【推荐2】Americans love their national parks. Last year, these lands attracted 331 million people. Visitors expect to be provided with roads, bridges, restrooms and more. The more people come, the more it costs to keep up the infrastructure(基础设施).

Unfortunately, the funds needed are not enough. The national parks have a backlog(积压未办之事) of more than $11 billion in things that need to be repaired or replaced. The Interior Department has proposed a solution: higher fees.

The increase would apply at 17 of the most popular parks, including Yellowstone and Acadia, during peak months. Currently, a seven-day pass costs $25 or $30 for a carload of parents and kids. Under this proposal, the fee would rise to $70 for each vehicle, with each motorcycle charged $50 and cyclists $30 per person.

That $70 may sound steep, but for a family of four spending a week inside, it works out to $2.50 per person per day. A one-day ticket at the gate for Great America, by comparison, costs $54.99 for children and $74.99 for adults. And let’s not even talk about Walt Disney World. For most people, the additional cost would be a tiny part of their total outlay(费用). Studies show that entrance fees make up only 1.2 to 1.5 percent of visitors’ total trip expense.

The proposed change would yield $70 million, a 34 percent increase. And visitors may be consoled(安慰的) to know that 80 percent of each fee they pay will go to the park they visited.

Nature provides Americans with the wonders of these parks for free. But making them accessible and enjoyable for millions of people costs money and the administration has a sound idea for how to get it.

【推荐1】Make every day feel as magical as a snowy day in your middle school ELA (English Language Arts) classroom with Winter Poetry Analysis (分析)! Winter Poetry Analysis includes four classic winter poems, analysis guidelines, lesson plans, full answers, and a snowflake (雪花)project that can hang in-your classroom all winter!

Four classic poems:

Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams

The Cold Earth Slept Below by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Blizzard by William Carlos Williams

TPCASTT analysis worksheets (工作表):

It can help students understand each poem. TPCASTT stands for title, paraphrase, con-notation, attitude/tone, shift, title and theme.

Full answers and picture examples of completed snowflake project

Cloud and snowflake pattern

Instructions for completing an analysis of poetry

Suggestions for application

Standards mastered:

List several pieces of textual evidence to support an analysis.

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development.

Analyze how particular elements of a story interact.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they’re used in a text.

Analyze how a poem’s form or structure contributes to its meaning.

Make your classroom feel like a winter wonderland with classic winter poems analysis!

【推荐2】Basic tips to help us truly get into poetry

    1    . In school, we are usually told that the way to engage with a poem is by trying to understand it and be able to write an essay about it. Actually, that keeps us from really developing personal relationships with poetry.

Don’t worry about getting the right answer.    2    , we still put pressure on ourselves to answer some unanswerable questions about what the poet was trying to say. Don’t do it!

Read it out aloud. We have to remember that poetry is an oral art form before anything else and that oral tradition has been with us for thousands and thousands of years. So a lot of information can be gained from reading poems out aloud.    3    : Enjoying every word and every syllable, trying out the shapes of the word in our mouths, or acting like we’re explaining something really difficult to someone else.

Visualize the poem. A poem might offer us a lot of images, but there are plenty of blanks to fill.    4    ! Think of the poem like it’s a movie or a play and we’re the director and keep asking ourselves, “What kind of setting is there? If there’s light, what kind of light would it be? Would it be indoors or outdoors?”    5    . Again, keep in mind the first two tips: this isn’t school, and there isn’t a single answer. What we see is what we see.

【推荐3】If the poems you read at school made you think poetry is old-fashioned, here are four poets whose work will make you look at poetry in a different way.

Brian Bilston

Brian Bilston’s poetry is definitely more relevant to today’s issues. He covers subjects such as climate change, modern technology and international events. Although Brian uses rhyme in some of his work, it is extremely effective, especially as so many are humorous poems. He has a skill for word play. He also shares his poems online, making them more accessible to today’s audience.

Ada Limón

Ada is a well-known American poet, and has released several collections of poetry. Her poems are deeply rooted in nature, emotion and relatable metaphors (比喻). Her work feels like a natural progression from the poetry covered in schools. There is still an artistic weaving and careful placement of words, but the messages and inner meanings are more suitable for a modern audience.

Tracy K Smith

Tracy was the winner of the Best First Book by an African American poet, with her 2003 collection, The Body’s Question. Her poems cover important issues around race, family, going beyond from childhood into adulthood and much more. Each is easy to understand and relate to, while at the same time, deeply personal. She has a natural talent for connecting with her audience.

Mel Wardle Woodend

Mel has several published collections including two books for children, making poetry more accessible to them. She also has a collection called Just a Thought, which raises awareness of mental health issues. This topic was rarely discussed at school, so Mel’s work is progressive and inviting to those who may not tick the typical boxes of someone who enjoys poetry.