Paris is the most wooded city in Europe, and around one quarter of its area is taken up by parks, gardens and other green spaces.
Jardin des Plantes: over 28 hectares
This impressive botanical garden is home to four museums, including the Natural History Museum, which houses a variety of African animals. The gardens themselves boast thousands of species of plants. This is a lovely place to relax and explore the beautiful surroundings.
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont: over 24 hectares
If you want to get off the tourist trail and hang out with true Parisians, this park is the perfect spot for a relaxing picnic or a leisurely wander. It is in the 19th district and is one of the largest parks in Paris. Cross its lake on the suspension bridge, or admire the waterfalls and attractive temples.
Jardin du Luxembourg: over 25 hectares
These beautiful gardens were first laid out in 1612 as the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace. They include a geometric forest, French and English style gardens, as well as a large pond. There is so much to see and do with activities especially for children, such as slides, rides and puppet shows, as well as leisure and sporting activities for adults. The gardens are home to more than one hundred sculptures.
Le Parc de la Villette: 55 hectares
This urban cultural park is so much more than just a park as it is home to numerous music venues, exhibition spaces and cafes. It is also home to no less than 12 gardens, which all follow different themes. The Passenger Gardens, for example, which are built on what was once the sheep market, support a variety of ecosystems, demonstrating the importance of biodiversity.
When Amanda Lemay heard the story about a baker and her husband who were traveling around the United States in a van (厢式货车), learning from expert bakers, she wanted to do something similar. So she got rid of most of her possessions and made an old ambulance with her dad into a lovely home on wheels.
Lemay's ambulance is actually a former emergency response vehicle for the US Navy, built on a 2006 Ford E350 Cutaway. Renovations (改装) were done by her and her dad. Now the dark blue vehicle has a lot of built-in cabinets on all sides, offering a lot of storage space, while the rooftop has 400-watts of solar power panels and a small roof deck where Lemay practices Yoga. The inside is tastefully done to suit Lemay's work and hobbies.
As Lemay mentions, not only did her father help, but also the rest of her family. Lemay's mother helped sew the decorations on the removable cushions, and her sister crafted the leather pulls. It was truly a family affair.
Her current nomadic (流浪式的) lifestyle fits well with her work doing audiobooks, voiceovers ,and publishing work. In the end, this unexpected path has Lemay rethinking what it means to be truly sustainable, now that van life has gotten her to become minutely aware of the water, electricity, and other daily resources that she uses. But all these day-to-day concerns are balanced with a greater sense of freedom.
"It's almost mind-blowing, it feels like a completely different life because I'm doing the work online, and I can do things on my own schedule. Most of my days are mine— so by living in the van, I can be where I want to be, and do the things I want to do, and spend time outside.
I became aware of my stutter (结巴) when I was around 9, in the fourth grade. I began to see how other people viewed me. When the teacher asked the whole class questions, I never raised my hand though I knew the answer, because I knew I would stutter. Some kids would tell me that I talked funny, ask why I didn't talk normally, or laugh at me. As soon as that started to happen, I became more introverted (内向的).
It wasn't until the summer of 2015, before freshman year at high school. All my friends and my parents encouraged me to join the high school football team. I owed much to them, especially Coach Lane who taught me how to play football. He took the time-and had the patience-to actually teach me what to do, how to do it and how to understand the concepts of play.
In junior year, I started my first game for the high school team. I had a very good season and in January 2018, I signed the University of North Carolina. The older we get, the more of an understanding we have about the world and other people. So the first time my teammates in college heard me talk and heard that I stuttered, they did not say a thing. That was a big deal to me because I was so used to people making comments. My teammates actually tell me to slow down because talking faster causes me to stutter more. It's really helped me develop confidence.
Whenever I go back home to Georgia, I volunteer with children at my church, including those who have learning disabilities. I like to do that to inspire them with confidence. I had confidence issues when I was a kid because of my stutter, so I just don't want them to have to go through what I did. In the future, I would like to start a foundation to give back to people who stutter and create a program where kids all across the world who have a stutter can have a safe space.
The Amazon rainforest, is as undisturbed a place as most people can imagine, but even there, the effects of a changing climate are playing out. Now, research suggests that many of the region's most sensitive bird species are starting to evolve in response to warming.
Birds are often considered sentinel（哨兵）species-meaning that they indicate the overall health of an ecosystem-so scientists are particularly interested in how they're responding to climate change. In general, the news has not been good. For instance, a 2019 report by the National Audubon Society found that more than two-thirds of North America's bird species will be in danger of extinction by 2100 if warming trends continue on their current course.
For the new study, researchers collected the biggest dataset so far on the Amazon's resident birds, representing 77 non-migratory species and lasting the 40 years from 1979 to 2019. During the study period, the average temperature in the region rose, while the amount of rainfall declined, making for a hotter, dryer climate overall. According to the report on November 12 in the journal Science Advances, 36 species have lost substantial weight, as much as 2 percent of their body weight per decade since 1980. Meanwhile, all the species showed some decrease in average body mass, while a third grew longer wings.
Because of the study's long time series and large sample sizes, the authors were able to show the morphological（形态学的）effects of climate change on resident birds. However, the researchers themselves are unsure and wonder what advantage the wing length changes give the birds, but suppose smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool. In general, smaller animals have a larger rate of surface area to body size, so they dissipate more heat faster than a bigger animal. Less available food, such as fruit or insects, in dryer weather might lead to smaller body size.
In a recent survey in America, 62% of people said that creativity was more important to success in the workplace than they had expected when they were in school.
is of course possible to scan people's brains and see which parts are working when an idea is created. It can also be considered as something that can't be identified. Creativity is what comes to you when you least expect it. You cannot demand creativity from your mind.
One misunderstanding about creativity is that it is just for some special people. This is not true. Another is that creativity is all about the arts but this simply isn't true creativity relates to maths and science in just the way it does to music and literature.
Those who see things differently from others and try to make their ideas a reality are the ones who make the greatest changes in the world. Therefore, it is important that schools do not prevent creativity. Students should be taught to ask questions and investigate when things do not make sense.
It is worrying that many schools are less concerned now with creativity when this is actually the most important time in history for it. People used to study hard, go to university, and get a job. That was it. But now, everyone works hard, goes to university and there aren't the jobs out there that ensure a safe future. We can use it to set ourselves apart and channel it to face the challenges of the future.
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A. Everyone can be creative. B. Creativity is connected with many aspects C. However, creativity can be acquired at any age. D. Instead, they should work to grow and exercise it. E. It's hard to work out where exactly creativity comes from. F. Without creativity, we can't set ourselves apart from others. G. They need to learn to see problems as opportunities for learning rather than something unsuccessful. |
Jake and Max Klein are twin brothers who have a passion for volunteering. Their family have always done community 1 .At a young age, they chose to 2 family's gifts at their birthday parties, but asked them to donate money to a charity. When they were seven, Jake and Max were interested in 3 with a family friend at the local homeless shelter to help cook. 4 ， he turned them down because they were too 5 and they had to be fourteen to cook. This led them on an endless 6 to come up with a way to help other kids who were also facing a 7 challenging: wanting to help but 8 because of their age.
So, Kids That Do Good was 9 to "show ways to kids or adults, at any age, they could join the community and make a 10 .The small 11 has grown into a large website that brings thousands of 12 visitors each year. Jake and Max say that their website brings 35,000 unique viewers, of those viewers, Kids That Do Good has 13 kids to 16,000 organizations.
Jake and Max are 14 with school and after-class activities and other community service promises. Kids That Do Good also has blog posts that advise kids on 15 their own charitable event.
Many years ago in a small village, an old man (hire) to clear the spring (泉水) up on the mountain. He patrolled (巡逻) the spring every day, and swept away all the leaves and other things that would dirty the fresh flow of water. Soon, beautiful swans (天鹅) came to the clear spring and with time (go) on, the village became a popular (attract) for visitors.
Years passed. One evening the town leaders thought unnecessary to keep this old man on year after year and so the old man was asked to leave.
For several weeks, nothing changed. By early autumn, the leaves began to fall the trees, and the spring was covered with leaves. A few days later, the water was much (dark). Only a few months after the old man left, all the swans left, as did the tourists. Disease reached deeply into the village.
Quickly, the leaders held a special meeting. Realizing their decision to fire the man was not(reason), they rehired the old man. Since then, the village (enjoy) great popularity among the tourist.
So, your work or your life seems to be small, never overlook it. Anything we can do will makedifference.
Days of January were passing and every girl of the girls' school was very happy as the selections for plays and dances for the annual function were started.
Sneha's class teacher, Pravina, asked Sneha, her favorite student, to play the leading character in a play. Because she was never allowed to play a male character, Sneha jumped with joy, but suddenly she became so serious about the costumes (戏服).
“How many times I have to tell you not to participate in plays and dances! Can't you understand that we can't buy or borrow the costly costume? You can take part in debates, quizes, or essay competitions in which you don't have to spend money and you can enrich your knowledge.” her mother said angrily when Sneha told her about it.
The reason behind all this was their financial condition. Sneha always had an idea about it in her home and she was mature enough to say NO to any money demanding condition. This time, however, the desire of fame and the excitement of the activity were overcoming her fear.
Sneha went in her room hiding her sadness deep in her heart. She was so nervous about what was going to happen when she would tell Pravina about leaving the play. Would she warn her not to allow her in any competition? Now it was clear that she had to leave the play.
The next day, downhearted Sneha acted like nothing had happened and got ready for school. Her mom ordered her to say NO for the play.
Sneha always loved Pravina because whenever there was a play or dance, the girls did not need to be worried about anything related with money. She would find a way to help. But Sneha didn't want to tell her the truth.
Paragraph 1:
Sneha went to the teacher,“I don't want to take part in the play and I'm leaving.”
Paragraph 2:
Pravina stood patiently, waiting for the performance to begin.
