The promise of college in America is the promise of a clear path to the future, of a reward for all the sleep deprivation and soul-deadening competition of high school, and, most of all, of instant adulthood. As of April, 2020, however, none of that is happening due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (新型冠状病毒).
Saminah Haddad, a seventeen-year-old senior at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, wasn't expecting her college offers until later in the spring. This year, there will be no spring season, which for Haddad means no four-year college. She is considering Long Beach City College, which is free for state residents. She also lost her job at an amusement park. All of the senior- year milestones that Haddad had been looking forward to have been canceled: prom, graduation, and an event called the" Pursuit of Excellence Awards, "where she would have been recognized for perfect attendance. She doesn't yet know if she'll still be working this summer for her father, who was about to open a juice bar in Brooklyn.
In the meantime, Haddad's school is offering some online instruction, but in her case the course load has dropped to just two classes: AP. Literature, which meets virtually, and a government class, which consists of written assignments that she receives by e-mail. Haddad is planning to take her A.P. exam, though she finds it hard to imagine what the forty-five-minute, cell-phone-friendly version of the test will be like. No one knows how colleges will view it, either.
Life has been emptied of content, and the plot is lost. She texts with friends .She argues with her mom and stepdad a lot, "I's bringing us closer together, "she half joked. "But it's O.K."
Noah Higgs hated learning Irish in school. He hated the way it was taught, overly formal and disconnected from ordinary people's lives. Most of all he hated the effect the lessons had on his fellow students' willingness to speak the language .But the Dublin native never lost his love for Irish, nor his opinion that more people should be learning the language.
Today, almost 40%of the 7, 000 languages spoken worldwide are endangered, according to the United Nations. More are going extinct every year. It was once widely feared that the Internet revolution would accelerate this decline. If developers and smartphone manufacturers aren't willing to invest in supporting minority languages, that would cut off people who speak them from an important way to communicate and trap those languages in the past.
Higgs, 23, though, is one of a small group of educators and activists reinventing how minority languages are taught and preserved online by using cutting-edge technology. When he was 17, Higgs had a "crazy teenage idea". He had begun using Duolingo, a mobile language-learning app, to study French, and wondered if the creators had considered adding support for Irish.
At the time in early 2013, there were five languages on Duolingo, the smallest of which, Italian, has an estimated 67.9 million speakers worldwide. By comparison, at its height in the 18th century, there were an estimated four million Irish speakers. Today the figure is closer to 1.2 million.
"I didn't get a reply, "Higgs said.
But his email wasn't ignored. Inside Duolingo's open-plan, Silicon Valley-style headquarters in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, change was going on. Within five years, the language startup would build a library of over 30 languages, including some of the most endangered on the planet.
A desire among many seniors is to "age in place." Aging in place is a term used to describe a person living in their own house, for as long as they are able to, as they age. Yes, the familiarity of your current home is the advantage of aging in place, but the potential financial drawbacks to renovate (翻新) the house might actually be more costly than the long-term benefits.
40 years ago, with a growing family, you probably purchased a 4-bedroom child-friendly house. Now, with kids moving out, you might be thinking about changing one of your bedrooms into a massive master bathroom, and another into an open-space reading area. You might also be thinking about cutting back on lawn maintenance(草坪维护) by installing a pool surrounded by beautiful paving stones. It all sounds wonderful, doesn't it2 For the short term, you may really enjoy the new
upgrades, but you' II still have to climb those stairs nay to heat and cool a home that's larger than what you need, and continue fixing all the hings that start to go wrong with a 40-year-old home.
Last month, in their Retirement Report, Kiplinger: addressed the point, "Renovations are just a part of what you need to make aging in place work for you while it's typically less expensive to remain in your home than to pay for assisted living, that doesn't mean it's a slam dunk to stay put. You'll still have a long to-do list. You need to plan ahead for how you will manage maintenance and care-for your home, and for yourself."
So, at some point, the time may come when you decide to sell this house anyway. That can pose a big challenge if you've already taken cash value out of your home and used it to do the type of renovation we mentioned above. The family moving into your neighborhood is probably similar to what your family was 40 years ago.
A little battery puts out a little bit of electricity, so you can use it safely you're your experiments. But the electricity that comes through the wires in your house or school is much more powerful.
Inside the walls where you live or study, there are big wires that carry electricity. When you plug in a light or radio or other electrical appliance, you are putting the light or radio in the path way of the electricity. You have heard adults say, "Don't stick your finger into the wall plug "Now do you know why? Your body is a pretty good conductor of electricity. The electrical current coming through the wires to the wall plug is so strong that it would hurt a lot if you stuck your finger in the plug.
Think: Why should you never put your fingers into the socket(插座) where the light bulb is fixed into a lamp?. Put your finger in there and it could be you, rather than the light bulb, that becomes part of the electrical path way. And that would hurt!
What if you held a piece of metal, like a fork or knife, and stuck it into the wall plug? Don't do it!
Why? It's because metals conduct electricity. And you would get a terrible shock!
Can you think why? It's because water is a good conductor of centricity. When your hands are wet or when your body is in a bathtub full of water, the electricity could flow right through you and give you an awful shock, or even kill you.
Electricity is very useful, but it can be dangerous. Be careful, be safe and be smart.
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A. Let electricity help you, not hurt you. B. Keep yourself away from the electricity. C. Therefore, you need to remember some safety rules. D. Don't touch any electrical appliance when you are wet. E. Make your home as safe as possible for kids with these tips. F. If you did, you would become part of the electrical path way. G. That's the place where the electricity flows into the light bulb. |
I watered in my garden on that burning hot afternoon. "Missus!" The husky(沙哑的) voice1me and I turned quickly. "Could I please have a drink of water?" "Come into the yard." I called and.2the cup that hung over the outdoor tap. He drank, swallowing slowly and then splashed (泼洒) water on his face. "That feels3, "he said, and stood there, awkward. "Have you any4I can do for you? Weed or water your garden?" What work could I5him? Nothing! I couldn't afford a single cent. I6to look around, before shaking my head.
I knew he must be7, but the icebox held so little: only some milk and bread for my daughter, Alice. I said, I'll get you something to8. "I couldn't bear to look into his9eyes. When I carried some bread to him, I felt a little10at offering so little. After I returned to the house, I dropped into the armchair.
“Mama, where are you?" I struggled to my feet and found Alice sitting at the kitchen table. Mama, Acme Stores are, 11next week. The employment officer said girls would be hired, 12they were properly dressed. That means a decent pair of shoes, Mama! "My heart ached and I stepped to13her with a hug. "Honey, we have a whole14to work on it. Maybe something will come our way." "That's what you always say, Mama. What's the use of15?"
The week16the boy's stop at my garden, I watered, as usual. A f1lash of white in the mailbox17my eye. The18contained a note: "To the lady in the garden: I got a job after you19me and let me rest. You helped me feel and look20.Now, let me help you." Folded within the paper were eight one-dollar bills.
Playing video games casually can be a great way to have fun. However, if you're so focused gaming that it feels like it's taking over your life, you may have a video game addiction. It is no joke. The WHO in 2018 (official) classified it as a mental health condition, (call) gaming disorder. Fortunately, here (be) things you can do to get it controlled.
Give yourself a strict time limit for daily play. Don't give it up if you end up playing (long) than you meant to-it's tally normal! Try to learn from happened and think of a way to avoid it next time. If this still doesn't work, ask (friend) and family to help you. Have them check in with you to make sure you are not playing.
Keep gaming devices inaccessible. If there is a mobile phone or computer in your room, you may (attract) to stay up playing. Make your room a screen-free zone (stay) away from late-night gaming.
It was a rainy November morning .Overcome with anger I knew if I didn't leave the house soon I would lose my temper with my husband, Joe. As rain came down in sheets, Joe offered to take me to work. I struggled into my jacket, seized my bag and teaching plans and ignored him.
He insisted and reached for his boots. I looked at the piles of newspapers and the dirty dishes still on the table. "Don't you have enough to do? I can take care of myself. "I stormed out, not even kissing him good-bye. Joe shouted after me not to take the shortcut(捷径)。
Joe and I had been eagerly looking forward to our retirement when a heart attack that past spring forced him to leave his job earlier than we had planned. As the medical bills mounted we realized I would have to continue working full-time while Joe stayed home and took over the housework.
The new arrangement was a disaster. Exhausted after a day of full work, all I wanted was a hot home cooked meal and a good night's sleep. However, what greeted me at the table was a microwave package. Sometimes he would serve oatmeal(燕爱) for several nights in a row. One night when I dragged myself to bed, I was terrified to discover Joe had turned our white sheets blue: He told me he had found out how to save on water, soap and electricity. He patted his blue trousers and announced proudly washing everything together was just the secret.
Ten minutes later, ignoring Joe' s warning I turned off the main route(道路)。I thought it hadn't rained enough to flood the road, but as I rounded the corner water rushed across my path. After a few feet, the car got stuck. I opened the door and water poured in. I hurriedly closed the door. I couldn't risk walking in this. Almost 20 minutes passed. The car began to shake. I got frightened to death when I heard three long honks(喇叭声)。
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）应使用5个以上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。
Paragraph 1:
Looking over my shoulder, I stared into the flashing lights of a truck. ……
Paragraph 2:
I screamed that I couldn't make it. ……
