From Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon to Mount Mckinley, Americansare surrounded by some of the most wonderful places on Earth. But what aboutAmerica's less-known scenic beauty? Here are such places.
CraterLake, Oregon
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and theseventh deepest in the world. It was formed by a volcanic eruption over 7, 000years ago. There is much to do in Crater Lake National Park. While enjoying thenatural scenic wonders, park visitors may hike in old-growth forests, fish, campout, or even ski in winter.
IsleRoyale, Michigan
Isle Royale National Park is the only national park inMichigan and the only island national park in the USA. Accessible only by boator plane, Isle Royale creates a unique ecosystem with the most untouchedwildlife. Beautiful wilderness and the ability of life to adopt make this parktruly special.
GuadalupeMountains, Texas
Although Guadalupe Mountains National Park is located in adesert, one of the biggest attractions is a well-preserved, 250-million-year-oldfossilized Coral Reef, a reminder of how much life and landscape can change. OnGuadalupe Mountains, the temperatures at higher altitudes are cool enough formany plants to grow, resulting in a colorful autumn.
CongareeNational Park, South Carolina
As a national monument established in 1976, it became anational park in 2003. The Congaree National Park is home to the largest oldgrowth floodplain forest in North America, It has over 20 miles of hikingtrails and boating opportunities. Fishing is allowed in the park but requires aSouth Carolina fishing license. It is a great place to have fun in outer space.
One day in summer, as Terrypassed through the crossroads, a truck ran a red light, crashing into his carviolently, throwing him out of his seat belt and sending him flying five metersthrough the air. Within minutes, Terry's unconscious body was picked up by the medicalworkers at the side of the road. Noticing his skin had taken on a deep bluecolor — indicating a lack ofoxygen — the medical workers put apipe down Terry's throat, and he was rushed to nearby Oshawa General Hospital." By the time Terry came in, we were ready and waiting for him, "said Marianne Timmermans, one of the nurses who initially worked on him. He wasin severe condition.
Moments later, policearrived with the news. Lorraine, Terry's wife, remembered seeing him in theIntensive Care Unit for the first time after the accident. There was nothingbut ma-chines all over him. He wasn't a pretty sight. He lay deep in a coma (昏迷). But Terry's powers of recovery were as unbelievable as hisinjuries seemed to be. Three weeks after being thrown from his vehicle, he cameout of his coma. Although he was by all appearances intact, Terry would soonreveal an injury far more severe than whatever damage had been done to his body.
When Terry awoke from hiscoma, he had been all but reduced to the level of a child. Everything from hisability to talk and walk to his understanding of what it meant to be a husbandand a father seemed gone. Much as Terry had a problem, he never gave up and healso had the support of his family, marked by small victories and a renewedbond between him and his three daughters when they taught him how to playfootball again.
It has taken years torebuild his shattered life, but today, more than 20 years since his playingdays, Terry is a highly popular motivational speaker. He tells his story ofperseverance and courage and family's support in his presentation Seize Each Day.
A new study published by Dan Johnson ofWashington and Lee University shows experimentally that reading fictionincreases empathy (共情).
The participants were asked to read a shortstory and report their mood. Then, in a staged accident, the experimenterknocked over several pens and recorded whether the participants helped pickthem up. They found that the more people were transported into the story, themore likely they were to help pick up the dropped pens. Those who engaged moredeeply with the fictional characters also showed more empathy for the real-lifeperson.
Empathy, like patience appears to be a characterthat can be improved with practice. Study has shown the more students readbooks, especially storybooks, the better they are at understanding the emotionsof others. However, researchers at the University of Michigan reported lastyear that empathy among college students had declined during the past 30 years,with an especially steep drop in the last decade. The reason is plain to see.
It's important to understand where empathy comesfrom in the first place. Looking at the evolution of the human mind, it hasbeen suggested that the ability to process hypothetical scenarios (假设情景) of what another person might be thinking provided an advantageto our early ancestors. Empathy may have arisen from one of the mostfundamental human characteristics—the ability to cheat.
Storytelling is essentially just a kind of art. IsHarry Potter real? No, but by projecting ourselves into his story, we'reengaging a very real part of our brain. That sense of escape or socialparticipation often is what makes books so enjoyable. Unfortunately, books arefalling out of style. The cause of this is partially due to e book sales, whichhave arisen greatly over the past few years and taken a share out of thephysical book market without necessarily indicating a decline in reading.
Even though some of us would like to, we can'tblame the digital retailers for our decreased empathy. In fact, some peopleprobably read more with their more convenient e-readers than ever before withhard copies. It's the culture of reading in general that needs to change.
Industry must speed upinvestment in new technologies that allow manufacture (大量制造) of materials using renewable electricity if net zero emission (排放) targets are to be met, research led by the University of Leedswarns.
Ensuring that noelectricity is produced from fossil fuels by 2050 is vital for achieving netzero. However, its effect will be limited if industry cannot use this electricity.Steel manufacturing alone accounts for a tenth of all carbon dioxide (CO2)emission in industrialised countries but latest estimates suggest newtechnologies to manufacture steel using electricity will not become fullyoperational until at least 2040.
The lead author of thestudy, Dr Alan Grainger, from the University of Leeds School of Geography, said," Delays in replacing existing steel manufacturing capacity represent acrucial ‘lock in' constraint (约束) on achieving net zero." Humanity's great dependence on steel, which accounts for 94% of allmetal production, is a huge blockage that cannot be ignored, The UK Net Zero Strategy, published lastweek, recognizes this problem, but lacks detail on how to deal with it.
Governments shouldstrengthen international carbon reporting standards for energy-intensiveindustries, the paper says, so that total levels of CO2 productionduring the manufacture and lifetime of materials can be measured more obviouslyin assessing progress towards national net zero targets. The carbon price alsoneeds to rise to make it economically viable (可行的) to introduce newmanufacturing technologies with low CO2 emission.
The amount of stuff we own these days is shocking. Reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. The number should cause us to start asking some difficult questions of ourselves. For example, why do we buy more stuff than we need?
We think it will make ushappy. But in reality, we buy bigger houses, faster cars, cooler technology and fashionable clothes, hoping that we will become happier. Unfortunately, the actual happiness from excessive physical possessions is brief at best.
We are more susceptible to advertising than we believe. Every advertisement carries the same message — your life will be better if you buy what we are selling. We begin to hear this message so many times and from so many angles and begin to believe it. This is not a complete condemnation of the marketing industry. This is simply a call to realize their message affects us more than we realize.
Comparison seems to be a natural state of our humanity. We notice what other people are buying, wearing, and driving. We admire them. And all too often, we buy stuff we don't need just because people in our friendship circles have done the same. A culture focused on praising excess will always misdefinetrue success.
Extra material possessions do not enrich our lives. We would be wise to realize the cause and overcome it.
A. We are hoping to impress other people.
B. We envy people who own more stuff.
C. On average, we see 5, 000 advertisements every day.
D. Here are several reasons why we buy more stuff than we need.
E. Nobody would admit they search for happiness in material possessions.
F. We seek to recover from loss and loneliness by purchasing unnecessary items.
G. Actually, buying unnecessary things keeps us from experiencing something wonderful.
Born with a serious brain disease, Wesley Wee, a middle-aged man finds it difficult to control most of his muscles. He is 1 in a wheelchair due to the language barrier and inability to dress or feed himself, so writing a book seems out of the 2. However, as you can imagine, his3disabilities didn't stop the ambitious man from spending five years 4every letter in his inspiring book, Finding Happiness Against the Odds, with just his big right toe. And the book will be 5 later this month. "With my story, I want to tell others with disability not to 6 hope. If I had given up hope, I wouldn't behere today, "he said.
Growing up, Wesley faced 7 from his own family who were embarrassed about his condition. His mother would hit him and say, "You are good for 8. It is better you die. "His father forced him to do a one-hour 9 every night, in an attempt to make him walk normally. At one point, life became too much to 10 for Wesley, and he attempted to take his own life not once but four times.
11, his grandmother loved him. She cared for him on weekends and 12 he received an education at the Spastic Children's Association even though hisparents thought it would be wasted on him.
Now Wesley has bigger dreams 13 earning just $1, 000 a month and he refuses to apply for government aid. He wants to 14 his own shoe business and hopefully after making profits he can adopt a disabled child. For now, he is focused on publishing his book and 15 others.
No matter where you usuallyhear today's top hits—the radio, Spotify, amixtape on your Sony Walkman — you've probably noticedthat they tend (be) around three minutes long.
As VOX — a classic record company — explains, the custom (date) back to the early 20th century, whenshellac records (虫胶唱片) first appeared in themarket. The rates at these records spun (旋转) varied, but 78 RPM (每分钟转数) quickly became the norm. Tworecord sizes contributed to its (popular): 10 inches — which could hold about three minutes of music per side—and 12 inches, which held (rough) four to five minutes per side. To getradio stations to broadcast their music and get people to buy it, (musician) pretty much had to accommodatethose time limits.
The late 1940s (see) the birth of the 45 RPM record: asmaller, cheaper disc that couldn't manage much more three minutes of music per side. Long-playingrecords (LPs) (introduce) around the same time, but it wasmuch easier for radio stations to play single tracks from 45 RPM record — whichcrowds of listeners then went out and bought. While 10-inch 78 RPM record hadoriginated the three-minute trend, 45 RPM record really helped make a necessity for radio singles throughout themid-20th century.
When the night fell, James,a middle school student in London, dragged his tired body home. In order tosave money to buy himself a new bike, he had been working at a restaurant forover a month during the summer vacation. He had already earned some money. Withone more week, he would have his dream bike.
Entering the room, Jamesfound his younger brother Adam sitting on the edge of his bed with an uneasyexpression on his face. James stared at Adam confusedly.
"Sorry. I didsomething wrong, " Adam said, on the verge of tears.
"What's the matterwith you?" James asked.
"This afternoon I wentto play football on the road outside the house and accidentally hit ourneighbor Mr. Black's car. I was so scared and I hurried home in panic withouttelling him, " Adam said, full of guilt.
"Is the car seriouslydamaged?" James couldn't wait to continue asking.
"The ball hit the carback and the tail light got broken" Adam said in a low voice.
"It's truly your fault.It's really dangerous to play football on the road. What's worse you shouldn'thave come back without telling Mr. Black about it. You are such a naughty boy," James raised his voice. Hearing this, Adam lowered his head and bit hislips hard. James added, "Anyway, it's never too late to mend. I'11 takeyou to his house tomorrow to apologize. Now it's time to sleep. "
When Adam went bed, Jamescouldn't go to sleep himself. Father always told him to be honest, to be a boyadmired by the people and to be an example of his brother. He was sorry for hisbrother's behavior. He shouldn't have blamed his brother after he did somethingwrong. But he could understand him. Anyway, Adam was only a boy of seven andwhat had happened really scared him. But as his elder brother, he should payfor it though this might delay his plan of having the bike. "Nothingserious. At worst, I can take more summer jobs, " he said to himself.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右;
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James got up early the next morning.
Mr. Black was a little surprised to see the brothers.
