You walk into the classroom, look at that white piece of paper in front of you and are told you've got an hour and a half to do it. That can make anyone nervous, but here is the guide to stay calm.
Get a good night's sleep the night before the test, and eat a healthy breakfast next day. If you're too tired, you won't remember what you learnt the night before.
Get to class a little earlier. If you get there early, you'll make sure to get your favorite seat.
Breathe. Before the test, breathe in through your nose deeply and slowly. Repeat this several times. If you experience a sudden panic during the test, perform the exercise again.
Skip questions if necessary. If you come across a difficult question, skip the question and move on. You can come back to it at the end of the test if you have time, and later questions may help you get the answer(s) to the one(s) you skipped.
Don't panic if you notice other students writing very quickly or handing in their tests early. Tell yourself it's just a test. Really, it is. No matter what happens, everything will be OK.
A. Avoid staying up the night before the exam. B. Act like you are the only person in the room. C. Don't spend too much time on any one question. D. If you believe you can do it, you will find you can! E. A little exercise will help you remain calm during any stressful situation. F. Then, hold your breath for 3-4 seconds and blow out slowly through your mouth. G. You'll not also feel more relaxed if you don't get there in time or worse yet, late. |
I'm part of the Roots & Shoots program founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. The program is intended to make and promote positive changes in the world. As Dr. Goodall says, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
In Bulgaria, where I live, homeless dogs are everywhere. Many people here turn a blind eye to them. But I cannot ignore the life of a street dog whenever I see one wandering in the street, looking for something to eat. That's why I'm no longer a food waster. When I see wasted food, I always think of a hungry dog climbing to garbage bins, searching for food that people have thrown there. When eating in a restaurant, I'm not afraid to take leftover food to feed stray cats or dogs.
A week ago, I saw a homeless dog around the garbage bins. Immediately I knelt down, spoke to her softly and ran my hands over her. I could see that she had had puppies. I couldn't imagine how she could have been able to care for them. Hours earlier, I'd bagged up a plate of leftover fish. As I unwrapped it, she wagged her tail and sniffed at it. She ate all the fish in no time.
It's sad, isn't it? I can't understand why many of us waste so much and think little of it. These homeless animals have taught me that food is precious. Even when I don't have leftovers with me, I'll take the time to get something from the grocery store to feed them.
I know my power is small, so I hope that next time you see wasted food, do turn it into worthy food. You have the power to save a life!
The Science of Risk-Seeking
Sometimes We decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weigh the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth tasking. Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brains work.
The reason why any of us take any risks at all might have to do with early humans. Risk-takers were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. As the quality of Risk-taking was passed from on ration to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.
So why aren't we all jumping out of airplanes then? Well, even 200,000 years ago, too much risk-taking could get one killed. A few daring survived, though, along with a few stay-in-the-cave types. As a result, humans developed a range of character types that still exists today. So maybe you love car racing, or maybe you hate it.
No matter where you are on the risk-seeking range, scientists say that your willingness to take risks increases during your teenage years. To help you do that, your brain increases your hunger for new experiences. New experiences often mean taking some risks, so your brain raises your tolerance for risk as well.
,for the risk-seekers a part of the brain related to pleasure becomes active, while for the rest of us, a part of the brain related to fear becomes active.
As experts continue to study the science of risk-seeking, we'll continue to hit the mountains, the waves or the shallow end of the pool.
A. It all depends on your character. B. Those are the risks you should jump to take. C. Being better at those things meant a greater chance of survival. D. Thus, these well-equipped people survived because they were the fittest. E. This is when you start to move away from your family and into the bigger world. F. However, we are not all using the same reference standard to weigh risks and rewards. G. New brain research suggests our brains work differently when we face a nervous situation. |
Human Flesh Search—thousands of individuals working to find and make public someone's personal information, mostly online—will be ruled as leaking personal data, which is against the law, according to China's top court.
Internet users or network service providers who leak people's personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, and clinical data will have to hold legal responsibility.
Network service providers will also be held responsible if they are aware that their users have violated others' rights but have failed to take action.
The decision comes after years of arguments over whether it's right for the public to try those who behave wrongly.
On the one hand, cyber hunting does have its positive influences. Some public officials have been removed from their positions after human flesh searches led to corruption investigations. During disasters like the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, the search method also helped many people to find their loved ones.
But many think that online cyber hunting is creating a threat to privacy. “People's ‘unusually high enthusiasm' makes the human flesh search engine phenomenon unique,” Xujun Eberlein, a Chinese American author and commentator, told Forbes. “Participants often ‘reach out their hands' thoughtlessly, violating people's rights instead of being righteous(正直).”
【写作内容】
1）. 以约30个词概括短文大意；
2）. 以约120个词就“Human Flesh Search（人肉搜索）”这一主题谈谈你的看法，内容包括：
1）你是否赞同文章提及的“禁止人肉搜索”的法案，请说明你的理由；
2）“网络时代，个人隐私如何才能得到保障？”请就此问题，提出你的建议（至少两点）。
【写作要求】
1）. 可以参照阅读材料内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
2）. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
was that there were so many treasures on show.
为了帮助中学生健康成长，某中学英文报开辟了“HEART-TO-HEART”专栏。假设你是该栏目的编辑Jamie，收到一封署名为Worried的求助信。信中该同学向你诉说了自己的困扰：近日容易发脾气，使正常的学习和生活受到了影响。请用英文给该同学写一封回信。
内容要点如下：
1）．表示理解并给予安慰；
2）．提出建议并说明理由。
注意：
1）．词数120左右；
2）．信中不能出现与本人相关的信息；
3）．信的开头与结尾已为你拟好，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：temper n. 脾气，情绪
Hi Worried,
I'm sorry to know that you're having such a bad time at the moment. ……
Yours,
Jamie
Mr. Smith had a 8-year-old son named Tony, who enjoyed listening to music very much. So he bought a piano to Tony, hoping that he can become a famous pianist one day. The little boy put her heart into practicing the piano day after day and seemed enjoy every minute of it. However, half a year later, he told his father that he was tiring of practicing the piano. Heard this, Mr. Smith said, “Tony, it is one thing to be fond of listening to music, and it is another thing to perform skillful by yourself. You can never play the piano well even if you don't practice more. ”
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently surprised Chinese students when he spoke to them in Chinese. In a talk at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Zuckerberg spoke Chinese for about 30 minutes. Although his Mandarin was far from perfect, students and faculty cheered his 1.
Zuckerberg's talk raises a large question: is Chinese the language of the future? Could it 2
English as the world's international language? Mandarin Chinese already has the3 native speakers of any language. And, China may soon 4 the United States as the world's largest economy.
The 5 of the Chinese language is increasing in the United States and around the world. A small but growing number of American parents are even 6 their children to bilingual Chinese immersion schools. Leianne Clements has no cultural connection to China, 7 her children are learning Chinese at the Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington D.C. Ms. Clements thinks knowing Chinese could give her children a competitive 8.
Clayton Dube, head of the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California, thinks Chinese will grow in 9, especially for people who want to work and do business in China. “As China rises you can expect that more people will 10 the language. But is China going to replace English? I don't think so—certainly not in my 11, probably not in the next two, three, four generations.”
Dube says American pop culture is one reason for English's 12 as a foreign language. “American movies, music, television, video games have 13 audiences ... So far China's success in this field has been very 14. Chinese films, Chinese television shows, Chinese music doesn't have a huge following outside of China.”
Andres Martinez, a professor at Arizona State University, says that he 15 Chinese culture and expects the language to grow. But he says English, unlike Chinese, is not just 16 with one country, and will remain the global language.
Chinese is also a more difficult language to learn. The U.S. Foreign Service Institute estimates it would take a 17 English speaker 2,200 hours to reach professional fluency in Chinese. That is four times 18 than it would take to reach the same level in Dutch, French, or Spanish. 19
Chinese grammar is much simpler, Chinese has a tone and writing system that is more difficult for adult learners to master.
A recent survey by Gallup showed that only one in four Americans is able to speak more than one language. For most Americans, Brits, and Australians, learning a foreign language is a(n) 20, not a necessary thing.
The Winner's Guide to Success
Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American scholar recently visited some of the most successful people in America.
Be responsible for yourself.
Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you are giving away your own power.
Write a plan.
It is very difficult trying to get what you want without a good plan. It is just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away. Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map” you'll enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.
Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard — even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.
Never give up.
When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.
A. A good plan is like a map to you. B. It seems to us that everyone knows this. But it is easier said than done. C. Some people achieve success much later in life because they didn't work harder earlier. D. You are saying you have more control over my life than I do. E. Someone else's opinion of you doesn't have to become your reality. F. Be willing to pay the price. G. Here are some keys to success that they give. |
Evening Workshops
Optional evening workshops will be held at small restaurants or other meeting places near the conference hotel. Meals and other costs are not included but are also optional. Locations will be announced at the conference site. Workshops are very loosely organized and most represent discussions that have been held at Society for Economic Botany(SEB)meetings over a series of years.
Workshop 1:Student Network
Date: Wednesday evening, Feb. 5th
Chairs: Hugo de Boer and Arika Virapongse
Sponsor: Society for Economic Botany
Description: Student members of the SEB hold a networking mixer each year in order to meet each other and to become familiar with a variety of educational programs and faculty advisors(大学指导老师). Faculty members who are part of training programs are encouraged to join the mixer to meet and talk with students.
Workshop 2: Botanical Film Making
Date: Wednesday evening, Feb. 5th
Chair: David Strauch
Sponsor: University of Hawaii
Description: Digital film making is a particularly useful tool of linking cultural information to recognizable plants. This workshop is aimed towards increasing the quality of material recorded by giving participants greater control over the medium. We will cover technical aspects(e. g. camera settings, audio), technical aspects(framing, lighting, focus), and some ways of presenting the material. Experienced filmmakers are encouraged to attend, and participants are welcome to bring their own camera equipment.
Workshop 3: Collections for Botany
— Collections Development and Management
Date: Friday evening, Feb. 7th
Chair: Jan Salick
Sponsor: Society for Economic Botany
Description: SEB is a network of researchers who have been developing standards for the development of collections of artifacts, plant samples and related materials. Participants discuss successes, problems, and funding sources for solving management issues.
Dear Mr Smith,
I was so please to hear from you and I'm writing to tell you something about my school. You are right, quite few changes have been taken place. On the one side of the road, there has a new classroom building. On the other side which a playground used to be now stand another new building, our library. In it there are all kind of books, newspapers or magazines. The playground is now in front of school. We've also plant a lot of trees in and around the school. I hope you come and see for yourself some days.
Best wishes!
Yours
The back door of the ambulance was suddenly shut and the driver ran to the front, jumped into the seat, and started the engine. Inside were the1 parents, Mr. and Mrs. Green, the mother holding their baby daughter, Ally. The little girl had some food stuck in her 2 and could hardly3.
The driver, Mr. White, 4 his siren (警报器) and flashing light, and started speeding toward the5 hospital, fighting against 6. The cars ahead of him pulled out of their way 7he drove through the busy traffic. From the back of the ambulance the parents were shouting at him to 8, since Ally almost stopped breathing. In front of him he saw some traffic 9, with the red “stop” light shining. Mr. White knew he had no time to lose, so he drove straight past, 10 to his left and right as he did so.
Coming towards him from his right was a11. The driver had the windows 12, as the air-conditioner was working and he was playing his radio as well. He was not aware of the ambulance.
The lights were 13, so he drove 14 on into the path of the ambulance. Mr. White tried to stop his ambulance, but it was too late. It hit the taxi. Everyone was shaken but luckily no one was hurt. Mr. White looked back to see 15 little Ally was. He was 16to see relief instead of fear in the face of the parents.
“Look!” cried Mrs. Green. “She is17 again.”
“It must have been the crash (撞击),” said her husband. “It 18 the food out of her throat.” The baby's color was turning 19, and she was crying in a loud but healthy voice.
They were all joyful, and quite forgot about the 20, the taxi, and the lines of cars all around them.
