1 . If you’re a keen photographer with a passion for making an impact, we’d love to have you join this nonprofit photography workshop in Africa! You don’t need to be a pro to join: you just need to have a good camera, basic photography skills, and an interest in giving back through photography.
·Program schedule One-week workshopThe program will be kicked off with a workshop taught by humanitarian photographer Anna Lusty. The first week will be focused on all elements of nonprofit photography, including how to prepare for shoots, how to approach projects in a culturally sensitive way, and how to best capture (捕捉) the essence of projects, etc. Half days will be spent on theory, and during the other half, we’ll visit a nonprofit organization so that we can put skills into practice.
·Photography assignmentsFrom the second week, you’ll start your photography assignments. Each week, you’ll be assigned to a grassroots organization of your choice. This can have a wide range of focus areas, such as education, animal welfare, sports coaching and more. You’ll spend your time getting to understand the organization’s mission and projects, and you’ll document their work with your camera. At the end of the week, there will be time for post production, and you can donate a selection of your images to the organization.
·Logistics and supportAccommodation, transport and support are all provided during this photography volunteer project. We’ll pick you up from the airport, provide all necessary transport and support on the ground and supply daily meals.
·Start dates and feesOur start dates for 2024 are as follows:
Cape Town: Feb 19/May 14 /July 17 /Oct 16
Livingstone: July 31
Program fees for 2024:
| 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | |
| Cape Town | $2,150 | $2,700 | $3,250 |
| Livingstone | $2,750 | $3,200 | $3,650 |
We’d love to receive your application!
1. What is required to apply for the program?| A．Professional photography skills. |
| B．Related volunteer experience. |
| C．Proper photographic equipment. |
| D．Interest in African culture. |
| A．Each volunteer is assigned a professional photographer. |
| B．The program combines theoretical learning and practical sessions. |
| C．Volunteers can team up freely to finish a project together. |
| D．Participants raise money for the organization. |
| A．$2,150. | B．$2,700. |
| C．$3,200. | D．$3,650. |
2 . World-famous Botanical Gardens
From botanical history to scientific discovery, here are the top picks for people to explore.
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, England (1840)
Located in London, Royal-Botanic Gardens at Kew are home to the world’s biggest collection of living plants. As a global resource for plant and fungal knowledge, it has more than 50,000 species of native and exotic plants, trees, and flowers on site. It is a setting rich in history that spans from royal decorations to wartime bombing, and its mission is to protect plants for the future of all life on Earth.
The Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou, China (1513)
The Humble Administrators Garden in Suzhou is a great masterpiece with its attractive design and careful arrangement of natural elements. It’s centered around water features, with beautiful fountains, complex rockwork, and historic buildings surrounded by thick vegetation. The combination of these elements creates a picturesque landscape. Because of its exceptional cultural and historical significance, the garden has become a world heritage.
Parque de Monserrate, Sintra, Portugal (1789)
Monserrate is a combination of wild landscape with old ruins, formal lawned areas and lovely gardens. The garden sits on the lower slopes of the Sintra Mountains, which have one of the mildest climates in Europe, so the garden is frost-free. At its very centre is a grand palace, which has a distinctive mixture of different architectural styles. It has been the site of various buildings and gardens for hundreds of years.
Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, USA (1859)
Established in 1859, Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest botanical garden in continuous use in North America. It is recognized internationally for its scientific research. With almost 50 themed gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden has been involved in the conservation of plants from native American regions and also from Madagascar, China and Central America.
1. Why are the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew established?| A．To collect tropical plants. | B．To conserve various plants. |
| C．To record the history of British plants. | D．To provide a shelter for people in wartime. |
| A．It highlights the waterscape. | B．It is surrounded by formal lawns. |
| C．It includes many themed gardens. | D．It shows different architectural ruins. |
| A．London. | B．Suzhou. | C．Sintra. | D．St Louis. |
Do you feel a little sleepy after lunch? Well, that’s normal. Your body
But there
Next time you feel sleepy after lunch, don’t worry. Put your head down, close your
4 . Tiny, black-capped chickadees (北美山雀) have big memories. They store food in hundreds to thousands of different locations in the wild — and then comeback to these places when other food sources are low.
Scientists have known that chickadees have incredible memory skills. That memory can be a matter of life or death for these birds when there are no enough food resources in colder months.
Some researchers thought that neurons called place cells (细胞) would explain these birds’ ability to remember where their food is stored. These cells are known to include information about where things are in space. But recently，Selmaan Chettih and his team found that each time a chickadee hides a seed (种子) in a specific location, a unique brain pattern appears — separate from place cells
To observe this, Chettih and his team created special areas with lots of feeders filled with sunflower seeds. They put small flaps (片状下垂物) where birds could hide seeds.
The scientists tracked the activity in their brains. Each time a bird hid a seed under a flap, researchers saw a brief unique brain pattern appear—what they called the barcode. Different patterns appeared even if the birds hid many seeds in the same location. When the birds revisited these sites and retrieved the hidden seeds, the same barcode-like pattern appeared again, as though all the information about each location and seed were related to a unique brain pattern.
The researchers compared these memories to episodic memories in humans, which are memories of specific events or personal experiences. They’re important to how humans connect time, people, places and sensory information together.
Chettih says that this see chiding behavior has a clear pattern of activity, which may help researchers build a structure for how the brain creates and stores memories
1. Why are memory skills necessary for chickadees?| A．Memory skills can help them survive in colder months. |
| B．Memory skills show their intelligence and learning abilities. |
| C．They need memory skills to identify different types of food. |
| D．They use memory skills to avoid being attacked by other animals. |
| A．Chickadees’ memories were controlled by place cells. |
| B．Chickadees preferred hiding sunflower seeds. |
| C．Unique brain patterns appeared when chickadees hid seeds. |
| D．Chickadees often hid many seeds in the same location. |
| A．Repaired. | B．Regained. | C．Decorated. | D．Designed. |
| A．To introduce a study on chickadees’ memory. |
| B．To present a detailed description of chickadees. |
| C．To compare chickadees and human memory skills. |
| D．To provide readers with a way to improve memory skills. |
Music in its many forms is a powerful force. For centuries, people all over the world have created or listened to music in its
In many cultures, music making
The power of music is this―it will touch all our lives in some way. It could be we a e interested in the popular music of today and the classical music of yesterday, or have a fascination with creating wonderful instruments. It could be we join
Although the music today may be different
6 . I have begun every conversation with the usual opening line, “Entschuldigung, mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut” since I moved to Hermsdorf, a little village in east Germany in 2015. The purpose was to let the Germans know that they shouldn’t expect me to express more ideas or respond quickly and accurately, so I escape too much conversation with them.
Learning to speak German was not funny for meat all. Even if I could technically write academic (学术的) articles in German, the thought of calling a doctor to make an appointment (约定) would still bring me anxiety. I would stammer (口吃) during small talk with a mother I had never met before, while dressing my one-year-old at kindergarten.
This went on for almost ten years until a month ago. I was at home, telling my husband about a meeting I’d had. As usual, I started the meeting by apologizing (道歉) for my poor German. The lady behind the desk looked at me somewhat confused, “But your German is great.” “She is right, you know,” my husband said. “I don’t know why you still think you speak poor German. OK, it is not perfect, but who cares?” After living in Germany for nearly ten years, why did I still worry so much? I finally saw the light. It was because I was trying to protect my feelings.
Lately, when I sat across from a woman who could be my future boss, I felt anxious about the interview, especially the unavoidable question, “Tell me about yourself.” I really wanted to use my usual opening line, but I didn’t and thought I should trust myself and my German. That afternoon, l was called back to meet the CEO who told me that I was hired, and when we shook hands, she didn’t mention anything about my German skills.
1. Why did the author begin conversations with the usual opening line?| A．She pretended to be polite. |
| B．She hoped to impress people with her language skills. |
| C．She wished form or c opportunities to practice German. |
| D．She wanted to avoid further conversation with Germans |
| A．Excited and inspired. | B．Anxious and bored. |
| C．Confident and relaxed. | D．Pleased and satisfied. |
| A．Not having confidence in speaking German. |
| B．Writing academic articles in German. |
| C．The basic rules of German grammar. |
| D．Small talks with her friends. |
| A．To stress the author’s language skills were praised. |
| B．To illustrate the mental challenges of job interviews. |
| C．To prove good relationship between the author and the CEO. |
| D．To show the author’s changes and growth in speaking German. |
7 . Overcoming barriers to exercising
If you’re having trouble beginning an exercise plan or following through, you’re not alone. Detailed exercise instructions and workout plans are just a click awav. But knowing how and why to exercise was far from enough. Making exercise a habit takes more.
While practical concerns like a busy schedule or poor health can make exercise more challenging, for most of us, the biggest barriers are mental. Maybe it’s a lack of self-confidence that keeps you from taking positive steps.
You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or force yourself into dull or painful activities to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise.
Research shows that self-sympathy increases the likelihood that you’ll succeed in any attempt. So, don’t blame yourself too much for your current fitness level.
| A．Maybe your passion dies down. |
| B．A little exercise is better than nothing. |
| C．Expecting too much only leads to frustration. |
| D．You know there are great reasons to exercise. |
| E．All that will do is cause you to lose motivation. |
| F．You need the right mindset and a smart approach. |
| G．Many of us are struggling to get into the motionless state. |
Fortunately,
