With 60 miles of canals and nearly 7,000 buildings dating from the 18th century or earlier, Amsterdam is one of Europe's best preserved cities. Here are some of our favorites.

The Concertgebouw

A free classical concert in one of the world's greatest concert halls? Sounds too good to be true, but every Wednesday at lunchtime that's exactly what's on offer at the Concertgebouw. The latest series just started up again this month and will run through June. You can pick up a free ticket (one per person) on the day of the show starting at 11:30 a.m.; the concert takes place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Rijksmuseum Gardens

Take a walk in the beautiful formal gardens of the Rijksmuseum, which are dotted with fascinating artworks. There's a life-size chessboard, a fountain by contemporary Danish artist Jeppe Hein, and post-war climbing frames by architect Aldo van Eyck. The gardens also host sculpture exhibitions — currently there are 21 sculptures on show by the Spanish artist Joan Miró until October 11.

The Muziektheater

This important opera, dance and music venue has free weekly lunchtime concerts by top performers on Tuesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the entrance hall, from September to May. Once or twice a month, the concert is followed by a free tour of the theatre — check the website for details.

Central Library

At the Netherlands' biggest library, the Centrale Bibliotheek, you can read the international papers for free, and while Wi-Fi isn't completely free, you can purchase 30 minutes for little more than a dollar by using one of the ticket machines. Upstairs on the 7th floor there is a café with a balcony that boasts wonderful city views.

That youngsters were glued to online games on their smart phones was a great concern for Ngurang Meena, a school teacher in Nirjuli. The 30-year-old social science teacher, who ran the Ngurang Learning Institute, an adult literacy centre, said that she felt disheartened when she read student papers. "The graph of student performance is falling every year. It breaks my heart whenever I see answer sheets — basic grammar skills are missing and there's an absence of any cohesive (连贯性的) expression. They lack guidance and reading culture is almost zero," Meena said. When her school and the centre she ran had to close due to infectious diseases, she planned to do something to address the problem.

Inspired by a similar proposal in Mizoram, Meena set up a bookshelf with around 80 books as well as some benches on the side of the road in Nirjuli on August 30th, 2020, where passers-by could spend time reading. The selections included motivational books, biographies and novels as well as comics for young children. "I have to please the minors with sweets to sit and read, but that is okay," she laughed.

Meena's bookshelf became a hit among youngsters who spent hours in the reading corner. Within two months, her effort became the talk of the town.

Now, generous contributions of books come in from the public and she is even receiving requests to set up such libraries in other parts of the state, including one in the capital, Itana-gar. Since the tiny libraries are far from the main town, she also lends books out to those who want to read at home.

"I never thought that this would become such a big inspiration," Meena said. "Since childhood, we have been told that books are our best friends. The next generation of kids is focused on games and other things. I don't want them to head on the wrong track," she added.

    Engineers in Upstate New York have invented a folded paper device that looks like a decorated art project. But don't be fooled. This is actually a paper-based battery. No, it doesn't look like any of those metal batteries running flashlights or smartphones. In these systems, the battery can be printed on a page. The battery's power consists of living bacteria.

    Paper electronics are simple to make and inexpensive, notes study leader Seokheun Choi, an engineer at Binghamton University. They need no electrical outlet to recharge. They just need more bacteria, which can be found everywhere — including dirty water.

"Most batteries use chemicals to generate electricity. Substituting bacteria can be an advantage," Choi says. "They are cheap and self-repairing." What paper-based batteries won't do is generate much power. They do, however create enough to run small devices in faraway or dangerous places — such as a battlefield. They might also find use in medicine. For instance, they might power tiny sensors, such as the types used to measure blood sugar.

This invention is based on an observation made more than a century ago — that microbes (微生物) produce electricity as they digest food. Scientists refer to the bio-batteries based on this principle as microbial fuel cells. A fuel cell generates electricity like a regular battery. But a regular battery stops producing electricity when its inner chemical reactions stop. A fuel cell uses fuel that can be refilled. In this case, bacteria serve as the fuel. By refilling more microbes, as needed, scientists can keep these fuel cells running.

    Lab tests have shown that the new battery can produce a current. Now, Choi and his team are looking at ways to increase the power. They're studying different shapes and materials for the anode and cathode (正负极). They're also looking for the best ways to combine batteries for more power. The beauty of the paper devices is that you can simply fold them to connect them. And they surely will be a trend in the near future.

While we know that language first appeared among Homo sapiens (智人) somewhere thousands of years ago, the secret to how language evolved is still unknown, and mainstream theories fall into two distinctly different camps.

One widely held theory is that language came about as an evolutionary adaptation. That was where the idea of natural selection came into play, which was the belief that the specific physical features of a population made that population more likely to survive its environment, like the turtle (海龟) and its shell. On one hand, humans needed to communicate with each other in order to hunt，farm and defend themselves successfully from the surrounding severe environment. Being able to communicate by using language gave the human species a distinct survival advantage. On the other hand, language was needed for social interaction, according to those who subscribed to the adaptation theory.

In their paper "Natural Language and Natural Selection," researchers Steven Pinker and Paul Bloom theorized that a series of calls or gestures evolved over time into combinations, giving us complex communication, or language. As things became more complicated around them, humans needed a more complex system to convey information to one another. Early man saw a group of deer he wanted to hunt. He made a sound to his hunting partner that means "deer are nearby." One day, a storm came in and the hunter noticed that thunder scared the deer away. As a result, the hunter went hungry until the storm passed. Over time, the same hunter also learned to recognize the warning signs for bad weather-dark skies and increased wind. Early man realized that when the sky darkened and the wind picked up, he needed to tell his hunting partner to speed up the pursuit of the deer. Therefore, he came up with a series of sounds that refer to both the deer and the bad weather. That series of sounds was the beginning of an evolutionary adaptation that eventually became language.

As humans learned more about how to best survive, they developed a need to convey these survival methods to their population. To be brief, that's the adaptation theory.

How to Choose Your Purpose-Filled Career

When you think about choosing a career, you often do it in the following two ways.

 If you like writing or doing crafts, you might consider these things. This is not a bad way to go, of course, but you can't always make money doing things you like (like video games or drinking beer). And sometimes things you like are better as a hobby or side passion.

Think about a well-paid job that you can do and doesn't sound so bad. Maybe a doctor, engineer or lawyer? Or maybe that's out of your educational reach, so you choose office or retail worker.  but often they are not something you're really passionate about. It's kind of like just doing something because it's there-- not very inspired.

However, there's another way that is perhaps better: . For example, taking care of children, because you really want to help children get a great start in life, or blossom into who they want to be or getting into government or social work to improve the conditions of the community you live in or becoming a scientist to help ease the environmental crisis or find a cure for a terrible disease.  and if you choose one of them for that purpose, you will serve in that work feeling a sense of purpose each day.

There are endless ways to do that. The point isn't how you serve the world, but just serving the world in some way will help you feel filled with purpose. .

A. These are all great choices

B. Think about what you like to do

C. You can identify your purpose and work out how to get there

D. Each of these is just one of many possibilities filled with purpose

E. Try to do something to serve a community or make the world better

F. The sooner you complete the training requirements, the sooner you will make a living

G. If you choose a purposeful and enjoyable job, you're always further along than most people

As is often the case, childhood was the happiest time of our lives. But, that was not1for me, at least between the ages of 10 to 12. I was practically2by my parents, who seemed only interested in their never-ending money making. I was3, a loner at school too, disliked by my classmates for getting good grades.

Longing for4, I fell into despair and started thinking about death. While on the school field trip, I lost my footing and slipped into a marsh(沼泽)and got my5muddy. As luck would have it, out of nowhere, an angel, in the6of a native woman, lent me a helping hand. She7me to her small cottage and helped me change my wet trousers. She made me eat from8little food she had, and told me funny stories,9to cheer me up.

That lady saved me. She saved my belief in the10of people. I came to realize that whatever happens, there are good things in the world, which you can11for existence. Another thing I noticed was that the lady, though she lived in12surroundings, seemed delighted. I realized that life is beautiful if we love it. Only those who are13their life can really understand what happiness really is.

I dropped the idea of ending my14.

I must thank that kind lady for what I had never experienced till then.15someone's life with kindness is worth all the treasure in the world.

The Richfield Museum of Fine Art is going to present a new exhibition. Its goal is  (display) the Chinese artistic genius from ancient times.

 is the highlight of the exhibition is the painting of Tang Yin, born in Ming Dynasty. He sought and failed to gain entry into the civil service, so he turned to painting and gained  (recognize) as one of the greatest Chinese artists. His painting Clearing After Snow on a Mountain Pass, (show) high mountains, trees and houses covered in snow, was made with extraordinary skill.

In addition, there is a collection of nearly 100 bronze objects from the Shang Dynasty. Some of the items  (think) to have come from the collection of Emperor Qianlong, admirer of Shang Dynasty bronze.

Finally, it has many fine examples of Tang Dynasty sculptures. In the seventh century, Buddhism began to show expansion in China and trade along the Silk Road also  (boom). Therefore, Chinese sculpture found  (it) influenced by Buddhist art, contributed to the emergence of artworks intended to spread Buddhism.

Since all the artworks are exceptional beauty and quality, it is really an art feast you can't miss!

1）太空、海洋探索；    2）人工智能开发；

3）材料的回收利用等。

注意：

1）词数80字左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3）开头和结尾已经为你写好，不计入总字数。

Good afternoon, boys and girls!

……

Thanks for listening!

On Christmas Eve, seventy-three-year-old George selected his food carefully. Skim milk was $2.99, white bread 89 cents with a 10-cent discount. Leaving the cashier, he calculated that he had saved 80 cents today.

At the exit, the wind reminded him of his gloves. "Where are they?" Not in the coat pockets. Not in the grocery bag either. He was sure he was wearing them when he entered the store. He clearly remembered putting them into the pocket of this coat. George made a second thorough search of all his pockets, again including the grocery bag. Now he was sure they must have been dropped somewhere inside the store.

Old George had bought the black leather gloves at a 25% discount, for just $35.00 ten years ago. They were soft and warn and very durable. He had taken care not to let a drop of water or rain touch his expensive gloves, so they looked like new. Losing this favorite possession was almost like losing a child to him.

George, calm on the outside but nervous inside, re-entered the store. He followed the same route he had walked before, starting at the bread counter, to the milk section, the corner where salt and sugar were placed, then the rest of the store. Several minutes of anxious searching turned out to be in vain. He asked the customers whether they saw a pair of black leather gloves, but they said no. Then he went over to the cashier without hesitation.to ask if she had received any lost gloves, but only received the same answer. His heart grew heavier.

"Society has changed, people have changed," he murmured to himself. "Years ago, if somebody picked up something lost, they would give it back. Now a good action is lost."

Yet he did not give up hope. He started to stare at anybody wearing black gloves to see if they looked like his. The first two persons he saw did wear gloves, but one was women's and the other not black.

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Suddenly, he found a man looking like a lawyer, wearing black leather gloves.

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During the whole holiday, he was always thinking whether to buy a new pair.