In 1823, a young woman noticed a strange fossil on a beach near Lyme Regis, England. She dug out the bones and had them carried to her home. She carefully arranged the skeleton on a table. Then she saw something extraordinary. The creature's neck was a meter long-more than half the length of its body. It was unlike any animal living on Earth.
Even at a young age, Mary Anning had a talent for spotting "curies" fossils. Her father died in 1810, leaving her family in debt, so Mary began selling her fossils to collectors. A year later, aged just 12, she made her first major discovery—a crocodile-like skull with a long skeleton. It turned out to be a sea creature that lived long ago. Named ichthyosaur, or "fish-lizard", it was the first extinct animal known to science.
Fossil hunting brought in money, but it was a dangerous occupation. One day, a rock fall killed her dog and almost buried Mary. Despite the dangers, she continued to look for new finds. The long-necked fossil she uncovered in 1823 was another long-dead sea reptile. Known as a plesiosaur, it would inspire legends—including that of the Loch Ness Monster.
Mary was not only a skilled fossil hunter, she also carefully examined and recorded her finds. However, she received little credit from other scientists. Only one of her scientific writings was published in her lifetime, in 1839. She was also not allowed to join London's Geological Society, as only men could become members.
Mary Anning died in 1847, but her contributions have not been forgotten. Her finds are now displayed in museums in London and Paris. The beach near her home is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known as the Jurassic Coast. Her life continues to inspire visitors hoping to find their own fossil wonders. According to Britain's Natural History Museum, Mary Anning was "the greatest fossil hunter the world has ever known". She was also a scientist who changed the way we think about life on Earth.
A robot the size of a large bulldozer（推土机）moves along the bottom of the deep sea. It eats metallic.（含金属的）rock and soft mud. The stuff travels up a long pipe to a ship, where workers and machinery separate out the rock and throw the mud back into the ocean. This is a mining operation. The rock contains a mixture of metals, including ones called rare earth metals. People use these materials to make batteries and electronics like computers and phones.
Deep-sea mining hasn't happened yet. But it probably will occur within the next decade. No country owns any part of the deep sea. So an organization called the International Seabed Authority（ISA）decides who is allowed to mine there. The ISA has allowed 29 organizations to explore the deep sea and make plans for mining. One company plans to begin mining in the year 2027.
Scientists and environmentalists, though, warn that mining could destroy deep-sea ecosystem. In 1989, ecologist Hjalmar Thiel carried out a test. His team searched the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean, in a spot with lots of the metallic rocks that miners want. They didn't actually collect any of the rocks. But they disturbed the mud, just as a mining operation would. The plume（飘升之物）of mud fell back down over the ocean floor burying creatures living there. As of 2015, the area they disturbed had not recovered. Signs of the search are still there. Sponges（海绵动物）, corals, and other animals have not moved back in. That means mining could have harmful, long-lasting consequences for deep ocean life. Scientists want to understand the deep sea better before disturbing it.
Leaving the deep sea alone sounds great, but people need those metals. "Mines on land are soon going to run out," geologist Steven Scott of the University of Toronto told Smithsonian Magazine, "Every electronic device in the world has rare earth metals in it…we need raw resources." New energy technologies including solar and wind power and electric cars, rely on these metals as well. We may need to mine them from the sea in order to switch to greener energy sources.
Every summer, the calls of thousands of swamp sparrows can be heard across North America's wetlands. These little brown birds know only a few songs, but they know them very well. In fact, their musical set list probably hasn't changed much for centuries.
Like humans, baby swamp sparrows learn to communicate by copying adults. From a young age, they learn to copy, or mimic, songs sung by their elders. "Swamp sparrows very rarely make mistakes when they learn their songs," says biologist Robert Lachlan. In fact, their mimicry is so accurate that the music changes little between generations.
Just like children, the sparrows don't remember every song they hear. Lachlan says. "They don't just learn songs at random; they pick up commoner songs rather than rarer songs." In other words, they learn songs they hear most often. It's an example of a strategy that scientists call conformist bias. Until recently, this learning ability was thought to be special only to humans.
Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male swamp sparrows across the northeastern United States. The researchers used computer software to break each song into a collection of notes, or syllables. They then measured the differences between the tunes.
The research revealed that only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a different song from the standard tune. The combination of accurate mimicry and conformist bias allows the birds to create traditions that last for centuries. "With those two ingredients together, you end up with traditions that are really stable," says Lachlan. "The song-types that you hear in the marshes（湿地）of North America today may well have been there 1,000 years ago." Lachlan's study is also among the first to measure the longevity of song traditions within a bird species.
The findings are really exciting, says scientist Andrew Farnsworth. He hopes that future research will evolve from these studies. For example, scientists may be able to identify how other animals are able to preserve their cultural traditions. "Seeing the potential for it in other organisms is super cool," says Farnsworth.
For average working people, they normally change their careers five to seven times throughout their whole lives. Without that, you are just a dreamer.
It happens that you neglect thinking about your career when you are busy, but you must spend time considering your current situation and your ideal career path to develop a specific career plan. When you have a better understanding of yourself and what you want, you are more likely to make a plan that suits your goals and lifestyle. By this kind of self-reflection, you will discover the type of career you want.
You probably need SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to prepare for success. Studies prove that SMART goals work better when they are written down and shared with others. Sharing enhances your sense of responsibility while writing down allows you to commit them to memory. Therefore, you can always have access to them because they are kept in your subconscious.
Now that you have understood what you want and had your goals set and written down, it's time to make career decisions. And then think about how each path lines up with your values. Finally, evaluate how they could influence your future.
So how do you feel when talking about your career? Do you want to stay where you are or are you ready to make a change to take steps to achieve success?
A. The next step is to figure out how to get there.
B. Consider your long-term and short-term objectives.
C. First, list pros and cons of different decisions.
D. Reflecting on yourself and your needs is also necessary.
E. The best way to be prepared for a career change is to make a plan.
F. After you've obtained an understanding of the job, next comes the evaluation part.
G. Reflect, set goals, and make your decision, and you'll be on the right path in no time.
An off-duty pilot was called a "legend" after stepping in to fly a plane himself to stop the flight being cancelled.
Michael Bradley, a（n） 1 easyJet pilot, had a holiday when he 2 flying a plane that was delayed by two hours. He told passengers on board the Manchester Airport flight to Alicante that he was 3 his services as there was no pilot available. Mr. Bradley was filmed by passenger Michelle Potts making the 4 and Ms. Potts posted the video on Facebook.
Mr. Bradley said, "My wife was then with my little boy. She 5 and complained ‘Our flight's delayed by two hours because there's no 6 for the flight.' So just before we went through security I 7 if this is worth a phone call. I think it is because I'd like to go on holiday."
Mr. Bradley phoned up easyJet and said, "I'm standing in the 8 doing nothing. I have got my 9 with me and I'd very much like to go on holiday and if you need a（n） 10 , I'm standing here ready to go." And his bosses called him back in less than a minute to give him the go-ahead, saying, "Please, please, can you fly the airplane to Alicante?" Then he said to the passengers, "If you're alright for one of your pilots to 11 this today, we'll go to Alicante. " This was 12 with cheers from the passengers.
An easyJet spokesman said the flight's delay was due to the knock-on effects（连锁反应）of the French Air Traffic Control 13 on Sunday. He added, "We are 14 to one of our pilots who was 15 on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on 2nd, September with his family and 16 to operate the flight. This 17 customers could get to their destination and shows the 18 of our crew（全体机组人员）. This is 19 in line with regulations as he had his license and ID with him. Safety is always our 20 priority（优先事项）."
Peng Ling, a college student, received numerous advertising messages on her phone in the weeks （lead）up to this year's Double Eleven shopping festival. The confusing thing was some online shops were new to her. When our personal information is leaked for the purpose of marketing, can be quite annoying. But it would be even （bad）if our data is used for much more serious acts.
On Nov. 1st, the Personal Information Protection Law came into effect in China, which has detailed rules to （strong）the protection of personal information. law defines personal information as any kind of information about people who are or can be identified. There are also some kinds of personal information that （regard）as sensitive, such as fingerprints, faces, religious （believe）, etc.
individuals, it's important to raise awareness of protecting personal information. If you find your personal data has been used （legal）, you can report to consumer councils with evidence.
Dad handed me the bucket and the net with a long, wooden handle. He gave Paulie two dead fish wrapped in newspaper. They were tied up with string like a present. I held my nose, but Paulie held those fish like they were his best baseball cards.
"Since we all want crabs for supper, catch a whole bunch. But just in case you don't, we have leftover broccoli（花椰菜）." Dad said with a wink.
The salty air from Chesapeake Bay filled our noses. This was the best place in the world to catch blue crabs. They like grassy, shadowy water, so Paulie and I headed for our old wooden dock. It was hot, and I sat down and swung my legs over the edge, into the cool water. Paulie struggled to tie the string to one of the slippery fish. Then he slid the extra fish into the bucket and set it in the dark water under the dock for later.
"Here." Paulie handed me the baited string. "Dangle（提着）this down in the water to call the crabs."
Crabs love smelly, old fish, so our first crab didn't take long to come. Its big claw clamped（紧夹住）the bait, and I raised the string real slow so Paulie could net it. But my legs swishing（发出刷刷声）in the water startled that crab, and it let go and floated back to the bottom like a leaf off a tree. Paulie brought up the net and stood there with the handle on the dock.
"Kathy, I can't believe you're going to be in third grade and can't sit still for one minute," he said.
"And I can't believe you're going to be in sixth grade and haven't caught any crabs yet."
I went back to dangling the fish.
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。
Paragraph 1:
"Well, get ready," he urged. “Here comes another one.”
Paragraph 2:
The sun began to set.
