Dear Mom, Clear My Calendar

    September is around the comer, and some of us are already complaining about summer's end. But parents have a special reason to do so. The end of summer means the start of school. And these days, planning a young child's schedule is a big challenge. The challenge is no longer finding activities to fill a child's day; it is saying no to the hundreds of options available. Our mailbox is filled with brochures urging us to sign our kids up for classes from cooking to martial arts.

    Educators are themselves discouraged by the number of special classes that many children attend. In the name of “enrichment”, three-year-olds not only go to preschool in the morning but study French or gymnastics after lunch. One teacher tells of a four-year-old asking for help in the toilet before hurrying off to tennis. Another teacher says that children sometimes hold on to her at pick up time. What happened to unstructured time?

【写作内容】

1）用约30个单词概述图画和文字的主要内容

2）结合上述信息,简要分析可能导致这一结果的原因;

3）表达你的想法。(不少于两点)

【写作要求】

1）写作过程中不能直接引用原文词句

2）作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称

3）不必写标题

【评分标准】

内容完整，语言规范,语篇连贯，词数适当。

    Technology is forever changing the way we get our news. Many people now get a lot of their news on electronic devices, instead of traditional media, such as newspapers, television or radio. An increasing number of people also report turning to social media for information

    Now, there is a new technology that could greatly change the way we get the news: computer-created news readers. Recently, China launched what it called the worlds first artificial intelligence, or Al news presenters.

    The news readers, supported by machine learning technology, are based on two real-life Chinese newsmen. One is able to present newscasts in English, the other, in Mandarin Chinese Report said machine learning was used to examine video images and sounds of the two newsmen. Similar technology has been used to create video products known as “deepfake” videos. "A deepfake a video that looks real, but was electronically changed. Such videos can make people appear to say things they never said

    It's said that the Al presenters will be a great improvement to the news team because they "can work 24 hours a day" on its website and on social media. One of the presenters even promised to work tirelessly" to keep people informed. Some machine learning experts said the system showed off Chinas latest progress in voice recognition, text-to-speech technology and data analysis

    Others wondered about the effects robots might have on employment and workers. Some people argued that only low-level jobs requiring heavy labor will be easily replaced by robots. Others praised the technology as a way for companies to make money from low-cost labor machines. Some businesses have experimented with similar technology for possible use in news operations.

    Britain's BBC recently released a video that used machine learning to make it look like one of its news readers speaking different languages. The London-based company that developed the system says its goal is to "remove the language barrier" for many different kinds of video across the internet. Also, Amazon's working on Alexa smart speaker system to create a special news reader voice. Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch Alexas news reader voice in the near future

    Are you working with your computer routinely either as an office employee or a game lover? Are your eyes dry, watery, blurry, seeing double or sensitive to light? If your answer is a "yes", you are likely one of many people today who suffer from digital eyestrain, also called computer-vision syndrome. What on earth is this syndrome coming from? What can we do to deal with this problem?

    Eyestrain is often related to the amount of exposure to screens, the distance from eyes to screens and the use of multiple screens simultaneously. However, studies have also shown that the blue light produced by digital devices today reaches further into the eyes than other kinds of light. This light actually assists attention during the day but can result in interrupted sleep patterns at night.

    Years of scientific researches indicate that eyestrain isn't necessarily an unavoidable problem for those who deal with computer work in the daily base. There are ways you can adopt which can overcome the problem considerably. To begin with, your computer screen should be high-resolution (高分辨率), at least 50 centimeters wide diagonally and may require a screen filter to decrease reflections. Also, be aware that "computer glasses", which cut down glare and blue light，are available.

    Besides, to reduce your risk for computer-vision syndrome, take frequent breaks during your computer workday. Many workers take only two 15-minute breaks from their computer throughout their day. According to a recent study, eyestrain are significantly reduced when computer workers take four additional five-minute "mini-breaks" throughout their workday. Finally, many of us fall into bad habits while using digital screens, which only worsen the effects of eyestrain. While viewing digital screens, many people blink (眨眼) one third less often than they usually do. Place a reminder on your computer to "blink" so that your eyes don't dry out.

1）学生垃圾分类的意识仍然较弱;

2）垃圾分类的重要意义;

3）垃圾分类应该从校园做起。

    Many of us do the revision work alone by shutting ourselves in a room with a book. Shutting yourself away can make you learn to hate studying. This leads to a situation where instead of being able to pay attention to your work, you are troubled by how unfair it is that you must study. When you hate your work, it's very difficult to make yourself like and do the work. This can be part of a vicious cycle(恶性循环) that you are caught in ineffective revision. Your poor progress makes you dislike the revision work more.

    Just being around other people really helps fight against feelings of loneliness and, thankfully, it's perfectly possible to work with a partner. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions(使人分心的事物).

    It's not necessary to avoid all people around, just people having nothing to do. Studying in the same room with someone who is ironing(熨烫衣服) or working out is perfectly possible. People who are bored and have nothing to do, however, are terrible to work around. They often try to keep others in conversation.

    It's also a good idea to avoid the company(陪伴) of people involved in activities that you like doing very much. Working while sitting next to someone playing video games is much more likely to end with a new high score in the game than a few hours of high-quality revision.

    If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can keep out even noisy children.

    When you're studying for a big exam, it seems like your whole life is taken up with study. Friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation(孤独). And connecting with other people makes us happy, so it's important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to be with other people.

Wildlife Protection, Anything Wrong?

Some of the Earth's creatures die mainly because of humans' choices. These choices have nothing to do with food or shelter or anything else that helps humans survive. What kills millions of animals all over the world is that humans want to make money by doing so. People use parts of animals for everything from hats to handbags, from jewelry to ashtrays and to make powders that supposedly improve a person's life.

It is comforting to note that in the past decades, saving endangered animals has become a popular cause. Let's take saving elephants as an example. For a long while in the late 1980s, wildlife protection groups made sure everyone saw pictures or films of elephants with their faces cut off for their ivory. These groups also proved that certain populations of elephants are decreasing. As a result, most people stopped buying objects made of ivory. Laws against poaching (偷猎) were made stronger. Many countries made importing ivory illegal. Killing elephants for their ivory became more risky and less profitable.

However, deciding that a species is endangered and protecting it by law are not always enough, as concern for certain species will become weak after a while. In the late 1970s, people protested against the killing of seal babies. Everyone was shocked to see young seals being killed in their icy habitat. The cruel activity stopped. But ten years later, the number of seal babies killed was higher than ever.

Other animal protecting movements have come and gone, such as saving the whales and protecting dolphins. The whale population appears to have increased for now. And the laws are finally changed in America to protect the dolphins that swim with tuna fish in parts of the Pacific Ocean. In the years to come, people's focus will probably turn to some other endangered species. During this time, will the elephants be forgotten?