Xiao long bao (soup dumplings), those amazing constructions of delicate dumpling wrappers, encasing hot,
No matter where I buy them, one steamer is
2 . Personal Forgiveness
Taking responsibility for mistakes is a positive step, but don’t beat yourself up about them. To err (犯错) is human.
In a journal or on a piece of paper, put the heading “Personal strengths.”
At the top of a second page, put the heading “Acts of kindness.” On this one, list all the positive things you’ve done for others. It might be the time when you helped a friend with their homework, when you did the ironing without being asked, or when you baked cookies after the family had had a tiring day.
You could ask a friend or family member to help add to your list.
It’s something of a cliché (陈词滥调) that most people learn not from their successes but their mistakes. The thing is, it’s true.
| A．A little self-forgiveness also goes a long way. |
| B．Now list all the characteristics you like about yourself. |
| C．They might even like to have a go at doing the exercise. |
| D．It’s just as important to show yourself some forgiveness. |
| E．It doesn’t mean you have to ignore what’s happened or forget it. |
| F．Whatever it is, no matter how small it might seem, write it down. |
| G．Whatever the mistake, remember it isn’t a fixed aspect of your personality. |
Whenever I tell people that I teach English at the Berlin Zoo, I almost always get a questioning look. Behind it, the person is trying to figure out who exactly I teach…the animals?
Since June 2017, right before the
Not the pandas, even though
So, what are they learning?
4 . As an artist who shares her journey on social media, I’m often asked by curious followers how to begin an art journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic list I can offer. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a complete beginner. So I’ve put together some good tips for starting an art journey.
·Start small. I suggest using a sketchbook (素描本) for small studies. These small studies provide inspiration and may be a springboard for more complex works in the future.
·Paint often and paint from life. There’s no better way to improve than to put in those brush miles. Whether you paint still lifes, portraits, or landscapes, paint from life as much as possible.
·Continually challenge yourself to try something new.
·
The journey you’re on won’t follow a straight path.
| A．Get out of your comfort zone. |
| B．Make career plans and set goals. |
| C．Don’t throw away your beginner art. |
| D．Share your work if you feel comfortable doing so. |
| E．You’ll hit roadblocks, and you’ll feel discouraged at times. |
| F．Evaluate your performance and, if needed, redefine your role. |
| G．You’ll develop that painting muscle memory that only comes with repetition. |
5 . Turning soil, pulling weeds, and harvesting cabbage sound like tough work for middle and high school kids. And at first it is, says Abby Jaramillo, who with another teacher started Urban Sprouts, a school garden program at four low-income schools. The program aims to help students develop science skills, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.
Jaramillo’s students live in neighborhoods where fresh food and green space are not easy to find and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores. “The kids literally come to school with bags of snacks and large bottles of soft drinks,” she says. “They come to us thinking vegetables are awful, dirt is awful, insects are awful.” Though some are initially scared of the insects and turned off by the dirt, most are eager to try something new.
Urban Sprouts’ classes, at two middle schools and two high schools, include hands-on experiments such as soil testing, flower-and-seed dissection, tastings of fresh or dried produce, and work in the garden. Several times a year, students cook the vegetables they grow, and they occasionally make salads for their entire schools.
Program evaluations show that kids eat more vegetables as a result of the classes. “We have students who say they went home and talked to their parents and now they’re eating differently,” Jaramillo says.
She adds that the program’s benefits go beyond nutrition. Some students get so interested in gardening that they bring home seeds to start their own vegetable gardens. Besides, working in the garden seems to have a calming effect on Jaramillo’s special education students, many of whom have emotional control issues. “They get outside,” she says, “and they feel successful.”
1. What do we know about Abby Jaramillo?| A．She used to be a health worker. | B．She grew up in a low-income family. |
| C．She owns a fast food restaurant. | D．She is an initiator of Urban Sprouts. |
| A．The kids’ parents distrusted her. | B．Students had little time for her classes. |
| C．Some kids disliked garden work. | D．There was no space for school gardens. |
| A．Far-reaching. | B．Predictable. |
| C．Short-lived. | D．Unidentifiable. |
| A．Rescuing School Gardens | B．Experiencing Country Life |
| C．Growing Vegetable Lovers | D．Changing Local Landscape |
6 . Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers is a celebration of an everyday object — the book, represented here in almost three hundred artworks from museums around the world. The image of the reader appears throughout history, in art made long before books as we now know them came into being. In artists’ representations of books and reading, we see moments of shared humanity that go beyond culture and time.
In this “book of books,” artworks are selected and arranged in a way that emphasizes these connections between different eras and cultures. We see scenes of children learning to read at home or at school, with the book as a focus for relations between the generations. Adults are portrayed (描绘) alone in many settings and poses —absorbed in a volume, deep in thought or lost in a moment of leisure. These scenes may have been painted hundreds of years ago, but they record moments we can all relate to.
Books themselves may be used symbolically in paintings to demonstrate the intellect (才智), wealth or faith of the subject. Before the wide use of the printing press, books were treasured objects and could be works of art in their own right. More recently, as books have become inexpensive or even throwaway, artists have used them as the raw material for artworks — transforming covers, pages or even complete volumes into paintings and sculptures.
Continued developments in communication technologies were once believed to make the printed page outdated. From a 21st-century point of view, the printed book is certainly ancient, but it remains as interactive as any battery-powered e-reader. To serve its function, a book must be activated by a user: the cover opened, the pages parted, the contents reviewed, perhaps notes written down or words underlined. And in contrast to our increasingly networked lives where the information we consume is monitored and tracked, a printed book still offers the chance of a wholly private, “off-line” activity.
1. Where is the text most probably taken from?| A．An introduction to a book. | B．An essay on the art of writing. |
| C．A guidebook to a museum. | D．A review of modern paintings. |
| A．Wealth and intellect. | B．Home and school. |
| C．Books and reading. | D．Work and leisure. |
| A．Understand. | B．Paint. |
| C．Seize. | D．Transform. |
| A．The printed book is not totally out of date. |
| B．Technology has changed the way we read. |
| C．Our lives in the 21st century are networked. |
| D．People now rarely have the patience to read. |
Beijing is a city bridging the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, narrow hutong
But for all its ancient buildings, Beijing is also a place
It is a distinct visual contrast (反差) that shouldn’t work,
The
For thousands of years, people have told fables (寓言)
Carson uses a simple, direct style common to fable. In fact, her style and tone (口吻) are seemingly directed at children. “There was once a town in the heart of America,
The themes of traditional fables often deal with simple truths about everyday life. However, Carson’s theme is a more weighty
9 . The sun was beginning to sink as I set off into the Harenna Forest. I was on my way to
I
It was too
| A．share | B．collect | C．celebrate | D．witness |
| A．courtyards | B．fields | C．treetops | D．caves |
| A．urgent | B．dangerous | C．expensive | D．pointless |
| A．searched | B．recognised | C．followed | D．invited |
| A．gathered | B．cleaned | C．dropped | D．checked |
| A．shook | B．lit | C．measured | D．decorated |
| A．jumping | B．talking | C．testing | D．climbing |
| A．hives | B．leaves | C．rope | D．honey |
| A．Finally | B．Surprisingly | C．Naturally | D．Immediately |
| A．backed | B．dived | C．shouted | D．inched |
| A．cut off | B．gone up | C．slid down | D．held onto |
| A．high | B．early | C．fast | D．close |
| A．hatching | B．training | C．sowing | D．trading |
| A．curious | B．hungry | C．bored | D．angry |
| A．moment | B．equipment | C．person | D．order |
10 . Tricks To Becoming A Patient Person
Here’s a riddle: What do traffic jams, long lines and waiting for a vacation to start all have in common? There is one answer.
In the Digital Age, we’re used to having what we need immediately and right at our fingertips. However, research suggests that if we practiced patience, we’d be a whole lot better off. Here are several tricks.
●Practice gratitude (感激)
Thankfulness has a lot of benefits: Research shows it makes us happier, less stressed and even more optimistic.
● Make yourself wait
Instant gratification (满足) may seem like the most “feel good” option at the time, but psychology research suggests waiting for things actually makes us happier in the long run. And the only way for us to get into the habit of waiting is to practice.
●
So many of us have the belief that being comfortable is the only state we will tolerate, and when we experience something outside of our comfort zone, we get impatient about the circumstances. You should learn to say to yourself, “
| A．Find your causes |
| B．Start with small tasks |
| C．Accept the uncomfortable |
| D．All this adds up to a state of hurry |
| E．It can also help us practice more patience |
| F．This is merely uncomfortable, not intolerable |
| G．They’re all situations where we could use a little extra patience |
