How to Make Friends

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Indeed, there are many things in life which we alone cannot perform.

     We need friends' help. Friends are people who willingly and readily help us when we are in trouble, and show sympathy for us when we are in misery

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, when we have passed the graduation examination and are looking for a job, we need experienced and reliable friends to guide us and help us on our way. A good friend is also an adviser, because our own points of view towards things may not be always right. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

     Of course, we can make friends everywhere. However, I think the best place is school, where we are among a big number of boys and girls our own age, so it is easy to get to know one another in a short time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

     In order to make friends, we ourselves must be honest, noble-minded and kind-hearted whereby to leave a favorable impression on others since other people observe us the same way as we do.

     At the same time, we should avoid bad friends, because they always do harm to us and moreover, they are dangerous to the people around. Worse still, they destroy our friendship with good friends. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Indeed, seeking acquaintance with bad friends would be a serious mistake

B. A faithful friend is hard to find.

C. Therefore, it is necessary for us to seek advice from friends.

D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

E. Besides, we can also make friends among the people who work with us in the community.

F. A proverb says “One man is not good enough to live alone in the world.”

G. The benefits of friendship are boundless and sometimes invisible.

    Music for Humans and Humpback Whales (座头鲸)

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain and is far more ancient than previously suspected.

    In the articles, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human “business”, and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copyright on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recent in-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices related to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws of song composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales are able to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals (间隔), rather than moving forwards madly. They mix the sounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also use a favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. “This suggests that whales use rhyme, the same way we do: as a technique in poem to help them remember complex materials,” the researchers write.

    The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand—a system of rapid handwriting, and now it's threatening to finish off handwriting as a whole. When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2012, just 15% of the most1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive(手写体). The rest? Block letters.

    And those college hopefuls are just the first edge of a wave of US students who no longer get much handwriting instructions in the primary grades, frequently 10 minutes a day or less. As a result, more and more students struggle to read and write cursive.

    There are those who say the culture is at a crossing, turning from the written word to the typed one. If handwriting becomes a lost form of communication, does it matter?

    It was at University Virginia that researchers recently discovered a previously unknown poem by Robert, written in his unique script. Handwritten documents are more valuable to researchers, historians say, because their authenticity can be confirmed. Students also find them more fascinating.

    The loss of handwriting also may be  a cognitive(认知的) opportunity missed. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better—a lifelong benefit.

    It doesn't take much to teach better handwriting skills. At some schools in Prince George's County, elementary school students use a program called Handwriting Without Tears for 15 minutes a day. They learn the correct formation of manuscript (手写的)letters through second grade, and cursive letters in third grade.

    China has announced it's abolishing its one-child policy. What difference has it made, statistically speaking?

    400 million births prevented. The one-child policy, officially in place since 1979, has prevented 400 million births. Parents have faced fines and other punishments for having more children.

    The majority of the decrease in China's fertility(生育)rate happened in the 1970s.It dropped from 5.8 children per woman in 1970 to 2.7 in 1978. Despite the one-child policy the rate had only fallen to 1.7 by 2013. 21:28 baby death rate. Since the one-child policy was introduced, baby girls have become more likely to die than boys.

    In the 1970s, according to the United Nations, 60 males per 1,000 live births died under the age of one. For girls the figure was 53. In the 1980s, after the one-child policy became official, the rate for both was 36. By the 1990s, 26 males per 1,000 live births died before the age of one-and 33 girls. The 2000s saw 21 boys per 1,000 live births dying and 28 girls.

    1.16 boys born for every girl

    Sexually selective abortions have been considered as a major cause of China's unusual sexual imbalance.

    Gietel-Basten, associate professor in social policy at Oxford University, says the births of many girls are not registered if parents have broken the rule by having two children, adding officials often turn a blind eye. It's estimated there are now 33 million more men than women in China.

    4：2：1 families

    With the ageing of China's population and the continuation of the one-child policy, a “4: 2 :1”home is the description given to households in which there are four grandparents cared for by two working age parents, who themselves have one child.

    By 2050, it's predicted that a quarter of China's population will be 65 or older. The predicted decline in the number of people of working age is thought to have persuaded the government to drop the one-child policy.

    Oil Painting Workshop

    Jan. 7, 2019

    For Ages 15 and Up

    Beginners Welcome! Experience Not Required!

    Registration (登记) Deadline —— Dec. 31, 2018

    Class Schedule

    9:30—10:00 am            Welcome and Registration

    10:00—12:00 am          Painting Session

    12:00 am—1:00 pm        Lunch

    1:00—3:00 pm            Painting Session

    3:00pm                    Evaluation and Departure

    Instructor

    Judy Moore Gist, Alexander Certified Instructor and Ross Certified Instructor, is making great efforts to give people of all ages the opportunity to experience Alexander's The Magic of Oil Painting and Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting. Both, William Alexander and Bob Ross, PBS TV hosts, have inspired thousands of first-time painters. The “wet-on-wet” technique have encouraged people of all ages to pick up a brush and put their dreams on canvas (油画布). Judy will do the same, and you are welcome to take a class and see for yourself. At the end of just one session you will be amazed at the beautiful painting that you create in just a few hours. You will become more aware of beautiful cloud shapes and colours you ignored before. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing the beautiful scenery that you paint and others will treasure forever.

    For more information about Judy Moore Gist, click here.

    Cost

    $75.00/a person. Prices include all instructor fees, materials, and lunch.

    If you wish to pay by check, please print the OilPaintJan.pdf printable registration form and mail it in with payment to: Holiday Lake 4H Educational Center, 12674-H Camp Road, Appomattox, VA 24522.

    Refund(退款) Policy

    Full Refund: Dec. 31, 2018

    Nonrefundable: after Dec. 31, 2018

    For more information, contact Heathern Benninghove at 232-268-6777 or heathern@vt.edu.

    Twenty years ago, most experts believed that differences in how boys and girls behaved were mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends. It's hard to cling to that belief today. Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls. Understanding these differences is important in raising and educating children.

    For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and the difference increases as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely (反过来), boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away too hear the teacher.

    Likewise, girls are better in their expression of feelings. Studies reveal that negative emotions are seated in an area of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often cannot say much.

    Dr. Sax, an advocate of single-sex education, points out that keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.