修改时间:2024-07-31 浏览次数:646 类型:开学考试
It was the day after Halloween when my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with the worst headache she'd ever had. While posing in our costumes the night before, we knew something was wrong, just not how wrong.
Grandma's house was the central gathering place of my family. Sunday lunches, birthday dinners, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas — all were our traditions, with her as hostess. While my parents were busy running their small business, there were many nights when Grandma fed me and put me to bed in her spare room, until they came to get me. I spent my summers at Grandma's and I went everywhere with her. I couldn't imagine a time when she wouldn't be around me.
Then November 1,1991 began her month-long stay in the hospital—she suffered from a rare infection (感染)called nocardia asteroides. After being born in the year of the Great Depression, living through World War II, raising three kids, and being widowed at the age of 48, Grandma never expected to live into her seventies. The infection in her brain seemed to confirm that she wasn't long for this world. But that's not the end of her story. A team of doctors successfully removed the abscess(脓肿), and Grandma even made it into a local medical journal. Her doctor called her “the brain lady”.
Grandma celebrated her 85th birthday in March this year. In the almost 23 years since her recovery, she's seen two of her four grandchildren get married and welcomed three great-grandsons. Although they damage something in her house, she loves it when my two boys come over. And while I know they make her day, seeing her love blossom for another generation makes my day too. Happy Grandparents' Day to my amazing grandmother!
You may know the Eiffel Tower as one of the most famous man-made monuments in the world, and you'd be absolutely right! Read on to learn about the history of the great Eiffel Tower.
Travelers from around the world flock(蜂拥)to Paris, France, to visit the Eiffel Tower, making it the most visited paid monument in the entire world! In fact, in 2010, the Eiffel Tower welcomed its 250 millionth visitor!
The history of the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the famous monument. Construction began in January of 1887 and was completed in only two years. Their plan was to finish the tower in time to be the entrance arch for the World's Fair in 1889. This fair celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, which took place from 1789 to 1799.
The height competition
Located on the Champs de Mars, the tower is the tallest structure in Paris. It was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York surpassed(超过) it. Then the spire(塔尖) on the top of the tower was added, raising its height to 17 feet taller than the Chrysler Building. It is now 1,063 feet tall! There are two replicas(复制品) of the Eiffel Tower in the world: a half scale model at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and a full-sized monument of a similar (but not exact) design in Tokyo, Japan.
Three shades of wonder
Some pictures make the Eiffel Tower look like a dark iron color. But it is, in fact, bronze. Not only that, but the tower is actually painted three different shades to make it appear even taller: darkest on the bottom and lightest on the top.
What do Tom Sawyer and jumping frogs have in common? Stories about both of them were created by one man:Mark Twain. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain was his pen name. When Twain was 4, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, lying on the west bank of the Mississippi. Twain grew up there and was attracted greatly with life along the river - the steamboats, the big wooden boats, and the people who worked on them.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country is one of Twain's best-loved short stories, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of his most famous novels. Both these works are celebrated by events held during National Tom Sawyer Days. There's also a fence-painting competition to see who can paint the fastest. The idea for this competition comes from a scene in Tom Sawyer, in which Tom has been told to paint the fence in front of the house he lives in. It's a beautiful day, and he would rather be doing anything else. As his friends walk by, he persuades them to paint with him for fun, and they all join in the "fun". By the end of the day, the fence has three coats of paint!
Although the story of Tom Sawyer is not true, it's based on fact. If you go to Hannibal,, you'll see the white fence, which still stands at Twain's boyhood home.
If you like texting and are trying to lose weight, a new study found that using texting(发短信) to track diet and exercise habits may help you lose weight.
Previous research has shown that keeping food and exercise diaries improves the likelihood of success when you are using it to lose weight. Using a computer or a pen and paper to record information, however, can be a burden and cause some people to give up.
Duke University researchers said using text messages to track eating and exercise habits can save time, and increase the chances that people will stick with their weight-loss rules.
The study included 26 obese/fat women with an average age of 38. The women used daily texting as part of their weight-loss program. The text messages focused on tracking personalized goals, such as avoiding sugary drinks or walking 10,000 steps a day. Messages also provided brief feedback (反馈) and tips.
Every morning, the women received a text from an automated system that said, “Please text yesterday's personal information of steps you walked and how many sugary drinks you had.” Based on the women's responses to the text message, the system sent another text with personalized feedback and tips.
After six months, the women who used daily texting lost an average of nearly 3 pounds, while another group of women who used traditional methods to keep food and exercise diaries gained an average of 2.5 pounds, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
“Text messaging has become popular and may be an effective method to simplify tracking of diet and exercise behavior,” Dori Steinberg, who was responsible for this research, said.
Steinberg said, “Text messaging offers several advantages compared to other self-monitoring methods. Unlike web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all cell phone platforms so it is very convenient to receive feedback. Besides, because of the limited number of words used in text messages, it saves time.”
That morning, I got on the train as always. I was a publishing director and was reading my newspaper 1. But that day, I read it very 2. I thought I must be tired. At the office, I sat down, turned on my 3 and found I couldn't read the message on the screen.
Finally, worried4 drove me to hospital. There, confirmation came that I suffered from aphasia(失语症), a condition that5 it's difficult or impossible to receive and produce language.
I was back at home a week later, and my6was to get better and return to work in a couple of months. I started 7a speech therapist(治疗专家) three times a week, and was given homework to help 8my vocabulary and grammar. After a month, my own speech became 9—“Could you pass the salt?” “Shall we go for a walk?” — but I couldn't have a conversation. I couldn't read the newspaper.
For 25 years, I was used to a(n) 10 day of meetings, and bringing three manuscripts home with me each night. I didn't feel 11 to say goodbye to my old self.
In the darkest months, I devoted myself to12. I would spend hours writing a description of something 13 like a pencil. I couldn't 14novels or newspapers, so I tried reading poetry, and found the shorter lines easier to 15. My speech came back, and I learned how to read again,16 much more slowly. I spent more time with my family, and 17myself to slow down.
Now, 10 years later, my relationship with my 18 is deeper than ever. We have19 to be very patient with each other. I'm no longer a high-achieving publisher or someone who2010 books a week. I'm a family man with aphasia, and if I read 10 books a year, that's good.
When a starving man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat; when a manager gets a new sports car, visions of country clubs dance into view.
The many wants of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. .
The first and most basic level of wants is food. Once this want is satisfied, a second level of wants appears: clothing and some sort of shelter. By the end of World War II these wants were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. It included such items as cars and new houses.
By 1957 or 1958 this third level of wants was fairly well satisfied. Then, in the late 1950s a fourth level of wants appeared: the “life-enriching” level. While the other levels mean physical satisfaction-the feeding, comfort, safety, and transportation of the human body-this level stresses mental needs for recognition, achievement and happiness. It includes a variety of goods and services, many of which could be called “luxury” items(奢侈品). Among them are vacation trips, the best medical care, and entertainment.
On this level, a greater percentage of consumer spending goes to services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of wants as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level?
A fifth level probably would be wants that can be achieved best by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes to pay for government action against disease, ignorance, crime and prejudice. In this way, we can enjoy more fully the good things on the first four levels.
A.Then a third level appeared.
B.Human wants seem endless.
C.When there is money enough to satisfy one level of wants, another level appears.
D.There are several levels of wants in one's life.
E.At this stage, we now may seek to ensure the health, safety, and leisure.
F.Also included here are fancy foods and the latest styles in clothing.
G.Different people have different wants on each level
In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice-bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.
Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal (create) special design.
The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, (use) twigs(树枝) to remove it. Over time, the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which (gradual) turned into chopsticks.
Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and (be) too violent for use at the table.
Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat their hands.
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Dear David,
Long time no see! I miss you very much.
I'm writing to express my thank for your help during the seven-day summer camp. I have made a great progress in my English by communicating to you. What is more, while visit some tourist attractions, you volunteer to be my guide and showed me a lot of American culture, it has broadened my horizons. Not only have I learn a lot about American culture, but also I have made good American friends. It was really a wonderful experience!
By the way, would you like to join the summer camp in China the next year? I'd like to your guide and you can experience any Chinese culture and customs. I am sure you will have a great time.
I am looking forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely.
Li Hua
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