How to make festive gift tags (标签)?
In recent years, zero-waste living has been from fashionable topics to a way of life for many people, including myself. And I’ve got an interesting way to help reduce some of that waste.
Last year, I created some free templates (模板) for reusable, zero-waste embroidered (刺绣) gift tags, and I’m excited to stitch (缝) up some more this year. Each one can be made in less than 20 minutes, then reused over and over. Let me show you my steps:
• Print out the gift tag templates, then cut out the design you want to make.
If you’re making the tags in a card, print them directly onto your card stock—but if you’re making them in felt (毛毡), print them onto paper and draw the design onto the felt with tailor chalk.
• Using your sewing needle and embroidery thread, stitch the design on the template using the dots as a guide. It’s best to use a back stitch to create the design.
If you’re stitching them in felt, you can stitch through both the paper template and the felt, then get away the paper at the end. If you’re stitching a card tag, try not to bend or tear the card as you do this. It might take a little practice to get a good feel for it.
• Build up the design until it’s finished, using as many colours of thread as you want.
• Tie off the ends and cut away the extra thread.
• Finally, tie a loop to the top of the tags, and stick the tag to your gifts.
The easiness of these tags makes them the perfect low effort but high effect project. They’re perfect for a relaxing afternoon with friends, or you could sit on the sofa with a festive film and create some. It’s even more fun with a cup of hot chocolate!
1. The passage probably comes from ________.| A．a fashion magazine | B．a shopping guide | C．a DIY instruction | D．a sports weekly |
| A．If you’re making the tags in felt, print the design onto it. |
| B．If you’re stitching a card tag, bending or tearing the card will be better. |
| C．Before sticking the tag to your gifts, you should tie a loop to the top of the tags. |
| D．Each zero-waste embroidered gift tags usually takes me at least 20 minutes to finish. |
| A．Reading a book to spend a lazy happy afternoon. |
| B．Riding a sharing-bicycle around a beautiful city. |
| C．Buying a robot to do some cleaning when you’re at home. |
| D．Using sugar paper to make flowers to decorate your bedroom. |
There are many great schools in Jiangsu. Nanjing University (南京大学) is one of them.
Nanjing University has a one-hundred-year-long history and it is very famous in China. It was called Sanjiang Normal School in 1902. Then it changed its name for many times. Some of the names are Liangjiang Normal School, Nanjing Higher Normal School, National Southeastern University and so on. In 1950, it was finally called Nanjing University.
Now, Nanjing University has three campuses (校区): Xianlin Campus, Gulou Campus and Pukou Campus. There are 31304 full time students and a good number of faculty members who are doing well in their own subjects.
Nanjiang University works closely with the universities from other countries. Every year, more than 1000 faculty members from other countries come and teach in Nanjing University. In 2011, Dr. Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (诺贝尔化学奖获得者), worked in Nanjing University. In 2013, Prof. Jean-Marie, Gustave LECLEZIO, Nobel Laureate in Literature (诺贝尔文学奖获得者) worked in Nanjing University. Many students attended their courses (课程) and learned a lot from them. Every year, more than 1000 new students from other countries come and study in Nanjing University too. In it, ________.
1. What does Paragraph (段落) 2 tell the reader?| A．The students of Nanjing University. | B．The looks of Nanjing University. |
| C．The campuses of Nanjing University. | D．The history of Nanjing University. |
| A．Teachers. | B．Policemen. | C．Nurses. | D．Drivers. |
| A．there is a good dining hall with delicious food |
| B．there are many nice classroom buildings in different campuses |
| C．students from different countries can know a lot about the history of Nanjing |
| D．students from different countries can have fun with great teachers and courses |
3 . Vaccines (疫苗) may soon make their first film appearance. Led by expert Maria A. Croyle, researchers have developed a thin sheet that preserves vaccines for long periods without using the cooling system. This means the carefully cooled small bottles now used to ship vaccines could potentially be replaced by lightweight films that can be mailed in an envelope and stored on a shelf.
Croyle’s laboratory began developing the technology in 2007. Inspired by amber’s ability to preserve the DNA of insects, the researchers set out to create their own version of the substance by mixing “a lot of sugar and a little bit of salt, much like hard candy,” Croyle explains. The vaccine-containing film is administered by mouth—sweet news for many who dislike needles.
The film is tailored to suit each specific vaccine candidate and provide a protective coating. “We’ve learned over time that the key to really stabilizing whatever the film holds is to have it intermixed with all the components,” Croyle says, adding that the process is quick and uses affordable, standard equipment. “We really wanted to come up with something that would be transported to developing countries.”
Immunization (免疫) programs depend heavily on keeping vaccines cold (2℃—8℃) as they are transported, sometimes over thousands of kilometers to far-away locations. Delivery can be difficult and costly, and transport delaying can cause the vaccines to be ineffective.
But this new product can store live viruses, bacteria and antibodies for several months at 20℃. In a paper published in Science Advances, the scientists show that the live viruses in one vaccine were preserved in the film even after 36 months. They also find that a flu vaccine suspended in their film compares favourably with a traditional flu shot. “The study demonstrates early proof of concept for an exciting platform for vaccine product development,” says Lisa Rohan, who was not involved in the study. She also notes that each vaccine type would need a custom formulation (配方) for future stages of development.
“Finding partners to mass-produce for clinical trials is the researchers’ most pressing problem,” Croyle says. They are also exploring packaging methods to keep their films stable up to 40℃.
Size is a major advantage—a letter-sized sheet of the film can carry more than 500 doses (剂) of vaccine, about 1/900 the weight of the same amount of traditional doses. “By making it easier and cheaper to ship and preserve vaccines efficiently,” Croyle says, “the technology could vastly improve immunization rates the world over, particularly in middle-to-low income countries.”
1. What can we learn about the film?| A．It contains animal’s DNA. | B．It will replace vaccines. |
| C．It comes in different flavours. | D．It can hold bio-products. |
| A．development schedule | B．possible advantages |
| C．key component | D．transportation requirements |
| A．advise personalizing vaccines | B．stress the functions of a new platform |
| C．suggest the product is promising | D．prove the study is supported widely |
| A．Reducing the shipping cost. | B．Seeking ideal producers. |
| C．Improving the film’s capacity. | D．Advertising the film worldwide. |
Born in a poor family in Ningxia, Gao went to Beijing to get a job at the age of 19. He tried different jobs to make a living. He worked as a shopping worker before he finally became a delivery driver.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19, Gao and his wife decided to stay in Beijing rather than (而不是) come back to Ningxia.
Gao once got an order that asked him to buy medicine for an old woman from a hospital far away.
“I think the reason why Time picked me is that I helped an old person in need. Although it is a warm story, I’m not different when helping anyone else,” he says.
| A．There’s lots of work for him to do during quarantine (隔离期). |
| B．Gao just hopes his small action can show the western world the strong cohesion (凝聚力) of China! |
| C．When he found that the woman hadn’t eaten, he quickly helped cook a bowl of noodles with two boiled eggs, and took out the rubbish when he left. |
| D．When the world stops, a Chinese delivery driver has kept working while the COVID-19 spreads across China. |
| E．He thought about it for a second, but then picked up the order. |
5 . We often describe someone who cannot keep a secret as having a “big mouth”. It turns out that this might not be their fault.
According to Asim Shah, professor at Baylor College of Medicine, US, keeping a secret is difficult. This is because people often have an “obsessive and anxious urge to share it with someone”.
An earlier study, led by Anita E. Kelly, a scientist at the University of Notre Dame, US suggested that keeping a secret could cause stress. People entrusted（受委托）with secrets can suffer from depression（压抑）and anxiety according to the Daily Mail.
But with secrets so often getting out, why do people share them at all? Shah explained that people often feel that it will help them keep a person as a friend. Another reason people share secrets is guilt（负罪感） over keeping it from someone close to them. A sense of distrust can develop when people who are close do not share it with each other. “Keeping or sharing secrets often puts people in a position of either gaining or losing the trust of someone,” said Shah.
He added that some people easily let secrets slip out. But this doesn’t mean that it is a good idea only to share secrets with quiet people. A quiet person may be someone who keeps everything inside. To tell such a person a secret may cause them stress, and make them talk about the secret.
Shah said that in order to judge whether or not to tell someone a secret, you’d better put yourself in their position. Think about how you would feel to be told that you shouldn’t give the information away. Shah also said that if you accidentally give up someone’s secret, you should come clean about it. Let the person know that their secret isn’t so secret anymore.
1. What does underlined word “obsessive” mean?| A．Unwilling. |
| B．Confusing. |
| C．Wanting to do something very much. |
| D．Refusing to accept facts. |
| A．It can result in mental and physical problems. |
| B．It can help promote friendships between people. |
| C．It can harm relationships between friends. |
| D．It can result in a sense of distrust between friends. |
| A．Talkative people are unlikely to keep secrets. |
| B．Quiet people don’t want to know others secrets. |
| C．Quiet people suffer less stress from keeping secrets. |
| D．Quiet people may also want to tell your secrets to others. |
| A．You don’t need to keep it a secret anymore. |
| B．Tell your own secret as an exchange. |
| C．Tell the person honestly about the fact. |
| D．Ask the third person to keep it a secret. |
By Faith Pirlo
27 May 2022
Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Yousra, from Egypt, about how to use hyphens（连字符）when making a compound（复合的）adjective.
Question:
Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.
I would like to know when I should use a hyphen（-）between two words like, “top-selling” or “well-being.”
Thanks.
Answer:
Dear Yousra,
Thank you for your question! In this week’s program, we will explain how to use hyphens to make compound adjectives.
What is a hyphen?
A hyphen（-） is used to combine two or more words together to create a compound word.
Do not confuse（混淆）a hyphen with a longer dash（-）. In writing, we use a longer dash like a comma（,）, or a period（.）to separate sentences.
What is a compound adjective?.
Compound adjectives are modifiers（修饰成分）formed by combining adjectives with other adjectives, nouns, and even adverbs. We use them as a single expression to describe the noun that comes after.
The compound adjective “top-selling” from your question is a great example.
The top-selling employee had the most sales for the month.
Here, the two adjectives, “top” and “selling” are combined into one to describe the employee. “Top-selling” means “having the most sales.”
We use hyphens to create compound adjectives, but there are some important rules for creating them with hyphens.
How to use hyphens to make compound adjectives
1. Only use a hyphen when the two words could be misunderstood, and the compound adjective acts together as a single expression. Here is an example:
The well behaved cat slept all day.（no hyphen, incorrect）
The well-behaved cat slept all day.（hyphen, correct）
In this example, “well-behaved” acts like one expression.
If we separate the two words “well” and “behaved”, the sentence does not make sense. And it could be misunderstood.
2. Use only a hyphen in a compound adjective when it comes before a noun. Example:
I love old-fashioned（过时的）clothes.（Hyphen, correct）
I love clothes that are old-fashioned.（Hyphen, incorrect）
I love clothes that are old fashioned.（No hyphen, correct）
3. You do not need a hyphen between an adverb and an adjective, especially when using a present participle（分词）adjective or a past participle adjective.
The urgently-needed doctor arrived on time.
（Hyphen, incorrect）
The urgently（迫切地；紧急地） needed doctor arrived on time.
（No hyphen, correct）
These are just a few basic rules to help you create compound adjectives when writing or speaking. Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.
Next week on Ask a Teacher, we will explore using hyphens to create compound nouns!
What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com .
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
I’m Faith Pirlo.
1. Which word has the Chinese meaning of “句号”?| A．Hyphen. | B．Dash. | C．Comma. | D．Period. |
| A．There was nothing but a three-legged chair here. |
| B．As a grown-up, you must make your own decision. |
| C．The out-going young man has nothing to do with this matter. |
| D．The good-looking girl loves reading stories that has exciting plots. |
| A．The Leaning Tower in Pisa is a world famous building. |
| B．The quickly moving river reminded me of my childhood. |
| C．The badly polluted water in this lake can’t be drunk at all. |
| D．The country is a snow-covered place which attracts lots of tourists every year. |
| A．In writing, a longer dash like a comma is used to separate a sentence. |
| B．When a hyphen is correctly used between two words, it acts as one word. |
| C．Yousra from Egypt is the host or hostess of the program Ask a Teacher. |
| D．Hyphens can be used not only to create compound adjectives but also compound nouns. |
7 . I am still not sure how I made the decision, but last year I agreed to have a New Year’s Eve party. It took me days to prepare (准备). Then there were the lists to be made and shopping to be done in the supermarket. After shopping, I really wanted to have a rest, but I hurried to make food in the kitchen.
The night before the party, my husband helped me set up tables. I felt pleased. On the morning of that day, I woke to the sun shining. Everything was ready.
At 4:00 p. m. , my husband was working in his company (公司) and would be home in an hour. At 5:00 p. m. , I sent a message to him and asked, “Are you on your way? Everyone will be here in an hour.” He said, “I’m really busy now. Sorry.” At 5:45 p. m. , I sent a message to him again. He answered, “Sorry, I’m still tied up.” I was worried if I’d hold the party alone. I kept sending messages to ask him as guests arrived.
I felt worried and unsure of how to hold the party. By 7:30 p. m. , we were hungry, so we all sat for dinner, with one empty chair beside me. My husband promised he would be home before dinner was done.
At 9:30 p. m. , my husband called, “Honey, I never imagined this could have happened. Things are wrong here. Some people made mistakes in the number of our products (产品). Now we have to count them all again.”
I realized (意识到) that the night was hard for my husband. “Will you forgive (原谅) me?” he asked again. “Yes,” I took a breath. “I’m sorry for being impatient (不耐烦的). Take your time. Happy New Year.” My husband said, “Thank you! Happy New Year!”
1. Why did the writer keep sending messages to her husband?| A．Because she hoped he would be back soon. |
| B．Because she knew nothing about the guests. |
| C．Because she met something dangerous at home. |
| D．Because she wanted him to buy something for her. |
| A．He was a little angry with her. | B．He didn’t have enough partners. |
| C．He could never look after his family well. | D．He had a busy and difficult night at work. |
①The New Year’s Eve party started.
②The writer went to the supermarket.
③The writer sent messages to her husband.
④The writer got a call from her husband.
| A．②③①④ | B．②③④① | C．②①③④ | D．②①④③ |
| A．We should improve our social skills. |
| B．We often need to make difficult choices (选择) in life. |
| C．We should learn to put ourselves in others’ shoes. |
| D．We’d better prepare ourselves for some challenges. |
8 . Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many people have been forced to stay at home for long periods of time to protect themselves from the virus. This has given people more free time to learn new skills and find different ways to entertain themselves.
Some of these activities include things like singing, learning to cook and ordering fresh food online. All of these things can be done in the palm of your hand with mobile apps.
Before, young people would go outside and meet friends at karaoke bars. Now, friends can meet and sing on the mobile karaoke app Changba, which translates to Singing Bar “The Changba app not only gives me the chance to sing whatever I like at home, but also lets me keep in touch with friends by sharing our songs,” said an app user.
Some people have also taken up cooking as a new hobby to pass the time. You don’t need to attend culinary (烹饪的) school, thanks to apps like Xiachufang and Ecook, which make it easier for those who want to learn how to cook. These apps provide a platform for users to look up different recipes (菜谱) and to share their own recipes with others. “Using this app, I have learned many new and healthy dishes which help me eat better,” an app user commented on the app’s website.
To help people avoid crowded places like grocery stores, apps that deliver goods right to your door have also become very popular. “It is noteworthy that the epidemic has attracted new groups of consumers (消费者), such as elderly people, who originally didn’t belong to our target user group,” Zhang Yi, an analyst (分析 师) from the market research company iiMedia Research, said.
Indeed, during this special time, these apps have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.
1. What did the author tell us about Changba in Paragraph 3?| A．It is more user-friendly than karaoke bars. |
| B．It helps users to discover their singing talent. |
| C．It provides opportunities to communicate with friends. |
| D．It allows users to improve their singing skills fast. |
| A．They have lost many young customers. |
| B．They have opened culinary classes for their users. |
| C．They have more elderly users than before. |
| D．They have caused many grocery stores to close. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．a sports magazine | B．a book review |
| C．a travel report | D．a life&health magazine |
①Does every dinner with your parents seem to turn into an argument (争吵)? Have your once warm conversations become cold? You are not alone. Heated arguments and cold silences are common between teenagers and their parents.
②Teenagers’ physical (身体的) changes may cause such family problems. You may feel worried that you are developing at a different speed to your friends, shooting up in height or getting left far behind. You might worry about your changing voice and weight problems. When it all gets too much, your parents are often the first you want to get angry with.
③It can be a big headache to balance your developing mental (精神的) needs too. You enter a strange middle ground— no longer a small child but not quite an adult. You hate to depend on your parents but have a continued need for their love and support. You feel ready to make decisions on your own. Unluckily, your parents do not always agree and that makes you feel unhappy. On the other hand, when you are trying to control your feelings, you wish they could be more caring and patient— sometimes they forget that growing up is a hard time. It can be difficult when your parents treat you like a child but expect you to act like an adult. All of this can cause a breakdown in your relationship.
④______ The key to keeping the peace is regular (有规律的) and honest communication. When you disagree with your parents, take a minute to calm down and try to understand the situation from their point of view. Perhaps they have experienced something similar and do not want you to go through the same pain. Explain your actions and feelings calmly, listen carefully, and make them free from worries. Through this kind of healthy discussion, you will learn when to back down and when to ask your parents to relax their control.
⑤Just remember that it is common to fight with the stress and that you and your parents can work together to improve your relationship. The good news is that this stormy time will not last. Everything will turn out all right in the end, and the changes and challenges of your teenage years will prepare you for your future.
1. The writer asked two questions in paragraph 1 to ______.| A．introduce a subject | B．give examples | C．solve a problem | D．tell stories |
| A．Parents’ love. | B．Parents’ dislike. |
| C．Parents’ disagreement. | D．Parents’ support. |
| A．So it’s difficult to get along well with your parents. |
| B．However, you can take action to improve the situation. |
| C．But how could this happen? |
| D．But when can this come to an end? |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．to encourage teenagers to get through a difficult time |
| B．to describe family problems between teenagers and parents |
| C．to introduce some ways to solve the family problems |
| D．to explain possible reasons of a difficult time |
10 . That evening Holmes again wore different clothes, and a large, black hat. But it was not just the clothes that were different. He changed his face, his hair—everything. He was a different man.
We walked together to Serpentine Avenue. Outside the house there were a lot of people who were smoking, laughing and talking. Holmes and I walked up and down in front of the house.
“You see,” said Holmes to me, “I don’t think she wants her new husband to see the photo. But where is it? At her bank? No. Such a woman likes to keep important things herself. I’m sure it’s in her house.”
“But the King’s men tried to find it!” I said.
“Yes. But they didn’t know where to look for it!” said Holmes. “But how will you know?” I asked. “She’ll show me. She’ll have to.”
Just then Irene’s taxi arrived. One of the men in the street ran to open the door and then another man pushed him. Other men were also pushing and shouting, and a fight began. Irene was in the middle of it, but Holmes ran to help her. Then suddenly he fell to the ground, with blood running down his face. Irene hurried to her front door, but she looked back. “How kind of him to help me! Is the poor man hurt?” she called.
“He’s dead,” cried some voices. “No, he’s only hurt,” cried others. “Bring him into the living room,” she said.
Some people carried Holmes into the house. I waited outside the window and watched. I saw how beautiful Irene was. Then Holmes put up his hand, and I threw the smoke—stick into the room. At once, the people in the street and in the house all began to shout “Fire!” very loudly. The house was full of smoke. I walked away, and ten minutes later Holmes came to meet me.
“Well done, Watson,” he said. “Have you got the photo?” I asked.
“I know where it is. She showed me,” he answered. “But why did she show you?”
“It’s easy,” he said, and laughed. “You saw all those people in the street? I paid them to help us. It wasn’t a real fight and the blood wasn’t real. When people shout ‘Fire!’, a woman runs to the most important thing in her house, her baby, her gold, or…a photo. Irene ran to find her photo which is in a cupboard in the living room. I saw it. But I did not take it. Tomorrow we will go to the palace and tell it to the King first. And then we will go to her house with the King. We’ll go very early, before she gets up. The King himself can take the photo from the cupboard. And then we’ll go.”
1. How many main characters appeared at the scene?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．make him smarter | B．take a taxi easily |
| C．hide his real looks | D．catch Irene’s attention |
| A．It was locked at Irene’s bank and nobody knew. |
| B．The king asked Holmes to burn it at Irene’s home. |
| C．The king put it in the palace’s cupboard secretly. |
| D．It was important and hidden somewhere carefully. |
a. Holmes changed his looks. b. Holmes helped Irene.
c. Watson threw the smoke—stick. d. Irene ran to the cupboard.
e. Holmes paid a lot of men.
| A．e—a—b—c—d | B．a—c—d—e—b | C．a—b—c—d—e | D．e—c—d—b—a |
| A．where Irene hid the photo | B．how Holmes found the photo |
| C．why people fought for the photo | D．when the king wanted the photo |
