修改时间：2024-07-13 浏览次数：243 类型：期末考试
Books can't stop a global pandemic. But, for a short while, they can let us forget the world around us and transport us to different places, allowing us to travel in spirit. Here are some picks for this month:
Rohinton Mistry: A Fine Balance
Mistry's novel focuses on the lives of four central characters whose lives are on a downward spiral, from poverty to outright destitution and, ultimately, death.
Mistry does not whitewash the reality of urban poverty in India. But as readers, we become absorbed in his characters lives we hope with them, we fear for them and, at the end, we cry for them.
Elena Ferrante: Mу Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferante'r novels take us straight to the Italian city of Napoli Starting with My Brilliant Friend, the four novels chart the intensive relationship between two girl, Elena Greco (Lenù) and Raffaella Cerullo(Lila) who grow up in a poor neighborhood in the 1950s.
Reading Ferrante's description calls forth images of Napoli and makes us feel like we are standing in the Piazza del Plebiscito. We can fell, hear and smell Napoli around us.
Patrick Modiano: The Search Warrant
The Search Warrant pieces together the real-life story of Dora Bruder, a young Jewish girl who went missing in Paris in December 1941. Modiano attempts to retrace Dora's movements across Paris and his book is full of evocative descriptions of quiet squares and streets.
By tracing Dora's possible steps, Modiano evocatively recreates the twilight atmosphere of Paris under occupation.
Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day tells the story of Stevens, the aged butler of Darlington Hall, and his ill judged life choices that saw him being involved with British fascism in the interwar years.
This allusion to British fascism in particular is something that makes this novel stand out; it is a subject matter not often discussed or even taught.
I'd been retired for four years, when a friend suggested university. I thought he was joking -I was rubbish at school and failed my 11 plus. But we love to compete over Mastermind and University challenge, and he thought I'd make it. And he was absolutely right!
I did a foundation course first, which was part time at the University Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC), two nights a week and the odd Saturday. I did quite well, and that gave me the confidence to do a full time, three year degree. I'm passionate about art, and I always wanted to be here for the journey and not the destination. That sounds really corny, but it was the truth in my case.
Initially it was a bit strange fitting in with my course mates. They were all 18, straight out of sixth form or college. Over time, though, they've all been fine -now, we all get on really well and there is no issue. I've made plenty of friends 'm a member of the mature students society, and I do some volunteering through the LLC, chatting to prospective students about my experience of coming to university. I tell them my story and basically encourage them to give it a go you've got nothing to lose. I like to think I've convinced a few of them.
I have no regrets at all. Enrolling in university was the best piece of advice I've received in years, especially post- retirement. I needed routine in my life；I needed purpose. I'm not going to spend my day in the bookies or the pub, If you've got a passion for something, you should pursue it.
Failure is the mother of success. D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Tech giants Apple and Google are teaming up to create a system that would let smart phone users know when they've come into contact with someone who has COVID-19.
The technology would rely on the Bluetooth signals that smart phones can both send out and receive 1aperscn tests positive(阳性) for COVID-19, they could inform public health authorities through an app. Those public health apps would then warn anyone whose smart phones bad come tear the infected person's phone in the previous 14 days. The technology could be used on both Google Android phones and Apple iPhones.
The companies insist that they will preserve smart phone users' privacy and their technology will be used only by public health authorities to trace the spread of COVID-19. Smart phone users can choose to use it. The software will not collect data on users' physical locations or their personally identifiable information. People who test positive would remain unknown to the public, both to the people who came in contact with them and to Apple and Google. “Privacy is of greatest importance in this effort,” the companies said in a joint statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union has warmed that using cellphone data to handle the pandemic carries risks of “destruction of privacy”. In a statement on Friday, ACLU cyber security counsel Jennifer Granick said, The system also can't work well if people don't trust it”. She said that the joint Apple and Google project “appears to reduce the worst privacy risks, but there is still room for improvement.” She added that the contact tracing app should be used only for public health purposes and only for the duration of this pandemic.
Public health officials say the contact tracing -finding people who have been in contact with an infected person will be a key step in lifting shelter in-place restrictions.
It would allow people who are known to have been exposed to the virus to isolate themselves, while letting others recover normal activities.
The government's top Great Barrier Reef scientist says a third mass coral bleaching (珊瑚白化) event in five years is a clear signal that the marine wonder is “calling for urgent help on climate change. Corals can recover from mild bleaching, but severe bleaching can kill corals.
Prof Terry Hughes, director of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, surveyed 1,036 reefs from a plane over nine days in late March.
The marine park authority also had an observer on the flights. The survey has released maps showing that serious levels of bleaching occurred in 2020 in all three sections of the reef northern, central and southern. Some 25% of the reefs were seriously bleached-meaning that more than 60% of the corals on each reef had bleached.
The Great Barrier Reel has experienced five mass bleaching events-1998. 2002,2016, 2017 and 2020 -all caused by rising ocean temperatures driven by global heating. Hughes said there probably would not be the same level of coral death in the north and central regions in 2020 as in previous years, but this was partly because previous bleaching outbreaks had kill off the less heat -tolerant species The 2020 bleaching was second only to 2016 for severity(严重性), Hughes said.
Dr. David Wachenfeld，chief scientist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, told Guardian Australia "My greatest fear is that people will lose hope for the reef. Without hope there's no action. People need to see these bleaching events, They are clear signals that the Great Barrier Reef is alling for urgent help and for us to do everything we can”.
Measures to improve the ability of recovery of the reef include improving water quality, controlling outbreaks of coral-eating starfish, and research and development to improve the heat tolerance of corals. " However, climate change brings a new scale of impact unlike anything we have seen before. Thus, dealing with the climate problem is the basis for everything else to work,” Wachenfeld said.
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? Truth be told, no one has the right to judge you. People can't feel what you are going through；they aren't living YOUR life. So forget what they say about you, .
Follow your own unique path and work on your goals, Every new day is a chance to change your life. Work hard for what you believe, and remember realistic goals are the key to success, People know success is directly connected with daily action. .
Adjust your goals and dreams as life changes. A great deal of pain in life comes from having a specific dream that you've fallen in love with, and when it doesn't work out exactly as planned, you become angry that you now have to pursue a different path,, but it provides plenty of opportunities to make dreams come true, Just don't forget that sometimes taking a positive step forward requires you to slightly adjust your dreams, or plan new ones.
. When you are feeling down or dealing with failure,don't be ashamed. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You are going through a difficult time, and you are still pushing forward. That's something to be proud of. Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will keep your head high and keep on smiling.The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them. Don't cry over the past, but cry to get over the past. Don't smile to hide the pain, but smile to heal the pain. Don't think of all the sadness in the world, but think of all the beauty that still remains around you.
A. Life is unpredictable
B. Fight through your failures
C. Focus on how you feel about yourself
D. Every day of your life is a page of your history
E. Doing small things brings them closer to their dreams
I had plans to meet two of my friends downtown, so I took a shower and left home despite the rain. It was just an ordinary day, but deep in my heart, there was a shadow of1.
It was because of the novel coronavirus（新冠肺炎）) At that time, there weren't yet 2 cases in our city. But still I could smell the fear3among the crowd. We had lunch together and hung about for some time in the busiest district before I returned home.
That evening, 4, began to cough slightly at first. and then it got worse. I took my body 5 again and again to make sure I didn't have a fever. In spite of the 6words from my parents that I just caught a cold from going out in the 7 after a shower, I was terribly frightened. For a few nights，I lay 8 in my bed, worrying that I had already got the disease -and possibly the virus was in my body..
I took my mom's 9to exercise at home. I also read, watched films and painted，just to 10 my anxiety. And it worked, A few days later, I was fully 11 .
As I watch the news about how many people are dying of the disease and how brave medical workers are12 their own lives to help their patients, I'm deeply 13 that I'm one of the lucky ones.
Now, I'm sitting at my desk and taking a class 14. The little insects of early spring fly around my bedroom, and a beam (束) of sunlight shines on my windows. It's just another ordinary day. But after that incident, I've learned to15 the day's beauties, however small they are.
Kang Yu, a 24-year old volunteer teacher in a remote town in the mountains of Yunnan province, was teaching calligraphy to the eighth graders when all of sudden, the clouds seemed to burst and the electricity went out. (see) that the students were staring at the rain, Kang (immediate) got a burst of inspiration.
She told them to go outside, under a shelter, to enjoy the rain and come back to write something like a poem. Much her surprise, the works written by the students were far beyond her expectations!
Inspired by that class, Kang founded the nonprofit, Enlighten Our Future, to help Chinese youngsters improve their mental well-being and their exam grades through poetry composition and（appreciate）.She managed to persuade 13 school (adopt) the “Four Season Poetry Lessons” project, with a teaching plan, content and method she provided. So far, the poetry lessons (design) by the nonprofit have helped 68,0000 students in 823 primary and middle schools, mostly in poor areas. Now Enlighten Our Future(run) by three full- time workers, including Kang, 60 part time workers, 280 backups and more than 1,000 volunteers.
What's great about poetry is that it can help one to find an(effect) way to communicate with oneself,” she says. What they need is not sympathy, but recognition, I think will influence their whole life.”
试题篮
I treated him to a big meal.