My color television has given me nothing but a headache. I was able to buy it a little over a year ago because I had my relatives give me money for my birthday instead of clothes that wouldn't fit. I let a salesclerk fool me into buying a discontinued model. I realized this a day later, when I saw newspaper advertisements for the set at seventy-five dollars less than I had paid. The set worked so beautiful when I first got it home that I would keep it on until stations signed off for the night. Fortunately, I didn't get any channels showing all-night movies or I would never have gotten to bed.

       Then I started developing a problem with the set that involved static(静电) noise. For some reason, when certain shows switched into a commercial, a loud noise would sound for a few seconds. Gradually, this noise began to appear during a show, and to get rid of it, I had to change to another channel and then change it back. Sometimes this technique would not work, and I had to pick up the set and shake it to remove the sound. I actually began to build up my arm muscles(肌肉) shaking my set.

       When neither of these methods removed the static noise, I would sit helplessly and wait for the noise to go away. At last I ended up hitting the set with my first, and it stopped working altogether. My trip to the repair shop cost me $62, and the sit is working well now, but I keep expecting more trouble.

阅读理解

    If you want to help children develop language and speech skills, UCLA researchers say, listening to what they have to say is just as important as talking to them.

    The effect of a conversation between a child and an adult is about six times as great as the effect of adult speech input(输入)alone, the researchers found. “Adults speaking to children helps language develop, but what matters much more is the interaction, ”said the study's lead author, Frederick Zimmerman, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. The researchers also found that TV viewing didn't have much of an effect—positively or negatively—as long as it wasn't displacing conversations between an adult and a child.

    The UCLA study included 275 families with children between 2 months and 48 months old. They represented a variety of incomes and education. The researchers found that, in an average day, children heard about 13, 000 spoken words from adults and participated in about 400 adult-child conversations a day.

    Assessed separately, factors positively associated with language development included each additional 100 conversations a day and each 1, 000 words increase in the number of words spoken by adults and heard by children.  When looked at alone, TV was negatively associated with language development. But, when these three factors were analyzed together, the only one that stood out was conversation between adults and children.

    “The more a child speaks and interacts with an adult, the better idea a parent has about where the child is”, Zimmerman said. “Although it's mostly done unconsciously, parents will provide feedback and correct mistakes.  They'll also tailor their speech to the child.  Parents can give the children words by talking to them about what they're doing, such as, ‘I'm putting on your pajamas now'. But give your child the opportunity to talk, hopefully without the rest of the noise in the environment, ”she added. “If parents can carve out some conversation time—maybe at bath time or at dinner time—that's a wonderful thing. ”

    My family was gathered for a barbecue when the discussion arose about a celebrity who earned a large amount of money. The major criteria for receiving millions of dollars seem to be determined by how much the audience will pay to watch the performer achieve.

    The discussion led to a sudden self-questioning. Why did I choose teaching for a career? I half-listened to their conversation as I pondered the answer.

    I remembered my three children watching me spend nights planning for my class. I remembered how they intently listened to my frustrations concerning materials, procedures and the amount of responsibility that seemed to endlessly be thrust into the laps of classroom teachers. I remembered when it came time for each of my own children to choose a profession. How I waited to hear if any had plans to follow Mom into teaching. Long considerations held no mention of anyone becoming a teacher.

    Dessert was being served, and everyone was still involved in the discussion of the enormous salary of one individual, when the phone rang. My husband handed the phone to me.

"Hello, this is Bonnie Block," I said.

"Is this the Bonnie Block who used to teach kindergarten?"

    A nervous sensation swelled in me, and my mind raced with memories of those days long ago.

"Yes!" I exclaimed with a lump in my throat. It seemed like forever as I waited anxiously to hear what the caller would say next.

"I am Danielle—Danielle Russ. I was in your kindergarten class."

    Tears of surprise and joy rolled down my flushed cheeks.

"Yes," I uttered softly as I remembered that darling, wonderful child.

"Well, I am graduating from high school this year, and I have been trying to find you. I wanted you to know what a difference you made in my life."

She proceeded to give details. My influence on her wasn't limited to kindergarten but remained a strong motivating force when she needed a coach to help her meet a challenge. "I pictured you praising and encouraging me all the way."

    Why choose teaching?

    The pay is great!

    Reducing plastic waste isn't easy because the cheap material is found in almost every household item. Now, a delicious and nutritious solution has come up to help reduce our dependence on this environmental hazard.

    David Christian, the co-founder of Evoware, says the idea of creating the biodegradable (生物降解的) products came from concern at the country's high pollution rate. Indonesia is home to four of the world's worst polluted rivers. Since single-use packaging is a large contributor to the problem, Evoware decided to deal with that first.

    After investigating various materials, the company settled on seaweed. Unlike com, commonly used for biodegradable containers, seaweed does not require resources like water or large amounts of space. Since Indonesian farmers already harvest more seaweed than they can sell, it's easy for the company to find the material.

    Though they will not reveal their production process, Evoware says the seaweed packaging contains no chemicals and is safe to consume. The company has also invented single-use cups, which can break down 30 days after they're thrown away.

    While replacing plastic with the seaweed products may seem appealing to most of us, it is a hard-sell in Indonesia. According to Christian, “The awareness to reduce single-use plastic is still very low. This makes our bioplastic unnecessary.” Also a factor is the cost, which is higher than using plastic. Hopefully, Evoware will succeed in convincing Indonesians and people worldwide that switching to their products will be helpful to protecting our beautiful planet.

Eco-Resort Management

    Ecotourism is often regarded as a form of nature-based tourism and has become an important alternative source of tourists. In addition to providing the traditional resort-leisure product, it has been argued that ecotourism resort(度假村) management should have a particular focus on best-practice environmental management. Couran Cove Resort is such a tourist attraction located on South Stradbroke Island, Australia.

    Sustainable(可持续的) Practices of Couran Cove Resort

    South Stradbroke Island is separated from the mainland by the Broadwater, which is home to a wide range of plant communities. Located on the offshore island, the Resort is only accessible by means of water transportation. It provides hourly ferry service from the harbour on the mainland to and from the island. Within the Resort, transport modes include walking trails, bicycle tracks and the beach train. The reception area is the counter of the shop which has not changed in 8 years at least. The accommodation is an octagonal(八角形的) building. These are large rooms that are clean but the equipment is old and in some cases just working. The ceiling fan only works at high speed for example. Beds are hard but clean. There is a television, a radio, an old air conditioner and a small fridge in each room.

    As an ecotourism-based resort, most of the planning and development of the attraction has been concentrated on the need to co-exist with the natural environment of South Stradbroke Island to achieve sustainable development.

Water and Energy Management

    There is groundwater at the centre of the island, which has a maximum height of 3 metres above sea level. The water supply is recharged by rainfall and is commonly known as an freshwater aquifer(含水层). Couran Cove Island Resort obtains its water supply by tapping into this aquifer and collecting it through a pipe. In order to narrow the water uses, all laundry activities are carried out on the mainland. The Resort uses LPG power station rather than a fuel oil station for its energy supply, supplemented(补充) by wind power, which has reduced greenhouse emissions by 70%. Hot water in the eco-cabins and for some of the Resort's vehicles is solar-powered. Water efficient fittings are also installed in showers and toilets. Visitors who stay at the Resort are encouraged to monitor their water and energy usage by an in-house television system, and are rewarded with prizes (such as a free return trip to the Resort) accordingly if their usage level is low.

    Evaluation

    In three years of operation, Couran Cove Island Resort has won 23 international and national awards. It has effectively implemented contemporary environmental management practices. However, the Resort's growth will eventually be limited by its carrying capacity, and quantity control should be incorporated in the management strategy of the Resort.

Battered Moons Poetry Competition open now till 30th June 2019

Prizes

— 1st Prize￡700; 2nd Prize E200: 3rd Prize E100.

— Four commendations(奖励) of ￡25 each.

Fees

￡5 for the first poem and ￡4 each for the rest.

Enter the competition

We accept online entries (参赛作品) only.

Guidelines

— Open to any person of the UK aged 20 or over.

— The closing date is 30th June 2019.

— Judges Zoë Brigley Thompson and Cristina Newton will read all the entries and make shortlists (入围名单). Guest judge Zoë Brigley Thompson will choose the seven finalists.

— There is no limit(限制) to the number of entries a single entrant can make.

— Entries cannot be returned, so please keep a copy.

Results

All entrants will receive an email notification of results. Check the Battered Moons website for more information from October 2019.

Poems

—All poems must have a title and must not be more than 40 lines in length (excluding title and line spaces) or 250 words and can be on any subject.

—Entries must be written in English.

—Entries must not have been published, self-published, published on a website or online public space or used by radio or television before 6th October 2019.

Winners

—Winners and poets receiving commendations will be notified in September 2019 and invited to the Poetry Swindon Festival on 6th October 2019, where they will read their winning poems.

—All winners and commended poets will be asked to provide an introduction about themselves to appear with their winning poem on the Battered Moons website, and a photograph for the website.