My mother and her family kept information about my father and his family a secret from me for over half a century. In 2010 I began to 1 my father through Ancestry.com. However, I learned he had 2 cancer on August 6, 1999 in a hospital in Dallas, Texas.
When I got my father's death 3, the medical examiner told me because my father had no 4 around the city, they buried him in a body bag in a(n) 5 grave in an old cemetery.
I knew my father 6 in WW2 so I decided to work on getting his remains 7 to my state to be buried in our national cemetery. From 2011 to 2017 I kept working on 8 my debt from a divorce and increasing my 9 score so someday I could get a personal loan.
That certificate of 10 service proved my father served 43 months in WW2 in the USA Army Air Force fighting the Nazi's. I still did not have the money 11. In July of 2018 a bank approved a $10, 000 personal loan so I had a funeral director 12 a permit to exhume my father. After 4 months of 13 I asked Senator Brown for help again in November. Six days after he contacted Texas officials a permit was 14.
On July 9, 2019 an airplane will 15 at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport 16 I will be finally 17 with my father and touch his metal casket and the missing piece of my heart will be 18.
On January 10, 2019 the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders will escort my father's hearse through my 19 to be buried with honors in our states National cemetery and one day in January Senator Brown will have an American Flag 20 over our Nation's Capital to honor my father.
If you never give up one day your dream will become a reality.
New York City is a world capital in every sense of the word—it's a cultural and economic powerhouse, and arguably the most influential city on the planet. But it wasn't always this way, as the following cities once dominated the world around them.
DjenneDjenno
In the flood lands of the Niger delta
people have been building houses and other structures with clay for centuries.
The town of DjenneDjenno is made entirely out of clay. It was inhabited as far
back as 250 BC, and became an important link in the transSaharan gold trade(跨撒哈拉黄金交易). Constructed on hills called " toguere", the city managed to escape the marshy(沼泽 
) landscape and annual floods produced by the rainy season. DjenneDjenno is believed to be one of the earliest settlements in the subSaharan region, and is considered by some to be "the typical African City".
Archeological evidence shows us a continuous human presence in the area up until the 14th century AD, when people moved to the nearby town of Djenne, founded in the 11th century. Further evidence points out that even before the city's construction, the Bozo people were growing wild rice in the region. In the 13th century AD, with King Koumboro's conversion to Islam, its palace transformed into a mosque.
Carthage
Legend has it that Carthage was founded by Queen Dido of the Phoenicians. She fled the city of Tyre located in presentday Lebanon in order to escape the hatred of her brother Pygmalion, who was her rival to the throne. Along with a group of settlers, she traveled a great distance by sea and landed in North Africa, where she met King Iarbas. He offered to give them land in order to build a settlement, but no bigger than the surface covered by the hide(牛皮) of an ox. They cleverly cut the hide into thin strips and were able to enclose a fairly large area of land. On this land, the mighty city of Carthage was built.
These stories are most likely just that, but the fact that the Phoenicians built the city around 760 BC is true. Located in such a good position—in the middle of the Mediterranean, close to Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and a pretty good distance from Egypt—helped make Carthage a leading trade center and military power. The population soon reached half a million citizens and, in order to house them all, buildings were all built five or six stories tall. Carthage was the first city in ancient times to have a centralized sewage system, linking all buildings within the city walls. The most notable of structures among the ruins was the " Thophet", which is believed to be an altar(圣坛) for child sacrifice.
Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztec Empire. It was built on an island surrounded by Lake Texcoco deep inside the jungles of Central America. By the time the Spanish conquerors were aware of its existence, the population was around 200，000. This was a city very different from what the Europeans were used to. Founded in 1325 AD, the Aztec capital was joined to the mainland by three causeways(堤道). It was laid out in straight street grids and had enormous pyramids at its center, which were surrounded by the skulls of the dead and ceremonial sculptures.
You know those nutrition guidelines the government issues every few years? It turns out that following them isn't just good for your health. It's good for the planet, too.
" What we found is that impacts vary across nations, but in the highimpact nations, in general, you can see that, if you follow a nationally recommended diet, despite the fact that these diets don't mention explicitly—or most of them don't explicitly mention—environmental impacts, that you are going to have lower environmental impacts due to that. So that's sort of fairly clear across all the highincome nations." said Paul Behrens, an environmental scientist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
The food we eat takes a big toll on the environment. A third of the icefree land on Earth is used for agriculture, and according to some estimates, producing food accounts for roughly a fifth of all humancaused greenhouse gas emissions. Fertilizer runoff also leads to other problems, like the algae blooms in Lake Eerie and the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
However, following dietary guidelines would reduce those impacts, especially in wealthy countries like the US. "Most of the reductions come from meat and dairy," which have an outsized impact on land use and pollution, and are a major source of greenhouse gases.(That's partly due to cow farts. Seriously.) Following the suggestions would also mean eating fewer calories, since many people here eat more than they need.
Overall, in highincome countries, Behren's team estimates that following the rules could result in as much as a 17 percent reduction in land use, a 21 percent reduction in nutrient pollution, and a 25 percent drop in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Cutting down on how much food we waste—which is roughly a third in the US—could help even more. The results are in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Of course, people are notoriously bad at following diets. But: "These nationally recommended guidelines do actually have a knockon effect on other areas of policy making. So if I'm developing a new healthyeatingforschools program then that's going to be based off a lot of detail that I get from the nationally recommended guidelines. So while it might not necessarily be the case that people follow directly …they actually are quite influential on the preparation of other advice."
It seems that a smaller environmental footprint and a healthier lifestyle could go hand in hand.
A good disguise keeps you hidden, right? Well, sometimes the best disguise is actually the most dazzling because research reveals that flashy metallic iridescence(金属彩虹色) can visually puzzle predators, which allows colorful prey to survive another day. Those surprising results appear in the journal Scientific Reports.
Shining iridescent color, which changes depending on the angle from which it's viewed, is favored by everything from birds to beetles and blossoms to butterflies.
"And in our research group we are of course interested in why this vivid metallic color is so widespread in nature." Karin Kjernsmo of the University of Bristol adds that in some cases the showy splashes of light are a sexual strategy. " Here I would like to point out that in some species, particularly those that display strong sexual dimorphism(雌雄两性), such as birds of paradise or some butterflies or fishes, the occurrence of iridescence is most likely driven by sexual selection. For example, in many of these cases it is the males that have these vivid iridescent colors and they use them in mate choice or they use them as a signal to attract mates." But iridescence also shows up in situations where reproduction is not an issue. " So what we are studying now is whether natural selection imposed by predation(捕食行为) could explain the occurrence of iridescence in prey animals."
The idea that eyecatching colors could be used as a coverup isn't a new one." The father of camouflage theory, Abbott Thayer, really believed that iridescence should be categorized as a camouflage strategy. And he wrote in his famous lifework ConcealingColoration in the Animal Kingdom, already in 1909, that 'brilliantly changeable or metallic colors are among the strongest factors in an animal's concealment'. And this sounds like a completely unreasonable thing to say, because how can colors that are both brilliant and changeable contribute to animal's concealment？"
"In a similar way, we were asking whether iridescence, due to its changeability, could work as a form of camouflage by preventing shape recognition." Kjernsmo and her colleagues trained bumblebees to associate a particular shape—a circle or an oval—with a sugar reward. And they found that the bees, when given a choice, would preferentially visit the shape they knew to be sweet. But when the shapes were iridescent, the bees had trouble telling them apart. "It seemed that the strikingly iridescent surfaces on our targets visually broke up the otherwise recognizable shape of the targets, which made them hard to distinguish." As for making use of this method for hiding in plain sight, "Any practical applications is of course directly linked to any industry that has an interest in camouflage, that is how to conceal objects or make them more difficult to recognize." The researchers are currently conducting experiments with birds, which often prey on iridescent insects to see if it helps to have a bird'seye view.
American families are accustomed to settling in faraway places, which has been a national phenomenon. Decades of data, including a more recent Gallup study, characterizes the US as one of the most geographically mobile countries in the world. "About one in four US adults(24 percent) has reported moving within the country in the past five years." the reported noted. With the exception of Finns(23 percent) and Norwegians(22 percent), Americans move considerably more than their European peers.
Though some may move for love or family, the major reason why Americans choose to move around is, unsurprisingly, related to work. Citing data from the Current Population Survey, a post on the blog of the New York Fed noted that between 1998 and 2013, "slightly more than half of interstate(州际的) migrants said they moved for employmentrelated reasons—a category that includes moves undertaken for new jobs, job transfers, and easier commutes(通勤)."
The seeking of opportunity, particularly for an immigrant nation, is a national mythology(神话) as well as an emotional attachment to work. A new working paper analyzed by Ben Steverman at Bloomberg suggests that workers in the US now" put in almost 25 percent more hours than Europeans" in a given year. This figure has steadily risen since the 1970s, when the hours logged by workers in Western Europe and the US were roughly the same.
There are, of course, some internal factors. The US is much vaster than most European countries, plus it boasts(拥有) a common language. It is considered to be a sign of an efficient labor market that US workers can be persuaded to move to regions where there is a steady growth in jobs, such as the Sun Belt in recent years. And while American workers often have fewer labor protections than their European counterparts, as a report by the World Bank noted in 2012, American "labor laws give employers the power to fire, hire, or relocate(重新安置) workers according to their needs", a flexibility that is thought to aid economic growth. The World Band report added that the occupation of the average US employee in 2006 was 4 years, compared to 10 years in the European Union.
Nevertheless, while Americans remain excessively mobile, FaithKarahan and Darious Li at the New York Fed are the latest to note that US workers are moving around less than before. During the 1980s, 3 percent of workingage Americans relocated to a different state each year; that figure had been cut in half by 2010." While part of the decline can be attributed to the Great Recession," the authors suggest," thisphenomenon took place over the course of several decades and is not necessarily related to the economic conditions."
So what accounts for this phenomenon? A roundup of theories by Brad Plumer at The Washington Post included the aging of the US workforce, the further rise of twoincome households, the burdens of real estate, evolving workplace culture, as well as the flat line of wages, which makes moving away for a job, on average, a less rewarding financial proposition.
Karahan and Li put much stock in the effects of an aging workforce, to which they attribute at least half of the decline in interstate migration. "In short, a young individual today is moving less than a young person did in the 1980s because of the higher presence of older workers," they write, suggesting that employers have shifted their employment tactics(策略) to adapt to the changing demographics(人口统计数据) of the workforce. Needless to say, movies about this era in American life, in which fewer people set out to start lives in wideranging places, will probably be much less exciting.
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。
In an ideal world, we usually get eight hours of sleep every night, and wake up with enough energy before work. But when we're struggling to balance the responsibilities of everyday life, cutting back on sleep seems to be the only solution. Many of us rely on coffee or energy drinks to get us through the day, instead of making sleep a priority. Sadly, as delicious as it can be, caffeine is not the solution. Being tired not only brings down our energy levels, but also makes us less productive and less motivated. There are concrete steps you can take right now to renew your energy.
Awareness comes first because you have to understand what's going on before you can do anything to change it. Most of us are too busy to notice how fatigue(疲劳) really affects our bodies and minds. What signs of trouble do you regularly display? The patterns of your signs of trouble can give you clues about the negative effects of your fatigue. In addition, it's wise to start thinking about whoever can feel the effects of your fatigue.
Reflecting on the choices you've made can provide clarity, which will help you figure out what needs to be changed. During this reflection, you will be able to understand more about yourself and why you do the things you do. You may decide to forgive yourself for the mistakes you've made. Thinking about the positive aspects of your life will make you feel refreshed and ready to move forward.
Conversing with others not only provides support, but also leads to new perspectives and feedback that can help with treatment and what you need to heal. To start with, have an open mind and an open heart. Limit complaining. Complaints may need to be aired in order to relieve pressure, but if they dominate(占上风), anger will win. Tell the truth. You do not need to tell people everything, but you do need to be honest. Listen carefully because it shows respect.
The fourth step is about renewal—getting rid of what is bringing you down and making a fresh start. It's helpful to break the process down. It is easier to make small adjustments than big ones. On occasion, the small steps alone can remove fatigue. For instance, you may not need to change your career but change emphasis. If you feel hopelessly dragged down by fatigue, selfcare may be the best prescription.
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Four steps to fight fatigue |
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Phenomenon |
Many people rely on coffee or energy drinks to overcome fatigue. |
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Steps to renewing your energy |
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● Identify the signs of you display regularly, which can give you information about the bad effects of your fatigue. ● Think about the people who can sense your fatigue. |
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Reflection |
● Find out the things that need by thinking carefully about the choices you've made. ● Think , and you will feel refreshed and be ready to move forward. |
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● Be open to others but don't too much. ● There is no need to tell others everything but you do need to show by telling the truth. ● Show respect for others bycarefully. |
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Planandact |
● yourself of what brings you down and start afresh. ● Make smallor adopt a selfcare attitude. |
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Have you heard about the "small goal" Wang Jianlin talked about in a show？Wang Jianlin, founder and chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, made a statement during an interview part of the show on how young people who want to become wealthy should plan ahead," The direction is correct. But at first you'd better set a reachable tiny goal. For example, I can start with earning only 100 million." Though the statement about "setting a small goal" went viral on social media mostly as an amazing opinion, there is no denying that setting proper goals really plays an important role in people's life.
【写作内容】
1）用约30个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2）综合上述信息，用约120个单词阐述设定目标对青少年的重要性以及我们应该如何规划以实现自己的人生目标。
【写作要求】
1）写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
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。
