1)你的梦想是什么；

2)你为何有此梦想；

3)你如何实现梦想。

注意：1)词数不少于50；

2)开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Hello, everybody!

Thank you.

要点如下： 1）节日的日期；

2）节日的由来；

3）庆祝的方式。

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）短文开头已给出，不计入总词数；

3）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇: 战国时期the Warring States Period; 自杀 commit suicide; 粽子Zongzi。

    The Dragon Boat Festival

Gossip

    “Did you hear what happened to Adam Last Friday?” Lindsey whispers to Tori.

    With her eyes shining, Tori brags, “You bet I did, Sean told me two days ago.”

    Lindsey and Tori aren't very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip and I have noticed the effects of gossip.

    An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic—breakups, trouble at home—that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing the secret is, the juicier the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, but cruel lies can cause pain.

    If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? The answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don't. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group”. In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority.

    Gossip also can have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. For instance, if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do's and don'ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.

    The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.

    Are you working with your computer routinely either as an office employee or a game lover? Are your eyes dry, watery, blurry, seeing double or sensitive to light? If your answer is a "yes", you are likely one of many people today who suffer from digital eyestrain, also called computer-vision syndrome. What on earth is this syndrome coming from? What can we do to deal with this problem?

    Eyestrain is often related to the amount of exposure to screens, the distance from eyes to screens and the use of multiple screens simultaneously. However, studies have also shown that the blue light produced by digital devices today reaches further into the eyes than other kinds of light. This light actually assists attention during the day but can result in interrupted sleep patterns at night.

    Years of scientific researches indicate that eyestrain isn't necessarily an unavoidable problem for those who deal with computer work in the daily base. There are ways you can adopt which can overcome the problem considerably. To begin with, your computer screen should be high-resolution (高分辨率), at least 50 centimeters wide diagonally and may require a screen filter to decrease reflections. Also, be aware that "computer glasses", which cut down glare and blue light，are available.

    Besides, to reduce your risk for computer-vision syndrome, take frequent breaks during your computer workday. Many workers take only two 15-minute breaks from their computer throughout their day. According to a recent study, eyestrain are significantly reduced when computer workers take four additional five-minute "mini-breaks" throughout their workday. Finally, many of us fall into bad habits while using digital screens, which only worsen the effects of eyestrain. While viewing digital screens, many people blink (眨眼) one third less often than they usually do. Place a reminder on your computer to "blink" so that your eyes don't dry out.

The Possible Health Dangers of Air-conditioners

Although many of us may feel air-conditioners bring relief from hot, humid or polluted outside air, they pose many potential health hazards. Much research has looked at how the movement of air inside a closed environment—such as an office building—can spread disease or expose people in the building to harmful chemicals.

    One of the more widely publicized dangers is that of Legionnaire's disease, which was first recognized in the 1970s. This was found to have affected people in buildings with air-conditioning systems in which warm air pumped out of the system' cooling towers was somehow sucked back into the air intake, in most cases due to poor design. The warm air, filled with bacteria, was combined with cooled, conditioned air and was then circulated around various parts of the building. Studies showed that even people outside such buildings were at risk if they walked past air exhaust pipes.

    Large air-conditioning systems add water to the air they circulate by means of humidifiers. In older systems, the water used for this process is kept in special reservoirs, the bottoms of which provide breeding grounds for bacteria which can find their way into the ventilation system. The risk to human health from this situation has been highlighted by the fact that the immune systems of approximately half of workers in air-conditioned office buildings have developed the ability to fight off the organisms found at the bottom of system reservoirs. But chemicals called “biocides” are added to reservoirs to make them germ-free, and they are dangerous in their own right in sufficient quantities, as they often contain compounds strongly linked to cancers.

    Finally, it should be pointed out that the artificial climatic environment created by air-conditioners can also affect us. In a natural environment, whether indoor or outdoor, there are small variations in temperature and humidity. Indeed, the human body has long been accustomed to these normal changes. In an air-conditioned living or working environment, however, body temperatures remain well under 37℃, our normal temperature. This leads to a weakened immune system and thus greater exposure to diseases such as colds and flu.

⒈春节是中国最重要的传统节日之一，它总是让人想到家庭团聚。(remind...of...)

⒉在春节，人们盛装打扮，参加各种各样的活动。(dress up，take part in)

⒊人们相互表达感激、原谅或宽恕之情。(make an apology for)

⒋人们给孩子们压岁钱，盼望美好 未来。(look forward to)

⒌很遗憾的是有些人由于各种原因，不能参与这个重大节日的庆祝。(it is a pity that...)