Learn to think
＂I will think of it.＂ It is easy to say this.
Sir Isaac Newton was seated in his garden on a summer’s evening, when he saw an apple fall from a tree.
A man named Galileo was once standing in the cathedral of Pisa, when he saw a chandelier swaying to and fro (来回地). This set him thinking, and it led to the invention of the pendulum.
Boys, when you have a difficult lesson to learn, don’t feel discouraged, and help yourselves before asking someone to help you.
| A．And do you know how to think? |
| B．He was a famous physicist and good at thinking. |
| C．He began to think, trying to find out why the apple fell. |
| D．But do you know what great things have come from thinking? |
| E．Think, and by thinking you will learn how to think to some purpose. |
| F．A boy named James Watt sat quietly by the fireside, watching the lid of the tea kettle as it moved up and down. |
| G．When you see a steamboat, a steam mill, remember that it would never have been built if it had not been for the hard thinking of someone. |
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【推荐1】My love for libraries blossomed when I joined the public library. From the age of 8, I was allowed to walk from my home to the downtown library, housed above the police station. Once the librarian gave me my first membership card, I could enjoy a range of books, which started with Little House in the Big Woods. I was addicted instantly, and this love of libraries and reading would change my life, allowing me to one day create a safe space for high-school kids, too.
By the time I was in high school, I could read the authors that we were studying in class, including Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Emily Bronte. During the summer months, I got caught up in Gone with the Wind.
When I studied English literature at university, I thought it was time to build my own library. For the next 40 years, I continued to collect books. Until one day, I realized that all my books had become a part of the house, like wallpaper.
Toward the end of my teaching career, I became a teacher-librarian at my old high school, where I had first learned English literature. This position restored my love and appreciation for libraries. I never forgot how wonderful it was to be surrounded by books. I had a generous budget for my classes, so I searched for novels that would interest my teenage audience and hopefully spark a love for books. Fantasy, science-fiction, graphic novels — I bought almost any type of book that my students wanted to read. I bought sofas and comfortable chairs, turning the library into an inclusive (包容的) public space, safe for everyone.
In doing so, I realized that the library isn’t just a place to do research. They are, in fact, places that offer an opportunity to engage with the past, present and future. All that is required is a tiny bit of curiosity. Libraries are places that should be full of life. They help us fit into the world, and their doors must be kept open to everyone — for free!
1. What inspired the author to set up a library for students?| A．Some well-known classics. |
| B．The suggestion of a librarian. |
| C．His affection for libraries and reading. |
| D．The book: Little House in the Big Woods. |
| A．In primary school. | B．In high school. |
| C．During university years. | D．After becoming a librarian. |
| A．What his career was like. | B．Where he stored his books. |
| C．Why school kids loved reading. | D．How he improved the school library. |
| A．More than just Books | B．Read with Curiosity |
| C．A Librarian’s Life | D．Build a Private Library |
【推荐2】Can you recall last night’s dream? Were you on an adventure? Did you encounter inspiring people or achieve great things? Are you now feeling energized? Or has a dream left you feeling confused — why were you in the middle of the school football field wearing your pyjamas (睡衣)? And why did no one else seem to notice?
Experts claim that people dream around four to six times every night. While you’re lying in bed sleeping, the brain processes memories, emotions and information that you’ve absorbed throughout the waking day. Sometimes you recall good dreams in the morning; now and again more negative images stay in your mind — something Native Americans were all too aware of, hence their invention of dreamcatchers.
Made from a circular hoop to look like a spider’s web (蜘蛛网), they were thought to bring good luck, especially when placed by a window in a room used for sleeping. Believing the night air to be filled with both positive and negative dreams, tribes (部落) claimed that pleasant ones would easily pass through the hoop, gently going down the attached feathers to comfort the person in bed. Anything upsetting would be trapped by the dreamcatcher’s web, disappearing in the first ray of early light.
Dreamcatchers are thought to be from the Ojibwa and Lakota tribes of America. One legend has it that a mystical female in the tribe was so worried when her children went to various new destinations that she created the dreamcatcher and placed her trust in it to protect them. Only then could she relax, knowing that wherever these children lived, and whatever happened to them, the dreamcatcher would ensure that all the children would sleep soundly. They’d be happy and content, dreaming only sweet dreams.
Dreamcatchers don’t only have to hang in a bedroom window. You could place one in a study where it could help you sift (筛选) your way through future aspirations (抱负). Focus on a dreamcatcher catching the light while thinking about a goal you want to achieve, and if you believe only positive messages can pass through its web, inspiration may strike.
1. Where can you find the reason why people dream?| A．In paragraph 1. |
| B．In paragraph 2. |
| C．In paragraph 3. |
| D．In paragraph 4. |
| A．They helped create positive dreams. |
| B．They should be used during sleep. |
| C．They should be made of spider silk. |
| D．They kept dreamers from bad dreams. |
| A．The origin of dreamcatchers. |
| B．The popularity of dreamcatchers. |
| C．The application of dreamcatchers. |
| D．The importance of dreamcatchers. |
| A．Goal setting leads to future success. |
| B．Dreamcatchers are things of the past. |
| C．Dreamcatchers are more effective than you expect. |
| D．Positive thinking could help your dream come true. |
【推荐3】Sometimes the challenges of life can seem so big that it is hard to deal with them all. While some adults find comfort in talking with a friend or professional，many teens find relief in the form of a simple journal.
Generally，journaling is to keep a diary or journal that explores thoughts and feelings about the events of your life. It allows people to gain valuable self-knowledge. It is also a good problem-solving tool. Oftentimes，one can find out a problem and come up with solutions more easily on paper. More importantly，as a stress management and self-exploration tool，journaling works best when you keep doing so，but even occasional journaling can be stress-relieving.
To reduce pressure effectively，journaling can take several forms，and here are multiple choices that can work for you.
Gratitude Journal：To keep a daily gratitude journal，you can list three or more aspects of each day for which you are grateful. It helps you to focus on what you have in your life already and create a more positive mood at that moment. An added benefit is that if you are feeling down in the future，you can cheer yourself up with a few pages of the things you have to appreciate in life.
Emotional Release（释放）：You may also write about your emotional responses to events that have happened throughout the day as a way of dealing with the stress. This is a great way to enlarge the positive and manage the negative things that happen in your life，increasing your positivity ratio（比率）.
Bullet Journal：You can simply keep bullet journals to record what you need to do each day，goals you have，memories you create，and other things you do not want to forget. It keeps your mind clear and helps you remember what is important to you.
The journaling method you choose can depend on your needs at the time and your personality-just do what feels right. If you already have a favorite journaling habit，by all means，keep it up！But if you are new to journaling，remember：any day is a good day to get into the habit.
1. According to the writer, keeping a gratitude journal can help teens ________.| A．gain valuable knowledge of themselves | B．explore the feelings and stories of others |
| C．focus on what you have in your life already | D．communicate with friends more comfortably |
| A．You list things you plan to do in a bullet journal. |
| B．Occasional journaling doesn't help to reduce stress. |
| C．Emotional release is the best way of dealing with stress. |
| D．You can't choose journaling methods depending on your needs. |
| A．Journaling: Save Your Time | B．Journaling: Relieve Your Stress |
| C．Journaling: Improve Your Writing | D．Journaling: Explore Your Personality |
【推荐1】It might be strange to wear clothes made out of plastic bottles. But in fact some clothing companies are already making such clothes.
Fashion brand JUMA recently showed its newest collection at a workshop in Shanghai. Eighteen clothing items from the collection, including jump-suits, jackets, shirts and dresses, were made from recycled plastic bottles. “We realized that billions of water bottles were being thrown into landfills and oceans every year and that these bottles take hundreds of years to decompose (分解). We thought we should use them to create our clothes and help the environment,” said Alia Juma, the company’s design director.
Many other fashion companies are finding similar ways to save our planet these days. The process is rather simple. First, the plastic bottles are washed and cut into small pieces. Then they are melted and shaped into small balls. The balls are melted again to form thread. People can then use the thread to make different kinds of clothes.
According to Juma, it takes 67,000 bottles to create 1 ton of thread. This reduces carbon emissions by 4.2 tons and water use by 6.2 tons compared with the normal way of making thread. “4 bottles can make a pillowcase. 5 can make a shirt, 10 a dress and 20 a short coat,” Juma said.
Some people might have doubts about wearing something made out of plastic bottles. But according to Causeartist, a website that focuses on innovation, clothes made from plastic could be even better than nylon and polyester. Plastic thread can be made into different textures, such as cotton, silk or even wool. “The more we learn about recycled fabrics, the more we realize that they work just like other fabrics. You can get a heavier cotton feeling or a silky feeling by weaving the yarns into different textures and using different washing methods. There is actually a lot you can do with this fabric,” Juma said.
The price for the clothes in the new collection ranges from 500 to 3,000 yuan. However, Juma is optimistic that prices will fall when more companies follow the sustainability path taken by her business.
1. Why is fashion brand JUMA now making clothes from plastic bottles?| A．Because too many bottles are being thrown away. |
| B．Because the company has advanced technology. |
| C．Because people are fond of wearing such clothes. |
| D．Because recycling the bottles is good for the Earth. |
| A．Creating 1 ton of thread in the normal way brings about 4.2 tons of carbon emissions. |
| B．Making clothes from plastic bottles reduces carbon footprint and is worth the effort. |
| C．A fashion company can make as many as 300 short coats using only 1 ton of thread. |
| D．The new way of making thread from plastic bottles is not harmful to the environment. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Critical. | C．Supportive. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．To advertise fashion brand JUMA. | B．To introduce a new type of clothes. |
| C．To praise fashion companies’ creativity. | D．To express concern about the Earth. |
【推荐2】When Mike Ford was a kid, he dreamed of being a car designer. But when he was 11, things changed. That’s when he went to a car-design program and ended up learning about architecture instead.
“As a youngster, I was lucky enough to have some conversations with the people running that summer program,” he told TIME for Kids. Talking with designers there stimulated Ford’s interest in architecture. He went on to pursue it as a career.
Now Ford hopes to inspire the same interest in other young people. Last year, he launched his own architecture program for kids aged 10 to 17.But his program has an unexpected feature. Campers base their designs on hip-hop lyrics.
Ford’s goal is to inspire a new generation of architects from underrepresented communities. “Only 3%of architects are African American,” he said. “Most of our buildings, most of our parks and public spaces, have all been designed by white males. If we can increase diversity, the entire world will now start to experience space from a totally new perspective.”
Ford calls his program the Hip Hop Architecture Camp. The one-week camp is offered to students around the country. At the camp, students listen to and read the lyrics of hip-hop songs. Then they use some of those lyrics to guide them in planning a city block. On graph paper, each square represents a word. Students build with Lego on each square based on the number of syllables(音节)in each word. In the end, they have what looks like a city skyline. Kids then use a design program called Tinkercad to transform their Lego models into 3D digital versions.
Ford believes this approach helps campers learn that architecture is about more than just construction. “The architect’s Number 1 job is to serve people’s needs,” he says. “Architecture plays a critical role in determining or challenging how people live in certain communities.”
1. What made Ford change his dream of being a car-designer?| A．Participation in a program. | B．Lack of talent for car-designing. |
| C．Desire for a more promising career. | D．Conversation with architecture designers. |
| A．Appealing to young people. | B．Popularizing hip-pop music. |
| C．Promoting diversity in the field. | D．Connecting music with architecture. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．It determines people’s needs. | B．It influences people’s lifestyles. |
| C．It is just about building things. | D．It is about adding more buildings. |
【推荐3】AI Suitcase is a smart suitcase developed by a blind computer scientist to aid the blind in navigating (导航) their surroundings more efficiently without the aid of guide dogs.
65-year-old Chieko Asakawa has been completely blind since she was only 14, following a tragic accident. She is a computer scientist. As someone who has long struggled with navigating unfamiliar and crowded places, Asakawa came up with an idea to help the blind get around easier.
In 2017, she put forward the idea of a smart suitcase that could guide its user with the help of built-in sensors (传感器) and cameras. Six years later, the AI Suitcase is almost ready for its first public appearance.
After the user inputs their destination on their smartphone, the AI Suitcase, which is small enough to be brought onboard flights as carry-on luggage, can plan a best route to that point. The smart suitcase then relies on a set of sensors and an exact GPS system that can determine its position within a 10-centimeter margin of error (误差范围) to assess its surroundings and avoid bumping into other people and objects on its route.
The AI Suitcase offers information to the user both through a built-in conversational device, and through sensors in the handle. Although earlier designs were equipped with small wheels fit for indoor use, the latest version of the smart suitcase features large, strong wheels and a powerful motor that can deal with outdoor environments as well.
The device is currently available for testing by any blind person in front of the Miraikan Museum until February 6th. Asakawa and the companies that provided money for her work over the last few years want to make the AI Suitcase available for hire at airports, shopping centers, and train stations in the near future.
1. What made Asakawa come up with the idea of a smart suitcase?| A．Her own experience. | B．Her role as a scientist. |
| C．Her observation of daily life. | D．Her support for the disabled. |
| A．It first appeared in 2017. | B．It has been put on the market. |
| C．It can be taken on a plane. | D．It can navigate places without error. |
| A．It has a low margin of error. | B．It can interact with its users. |
| C．It has built-in sensors and cameras. | D．It can handle situations outdoors. |
| A．A Blind AI Suitcase Inventor. | B．AI Navigating System on Phones. |
| C．AI Companies Helping the Blind. | D．AI Suitcase Designed for the Blind. |
