Shlander is a man from space. He thinks the people and things on the earth are very strange. He is now writing a letter to his friend at home. Here is part of his letter. Read it and answer the questions.

    Now I am in a strange world. It is very nice. There are many new things here. There are many earth monsters (怪物) here, too. The earth monsters look very funny. They have just one head, two arms and two legs. They have thin black strings(细绳) on their heads. Some earth monsters have brown or yellow strings. The earth monsters have a hole in their faces. Every day, they put nice things and balls from the trees into the hole. They put water into the hole, too. The earth monsters do not walk very fast. They move from place to place in tin boxes.

    At night, the earth monsters like to look at a square window box. This box has very small earth monsters in it.

    Many students are involved in social practice besides study. On Monday, April 17, 2017, a unique partnership between Saint Agatha and Phalanx Family Services began. Saint Agatha is a primary school and day care program. Phalanx Family Services is a full-service, nonprofit （非盈利的）organization offering various programming for in-need families living in Chicago.

    Thirteen in-school youths, between the ages of 16~18, started training as young reporters in an eight-week camp organized by the two organizations. The program is designed to teach them how to become city reporters. After completing the program successfully, they will receive a job reporting for one of nine online news about the project.

    The very thought of 13 youths' improving reading and writing levels and hunting for career opportunities in journalism（新闻业）is exciting! Imagine, Chicago youths report positive and inspiring stories about the happenings around Chicago's black and brown communities, which are much better than frightening stories coming from local and national medium.

    I admire Saint Agatha and Phalanx Family Services for training youths in a needed skill set. As I see it, technology has harmed youths' reading and writing abilities. My father often says, “Youth is wasted on the young.” It sounds like the wisdom of the old. But Saint Agatha offers training and the opportunity for youths to take an active part in reporting the happenings and events they experience day to day in order to prove students don't waste youth.

    It was a dark and stormy night. I was about to go to bed when I heard a tapping sound on my window.

"Who's there?" I shouted. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning; I saw a face at the window. It looked like an alien（外星人）— an alien that I had seen on the television show, "the X files".

    I felt very scared. I ran to my bed and pulled my blanket over my head. I started to shout for my parents but there was no reply. Then I remembered that they were at a fancy dress party.

    I looked out of my blanket but it was too dark to see anything. Then I heard footsteps. They were getting louder and louder. I ran to my drawer to take out my camera and started to take pictures in the direction of the window. Soon the footsteps died off.

The grandfather clock struck. It was 12 midnight. I went back to my bed and tried to sleep. But I could not sleep. I felt too frightened. I sat up, and my mind was full of thoughts. Time passed — finally, I fell asleep.

    I woke up only after eight and decided to find out what it had been. I found some footprints outside my bedroom window. I measured them with a ruler and found them to be exactly the same size as my father's shoes. I then went to town to get the film developed. I didn't realize that I did not use the flash until I saw the black photos.

    When I reached home, I told my father the whole incident and he started to laugh. I started laughing too when he told me that he had dressed up as an alien for the party. Today, I am still amused to think I was so afraid of my own father.

    Assistant professor in Musical Theatre Dance Wichita State University seeks a full-time, 9-month assistant professor, beginning in August. Applicants are required to have a degree in dance area, teaching experience at a professional or college level, ability to direct and teach stage movement. The salary depends on qualifications and experience.

    For complete information visit http://finearts.wichita.edu.

    Full Professor in Theatre and Dance

    The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California at San Diego (http: ∥www. theatre, ucsd.edu) is seeking an experienced theatre artist in lighting design. Applicants must work for us for at least one year. Significant professional experience is required. This position is expected to teach at both graduate and undergraduate levels.

    A review of applications will start on June 1st. Application deadline： September 1st.

    Technical Director in Performing and Fine Arts

    DeSales University's Performing and Fine Arts Department seeks a highly skilled, professional technical director. The position is a 10-month staff position with the possibility of summer employment with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Professional experience is required； MFA is preferred.

    Please email materials to john. bell desales.edu. Screening of applications begins immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

    Assistant Director-Media Resources Center

    Maryland Institute College of Art is seeking an assistant director of Media Resources Center in the Academic Affairs Division.

    Qualifications for the position include a degree in Art History or related fields with knowledge of art and design history, library experience, excellent interpersonal communication skills and familiarity with photoshop and scanning.

    A review of applications will begin immediately; job announcements will remain open until the position is filled. Applicants are required to work for us at least 11 months and can send emails to jobs mica.edu. The salary differs depending on your experience. Please include your desired salary in your application letter.

    We've all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

    What's the problem? It's possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It's more likely that none of us start a conversation because it's awkward and challenging, or we think it's annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it's an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

    Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can't forget that deep relationships wouldn't even exist if it weren't for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. "Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk," he explains. "The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them."

    In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. "It's not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband," says Dunn. "But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also."

    Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. "Small talk is the basis of good manners," he says.

Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki has become the first female artist in the Arab world to be nominated (提名)for an Academy Award, or Oscar.

Labaki directed the film Capernaum, a film about a Syrian refugee (难民) boy and a Kenyan baby who live without parents on the streets of Beirut. It was nominated for best foreign language film.

Labaki wil1 be one of the few female directors to compete for an Oscar this year. She told the Associated press "I wish there were a lot more women filmmakers this year represented, nominated in the Oscars. But I am sure in a few years we won't be having this problem anymore."

Unlike in the West, women filmmakers are industry leaders in Lebanon.

Capernaum received a 15-minute standing ovation (热烈欢迎) at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It won the Jury Prize—the third-highest award given at Cannes.

The United Nations has publicly praised the film. Lebanon's Foreign Minister said.

Capernaum put a Lebanese touch on the international film industry.

The Oscar nomination of Capernaum is the second for Lebanon in two years in the film group. It demonstrates the country's rising star power.

Labaki called making the movie a life-changing experience. She said Capernaum helps humanize the real struggles of refugees only briefly talked about in the news.

We can't help but acknowledge that there is a fear of refugees in general around the world and there are these walls we are building, and this fear that keeps growing," Labaki said.

Capernaum will compete against four other films for the Oscar, including awards season favorite Roma. Directed by Mexico's Alfonso Cuaron, it earned 10 Oscar nominations, including for best picture.