When US musician Bob Dylan was announced as the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature last month, many people took to social media to suggest that Leonard Cohen was the only other living songwriter who deserved(值得)the honor.

    Sadly, on Nov 7, the deep-voiced Canadian artist died at the age of 82.

    Many tributes(称赞)were written for Cohen, who had just released his 14th album, You Want It Darker, on Oct 21st. “Leonard Cohen is as important today as he was in the 1960s,” Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on in a statement. “ His ability to describe human emotion made him one of the most influential and lasting musicians ever.”

    Cohen's most famous song, Hallenlujah, in which he compared physical love to a need for spiritual connection, has been recorded hundreds of times by different musician since it was first released in 1984.

    And Cohen's song Bird on a Wire(1969) could be considered a perfect epitaph(墓志铭)that he wrote for himself. As the song's first line goes, “Like a bird on a wire, like a drunk in midnight choir(合唱团), I have tired in my way to be free.”

    “Cohen writes words that explain what it means to be human. I've read poetry that has as much beauty as Cohen's work, but in the world of music, Cohen is a rarity,” US singer Jennifer Warnes told Austin American-Statesman newspaper. ‘He describes things that go on inside a heart and what it feels like to be here.”

    Along with his spirituality, Cohen's dry, deep voice also helped his popularity. In 2006 he spoke with the NPR radio station about how he got his interesting voice—apparently it was “500 tons of whiskey and a million cigarettes.”

    But he never forgot to work on the instruments that made up his songs, even though he was most famous for his lyrics (歌词)and voice.

    “There is no difference between a poem and a song,” Cohen said in 1969 interview with the New York Times newspaper. “Some were songs first and some were poems first and some were written at the same time. All of my writing has guitars behind it, even the novels.”

    “When people talk about Cohen, they fail to mention the melodies(旋律), which to me, along with his lyrics, are his greatest genius,” Bob Dylan told the New York magazine.” They give a lift to every one of his songs. As far a I know, no one comes close to this in modern music.”

    The University of Birmingham is the first excellent UK Russell Group university to announce that it will accept the "Gaokao" exam for high-flying Chinese students wishing to join its undergraduate courses in 2019.  High school students who complete the "National Higher Education Entrance Examination", or Gaokao, with top grades will be able to apply for direct entry onto Birmingham degree programmes without first completing a foundation year which is a routine for the freshman.

    Gaokao is usually taken by students in their last year of senior high school and, every year, each province in China sets the grades required to gain admission to its universities. It is usually held across China in early June.  Students are tested in Chinese, Mathematics, a Foreign Language and social sciences or natural sciences.

    University of Birmingham Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood said: "The University of Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. We welcome people from around the globe to study at Birmingham and Chinese students form an integral part of our education and research community. We are further opening access to Birmingham's wealth of education opportunities for the brightest and most dedicated Chinese students by accepting this strict and important qualification. I look forward to welcoming these high-flying students to the University of Birmingham. "

    Gaokao is increasingly accepted by universities in Australia, the USA, Canada and mainland Europe. Birmingham will only be considering high quality students who achieve a minimum 80% Gaokao score and meet additional academic and English language requirements.

    Professor J on Frampton, Director of the University of Birmingham's China Institute said:" The University of Birmingham has a long history of educating students from China and one of our most famous graduates is Li Siguang-the founding father of Chinese geology. I am delighted that the University is now accepting the Gaokao. This gives the brightest and best Chinese students an opportunity to move straight into the first year of our undergraduate programmes and experience the benefits of studying at a global Top 100 university, such as Birmingham. "

    Stars blazed(猛烈地燃烧)in the sky above Spook like a million tiny suns. They shone through the mists, which had during the last year become thinner and weaker. At first, he had thought the world itself was changing. Then he had realized that it was just his feeling. Somehow, by burning tin in his body for so long, he had permanently strengthened his senses to a point far beyond what other Allomancers could attain.

    The burned tin had begun as a reaction to Clubs's death. Spook still felt terrible about the way he'd escaped, leaving his uncle to die. During those first few weeks, Spook had burned his metals as almost a self-punishment he'd wanted to feel everything around him, take it all in, even though it was painful, or perhaps because it was painful.

    But then he'd started to change, and that had worried him. But, the crew always talked about how hard Vin pushed herself. She rarely slept, using pewter(白镴)to keep herself awake and alert. Spook didn't know how that worked he was no Mistborn, and could only bum one metal but he figured that if burning his one metal could give him an advantage, he'd better take it, because they were going to need every advantage they could get.

    The starlight was like daylight to him. During the actual day, he had to wear a cloth tied across his eyes to protect them, and even then going outside was sometimes blinding. His skin had become so sensitive that each little stone in the ground felt like a knife jabbing(猛刺)him through the bottom of his feet. The cold spring air seemed freezing, and he wore a thick cloak(斗篷).

    However, he had concluded that these discomforts were small prices to pay for the opportunity to become whatever it was he had become. As he moved down the street, he could hear people turning over and over in their beds, even through their walls. He could sense a footstep from yards away. He could see on a dark night as no other human ever had.

       ①   Always before, he'd been the least important member of the crew the dismissible boy who served as a handy man or kept watch while the others made plans. He didn't feel annoyed with them for that he'd been right to give him such simple duties.   ②    Because of his street dialect, he'd been difficult to understand, and while all the other members of the crew had been carefully picked, Spook had joined through the back door since he was Clubs's nephew.

    Spook sighed, sticking his hands in his trouser pockets as he walked down the too-bright street. He could feel each and every thread of the cloth.

    Dangerous things were happening he knew that: the way the mists lasted longer during the day, the way the ground shook as if it were a sleeping man, periodically(周期性地)suffering a terrible dream. Spook worried he wouldn't be of much help in the critical days to come. A little over a year before, his uncle had died after Spook fled the city. Spook had run out of fear, but also out of a knowledge of his lack of power.   ③    He wouldn't have been able to help during the campaign.

    He didn't want to be in that position again. He wanted to be able to help, somehow. He wouldn't run into the woods, hiding while the world ended around him. He was sent to gather as much information as he could about the Citizen and his government there, and so Spook intended to do his best. If that meant pushing his body beyond what was safe, so be it.

    He approached a large crossing. He looked both ways down the intersecting(交叉的)streets the view clear as day to his eyes. I may not be Mistborn, and I may not be emperor, he thought. But I'm something. Something new. Something people would be proud of Maybe this time I can help.   ④    

    Luke has always been my closest and constant companion these past five years. In fact, he is very friendly to me especially when I take care of other furry friends in our shelter.

    There have been a lot of forest fires during the summer season. Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer. Luke rushed towards the forest where flames send out a terrible heat. There's no longer any hope at the moment to wait for Luke to come back to the shelter. In fact, I was waiting for the firemen to announce me his death in the forest. Suddenly, a fireman burst into my office and informed me that my dog Luke succeeded in saving four cats which were trapped by the flames. Luke seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a safe place.

    I immediately accompanied the fireman to the forest to pick up the rescued kittens, but Luke was not there. Then we heard the sound of a dog came from the forest barking furiously. The firemen followed the tracks of the dog until they found him barking loudly by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground.

    That day, I was very proud of Luke for his two heroic actions. I paid a visit to the fireman accompanied with my adorable Luke. What a memorable scene when the fireman hugged Luke tightly to his chest! “One thousand thanks, Luke, for saving my life,” the fireman said.

    This true story of love shows us that pets are kind, loving, and caring. We should love and protect them. Don't belittle them. Little animals can make enormous things for humans.

    Eating out is such a pleasure ― the food, the wine, the joy of having it all brought to you by someone else—that it's a pity to ruin the experience by sharing it with other people.

    Well, I do like visiting restaurants with friends. But dining out alone has its own very special attractions. For a start you can give all your attention to the food. There's nothing worse than having to invent and deliver an opinion on school league tables or Sanchez's move to Manchester United, plus listen to everyone else's opinions, when all you really want to do is enjoy each mouthful along the way.

    A second great thing about eating out alone is the chance to combine food with one of life's other true pleasures: reading. You have to plan this carefully: Indian or Chinese restaurants are best ― you need food you can eat with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold your reading material.

    But perhaps the biggest attraction of a table for one is the chance it gives to people-watching. Restaurants and the different reasons for visiting them ― first date, business meeting, night out with friends ― produce human behaviour of surprising richness and variety. Will the man selling his business idea get any joy out of his possible investor (投资者)? Will the married couple think of anything to say to each other before their main courses arrive?

    This "human zoo" part of eating out alone is one of the reasons I'd hate to be famous: everyone would be watching you, so you wouldn't be able to watch them. The snooker player Steve Davis says this was one of the strangest consequences (后果) of becoming well-known: he got very worried about his eating in public, almost to the level of doubting whether he was "doing it right."

    So next time you're considering your eating out choices, remember the advice of the businessman Nubar Gulbenkian: "The best number for a dinner party is two ― myself and a super head waiter."