and after the participants took a nature pill. The data showed that just a 20-minute nature experience was enough to significantly reduce cortisone levels. The effect was more efficient between 20 and 30 minutes, after which benefits continued to increase but at a slower rate.
That fits with the findings of another recent study, which found that spending 20 minutes in an urban park can make you happier, no matter whether you use that time to exercise.
For this study, 94 adults visited 3 urban parks in Mountain Brook, Alabama, completing a questionnaire about their subjective well-being before and after their visit. An accelerometer (加速计) tracked their physical activity.
A visit lasting 20 to 25 minutes showed the best results, with a roughly 64% increase in the participants' self-reported well-being, even if they didn't move a great deal in the park. That last point is particularly positive, since it means anyone can benefit from visiting a nearby park, whatever his or her age or physical ability.
"There is increasing pressure on green space within urban settings," said a UAB professor Gavin Jenkins. "Planners and developers look to replace green space with residential (住宅的) and commercial property. The challenge facing cities is that there is increasing evidence about the value of city parks but we continue to see the disappearance of these spaces."
The Internet has completely changed the workplace over the past three decades. Artificial Intelligence is now all set to do the same, and businesses that don't take advantage of the technology risk being left behind.
Global tech giants (巨头) like Amazon have been leading the change, and businesses of all sizes are now using the technology for employing and managing their staff.
Among them is L'Oreal. With about a million applicants for roughly 15,000 new positions each year, the company is using AI to hire.
“We really wanted to save time and focus more on quality, diversity and candidate experience. And AI solutions were the best way to go faster on these challenges, said Eva Azoulay, global vice-president of L'Oreal's Human Resources Department.
The company uses Mya, a chatbot, to save employers' time during the first stage of the process. It handles routine questions from candidates, and checks details such as availability and visa requirements. Should candidates make it to the next round, they'll run into Seedlink, an AI software that scores applicants based on their answers to open-ended interview questions. These scores don't replace human judgment, said Azoulay, but they do pick out candidates who might not seem like obvious choices.
Early results have been promising. For one internship program, where 12,000 people apply for about 80 spots, employers claim they saved 200 hours of time while hiring the most diverse group to date.
Other businesses have gone beyond employment and are using AI to help manage employees. Some UK firms have started using Isaak, a system designed by the London-based company StatusToday, to track how many hours staff spend online and the number of emails they receive. London real estate agent JBrown has been using this system since March. CEO James Brown said it helps the firm understand employees' habits and prevent them from overworking. "It enables us to solve bottleneck problems and relieve overburdened employees," he said.
Despite these examples of good practice, there is still a long way for AI to reach its full potential (潜力), and the technology comes with risks. Another AI danger could be its impact on jobs through automation (自动化). McKinsey predicts AI could add $13 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with early adopters doubling their cash flow over that period. But the demand for repetitive (重复的) or digitally-unskilled jobs could drop by around 10%, the consulting firm said in a 2018 report.
In the most basic sense, self-regulation (自我调节) involves controlling one's behaviour and thoughts in pursuit (追求) of long-term goals. Generally, people who are good at self-regulating tend to see the good in others and view challenges as opportunities. They exactly know what they want to achieve, act in accordance with their views, and devote their best effort.
A bad-tempered child who hits others won't be popular at school. An adult with poor self-regulation skills may lack self-confidence. He may have difficulty handling stress, and often, this might be expressed in terms of anger and anxiety.
How do problems with self-regulation develop? It could start early when a baby isn't treated with enough care. Later, an adult may struggle with self-regulation, either because this ability wasn't developed during childhood, or because of a lack of skills in managing difficult feelings. When left unchecked, over time this could lead to risky behaviour such as taking drugs.
One of the most frequently used methods is to change your thought patterns, which means that you think about a situation in a positive way, rather than one that's likely to increase negative emotions. Rather than thinking that this reflects something about yourself such as "My friend hates me", you might instead think, "My friend must be really busy."
A. Try to cheer yourself up after disappointment.
B. Do the usual series of things at a particular time.
C. A child who doesn't feel safe may have trouble self-regulating.
D. A lack of self-regulation will cause problems in life.
E. Anyhow, self-regulation is so important that we should learn to use this skill.
F. For example, imagine a friend who doesn't return your calls or texts for several days.
G. Also they can calm themselves when feeling upset and cheer themselves when feeling down.
"Smile!" I shouted, flashing a bright yellow poster at a crowd of people in Seattle.
We were 3,000 miles away from home on a Random Acts of Kindness road trip. Our1was to try out our new "Smile!" signs and see how much kindness and joy we could2
We weren't sure how people would3our signs. It's so easy to walk past a busy crowd, lost in your own world,4to make eye contact with strangers and feeling5while surrounded by hundreds of people. I6raised up a sign and shouted, "Hi there!" to a young couple. They looked over,7, then read my sign and broke into smiles. They even nudged (轻推) a person beside them, gesturing to our sign so their friend could8, too.
This might9, I thought.
Before long, our signs were10. Tourists wanted photos with us. Strangers stopped to ask us about our11and we told them the story of our Acts of Kindness road trip. The famous fish vendors (小贩) changed their12from "FISH! FRESH FISH"' to "HEY! SMILE, EVERYONE."
Sometimes I'd see a(n)13face and feel nervous to show my sign, but I tried not to judge. I'd14be rewarded with a big grin (咧嘴笑),as suddenly a frowning elderly woman turned into my15old grandmother.
Some people16if they could have a "Smile!" sign to take with them. One bus driver put a sign in his window; a bicyclist that17one of our signs emailed us several years later to say he still uses it whenever he races.
The signs are more than a(n)18to smile — they're an excuse to connect with19and to remember we're not alone. This world is full of20people we just don't know yet.
If you enjoy kayaking (皮划艇运动), you can paddle for free in Denmanrk, Ireland, Germany, Sweden and Norway, but you also have to be willing to pick up trash.
Organized by Greenkayak, free trips in the group's two-person kayaks are offered in return collecting waste from water surface. project began in Demark in April, 2017. With the help of a thousand kayak (voluntary), three tons of trash were collected from Copenhagen harbor that year. You can easily book a kayak for the time works for you. Life jackets and equipment — like a paddle, a waste picker, a bucket for the trash — (provide): just bring yourself. You can have two hours of free kayak time.
Greenkayak believes that kayaks are highly effective at collecting waste because they can get close to areas that are otherwise hard (reach).
"In Denmark, people love to hang out on canals, but (fortunate) they see waste (float) by." one of Greenkayak's co-founders speaks of the program's origin. "You can't take your shirt off and jump in. you can get in a Greenkayak and make a difference."
If you want to take advantage of the free kayak, (tourist) a city from its river and do your part to control water pollution.
In my teens, I went far from home to study at TWU in America. Due to limited financial resources from my parents, I worked part-time on campus to pay for my bills. I did cleaning every Friday for an American family. If I was lucky enough, I could occasionally babysit a child for extra money. In addition, like most poor people, I had to be careful with every penny I spent, from food and clothing to rent and transportation. Because of a tight grocery budget, I couldn't afford to buy fish, beef or certain other nutritious food. Due to an imbalanced diet, I would easily feel weak and lacking in energy.
As soon as Dai Mom realized that I was having financial hardship, she lovingly invited me to her home for dinner every Friday and weekend. What's more, whenever it was time to return home, she would always prepare me with some homemade desserts to take home. Her actions greatly changed my life. In particular, there was one event that I would always remember.
One early evening, while I was walking out of the library, I felt my blood sugar running low. I started to feel dizzy, and my hands began to shake a little. Searching my pocket, I found that I only had a few dollars left. I was dying for a free and tasty dinner. Without a second thought, I quickly headed for Dai Mom's home, rather than go back to my apartment.
As I got to the door, Dai Mom immediately noticed my extreme tiredness. She seated me at the dinner table, and before long, a plate of food was set in front of me on the table. "My boy, have dinner. Don't make yourself work so hard." she said to me with a nice smile.
Staring at the meat, vegetables and fish on my plate, I suddenly felt so carefully taken care of that tears started welling up in my eyes, rolling down on my face, and dripping to the food on the plate. I gobbled up all the food with indescribably bitter-sweet feelings.
⑴表示欢迎;
⑵介绍一下你的家乡并推荐一处旅游景点。
注意:⑴词数80左右;
⑵开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Lucy,
I'm so glad to receive your email and know you're coming to my hometown in the winter vacation.
I hope this is helpful. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Yours,
Li Hua
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