I'd just finished some shopping, and was getting ready to leave the supermarket's parking lot, when I heard music coming from the area of the shopping carts(购物车). I knew it was someone I knew, well—the beggar, I couldn't really call him.
He never begged. It was more like he was open to accepting presents. He never had a sign out, never spoke and never looked at you to beg. He would just sit quietly on the side of the entrance, out of the way, have a little box outside, and thank everyone very politely who gave him something.
He didn't look like the many people I knew in my town who lived on the streets. His clothes always looked quite clean. I often wondered how he'd gotten to live on the streets. And he was playing his guitar, just like the last time I'd seen him in summer. He hadn't noticed me then, being so deep into his music.
I started to talk to him. He told me that he had been an epileptic(癫痫患者) as a child and as a young man now, and he couldn't even get the job the social services try to offer people like him—everybody seemed afraid of the duty, even though he'd had no seizure (发作) for the past 13 years.
I started feeling sorry for him, but then he said, "I've made my peace with that. I'm happy I got an apartment," He said he'd gotten so much help, and he wanted to try to give back, starting with the music.
I was so happy that he remembered his love for music, and shared his music with the people passing by. I was glad he found an apartment, and had the inner strength not to let himself down, and as he said, "found my faith again".
Every summer, my family and I visit our relatives in India and whenever we travel, my parents always remind me to drink only bottled or boiled water. On one of my trips to India, I saw children drinking water from the roadside. I was troubled to learn that millions of people, most of them children in developing countries, die each year because of water-related diseases.
Living in the US, I am lucky to be able to turn on the tap and get potable water(饮用水), while one sixth of the world's population lacks access to clean water. This year, I entered the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. In late June, I learnt that I was selected as one of the top 10 national finalists of this famous middle school science competition. Over the summer, I worked with Dr Jim Jonza, my scientist mentor(导师) from 3M, and developed a system that uses solar energy to purify water. My invention is green and cost-effective, and I am looking forward to implementing this in places that are affected by harmful water pollution.
In October, my family and I flew to 3M Headquarters in St Paul, Minnesota, where the final event was to be held. For the last challenge, each of us had to present the invention we had been working on over the summer. The first place winner would win $25,000, a trip to Costa Rica, and the title of America's Top Young Scientist. At the awards ceremony, all of us waited anxiously until one of the judges, Danny Forester, started announcing, "The winner of the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is …" You could hear a pin (大头针) drop as he opened the paper with the winner's name, "Deepika Kurup!"
As America's Top Young Scientist, I was given an opportunity to show my invention on national television and deliver several presentations. One of the most important things I have learnt is that communication and teamwork are key to success.
Born in a fishing village in Japan, Fujiyama, 25, recalls a childhood controlled by health concerns. Debtors told his parents that he had a hole in his heart and "they didn't think I had a lot longer to live". But during a later visit to the doctor, his family learned the hole had closed. "Somehow I was cured and I became a normal kid," Fujiyama says. "And I had a second chance. "
During his second year at the University of Mary Washington, he volunteered in Honduras with a campus group and was struck by the extreme poverty he saw—barefoot children collecting cans and sleeping in the streets. Fujiyama realised he could help give other children their own second chance.
Today, his organisation, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need.
He started by telling his friends about his experience and collecting spare change at his two campus jobs. "When I had my very first meeting, only two people showed up," he says. "I knew I had to keep fighting. " He persuaded his younger sister, Cosmo, to join the cause. "She's dynamite," he says. "When she talks in front of a crowd, she can move mountains. Knowing that she was behind it, I knew I could do anything. " Since 2006, the siblings' organisation has grown to 25 campuses and raised more than $ 750,000 to fund projects, including the construction of two schools and the establishment of scholarships to help young women attend college.
Fujiyama says students are deeply committed to the organisation. They raise money and then travel to Honduras to help building houses. While Fujiyama spends his summers in Honduras working alongside volunteers, he spends a large portion of the year on the road visiting colleges to raise funds. Cosmo Fujiyama, 23, lives in Honduras full time to coordinate(协调) the group's building efforts on the ground.
Students Helping Honduras is working with community members of Siete de Abril to build a new village. Many of the families lost their belongings in Hurricane Mitch in 1998. A lot of them didn't have access to clean water or health care, and they didn't have a school. Fujiyama's group helped build 44 homes in the village named "Sunshine Village". The organisation is also raising funds to build a water tower, an eco-friendly sanitation system and a library.
A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night's sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off(打瞌睡)—if it is milked from a cow at night.
Researchers have discovered that "night milk" contains more melatonin(褪黑激素), which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety(焦虑). The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder(奶粉) made from cows milked both during the day and at night. Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.
Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer. While the effect of cow milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who have trouble falling asleep at night.
Previous studies have also showed that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content, which helps people to relax.
Sarah Hutchins has won a prize from Amazon. com in a competition for young inventors. She invented "camoculars"! Now what are "camoculars"? Camoculars are binoculars(双筒望远镜) and a camera combined. Amazon, com, a web company, organised a competition for young inventors.
Sarah was at a concert when she thought of her invention. "I was sitting a long way from the stage and I was watching the band through my binoculars. While I was watching, I thought, '' Then I got an idea. Why not have binoculars with a camera inside them?"
When she got home, she took some plastic binoculars and a cheap camera and put them together.
So Sarah sent her idea to Amazon. com and two months later, she got a surprise. They didn't give her the top prize in the competition, but she won $ 1,000 and a trip to New York.
People are already asking Sarah what she is going to invent next, "I don't know," says Sarah. "If you just sit there and think, you won't invent anything, because you get ideas at strange moments. "
A. Sarah likes music very much.
B. I'd love to be able to take a picture of this!
C. Amazon. com phoned to say that she was a winner.
D. I have always dreamed of travelling around New York.
E. The only thing I can do is keep my eyes and ears open!
F. Her sister was watching her and told her about the competition.
G. Sarah was one of thousands of young people who took part in this competition.
I was appointed to tend to this patient several weeks ago and began to grow closer to her. Communicating with her was 1 because everything she wanted to say to me had to be written on a notepad. As a nursing graduate, I was able to read her mind by observing even a slight 2 in a patient's facial expression.
One day, when I was checking the patient, she 3 me on the shoulder to show me a note, "Do you think I could leave the hospital in a month to see my niece get married?" Taking her hand in mine, I told her that I could not 4 her, because I did not want to leave her a false sense of hope. 5 , I made her believe that I would be there with her every step of the way on her journey toward 6 . Hearing that, the patient gave me a 7 and a hug.
Day by day, I built her 8 by walking around the floor with her. As I did this, I could see before my own eyes that her health was 9 improving and that she was able to walk more steadily. On her last day in hospital, just before her niece's 10 , she wrote me one last note, "I couldn't have done this 11 you; I love you." After kissing goodbye, I had a strong sense of achievement. I realized that moments like this were 12 I woke up early for work in the hospital and spent long hours with her. I truly felt, as her 13 confirmed, that I was an 14 part of this woman's recovery. My experience with this patient shows me that this career allows me to touch the lives of people in ways that people in other 15 will never get to experience.
Ideas for Creating a Small Invention
A small invention can do big things when it comes to (make) a task easier to do. When looking for a small (invent) idea, start by checking your kitchen drawers. Is there something you need to help you in a task? Look in the bathroom and see you can improve on the way something works. If you can create an item(物品) that does a job around the house, you have a small invention of your own.
Kitchen
Dinner plates have not changed in centuries except for the different materials (use) to make them. When you need to store leftover dinners, you usually get them (wrap) in aluminum foil(铝箔) and plastic wrap. Dinner plate covers would save money and look much (clean) than the usual usable covers.
A spaghetti drainer(滤干器) (flexibility) enough to fit inside a pot would be a tool every cook would have in stock. You would be able to take the pasta out of the boiling water and drain it at the same time, (save) the cook from picking up a heavy pot of boiling water.
Bathroom
A bathroom toilet paper dispenser (分配器) that has extra roll ready will solve the problem of running out of the necessary tissue paper. This can offer a rescue when your inconsiderate family member (empty) the toilet paper roll.
Last week, I watched an old couple when they walked through a local thrift (节俭) store. I had just dropped off a bag of clothes and a few other items I no longer wanted. When I got the opportunity, I stopped by just to look through the old records. Yes, I called them records, not CDs or MP3s, simply records, those round plastic things from ancient times that had music recorded on them.
Anyway, this couple moved slowly around me in search of items they had on a list they held tight in hand. They didn't say much, but occasionally talked with the other and picked an item up. "No, it's not suitable for her and she dislikes it," one would say and move on.
My curiosity always got the best of me until I satisfied it by asking. "Can I help you find something?" I asked. They stopped, looking at me. Then the man said, "We are looking for old things that look new. Look, every new year in the past we tried to begin the year with new things. It was a goal to surround ourselves with things fresh and new so that we had new direction, new hopes and dreams for the year ahead. More importantly, we can give some gifts to Eva. "
"Eva? Who is she?" I asked. "She is a lovely 10-year-old girl we adopted three years ago. Her parents died in a serious traffic accident. She always wants to be a singer," the man replied. When hearing those words, I felt sad and said, "I'm sorry for the girl. Can you tell me how does your search work out?" The lady sighed and said, "It took a long time for us to find a special gift, but we discovered it was in vain (徒劳的). "
I knew it's difficult for the couple to solve the problem, so I decided to take action immediately. I said to the couplet can do you a favor. Please wait here for me.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I turned around and ran out of the store.
……
When I returned to the store, the couple sat near the counter (柜台).
