Annie works in a big company. She lives 1 in Chicago. She often does everything on her own. One day, she 2 down from her bed and broke her leg, and she had to save herself. She tried to call her friend Lisa. But she dialed a 3 number. The call 4 Taylor, an 18-year-old girl. She was a college student and she lived hundreds of miles away from Chicago. At that time Taylor was reading in bed and she thought it was someone 5 a joke and making fun of her. When she was going to hang up the 6, she heard a woman saying, "Help! Help!" From it, Taylor thought something 7 must have happened to the woman. After she got the 8 name and address. Taylor called 911 at once. Then she tried to make the woman, Annie feel 9. She spoke to Annie on the phone till the doctors 10 at Annie's house. Annie was saved and she wrote a letter to Taylor to thank her.
Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific. It is one of the smallest countries in the world. But for those who are interested in adventure and sports, there is a lot to do. Vanuatu's islands offer visitors two of the most exciting and dangerous activities in the world: volcano (火山) surfing and land diving.
Volcano surfing |
On Tanna Island, Mount Yasur rises 300 metres into the sky. Yasur is an active volcano, and it erupts (爆发) almost every day, sometimes several times a day. For centuries, people have climbed this mountain to visit the top. Recently, people have also started climbing Yasur to surf the volcano. In some ways, volcano surfing is like surfing in the sea, but in other ways it's very different. Volcano surfers try to escape the erupting volcano—without getting hit by flying rocks! It's fast, fun and dangerous—the perfect extreme sport (极限运动). |
Land diving |
Most people are familiar with bungee jumping, but do you know bungee jumping started on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu and is almost fifteen centuries old? The activity, first called land diving, is part of a religious ceremony (宗教仪式). A man ties tree vines (藤) to his legs. He then jumps head-first from a high tower to touch the earth with the top of his head—without breaking the vine. Every spring, island natives (men only) still take part in this amazing activity. |
After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son's school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake.
He was shocked. He didn't know what he should do for a while, and then he remembered the words he had said to his son, "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you!" And tears began to fill his eyes. He started digging through the ruins (废墟).
As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, "It's dangerous here! There's nothing you can do!" To them he replied with one line, "Are you going to help me now?" And then he kept on digging.
He went on because he needed to know for himself, "Is my boy alive or is he dead?" He dug for eight hours… 12 hours… 24 hours… 36 hours… Then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son's words. He shouted his son's name. "Armand!" He heard back, "Dad?! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me, and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, 'No matter what happens. I'll always be there for you!' You did it, Dad!"
"What's going on there? How is it?" the father asked. "There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We're frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When the building fell down, it made a triangle (三角形) and it saved us."
"Come out, boy!"
"No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me."
We use our smart phones to carry out many tasks every day. Many of us have become so reliant on mem. We even need them when we do anything. However, it is bad for our eyes and health to use smart phones too much.
A research shows that many smart phone users usually start to use their phones early in the morning. They check personal emails and WeChat. And before they get out of bed, they often check the weather, read the news, and send a message or two to friends. After getting up, they often take photos of food themselves, and even whatever they can see with their phones. They share their photos with their friends. The research also finds that users pick up their phones more than 1,500 times to do different tasks in an average week. And the smart phone users are on their phones for three hours and sixteen minutes a day. That is to say, people use their phones for almost one full day each week.
Using phones takes much time and it's also bad for our health. Many people stay up late to play on the phones. And mobile phones influence our sleep. Without using the phones, many people will feel bad. Many users also find they use their phones without realizing they're doing so. How do you think about people using their phones too much?
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One early morning, I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived to collect my passenger, I saw a small woman in her eighties standing before me. I took her suitcase to the car and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly towards the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way l would want my mother treated."
"Oh, you're such a good man," she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive me throughout the downtown (市中心)?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
"Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said. "I'm on my way to hospice (末期病人安养所). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time." I quietly shut off the meter (计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, and the neighborhood where she had lived. Sometimes she asked me to slow down in front of a special building and she would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the day broke, she suddenly said. "I'm tired. Let's go now."
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
"How much shall I give you?" she asked.
"Nothing," I answered.
"You have to make a living," she said.
"Oh, there are other passengers," I said.
Almost without thinking, I bent down and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly and said, "You gave an old woman a little moment of happiness."
Weather has a strong effect (影响) on people. It influences health, intelligence and feelings.
In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. People there easily have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in those states will have heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.
The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a 1983 study by scientists, the IQ scores of some college students were very high during a storm, but after the storm, their scores were low. Storms can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can decrease (减少) it. Students in many schools of the United States often do badly in exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).
Weather also has a strong effect on people's feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather and don't want to do anything. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, fat people may feel unhappy. At about 65℉ people become stronger.
Low air pressure (气压) makes people feel free, but it also increases forgetfulness. People leave more bags and umbrellas on buses and in stores on low pressure days. There is a "perfect weather" for work and health. People feel best at a temperature of about 64℉ with 65 per cent humidity (湿度).
Are you feeling sick, sad, tired, forgetful, or very intelligent today? The weather may be the reason.
The Father's Day is a day for fathers. The idea for the Father's Day (start) in 1909. A woman named Sonora Dodd thought about (have) a Father's Day while she was listening to Mother's Day speech at church. She wanted (give) her father, William Smart, a special day.
Mr Smart's wife died while she was giving birth their sixth child. He raised the baby and his other five children on a farm.
When Sonora Dodd became an adult, she understood kind and loving her father was while he was raising his six children alone. She believed her father worked very hard to make sure his children were (health) and strong.
The first Father's Day celebration was held 19 June. 1910. Since then, the (three) Sunday in June became a national Father's Day in America. In early times, people wore red roses to show respect for fathers were still living and white flowers for fathers that had passed away. Today, Americans celebrate Father's Day in many different ways. No matter how the holiday is celebrated, the idea is for children to let their father know that he is loved.
