A famous Anglican Church stands in a quiet corner of Dunedin in New Zealand's South Island. Built in 1865, it is the city's oldest church still in use. Countless couples have gathered here to marry. It's where morning tears are shared, friendships formed and comfort given during times of loss.
As with many churches, its walls are graced with a collection of beautiful stained-glass windows. Known as the "John Allen window", one window portrays the short life of a local man, John Allen, who died in 1915 in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey.
John was the son of Sir James Allen, who as Minister of Defense, helped plan and administer New Zealand's World War I strategy, which saw 100,000 troops sent to fight. With the war over and his son dead, Sir James chose to install a window in the church, with which the Allen family had strong ties.
Divided into two parts, one depicts (描绘) St. George, the patron saint (守护神) of soldiers, while the other has an angel of peace, along with the words at the bottom, "John Hugh All Gallipoli, 6th June, 1915". Two trees with local birds on the branches can be seen and a kiwi walks at the bottom- reminders that John was a lover of birds.
"There are many war memorials in the church," says the church. "However the 'John Allen window' stands out; it touches people because of the beautiful design, the New Zealand birds and because John's story, of a life so full of promise ending tragically in the war, reflects the lives and stories of so many others involved in World War I."
We spend a great amount of time listening to music. Most college students listen to music at least three or four times a week, and more than 50 percent of them go to at least one concert per year.
According to new research, we may be born liking music, because human beings are born to find certain combinations of sounds attractive. For example, young children can recognize a familiar Song even when its key is changed. Similarly, they respond with more emotions to their mothers' singing than to their mothers' speech. Careful analysis of mothers' child-directed songs indicates that each mother's songs remain stable from one "performance" to the next, and this may encourage children's engagement with the songs.
Research with adults suggests that music catches our attention by activating(激活) brain pathways that are most suited to processing music than to processing other kinds of sound. Specifically, music appreciation relies on the auditory cortex(听觉皮层) on the right side of the brain, which is specialized to process sound that characterizes music-in contrast to the left auditory cortex, which processes the stop-and-start bursts of sound that characterize speech.
Although some Psychologists remain skeptical about whether music may have powerful effects on our thinking, a number of studies have shown that listening to music can increase people's spatial reasoning abilities Furthermore, It is clear that music can greatly influence our emotions. Personally significant music activates areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward, the same areas that are activated by sex and good food.
Researchers do not agree about how humans' abilities to process and enjoy music have come into being. Anyway, the next time you enjoy listening to a piece of music, remember that the most complex pieces of audio equipment are the ones between your headphones.
A great number of species make their home in the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the entire ocean makes up an ecosystem, many smaller habitats are found within, including an open-water habitat off the coast of the Northern Atlantic Ocean known as the Sargasso Sea. Sargassum is an alga(海藻) that floats in masses that can continue for miles. The waters of the Gulf Stream push the water in a northward move into this area. This constant move and varying temperature support the accumulation of the brown-colored seaweed.
The Sargasso Sea is so enormous that one method of information collection has not been enough for scientists to obtain an accurate picture of what takes place within this ecosystem. Researchers have needed to employ several methods of sampling. Methods such as dragging nets over the surface of the water and videotaping beneath areas of sargassum have served scientists well. Information collected has shown that the Gulf Stream pushes brown algae from open water into the Sargasso Sea area, creating a diverse floating habitat in an area that would otherwise not support that wildlife.
In the most recent study of the sargassum community off the shores of North Carolina, eighty-one fish species were documented as using the area as a microhabitat. This is an increase from previous studies. The types of fish found here are both commercially and environmentally important. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is working to regulate the harvesting of sargassum. The Council hopes to have the area classified as an Essential Fish Habitat. Which would afford it certain protections.
Further research needs to be done before scientists understand how to best protect the Sargasso Sea as well as understand how it goes about supporting so many important types of wildlife.
How do you relax after a stressful day in the office? There are many ways to help you relax. It takes a little effort to get there but the benefits are great for our stressed-out lives. I am talking about the activity of forest bathing.
It was introduced as a national health programme by the country's government. Stressed Japanese workers are today still relaxing and reconnecting with nature. The Forest Therapy Society has certified 62 forest therapy sites in the country and the forest bathing movement is also booming in other parts of the world. It says, "Just as bathing in a hot spring helps to soak your cares away, going for a walk in the woods is said to have a comforting effect."
Forest bathing is about taking time to wander through woodland with no fixed plan or route and just expose yourself to the forest atmosphere. That's particularly good for people with mental health issues. A study conducted in 24 forests across Japan found that walking among trees lowered blood pressure, the pulse rate, thus improving our immune systems.
Another study carried out a few years ago by Stanford University in the US, found similar benefits. Brain scans showed reduced activity in an area of the brain linked to the risk of mental illness in participants who took a 90-minute walk among oaks, birds and squirrels. One of the researchers, Gregory Bratman, said, "There's an increasing body of evidence showing that natural areas benefit us at least emotionally with our mood and our physical development too." The evidence seems clear that forest bathing is a shot in the arm for stressed-out workers. So now is the time to get out and lose yourself in the natural environment,
A. But the best way lies in the great outdoors.
B. Connecting with nature has never been more urgent.
C. Forest bathing is rising in popularity around the world.
D. Having this exposure to nature seems to promote well-being.
E. You could even hug a tree as it could be your new best friend!
F. The Japanese concept of forest bathing dates back to the 1980s.
G. It also found forest bathing can decrease stress, anxiety, and depression.
Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? How about those who beautify their selfie (自拍) so much that they can't be1? There must be one or more who2in your social media. No matter3they choose to share, they share the best but the most unreal.
Take my friend Chen. Every time we went to a restaurant, she would not take a4until all the dishes we5were on the table. Then, she would spend five minutes on6the dishes in a seemingly random but in fact7order. Then the most important part: taking pictures. After that, she would choose one of the8and click in the filter(滤镜) app. The food eventually looked 10 times more delicious than it really was, but we had no9to really enjoy it— it all went cold. Actually Chen's real life is much less elegant. For example, she hates to wash the dishes, so she leaves them in the sink for10.
Many people care too much about others' opinions and try too hard to 11others. They find it hard to be12and to accept themselves, and thus they are afraid to show their 13life on social media. What they are trying to prove is14what they lack in reality. But this will not bring any15 to reality, as they still16the same old pattern of life.
If they really want an elegant life, they should put more17into achieving it18fabricating(伪造) it. Being more confident,19themselves and trying their best to be better is much more meaningful than20their life on social media.
The powerful Hurricane Barry weakened but remained a weather nightmare on Tuesday. It (strike) parts of Arkansas with at least six (inch) of rain and caused flash flooding that drowned animal shelter and killed a puppy.
Heavy rains were falling. The Humane Society of Clark County issued an SOS after flooding drowned its recently rebuilt shelter. "SOS! We are flooded. It's on the building! "the official said in a Facebook post. "We need help! Can any of you keep a dog two at your houses? Help! Help! Help!" Video from the scene showed wet dogs wandering loose in the shelter, the floor covered in water. Many offered their homes and yards the animals. A short time (late), the official posted an update on Facebook(say) foster homes have been found for all 72 dogs. "We are so blessed! People from all over have come to (we) rescue. Donations. Cleaning. Fostering. It's really (impress)." the post said. After the rainfall, a ray of sunshine shone brightly in the states the storm burst last week.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
The first week of my summer vacation was exciting, and my sense of freedom was so intense that it felt like I had to pack everything into that single week. The next week was a little calmer, But by the third week my two best friends had left for summer camp and my activities Wound down into boredom, Getting up later catch morning, I was spending more and more time with my cellphone and in front of the TV, That is when Mom reacted, declaring my phone and the TV off limits between 6:00 in the morning and 6:00 at night, It was shocking just to hear her say it.
In that first hour I felt I'd lost my senses of sight and hearing; The silence was numbing. I circled the house, going from room to room looking for something to do, asking myself what I can do? What can I do? What can I do? When I encountered Mom in the kitchen, I asked her, too, "What can I do?"
"That's up to you," she said without looking in my direction. Through the day I posed my question to her several more times, getting much the same result. Then late in the afternoon, while she was working at her computer, I dared to ask again. Instantly she swung around to look at me, and I could see that my question had a definite effect on her expression. She looked as though she had been shocked. Her jaws clenched, like she was holding her words between her teeth as they struggled to get out. She looked me straight in the eye, then smiled and said, "Well，are you up for a challenge?"
"Sure what?"
"Your challenge is to follow the same ant for ten minutes,"
"What is so tough about that?"
She smiled again. "You might be surprised."
Sometime later Mom stood beside me, timer(计时器) in hand. "I'll set the timer for ten minutes when you find your winning ant."
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Para 1
Some of the ants I saw seemed to be eating something.
Para 2:
I heard Mom's timer ring and then “You win, sweetie,' she said.
