Dear 17-year-old self,

    When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family. This sounds simple, and you may think it's a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

    I said INVEST. I did not say GIVE. Let me explain.

    Purely giving material things to your siblings (兄弟姐妹) may appear to be the right decision. So you buy them a car, a big house, and pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right?

    But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.

    You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made you happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world—and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but taking away the most precious gifts of all.

    Invest in their future, don't just give.

    Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

    I'm writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don't have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning (断绝) them off the addiction that you facilitated. That addiction only leads to anger, hatred and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.

    As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.

    Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and headache, some of which remains to this day.

Much love,

Kobe

    My school appeared on the news last week because we had made an important change in our local area. Our class had planted a large garden in what was once only a vacant lot. It was a lot of work but it was all worth it. I got blisters (水泡) from digging, and we all got insect bites, too.

    I learned a lot about gardening and collaboration (合作), and then I learned about the media. Our teacher telephoned the TV station and informed them of what we had accomplished. She spoke with the producer. The producer checked with the directors, but they said there were plenty of stories similar to ours. They wanted to know what was special about our particular garden, since many schools plant them.

    The teacher explained that, after going on the Internet to learn about the prairie (大草原), we had made a prairie garden. We had gone to a prairie and gotten seeds from the plants, and then we planted them. We did not water the garden, but we did weed it. We decided to let nature water it with rain, since that was how prairies grew in the past. We sent a picture of the garden to the news station. In the picture, the grass was so high that it stood taller than the fourth grade students.

    As a result, the producer sent a reporter to our school. He interviewed the headmaster and asked him many questions about the garden. After that, they interviewed us, and we explained to them what we had learned through this project.

    That night, we watched the news, and there we were. The news reporter told our story. It was only two minutes long, but it was us. We were famous. All that work, all those blisters, it was worth it. We knew that when we saw the garden every day, but now we knew that the whole city thought so, too.

    At England's University of Plymouth, Professor Eduardo Miranda has been programming pairs of robots to compose music. Miranda's robots have simple "vocal cords" (声带) and are programmed to sing and to listen to each other. The robots' unique warbling sounds (颤音) do not perfectly match the human voice, but each machine is exactly sharing music with the other in a new and unique way.

    Each robot is equipped with speakers, software that mimics the human voice, a mouth that opens as it "sings," a microphone for ears, and a camera for eyes. The robots also move. Miranda hopes that by studying his robot vocalists, he can discover something about how and why humans create, perform, and listen to music.

    When the robots sing, first one robot makes six random sounds. Its partner responds with more sounds. The first robot analyzes the sounds to see if their sequences (序列) are similar. If they are, it nods its head and commits the sounds to memory, and the second robot notices and "memorizes" the musical sequence, too. If the first robot thinks the sounds are too different, it shakes its head and both robots ignore the sounds. Then the process continues.

    Miranda set up an experiment in which he left the two robots alone in his study for two weeks. When he returned, his little warblers had, by imitating each other, not only shared notes but combined them. The product of their cooperation was far from symphonic, but the robots had begun to combine the notes into their own self-developed "songs".

    With the help of his warbling robots, one of Miranda's goals is to create music that no human would ever compose. Miranda believes the robots are ideal for this purpose because they would not be influenced by any existing musical styles or rules.

    Winter plays a vital part in nature's cycle teaching us through plants that "all good things must come to an end" over time. However, rebirth and restoration often brings a greater glory and appreciation for the natural beauty around us.

    Each day when I take my bike for a spin around the city streets, I am reminded that technology also teaches us lessons，specifically when the bicycle chain unavoidably slips out of gear (齿轮), refusing to shift properly, the hand brake-lines keep reacting faulty and some man-made things need repair or replacement. "Winter is coming." For many, this means a time to oil up, repair and adjust equipment. In the case of my two-wheel transportation, some people have suggested, "Why don't you just get a new bike for safety's sake?" My unwillingness, however, stems from loyalty, fond attachment. Also, I hold a belief that I should be a bit patient and resourceful, simply replacing worn-out parts when required.

    However, as I try to swing my legs over the seat while getting on the bike, my legs and joint (关节) do not respond quickly and reliable like before. A few months ago, after hiking the Great Wall on an overnight camping trip, I realized I needed more rest and restoration than ever. My heart rate beat violently, and every muscle in my tired body screamed for relief. Admittedly, these pains were nothing like having a broken limb, or surgery. Yet, the world suddenly seemed to be very unfriendly. I keep telling myself "winter is coming." and soon I can hibernate (冬眠) getting much needed rest.

    Actually, we all need to take a break from training routines, hard jobs, and frequently repeated tasks, to restore (修复) our bodies and minds. Nature shows us the way. Patience pays off when you attend to your gardens with faithful attention to each of nature's jewels. Hopefully, as we grow，each of us learns the art of repair, restoration, and patience. Perhaps, you will discover the glory of rebirth after winter, being reborn and restored to even more powerful magnificent glory.

A Pen That Draws in Any Color

    The Scribble is a magical pen that can scan colors and instantly reproduce the colors. Hold the Scribble's scanner up to any color, and within a second that color is stored in its memory.

    Who can use the Scribble?

    Children will love the Scribble because it can create different colors, replacing even their biggest box of crayons. Besides, anyone working with color in their professional lives, such as artists, will be able to scan and reproduce colors instantly.

    Green! One of the most important characteristics of the Scribble is that, since it can reproduce any color, it replaces marking pens, greatly reducing the huge amount of plastic waste.

    What's inside the Scribble?

    There will be two different versions of the Scribble, the Scribble K and the Scribble S. The K will be able to reproduce exact colors on paper. It includes a color sensor and a rechargeable battery.  The S looks exactly the same as the K, but it is intended for use on screen.

    How did we create the Scribble?

    We've been in the design process for two years and the Scribble has gone through various design changes to get it to where we are now. Because of its small size we have created some ideas never seen before in the color reproduction industry.

    Thank you for your support.

     Thank you also for your support! Make sure to bookmark our website and check back often to see the progress as well as the updated times for production and delivery of your Scribble.

A. What do we need the Scribble for?

B. What's the Scribble's best colour?

C. It's the best birthday gift you may choose for your kids.

D. Thank you so much for your concern about the Scribble.

E. There is 1 GB of internal memory that will store over 100, 000 colors.

F. We created the Scribble for YOU and want you to be a part of the process.

G. Once stored, that color can be used to draw on paper or on a digital screen.

    A scientist 1 several monkeys in order to study animal psychology. He took a glass bottle, 2 its cork(瓶塞)and put two peanuts inside it. The peanuts dropped to the bottom and were easily seen from the outside. He then passed the bottle to a monkey, who shook it 3 for a long while and was able to get the peanuts when they 4 fell out. The scientist then put some peanuts into the bottle again 5 he had done before and showed the monkey that it only needed to turn the bottle upside down for the peanuts to drop out. 6 the monkey always ignored his 7. Each time it just shook the bottle frantically, with great 8 but without necessarily achieving 9 result.

Now the 10 is why the monkey was unable to understand the scientist instructs. 11 because all its attentions was focused on the peanuts. Instead, it must take its eyes off the peanuts and quickly 12 its attention to the 13 movement of the scientist and the way the bottle was turned upside down. To achieve this, it had to calm down and not be 14 by the impulse(诱惑) of its appetite. Yet the monkey was not able to understand this. It is the instance like this that reveals the monkey's some psychology is just like 15 of human beings.

    On the morning of her grandson's wedding, Peg McCormack received some bad news. The 91-year-old was in the hospital after a fall when she found out she would be unable to attend the (celebrate) in Madison, New Jersey.

    Unknown to McCormack, her grandson Brian  his wife Lauren had made a heartfelt plan (include) her in the day's activities. (follow) by a wedding photographer, the couple made a surprise visit  the hospital before heading to the reception.

    "She was so excited to watch (we) get married,"" the bride said. "She was simply living for this wedding. So we brought the wedding to her."

"When we walked into that room, she was (obvious) shocked," the photographer said. "She just kept  (say) 'I can't believe you're here!' and thanking them for coming to see her. The way she held their hands, (touch) their faces and just looked at them, you could tell they had such a special bond. I don't think she released Brian's hand  entire time that we were in the room."

    "It meant the world to bring the wedding to her," the groom said. "It was such a small portion of the day to trade in for such a special moment."

要点如下：

1）介绍自己，写信目的。

2）说明情况，表示不满。

3）希望重视，尽快解决。

注意：

1）词数80左右;

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇：

新冠病毒肺炎COVID-19； 一次性口罩disposable masks；消费者协会 Consumers' Association

Dear Sir/Madam,

    ……

Yours faithfully,

Li Hu

重新阅读"A LETTER HOME"，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

A LETTER HOME

Dear Rosemary,

    Thanks for your letter, which took a fortnight to arrive. It was wonderful to hear from you. I know you're dying to hear all about my life here, so I've included some photos which will help you picture the places I talk about.

    You asked about my high school. Well, it's a bush school – the classrooms are made of bamboo and the roofs of grass. It takes me only a few minutes to walk to school down a muddy track. When I reach the school grounds there are lots of "good mornings" for me from the boys. Many of them have walked a long way, sometimes up to two hours, to get to school.

    There's no electricity or water and even no textbooks either! I'm still trying to adapt to these conditions. However, one thing is for sure, I've become more imaginative in my teaching. Science is my most challenging subject as my students have no concept of doing experiments. In fact there is no equipment, and if I need water I have to carry it from my house in a bucket!

    The other day I was showing the boys the weekly chemistry experiment when, before I knew it, the mixture was bubbling over everywhere! The boys who had never come across anything like this before started jumping out of the windows. Sometimes I wonder how relevant chemistry is to these students, most of whom will be going back to their villages after Year 8 anyway. To be honest, I doubt whether I'm making any difference to these boys' lives at all.

    You asked whether I'm getting to know any local people. Well, that's actually quite difficult as I don't speak much of the local English dialect yet. But last weekend another teacher, Jenny, and I did visit a village which is the home of one of the boys, Tombe. It was my first visit to a remote village. We walked for two and a half hours to get there—first up a mountain to a ridge from where we had fantastic views and then down a steep path to the valley below. When we arrived at the village, Tombe's mother, Kiak, who had been pulling weeds in her garden, started crying "ieee ieee". We shook hands with all the villagers. Everyone seemed to be a relative of Tombe's.

    Tombe's father, Mukap, led us to his house, a low bamboo hut with grass sticking out of the roof—this shows it is a man's house. The huts were round, not rectangular like the school buildings. There were no windows and the doorway was just big enough to get through. The hut was dark inside so it took time for our eyes to adjust. Fresh grass had been laid on the floor and there was a newly made platform for Jenny and me to sleep on. Usually Kiak would sleep in her own hut, but that night she was going to share the platform with us. Mukap and Tombe were to sleep on small beds in another part of the hut. There was a fireplace in the centre of the hut near the doorway. The only possessions I could see were one broom, a few tin plates and cups and a couple of jars.

    Outside Mukap was building a fire. Once the fire was going, he laid stones on it. When hot, he placed them in an empty oil drum with kau kau (sweet potato), corn and greens. He then covered the vegetables with banana leaves and left them to steam.

    I sniffed the food; it smelled delicious. We ate inside the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to the family softly talking to each other in their language, even though I could not participate the conversation. Luckily, Tombe could be our interpreter.

    Later, I noticed a tin can standing upside down on the grill over the fire. After a short time Tombe threw it out of the doorway. I was puzzled. Tombe told me that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food. They believe that any leftovers attract evil spirits in the night, so the food is dried up in the can and the can is then thrown out of the hut. Otherwise they don't waste anything.

    We left the village the next morning after many goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and my knees shaking as we climbed down the mountain towards home. That evening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombe's family.

    It's getting late and I have to prepare tomorrow's lessons and do some paperwork. Please write soon.

Love,

Jo