Four new books to read
The books that are included in this list can meet your reading needs at any time of year.
Nobody Will Tell You This but Me Bess Kalb
In this book, the author shares the advice her beloved grandmother Bobby left her. Bobby was a powerful woman who should never be underestimated, and she was very knowledgeable about the family's traditions and secrets. The book proves that family bonds can endure through generations and beyond death.
We Came Here to Shine Susie Orman Schnall
We Came Here to Shine focuses on the strong female friendship between an aspiring journalist and an unlucky actress at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Leaning on each other, these two ambitious women struggled against adversity at a time when women had little say.
A Star Is Bored Byron Lane
Favored by television star Jonathan Van Ness, this novel is partly based on the author's experiences as the former personal assistant to Carrie Fisher, a legendary American actress. The book follows Charlie Besson, the new assistant to the Hollywood icon, Kathi Kannon. Their three-year journey together is an unforgettable adventure that is funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful.
Fast Girls Elise Hooper
The story in Fast Girls took place during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens overcame difficult pasts to attain Olympic glory as the world's fastest female athletes. Beyond the athletic journey, they also aimed to challenge the social standards of what females can achieve.
"Anyone knows single parents who can't afford to get their child's hair done for school? I will braid (编辫子) it for free!" Brittany Starks wrote on a Facebook post.
She decided to offer her hair braiding services after a family friend delivered backpacks full of school supplies, clothing and shoes for Cayden and Ceniyah in early August. "At the time, I didn't have anything for my kids to start school," said Starks, who is in between homes and staying with her mother. "It meant so much to me."
The unexpected gift made a big difference to Starks and her children, and it motivated her to pay it forward. Starks, who works two receptionist jobs, also braids hair part-time. "The hair-braiding process involves washing, blow-drying, and finally dividing the hair into small sections and braiding it. It also requires multiple supplies — including combs, brushes, hair jam and additional pieces of hair to weave in. It costs anywhere from $150 to $400 at a salon (美发厅), depending on the style," Stacks explained. "But it can last for months and is a huge timesaver in the mornings."
When she wrote the Facebook post, she assumed only a handful of people would reach out, but before she knew it, she had 35 appointments booked. Her Facebook inbox was suddenly full of messages from single parents, whose stories of hardship and financial challenges mirrored her own.
"There's a huge need for this. I could really relate to a lot of the women who reached out, and it made me realize that what I was doing was really important," said Stacks. "What got me the most was seeing the kids smile." Given that there was less than two weeks before the start of school, Starks knew she needed to enlist help.
In recent years, China has witnessed the growth of luxury (奢侈品) brands. In this market, Chinese consumers are now the largest spenders. It's clear that a new generation of young, materialistic people is increasingly relying on luxury brands to improve its self-image.
I am a fashionist too, at least in spirit—I love to look at clothes and shoes. But I don't understand why people spend lots of money on designer labels.
When a young woman buys a handbag that costs two months of her salary, that's a scary thing.
What's interesting is that scientists have found that having luxury things doesn't lead to happiness.
Study after study has shown that although we want material things, when we get them we don't suddenly become "happy" people. In fact, a series of studies by Leaf Van Boven at the University of Colorado, US, has shown that individuals who spend money on travel and similar experiences get more pleasure than those who invest it in material things. That's because experiences are more easily combined with a person's identity. If I travel to Yunnan, that adventure affects how I think in the future. My memories become a part of me.
Moreover, as Van Boven has observed, young people who pursue happiness through "things" are liked less by their peers. People prefer those who pursue happiness through experiences.
It's natural to want to express yourself through your appearance. So my advice is: create a look that isn't tied to a designer label. Convey your own message. Take some lessons from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He was always in Levis jeans and a black turtleneck. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, routinely appears in hoodies and sneakers. These people, successful people, have style. You don't have to break the bank to send a message about who you are.
Take a trip. Go out into the world. Then come back and confidently create your own signature look.
Quantum (量子) computers have been on my mind a lot lately. A friend has been sending me articles on how quantum computers might help solve some of the biggest challenges we face as humans. I've also had exchanges with two quantum-computing experts. One is computer scientist Chris Johnson who I see as someone who helps keep the field honest. The other is physicist Philip Taylor.
For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a laboratory curiosity. Now, big tech companies have invested in quantum computing, as have many smaller ones. According to Business Weekly, quantum machines could help us "cure cancer, and even take steps to turn climate change in the opposite direction." This is the sort of hype (炒作) that annoys Johnson. He worries that researchers are making promises they can't keep. "What's new," Johnson wrote, "is that millions of dollars are now potentially available to quantum computing researchers."
As quantum computing attracts more attention and funding, researchers may mislead investors, journalists, the public and, worst of all, themselves about their work's potential. If researchers can't keep their promises, excitement might give way to doubt, disappointment and anger, Johnson warns. Lots of other technologies have gone through stages of excitement. But something about quantum computing makes it especially prone to hype, Johnson suggests, perhaps because "‘quantum' stands for something cool you shouldn't be able to understand." And that brings me back to Taylor, who suggested that I read his book Q for Quantum.
After I read the book, Taylor patiently answered my questions about it. He also answered my questions about PyQuantum, the firm he co-founded in 2016. Taylor shares Johnson's concerns about hype, but he says those concerns do not apply to PyQuantum.
The company, he says, is closer than any other firm "by a very large margin ( 幅 度 )" to building a "useful" quantum computer, one that "solves an impactful problem that we would not have been able to solve otherwise." He adds, "People will naturally discount my opinions, but I have spent a lot of time quantitatively comparing what we are doing with others."
Could PyQuantum really be leading all the competition "by a wide margin", as Taylor claims? I don't know. I'm certainly not going to advise my friend or anyone else to invest in quantum computers. But I trust Taylor, just as I trust Johnson.
Most smartphones allow you to run location-sharing software that uses the phone's GPS capability to let friends and family know your exact location. There are lots of great uses for this technology.___So make sure you're permitted to use an app or service, and pay attention to how you are using it. Here're some important points you may find helpful.
Choose what's best for you. Some location-sharing services are games that let you give a shout-out when you've turned up at a particular spot.___Still others continue to share your location until you change the setting. Be sure you know exactly how your service shares your location.
Know who your friends are.___ This means people can search to see if you're online and add you as a friend. It's important to remember that sharing your location with people you've never met in real life is risky, so you should carefully manage friend requests and share your location only with people you know and trust.
___Some services automatically stop sending your location after a period of time, but others will send it forever — until you stop it. Review your contact list periodically and delete anyone to whom you no longer feel comfortable revealing your location.
Update parents. Location-based services are a great way for teens to let parents know where they are without having to call or text.___If you're heading home late at night, you can also use a service like Glympse to share your location as you drive, so they'll know if you have car trouble or get stuck in traffic.
A. Check back often.
B. Keep sending your location.
C. However, these services are not for all children.
D. With its help, you can easily share your location with them.
E. Check-ins ease worries so they don't have to follow your every move.
F. Others show where you are all the time or for a period of time you set.
G. Some location services operate like Facebook, where you invite and accept friends.
Within two years of first showing signs of memory loss, Peter Marshall had to give up work as early onset Alzheimer's began to take hold.
His wife Lisa started a blog called "Oh Hello Alzheimer's" to help her cope with the progressive 1 of her husband's fading memory. I get 2 every day from people saying, ‘Thank you —now I don't feel so alone'," she said.
As the disease3 , Peter's memory 4 faded and he began to refer to Lisa as his "favourite person". Then, one day last year, they were watching a wedding5 on television when Peter suddenly looked at his wife and said, "Let's do it!" "Well, OK, we should get married then," she told him.
The next day, 6 , Peter appeared to have forgotten all about it. Still, with the 20th 7 of their wedding approaching this year, the idea seemed to make sense to Lisa in the face of her husband's rapid8 . Sarah, Lisa's daughter from a marriage before she met Peter, helped organize the event. "I knew that my stepdad, who I am very close with, was there through some of the9 times of my life."
When Lisa joined her husband to 10 vows for the second time, his delight was clear for all to see. "It was just magical — straight out of a11 ." she said.
The music12 the theme of the day: a saxophonist played Unforgettable as Lisa walked down the aisle.
"There wasn't a dry eye, and I was13 ." Lisa said. "I hadn't seen Peter that happy in a long time." As they danced while guests 14 . Lisa said her husband 15 a few words in her ear. "Thank you for staying," he said.
Like many other students, you may have various people, including family members and friends,___(give) input on your college decision.
While many of your trusted relatives and peers (同龄人) may have very___(value) advice that can help you to make the decision, finally the choice is yours and yours alone. Only you can fully realize which aspects of a college will make you truly happy and___(satisfy), so keep that at the front of your mind.
Moreover, fully consider each option. It can be easy___(let) a particular school become a front-runner early on___your decision-making process, and it may even become the winning choice — but be sure to carefully evaluate every school___has accepted you, since you had particular reasons for applying to each school.
Do keep___open mind. Studentscan change majors, but remember that there's no re-living a certain semester(学期), and there's no making up for lost time. Don't go to a school___(specific) tailored for a high school relationship___to make someone else happy. A___(student) college experience is his or her own, and the student must put his or her education first.
注意：1. 写作词数应为 80 左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear James, …… Yours, Li Hua |
I'm smaller than everyone else my age. When I walk in the halls at school, I have to squeeze in between the bigger kids to get by. At the playground, sometimes even little kids try to boss me around. Mia, my best friend, is so tall that when she walks, I have to jog to keep up with her.
I used to try to make myself taller whenever I could. My posture was perfect, straight as an arrow. I hung from the tree in our backyard to stretch out my arms and legs. I even ate all my vegetables. Every day I measured myself, but I was the same height every time. Frustrating!
"Don't worry," Mom always said. "Being small has its advantages." "Really? I could never notice any."
One day, Mrs. Alvarez announced to the class that we'd be putting on a spring play. I practiced all the lines. But at the audition ( 试 演 ), when I walked up to the stage, Mrs. Alvarez cried, "You'll be perfect as the elf (小精灵)! You're just the right size for the costume." I even never got a chance to deliver the practiced lines. Back home I grumbled (咕哝) to mum that I was made an elf. But she bet I would be the best elf. To please her, I went to rehearsals (排练), though I only had two lines.
Mia got the lead role-a girl wandering through a magical fairy forest in search of her lost dog.
In the last scene, she finds a box under a giant mushroom, and when she opens it, her dog jumps out. Mrs. Alvarez's dog, Prince, played the dog role. She brought him to all the rehearsals, and when he wasn't onstage, we got to play with him, but he seemed to like me best.
The night of the show, my first line came early, "Let's ask the Fairy Queen!" Since my only other line was toward the end, I waited offstage, playing with Prince.
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。
Finally, the grand end came, and Prince was brought onstage inside the box. …… "How can we get Prince out from beneath the stage?" Mrs. Alvarez asked. |