Australian schoolgirl with cerebral palsy(脑瘫) shows strong will(意志) in China

For Taylor Walker-Lear, an 11-year-old Australian schoolgirl, the Great Wall is a magic ladder which carried her closer to her dream.

Taylor was born with cerebral palsy, a disease that ______movement. But her willpower has sent her to create public_____ to the disease and raise funds for people living with it.

In March 2016, she reached the top of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia at 2,229 meters above sea level. When her mother asked her what her next goal was, she answered, “Mount Everest might be a little too______right now, but maybe the Great Wall.”

On June 6th 2017, her______came true. With her walking tool, the support of her parents , and______by a group of primary school volunteers from Beijing, Taylor realized her dream in China ______climbing the Great Wall

Taylor moved ahead______and with decision. When the stairs were too hard for her , her parents lifted her,______her to keep going. In preparation for her Great Wall event, Taylor carry out physical therapy for months to strengthen her legs .

In September 2016, Taylor went through a big operation to improve her______. After that, she was able to stand straight like other children. Asked______the operation was painful, she said , “It’s all right.”

Toni said her daughter never cried while getting______from the pain. “She always pushes____to be the best she can be, she is such a______kid.” she said.

Taylor now has a new dream: to train hard______she can take part in the swimming ______at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics(残奥会). The walk on the Great Wall has given her confidence she needed for that.

During all this time I never stopped thinking about escape. When I traveled across to the other side of the island, I could see the other islands, and I said to myself, “Perhaps I can get there with a boat. Perhaps I can get back to England one day.”

So I decided to make myself a boat. I cut down a big tree, and then began to make a long hole in it. It was hard work, but about six months later, I had a very fine canoe (独木舟). Next, I had to get it down to the sea. How silly I was! Why didn’t I think before I began work? Of course, the canoe was too heavy. I couldn’t move it! I pulled and pushed and tried everything, but it didn’t move. I was very unhappy for a long time after that.

In my sixth year I did make myself a smaller canoe, but I did not try to escape in it. The boat was too small for a long journey, and I did not want to die at sea. The island was my home now, not my prison, and I was just happy to be alive. A year or two later, I made myself a second canoe on the other side of the island. I also built myself a second house there, and so I had two homes.

I kept food and tools at both my houses, and also wild goats. There were many goats on the island, and I made fields with high fences to keep them in. They learnt to take food from me, and soon I had goats' milk to drink every day. I also worked hard in my corn fields. And so many years went by.

Building a house sounds like a big project. But some students at Chesterton High School in Indiana, US, are learning such skills.

This school has offered a construction(建筑) course called “building trades”. Since the course began last year, it has attracted 36 students. With the help of their teacher Tom Garzella, these students learn to build houses. Garzella said that about one fifth of his students might go into the construction industry in the future.

In the beginning, they worked on some small projects around their town. But since last September, they have been working on their first modular house. The house, which is 97 square meters, has three bedrooms. It is near the school’s tennis court. Right now, the students are busy putting up the electric wires inside the home.

The project gives students a chance to learn about the construction trade(施工工种) and see the construction process from start to finish. They can not only learn how to read and follow blueprints(设计图), but also learn how to work with others to solve hard problems.

The course includes some classes about the house’s construction. One student designs its floor plan in the architecture(架构) class. And a design class will teach students to decorate the house when it’s done. The cost of building the house is not low. It has cost about＄27,000 so far. But it has already been sold at a low price to an organization that helps homeless and low-income people.

Students will finish building the house next February. Then they will ship the house to its final owner in Michigan. The house will be decorated after it is shipped there.

The Human Genome(基因组) Project, a great $3 billion, 15-year task aimed at drawing the genetic(遗传的) map of humans, is now more than 90 percent completed. The scientific and medical communities are very excited about the chances genetic research provides for getting rid of diseases and prolonging(延长) human life. But those communities and policy makers are also careful about the scientific door they are opening as the project uncovers the mysteries of life.

For the last few years, the genetic advances in the developing field of biotechnology(生物技术) have provided material for all kinds of work, but the developments of modern science in unlocking the secrets of human genetic code have opened a world of possibilities for human health, as well as for the popular imagination.

While European and Japanese researchers are making rapid progress in decoding(解码) human DNA, the leading organization for genetic research is in the United States, which began in 1990, is “unlocking the code” of the human body to learn how to defeat fatal diseases . Already, the Human Genome Project has become widely known and praised for finding the genes connected with as yet terrible diseases, and making progress toward separating the genes that show a sign of breast cancer or AIDS.

Once these genes are found and studied, researchers can develop new ways to attack infections and genetic diseases. Medical companies are very interested in mapping the human genome as they expect to develop a lot of new drugs for these illnesses.

A bit of stress and worry might be helpful in encouraging you to do better, but too much of it can do harm to your health and stop you from working or studying. So it’s necessary for you to deal with stress and worry.

Become somebody who can know how to relax

Don’t sit down before the computer or the television set for long, or you may feel more stressed and worried. You can choose something like deep breathing or listening to some music to relax yourself instead.

Get proper exercise, food as well as sleep

You’d better exercise properly because you will feel stronger and less stressed after exercising. It is also very important for you to have enough sleep so that you can do your activities of daily life. Besides, to become energetic, you should have healthy food.

Communicate with others

If something worries you, Remember to share your problems with your family or friends. Doing so can make you feel more understood and you are not alone.

Connect with nature

When you feel low, it’s a good idea to take a walk with a friend or two. You’d better choose a place which you know well and where you feel safe in order to be able to enjoy and relax in nature.

Try thinking in the positive (积极的)manner

We have to think more of the beautiful and good things of our lives, which helps you in letting your minds go away from unnecessary stress and worry.

Ask a doctor for help

At times, stress becomes so serious that it becomes a cause of worry. In this case, it is wise for you to go to a doctor for help. He or she is able to help you solve the problem better and faster.

Title: How to Deal with Stress and Worry

We all know there are 12 animal signs in the Chinese lunar calendar. They appear in a f    86    order and the cycle repeats every 12 years. But w    87     isn’t the cat a member of the Chinese animal signs? Here is a funny Chinese folk story.

Once the Jade Emperor(玉皇大帝) i    88     all animals to take part in an interesting race. The first 12 animals to finish the race would become m    89     of the animal signs. At that time, the cat and the rat were good friends. When they heard about the race, the cat said to the rat, “We should arrive early to sign up for(报名参加) the race, but I usually wake up late.” The rat p    90     to wake his friend up so that they could go together.

However, on the morning of the race day, the rat was really e    91    when he woke up and he forgot his promise. He went directly to the gathering area for the race. The cat woke up o    92    to find that the race was already over. The cat h    93     the rat after that. But it is s    94     a story. The truth is that there were no cats in China in the old times. Some researchers say that before the Han dynasty, China didn’t have house cats. There are some descriptions of cats in China in some old books, but they are mostly wildcats. It’s believed that house cats f    95     appeared in China during the Eastern Han dynasty. But by that time, the Chinese animal signs had been chosen.

Yours sincerely,

Billy