Your kids might be ready for a break from school but the idea of being at home for three weeks loses its magic. Lucky for us Portlanders, the city has no shortage of awesome winter camps for kids.

    Trackers Earth

    For winter break, Trackers is offering several one-day outdoor and craft camps. The hard part will be choosing between so many fun options: “Ninjas Save Christmas?” Or “Here We Go A Waffling - Caroling and Waffles?”

    Details: $70. Dec. 23, 27, 30, 31; Jan. 2, 3. （Ages 4-14）

    Address: 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave.

    Tel: 503-345-3312

    Audubon Society

    Your kids don't have to be specifically bird-crazy to appreciate the Audubon Society's one-day winter camps. The classes all have a broad nature focus, including everything from ducks for the younger set to introducing older kids to bats, wolves and wildlife rescue work.

    Details: $65, Dec, 2S, 24, 26-31; Jan, J-3 (Ages 6-14)

    Address: 5151 NW Cornell Rd.

    Tel: 971-222-6120

    Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

When your kids start to get bored with his or her own Legos (乐高玩具)－yes, it occasionally does happen－check out OMSI's one-day Lego and Museum Experience, a full day of hands-on Lego activities in one of the city's most fun, family-friendly museums.

    Details: $49. Classes offered throughout December and January, (Ages 7-10)

    Address: 1945 SE Water Ave.

    Tel: 800-955-6674

    The Children's Gym

    Your kids definitely won't complain of being bored at Children's Gym's Winter Sports Camps. From 9:0 -5:30, they'll develop their gymnastics skills on the center's excellent equipment, then squeeze in a little rock climbing and field games.

    Details: $60/day; Dec. 23, 26, and 2 7; Jan. 2 and 3. (Ages 3-14)

    Address: 1625 NE Sandy Blvd.

    Tel: 503-249-5867

    Last week, my granddaughter started kindergarten, and I wished her every success. But part of me didn't. I actually wanted her to fail in some ways because I believe that failure can be good for our learning process. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do, or doing something correctly the first time, which can often be a problematic victory. First-time success is usually a luck. First-time failure, however, is supposed to be the natural order of things. Failure is how we learn.

    In Africa they describe a good cook as “she who has broken many pots”. If you've spent enough time in the kitchen to have broken a lot of pots, probably you know a fair amount about cooking. I once had dinner with a group of cooks, and they spent time comparing knife wounds and bum scars. They knew how much their failures gave them.

    I earn my living by writing a daily newspaper column. Each week I know that one column I write is going to be the worst column. I try my best every day. I have learned to love that column. A successful column usually means that I am discussing my familiar topic, writing in a style I am used to or saying the same things as anyone else but in a better way.

    My younger daughter is a trapeze artist（荡秋千演员）. She spent three years practicing a show, and she did it successfully for years. There was no reason for her to change it but she did anyway. She said she was no longer learning anything new and she was bored. She risked failure and great public embarrassment in order to feed her soul.

    My granddaughter is a perfectionist. She will feel her failures, and I will want to comfort her. But I will also, I hope, remind her of what she learned, and how she can do better next time.

    Earlier this month, the University of Glasgow in Scotland launched a course entitled: The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy（哲学）. The course's aim is to ease students into the typically heavy topic by relating it to the popular cartoon family.

    “The Simpsons is one of the modem world's greatest cultural products, partly because it is so full of philosophy,” John Donaldson, creator of the course, told the BBC. “Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Camus and many other great thinkers' ideas are represented in what is arguably the purest of philosophical forms — the comic cartoon.”

    While this may seem like an unusual way to attract pupils to a traditionally dull topic, this class isn't the first of its kind. In 2009, Liverpool Hope University in the UK began offering a master's degree on the music of world-famous 60's group The Beatles, which still runs today. The following year, the UK's Durham University gave students the chance to enroll on a Harry Potter-themed module, covering contents such as “Gryffindor and Slytherin: prejudice and intolerance in the classroom,” and “muggles and magic”.

    To some, these courses may seem like a waste of a valuable education, but Donaldson believes that packaging certain topics into something more easy to relate to will enhance the learning experience, without distracting（分离）from the main subject. “Firstly, scholars want to be taken seriously by other scholars and ideas like this can be seen as not serious,” he tells iNews. “There are definitely ways to include popular culture into academic subjects that still remains their nature and doesn't take away from the quality of the ideas,”

    Already booked full, Donaldson's Simpsons class isn't meant to be taken as seriously, however. The lecturer says that his one-day course, which will pose philosophical questions around morality, free will, and religion by relating them to scenarios（情节）from The Simpsons, aims to introduce students to his area of expertise greatly while having a bit of fun.

    In February, 2015, a South Korean woman was sleeping on the floor when her robot vacuum ate her hair, forcing her to call for emergency help. It surely isn't what Stephen Hawking warned us that intelligent devices “mean the end of the human race”. But it does highlight one of the unexpected dangers of inviting robots into our home.

    There are many examples of intelligent technology going bad, but more often than not, they involve cheating rather than physical danger. Meanwhile, increasing evidence suggests that we, especially children, tend to tell our deepest, darkest secrets to human robots. So how do we protect ourselves from giving-away code?

    Once you've invited a robot into your home, you need to manage your expectations. Movies and marketing may have told us to expect deep interaction with robots friends but we've still got a long way to go before they are as socially aware as described. Given the gulf between expectation and reality, it's important to avoid being tricked.

    The message is clear: as robots became increasingly connected to the internet, and able to respond to natural language, you need to especially cautious about figuring out who or what you are talking about.

    We also need to think about how information is being stored and shared when it comes to robots that can record our every move. Some recording devices may have been designed for entertainment but can easily be adapted for more dangerous purposes. Take Nixie, the wearable camera that can fly off your wrist at a moment's notice and take shots around you in the air. It doesn't take much imagination to see how such technology could be taken advantage of.

    If the technology around us is able to record and process speech, images and movement, or listen secretly to us, what will happen to that information? Where will it be stored? Who will have access?

    So, what is the safest way to welcome robots into our homes, public spaces, and social lives? We should be cautiously optimistic that intelligent machines could become enriching companions, while acknowledging that we need to determine strict boundaries for robots. There should be someone to turn to should your robot commit a crime, steal your card... or try to eat your hair.

    Variety is the spice of language. The words listed in this book are not intended to replace those that most people use most of the time. Rather, they are variations on the theme. We tend to use the same old words over and over again, to limit our powers of expression by limiting our vocabulary.  but why not enhance your speech and writing by learning to use new ones from time to time ds alternatives?

    How often have you spoken of having an accident?  Or why not occasionally describe a situation as aggravated（恶化）instead of worsened.

    I don't mean that you should throw away the Mold words”.  English is an especially rich language, and often there are differences between two words that are generally regarded as die same. Thus, a mishap is not merely an accident; it is an unfortunate accident. Because there can be fortunate accidents, like bumping into an old friend you haven't seen for years and whose address you've lost. .

    No doubt a good many words in the list will be familiar to you, but do you use them, or do they remain the “property” of others? Try to make these words your own, as companions or friendly rivals of the ones you have owned in the past. Let them compete, and make your language all the richer.

A. Just vary them with the “new words”.

B. Many words have more than one meaning.

C. There is nothing wrong with the “old words”.

D. English words are grouped according to their origins.

E. Why not use the alternative mishap once in a while?

F. They are included to introduce variety into your speech and writing.

G. So in using mishap instead of accident, you must be sure of the difference.

    When someone becomes an annoying presence for you, it means a disaster if you can't face it bravely and overcome it. I learned this 1 in the second year in high school. The shock this experience brought was so great that I felt my 2 was left on the side of the road for dead. That was all it took; one year and one person 3 everything.

    Her name is Jenny. She was the girl who 4 raised her hand and had useful comments about everything. When teachers needed challenging problems answered, they 5 her. And if students needed 6, they went looking for her. I didn't 7 her, but I admit her presence annoyed me. In the first year, as a model student, I was the person everyone 8 and all the teachers trusted. Then she came out of 9! We also had two classes 10. There I got to see what everybody thought of her. When an exam finished, it became a 11 that she got the top grade and it didn't 12 to my classmates whether I was right there, 13 I also got excellent grades. They would cross a desert and 14 her! I was left being denied my presence.15. I felt like not trying anymore.

    I stopped trying to put on a show because no one was 16 anymore. Later, I volunteered at the graduation ceremony. She was palled to make a(n) 17 and discussed their difficulties. I realized all her hard work got her there, not her desire to 18. It finally hit me that Jenny 19 the attention she got. She showed me how big the world is and how 20 a world I used to live in. I'll do my best because I know it will pay off.

    It's amazing that Chinese police are using facial-recognition tech to catch criminals. Police in Beijing are reportedly testing out new smart glasses with facial-recognition technology. The smart tech, which  (use) in many checkpoints to find suspects presently.

    Some people will certainly be worried about the possibility of police using facial-recognition tech to flag individuals,  the chief executive thinks that there is no reason  the concern, because he trusts the government.  (Interesting), this is not the first time that facial recognition has been used to stop wrongdoers in Beijing. In 2017, we reported on how visitors were having their faces scanned automatically in a certain restroom in  capita] city to prevent locals from  (steal) the paper for use at home.

    Authorities in Shenzhen, China, have also set up artificial intelligence-powered CCTV cameras to scan the faces of those  cross the streets unlawfully and display their  (identity) on large LED screens for all people to see.

    If that isn't punishment enough, plans are now in place  (link) the current system with cellular technology, so offenders will also be sent a text message with a fine as soon as they are caught  (cross) the road against traffic lights.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Dear Mr. Smith,

    I'm writing to invite you to the Traditional Chinese Cultural Fair be held by our school at the Art Center this Friday afternoon, at 2p.m .to 5p.m.

    Since a event aims to help more people learn about the traditional Chinese culture, the staff, all the students and their parents as well as anyone interested in it is welcome. At the fair, relating books, pictures, videos and objects will be exhibited, through that visitors will not only understand traditional Chinese culture better but definitely feel about the unique beauty of it.

    If you were interested, please come and enjoy them. And I'd be glad to offer any helps. Looking forward to your early reply.

Yours,

Li Hua

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数；

3）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

提示词：低碳生活：low-carbon life

Dear Jack,

    How is everything going?

Yours,

Li Hua