In the U.S. state of Washington, a road called ^Interstate 90^ cuts through a wild, mountainous area to reach the city of Seattle. For the area's many kinds of animals, the busy highway greatly limits their movements. Crossing 1-90—as the road is called—is a risky but sometimes necessary act. But soon, animals will have a safer choice for crossing the road. They will be able to go above it.
To help the animals, the state is finishing work on its largest-ever wildlife bridge. The 11-meter-tall, 20-meter-wide structure begins in the forest. It forms two arches above the highway, one for each direction of traffic. Workers are adding fencing and plants to help guide the animals across the bridge. Two-meter-thick walls will help block noise from vehicles below.
The 1-90 Bridge is part of a growing number of wildlife crossings across the United States. Some are fences, some are overland bridges, and some are underpasses. They all aim to keep drivers and animals away from each other. Collisions between animals and drivers are rarely deadly to people. But they are often deadly to wildlife. In Canada's Banff National Park, studies have found that wildlife crossings reduce the area's animal-driver collisions by 80 percent.
Most of the wildlife bridges are in western states. But experts have noted many other areas that have a need for such paths. Jen Watkins, whose organization has helped campaign for animal crossings, says finding for more crossings is "the number-one barrier."
Patty Garvey-Darda of the U.S. Forest Service has worked on the 1-90 crossing from the start of the project. She says the $6- million bridge will one day pay for itself because the highway will not have to be fully or partly closed each time a large animal is struck. She said, "If you shut down Interstate 90, you shut down interstate commerce."
As a young child, Ann Makosinski would spend hours experimenting with her toys and other everyday objects around her to create her own inventions.
Now a first-year Arts student, Makosinski is a well-known inventor. She won the recent Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award of Excellence, which recognizes creative business solutions to social problems一the same recognition was given to Barack Obama in 2014. Her two inventions—the Hollow Flashlight and the e-Drink—have been causing excitement internationally since their creation.
When Makosinski was 15 years old, she created a flashlight powered by the heat of one's hand. This invention was the result of a 9th grade science project, but her goal was to offer a practical solution to people with unlimited access to power and electricity. "One of my friends from the Philippines told me that she failed school because she had no light to study with at night, so that was kind of the inspiration." Makosinski explained.
At 12th grade, Makosinski then went on to create the e-Drink. It is a coffee cup that harvests the extra heat of a hot drink while it cools, stores it as electricity in an intemal(内置的）battery and makes it available to charge an external device such as a phone, whose life can now be longer by approximately 10 to 30 minutes.
"My favorite part of creating inventions would be when you had the idea and you have to physically build it, and it doesn't work out," she said. "So you have to figure out different ways to solve it. A lot of times, I'll give up and I'll come back after a couple of days and I'll take it up again."
Her advice to other student innovators? "Start now. There's nothing holding you back. Actually, you can do whatever you want." Makosinski said, "If you want to make something, follow your heart, then go ahead. If there's something you really want to do, you will make time for it and you will find time in the day to do your schoolwork."
When athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics collect their medals, they'll not only be wearing something that celebrates their sporting performance, but something that symbolizes lastingness. For both the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, organizers aim to make all of the gold, silver, and bronze medals out of used electronics. This strong message about how to make use of e-waste has gotten a lot of Japan involved.
Starting in April 2017, the Japanese Olympic Committee began collecting old laptops, digital cameras, smartphones, and other abandoned electronics. The initiative(倡议)has achieved great success. Already, the quantity needed for bronze medals has been met, and they're in the homestretch for silver and gold medals, meaning the collection process can pack up at the end of March.
When looking just at the number of cell phones collected, the amount of waste is shocking. In a period of about 18 months, a little over 5 million smartphones were collected thanks to cooperation with NTT DOCOMO.
Japan's largest mobile phone operator allowed the public to turn in phones at their shops, which counted a lot in the project's success.
After being taken apart and sorted, the small electronics underwent a smelting process to extract(提炼)all the gold, silver, and bronze elements. Thanks to this initiative, the worldwide struggle with e-waste will have a global platform. According to a study published by the United Nations University—44.7 million metric tons of e-waste were made in 2016. Only 20% of that was actually recycled. Unfortunately, this figure is set to rise significantly in the coming years, moving to 52.2 million metric tons by 2021. So while the Tokyo Olympics initiative might be just a drop in the bucket, it's a good start in showing what the public can do if they're made more aware of the issue.
How to enjoy school
School is a great place where you are always occupied in expanding your knowledge and further improving yourself. But School doesn't have to be a prison. Learn some concrete strategies to help you enjoy your school life, making friends and keeping it fun.
Cheer yourself up each day. You could wake up each morning with a bad attitude and each Corning will turn into a bad day. Or you could listen to some energetic tunes, eat a breakfast to your taste and make your school day pleasant.
If it makes you happier and more comfortable with your environment, try decorating your schoolbags, notebook, locker, and other supplies necessary' for school. Use stickers, colorful pens or other stuff to make your school things a little more fun to carry around with you.
Join an afterschool club. It's a great way to make friends by joining a formal club or group at your school. Check out the options offered at your school and consider joining one that lines up with your hobbies.
Avoid distractions. But it also risks getting you into trouble, and forcing you to fall behind when you're not paying attention. It may not seem like it, but the best way to enjoy the lessons is to listen more closely, not find ways to distract yourself.
A. Purchase things to make you feel happy.
B. Personalize your school belongings.
C. It might seem fun hiding an iPhone in your sweatshirt at school.
D. For instance, you could join the music lovers or chess players.
E. If you decide that your day will be fun, it likely will be.
F. Join a club that you have little interest in to meet someone you might not meet normally.
G. Whether you find school difficult, boring, or stressful, you can try to make it easier.
I stood on my grandmother's front porch with my son. He had a bottle of bubbles. You know the 1 it's basically soapy water with a plastic loop on each end. You dip the loop in the bottle, pull it out, and blow it to make bubbles. My son understood the principle but was 2 trying to blow bubbles. He 3 dip and dip and blow and blow, but alas, no bubbles. He 4 me the bottle and loop and asked me, "Daddy, can you make bubbles?"
I hadn't blown bubbles in years. I am a 5 by education, fairly well-trained in surfactant(活性剂) technology. I have 6 several shampoos, so I understand surface tension and related foaming(发泡沫)characteristics of surfactants. All that knowledge is 7 useless when trying to blow bubbles from a loop 8with soapy water. I was having no9 success than my son. I dipped and puffed, still no bubbles; the soapy film on the loop would just pop without 10 any bubbles, like bubbles; it can't be forced. Blow beautiful bubbles; breathe easy.
After several fruitless 11 , I changed strategies. 12 puffing on the loop of soapy water, I gently 13 on it. My son screamed with delight as a big beautiful bubble formed and 14 away. He grabbed the loop, dipped and blew. No bubbles. I 15 to him, "Son, you can't blow hard. You must ever so gently breathe on the loop to make bubbles." He contained his urgent 16 to make big bubbles by blowing hard and 17 my advice. Big bubbles. There are some things that you can get with 18force, but other things like love or respect only 19 the gentleness of a soft breath. The 20something is to higher spirit, the more it is like bubbles: it can't be forced and is more often found in the soft things in life. Blow beautiful bubbles: breathe easy.
As is known to all, a positive parent-child relationship is (benefit) to the physical and mental (grow) of children, but keeping a healthy parent-child bond (need) the efforts of both parties.
Parents should take the responsibility (improve) their relationship with the children. What matters is spending quality time with their children, tight their schedule is. For instance, they can eat (meal) together, go to sporting events together or watch their children's favorite
TV shows together, can contribute greatly to making their children feel safe and (love).
Children, on the other hand, should let their parents know they appreciate what their parents (do) for them. If possible, they can give their parents a gift on a special day or help with housework a regular basis. The healthy parent-child relationship is without conflict. But as long as parents and children make joint effort, they can settle the conflict and enjoy their time together.
After study for hours, I went outside and up to the roof nearby for a break and watched people swimming in the sea. It was a sunny day—a blue, cloudless sky over a calm sea. But then, as I looked in the distance. I discovered a series of three or four big waves heading towards the shore. I'd seen these mini-tsunamis (小型海啸)many times before. They were heading at speed in the direction of the swimming area. Most people knew to look out for them, but from the screams that started coming from the beach, I could tell someone was in trouble.
Without thinking, I ran down into the street, holding my bodyboard (冲浪板)on the way and shouted at a stranger to call the coastguard(海岸警卫). My neighbor Tom had heard the screaming as well and was also outside with his bodyboard, so together we rushed to the steps that led down to the sea.
Once we got closer, we discovered the waves had pulled a boy and a girl into the open sea. I knew that the nearest boat would take at least 30 minutes to reach us. I wasn't used to this sort of emergency—I'd never been trained as a lifeguard—but I didn't think twice about trying to save them.
I suppose in a way I wanted to impress everyone; at 19, a deal like that can seem like a good opportunity to show off.
Tom and I dived into the water and it took us 10 minutes to get to them. When we finally reached them, they were almost lifeless with only their heads coming in and out of the water. We could tell they were still alive from their small breaths but it was clear they wouldn't have been able to stay there much longer. I held the boy and pulled him over my board. Tom then moved the girl onto his board.
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We discussed pushing them back to the shore, but we were too far out.
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That night, word came from the hospital that the two kids were in good condition.
