2 . Perseverance is a unique precondition to success in life. We can prove this fact when we look at the reality of life and the history of man’s success. Perseverance helps us do what we otherwise would consider impossible to do.

    1     All he has to do is to keep doing and doing without being cast down. Success will come someday or other, though it may apparently be the conception that it cannot be done.     2     But the reality is that man’s success depends on whether he can do the toughest tasks successfully. And to succeed in this tough battle perseverance and hard work is a must.

Perseverance is the secret of success. Without it, no great achievement is possible. Even if a person is not very talented, nor highly knowledgeable, still he can succeed in life simply by his perseverance. Every action has its reaction.     3     It must yield results. Even a genius can hardly succeed in life without knowing how to use his brain and labor. All the great men in history, Issac Newton, Columbus, Robert Bruce, etc., have written their names in golden letters by means of perseverance.     4    

If one looks at his own life, he can very well understand that whatever he has so far gained, he has gained it only by his hard labor, and not by chance. Therefore, perseverance must be practiced.     5     It helps you achieve many goals in life.

5 . Volunteer with Philly Food Rescue (PFR)

In one hour, you can do something to reduce food waste and resource local community. Download the Philly Food Rescue app to get started.

What’s the service opportunity?

PFR is the sustainability, food recovery, and donations arm of Share Food Program. You’ll use your own car (or bike) to rescue leftover food from a grocery store, restaurant, or farmers’ market, delivering it to the matched nonprofit takers. Those include senior centers, shelters, schools, and more. You can claim a one-time or weekly food rescue.

What difference does food rescue make?

PFR works to increase access to fresh food for our neighbors. Our team recovers half a million pounds of food every month thanks to volunteers like you. We resource more than 283 partners across Philadelphia, its suburbs, and South Jersey, impacting food security and sustainability every day of the week.

What’s required?

● If driving, a driver’s license and insurance are needed. For smaller food rescues, a bike may do.

● Food rescue volunteers should be able to lift at least 30 pounds.

● Clear the trunk and back seat to make space for boxes or bags of food.

● Complete the food rescue within its scheduled window.

Additional information:

● PFR matches donations within five miles to keep food local, honor volunteers’ time, and ensure food safety.

● You’re welcome to bring a friend or child as a passenger to help with loading, unloading, and delivery.

● Questions? Ask Britt at bkorn@sharefoodprogram.org or (215)301-3734.

6 . If you were to move to a new country with a different language and bring along the family dog, your pet would likely have a hard time understanding commands from the locals₉ according to a new study looking at how dogs’ brains react to different languages.

The new study was conducted by lead author Laura Cuaya, a neurobiologist at Eotvos Lordnd University in Hungary, who recently moved from Mexico to Tokyo alongside her dog Kun-kun.

Cuaya and her team trained 18 dogs, including Kun-kun, to lie motionless in an MRI machine so the researchers could scan their brains. As the dogs were being scanned, the researchers played the dogs three different recordings: a Spanish reading from the famous children’s book The Little Prince; a Japanese reading from the same book; and a series of human noises that did not resemble speech at all. All of the dogs had been exposed to only one of the two languages, meaning one was familiar to them and the other was unfamiliar. MRI scans revealed that dogs’ brains can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar languages? making them the first-known, and so far only, non-human animals to be able to tell the difference between human languages.

During the experiments, researchers also found that older dogs showed more activity in the secondary auditory cortex of the brain, suggesting they were better at differentiating familiar and unfamiliar languages than younger dogs. “I think that the main reason that older dogs are better at differentiating languages is the amount of exposure to the language Cuaya said. “Older dogs have had more opportunities to listen to humans while they talk.”

What makes dogs unique is that they do not need to be trained to distinguish between human languages. “Their brains detected the difference naturally, perhaps due to the domestication process,” Cuaya said. “While it is possible that many species can distinguish between human languages ₉ dogs are one of the few that are interested in hearing us.”

Featuring a dynamic design, the horse-face skirt is widely preferred by fans of traditional clothing in China. Exploring ways     1     (promote) the culture, they prefer to wear traditional clothing when taking part in cultural activities and share the beauty on the Internet.

The horse-face skirt     2     (originate) in the Song Dynasty and grew popular during the Ming Dynasty due to its functionality and artistic style. It is     3     (traditional) composed of two identical overlapping (部分重叠) panels     4     (wrap) around the left and right side of the lower body. Each   panel is   composed of a   large   rectangular (长方形的) panel of fabric, a side piece made up of several smaller panels and another rectangular panel narrower than the first.     5     (attach) to a waistband by ties, the two sides overlap each other so that one of the large straight panels on each piece is in the front and back of the skirt. This overlapping nature leaves openings in the front and back of the skirt, making     6     very suitable for horse-riding.

While maintaining the essential design     7     (element) of the horse-face skirt, modern designers change its outline, length, or detailing to match current fashion trends, appealing     8     a broader audience for usual daywear or formal evening fashions.

“This kind of skirt shows the grand     9     (elegant) that is admired in Chinese culture. Knowing     10     we come from, we can then be clear about where we are going, ” Daben, a Chinese vlogger, told the Global Times.

10 . Jim Metzner has spent nearly five decades documenting and sharing the sounds of the world, from immersive portraits of American cities to unforgettable moments with people and wildlife in varied places.

Now more people will be able to hear more of the world through Metzner’s tape. The Library of Congress announced earlier this month that it has acquired the full body of his life’s work. The recordings include soundscapes of every description from around the world and interviews with scientists, artists and local people. Whereas many recordists focus entirely on a single subject—nature, music or science —Metzner’s recordings convey various human experiences accompanied by the vast range of sounds from the natural world.

Metzner’s career began with a moment of realization in the 1970s, when he first ventured onto the campus of UMass Amherst equipped with a stereo recorder, microphone and ear phones. Metznerre called pushing the red button and hearing a lifelike symphony: a couple walking and talking nearby, a bicycle riding through gravel, a bird flying overhead, bells in the distance. “And I was going like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. What an extraordinary coincidence!’” he recalled. “But it wasn’t a coincidence--this stuff was happening all the time, I just hadn’t been paying attention to it. And it was the microphone and the recorder that said, ‘Wake up ... you live in a world of sound. Here it is.’And it was, like, handing it to me on a plate.”

Metzner continued to focus on those moments over the years. Now in his 7Os, Metzner isn’t hanging up his microphone quite yet. He tells NPR he’s grateful to the Library of Congress for preserving his life’s work, which he describes as a deep honor. But he also wants to make sure it’s actually being heard, not just “buried in an archive (档案室).”

He hopes more people will get to experience — and recognize the value -- of soundscapes, which he describes as “part of our natural heritage” and “the touchstones to our feelings.”

“You can go to a museum and see Diane Arbus’ photographs. You can see Rene Magritte’s paintings,” he adds. “Why not soundscapes?”