A Little Girl's Dream

    My father was a lawyer. One day he told me to wait for him in the back of the courtroom until he finished trying his case. But I was only nine years old and got 1 easily. So I wandered the shiny floors of the courthouse lobby until finally ending up in the back of another courtroom not too far from the first. I could not stop 2 at a man, wondering why he was crying. I could tell that he was trying to speak but his words were being suffocated (压制）by all of his 3. He remained in the arms of someone who was dressed just like my father always was—white shirt, suit and tie. They held on to each other lor quite some time. Then the man who was crying wiped his eyes, and 4 spoke. “Thank you,” he said to the man in the fancy blue suit. “Thank you for saving my life.”

    As I watched the human drama unfold before my young eyes, only realizing the full extent of what had happened after my father 5all of the details to me, I discovered what I would do with my future. “I want to save people's lives, Daddy,” I said with great determination. “Just like you and the man in the blue suit. ”

    The 6 in that courtroom that day became a window into my future. I knew instantly that I would be an attorney who helped protect the innocent from injustice. The only issue remained these years was that I'd have to wait7getting that opportunity. Again, I was only nine years old.

    So I filled my days with other ways to assist those in need. Beginning that year, I spent every Thanksgiving at the local soup kitchen cooking and serving those who couldn't 8 a Thanksgiving meal. As a student, I have also had the opportunity to help ESL children learn how to read and write properly and I've spent many days volunteering at the local hospital where I help9. And, of course, as I wait for the fulfillment (实现）of my ultimate goal, my participation in Law Club continues to 10me that this is the profession for me. I am exactly where I belong.

    The next chapter of my life is 11, for I am finally bringing my nine-year-old vision t life. I have grown a lot since then, taking countless opportunities to help others while continuing to learn more about the 12that I am so passionate about. And13 all of it, my goal has remained steadfast. My undergraduate studies and post graduate work are the final steps I will take, helping me to finally 14my childhood dream—the dream of finally being the on standing in a courtroom wearing the fancy 15 while saving lives.

    When Pat Jones finished college, she decided to travel around the world and see as many foreign places as she could1she was young. Pat wanted to visit Latin America2, so she got a job3an English teacher in a school in Bolivia. Pat spoke a little Spanish4she was able to communicate with her students even when they didn't5much English.

    A sentence she had read somewhere stuck in her mind: if you dream6a foreign language, you have really mastered it. Pat repeated this sentence to her students and7that some day she would dream in Spanish and they would dream in8.

    One day, one of her9students came up and explained in Spanish that he had not done his homework. He had10early, but had slept 11 .

    "What does this have to do with your 12?" Pat asked.

    "I dreamed all night, Miss Jones, and my dream was in English."

    "In English?" Pat was very13, since he was such a bad student. She was14 secretly jealous (嫉妒的). Her15was still not in Spanish. But she encouraged her young student. "Well, 16me about your dream."

    "All the people in my dream17 English." the student said. "And all the signs were in English. All the newspapers and magazines and all the TV programs were in English. "

    "Great. That's18, " said Pat. "What did all the people say to you?"

    "I'm sorry, Miss Jones. That's19I slept so terribly. I didn't20a word they said. It was a nightmare (噩梦 )!"

    It was December 22. The bitter wind swept the countless snowflakes across my front yard. My dad was there sweeping the 1. His nose was red as a cherry. With every breath he took, a white puff 2 into the air.

    Inside, my mother was 3 the last of the boxes. As I entered the front door, the 4 that after today I wouldn't enter through that door 5 again burned a hole in my stomach. I picked up my dog and sat Indian style with him in my lap on the 6, wooden floor. I had no 7 but to sit on the floor, for there was no longer any furniture occupying my house. I sat there in a daze (恍惚), just 8. There was no reason for my parents to make me, a once 912-year-old kid, 10. I had two best friends right across the street; I did well in school and I always kept my room clean. 11, this was "my house". By no means did I want a couple of 12 living here. These recurring (重复) thoughts danced around in my mind and I couldn't find a(n) 13.

    Out of the front window I could see the orange top of a truck pulling in the cleaned driveway and I knew it was the other U-Haul. Instantly three men came 14through the back door like World War III was starting.

    I watched 15 as the men, my mother and my dad loaded the truck. My dog even winced(畏缩)as he stared out of the window. I wondered if he was 16, too, or if he just wished to play outside in the snow.

    My mum came in, looking solemn(凝重)for my sake, I imagined. She turned 17 the overhead light, put the 18 in my arm and followed me out of the back door. A totally 19 feeling filled my inside. For the first time in my life, I wondered what 20would be to me tomorrow.

We all know how it feels to get lost in a great book. But what's happening in our brains as we dive into it? How is it different from what happens as we experience real life? Now, a new study led by Dr Leila Wehbe and Dr Tom Mitehell of Carnegie Mellon University have provided partial answers to these questions. 

Since reading comprehension is a highly complex process, earlier studies tried to break that process down and focus on just one aspect at a time: mapping fMRI signatures（特征）associated with processing a single word or sentence, for example. "It's usually not like reading a book, and usually the stimulus（刺激物）consists of out-of-context sentences designed specifically for the experiment"

To address these issues, the researchers developed a computer program to look for patterns of brain activity that appeared when people read certain words, specific grammatical structures, particular characters" names and other aspects of the story—a total of 195 different "story features". In the study, they first asked eight volunteers to read Chapter 9 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and recorded their brain activity using an fMRI scanner（扫描仪）. Then the researchers fed the volunteers' fMRI data into their computer program and had the program identify the responses of different brain regions to the 195 features mentioned above. 

The result showed that when the volunteers read descriptions of physical movement in the story, there was significantly increased activity in the posterior temporal cortex, the region involved in perceiving real-world movement. Besides dialogue was specifically related with the right temporoparietal junction, a key area involved in imagining others thoughts and goals. "This is truly shocking for us as these regions aren't even considered to be part of the brain's language system," Wehbe says. 

Next, Wehbe and Mitchell hope to study how and why language processing can go wrong. "If we have a large enough amount of data", Wehbe says, "we could find the specific ways in which one brain—for example, the brain of a dyslexic（诵读困难的）person—is performing differently from other brains." And this, the researchers think, may someday help us design individually tailored（特制的）treatments for dyslexia and other reading disorders.

While conquering the world's swimming pools in the late 1990s and the 2000s, Amanda Beard had already included breathing exercises in her training. Several years after the end of her athletic career, she discovered walking meditation. Today the seven-time US Olympic medalist practices walking meditation in nature, around the house, or while walking the dog. It's a daily practice with the focused mindfulness of meditation that contributes positively to every aspect of her life, she says. 

You don't need equipment or a designated space to start. The idea of a walking meditation is to pay attention to the way your body feels, noticing things like the sky, trees, tuning into all of your senses. This means you can meditate "on the go" in the countryside, in the city, in your backyard, and virtually anywhere. A simple, 10-minute walking meditation for beginners requires that you just start at ease. Consider what you hear, smell and see. Think about how your feet touch the ground. Fully focus on these feelings. 

A report in Health Promotion Perspectives also found that walking meditation can improve your balance, adjust your heart rate, boost your mental focus, and help you battle anxiety and depression. "The benefits of meditation are many," says Dr. Schramm, a board-certified family physician and meditation teacher. "When we do this over and over again, we train the brain to focus on only one thing at a time and this increases both our blood flow and actual neuronal (神经元) changes within our brains. "

"The magic of meditation is to be able to help you connect with yourself; meditation shouldn't feel a certain way," says Tara Stiles, a yoga and wellness expert. It's a common mistake in meditation: People fear a wandering mind. "A wandering mind is completely normal," Stiles says. "Even experienced meditators aren't sitting there never having a thought, but when they have the thought they choose to guide themselves back to their breath instead of getting frustrated. 

Iˈve always loved the ocean. In the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (seven) grade, I started volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. I was upset to learn that many sea animals eat plastic garbage, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (think)it is food. 

I decided to do something {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (educate) people about this problem. I held presentations at schools to teach kids about plastic waste. I wanted to reach businesses too. I decided that if I learned of a company{#blank#}4{#/blank#} used a lot of plastic, Iˈd send it an email urging it to cut back. 

One day, I saw a commercial for a health-care company. People in the ad were using plastic straws （吸管）. I found the contact information of the company{#blank#}5{#/blank#} emailed its president. I told him how {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (harm) plastic could be to the environment and asked him to consider using more eco-friendly options. I was so{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (excite) when he wrote back to me. He said he would make sure that the company cut its use of plastic straws in half. 

I kept going. Whenever I heard of businesses using plastic, Iˈd send an email. One of the biggest companies I wrote to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) Alaska Airlines Paris. A company{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (represent) wrote back and told me the airline was switching over{#blank#}10{#/blank#}plastic to paper cups on all of its 1, 200 daily flights.