Now another American education icon may be disappearing: the hardbound (精装的) textbook. More and more school districts are replacing traditional textbooks with electronic ones. Electronic textbooks are usually accessed either through an online server or are downloaded to student laptops.
In North Texas, Plano and Irving schools are introducing e-books into a few classrooms, and Lancaster school officials also are considering them. But no local district appears to be going as far as Forney. The district most likely would be the first in the state to use e-books in every classroom for grades five to twelve.
Officials point out several reasons for turning to e-books. For one, they are easier to update. Thus the publishers are able to find ways to do online textbooks and they can go back and change information. Using e-books will better prepare students for college and the workplace.
Rapid district growth is another reason. The number of the students in the district is expected to double within five years. It's difficult to know textbook needs in advance and some students wait months for their books. But e-books can be uploaded onto a“blank” laptop in a few hours.
Cost may eventually be a deciding cause for choosing e-books, but there are no big savings yet. Even if they get it electronically, they still have to pay for the book because they're buying the instructional material. That may change as more and more districts move toward e-books.
Today's students have little trouble adjusting to laptops and e-books, said Connie Cooley, who has taught at the Academy of Irving ISD for five years. But she said it could worry teachers. "It's harder for people who are right around my age and older," said Ms. Cooley, 36. "I'm laptop-savvy, so I was ready for it, but those that aren't area little worrying."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prepare for Water Day Zero
Earlier this year alarming headlines blared that Cape Town, South Africa, was headed for Water Day Zero — the date when the city's taps would go dry because its reservoirs would become dangerously low on water. That day — originally expected in mid-April 2018 — has been postponed until at least 2019, thanks to water rationing and a welcome rainy season. But the conditions that led to this desperate situation will inevitably occur again, hitting cities all over the planet.
As the climate warms, extreme droughts and vanishing water supplies will likely become more common. But even without the added impact of climate change, normal rainfall variation plays an enormous role in year-to-year water availability. These ordinary patterns now have extraordinary effects because urban populations have had tremendous growth: by 2050 the United Nations projects that two thirds of the world's people will live in cities. Urban planners and engineers need to learn from past rainfall variability to improve their predictions and take future demand into account to build more resilient infrastructure.
How did Cape Town get into a Water Day Zero situation? The city gets its water from six reservoirs in Western Cape province, which usually fill up during the rainy season, from May through August. But since 2015 the region has been suffering from the worst drought in a century, and the water in those reservoirs dwindled (减少) dangerously. Compounding the problem, Cape Town's population has grown substantially, increasing demand. The city actually did a pretty good job of keeping demand low by reducing leaks in the system, a major cause of water waste, and has even won awards for its conservation policies. But the government of South Africa was slow to declare a national disaster in the areas hit hardest by the drought, paving the way for the recent crisis.
Fortunately, steps can be taken to avoid urban water crises. In general, a combination of approaches that relies on multiple water sources is probably most effective. Cape Town has already begun implementing a number of projects, including tapping groundwater and building water-recycling plants.
The global community has an opportunity right now to take action to prevent a series of Water Day Zero crises. If we don't act, many cities may soon face a time when there isn't a drop to drink.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18-year-old Sadiya was born in Deora, a small village in eastern India, but moved to the city of Mumbai when she was 3．In 2020, when the pandemic(疫情)broke out, her father’s small business was forced to close temporarily and the family returned to her ancestral village to wait out the pandemic．
However, it greatly shocked her when she found that attending school was uncommon in Deora，where almost half of the villagers couldn’t read. Unable to afford textbooks, many families often withdrew their children from schools. They didn’t wish to educate their children，many of whom had to work in the fields with parents though some had the desire to read．
Sadiya, the college girl with a strong sense of social responsibility, has been trying to seize opportunities to open doors for others. Fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and English, she often speaks at inter-college events on the right to education and enjoys a high reputation among college students．
Used to taking on challenges, Sadiya was determined to do something for the children. One day last July, Sadiya sat down with her family elders and proposed the idea of setting up a library”. Many shook their heads in disagreement—this wasn’t how a young girl should spend her time.
After many discussions, Sadiya finally convinced them and gained access to her relative’s guesthouse，mending it with $67 that she’d won in public-speaking awards. She took the help of her uncle, Akbar, and cousin, Nawaz, and got to work. Walls were repainted，the bamboo roof was repaired and lights and bookshelves were fixed, and the room was filled with chairs and a long table．Vivid charts stuck on the walls—from anatomy(解剖)to transportation, lightened the space. Looking at the newly-decorated“library”, Sadiya couldn’t hold back her excitement while imagining the children reading books here by light.
All was ready except books. So what Sadiya was desperate to do next was fill the shelves with books. She drew on all her savings and purchased many books suitable for children online.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But these books were far from enough．
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With everything ready，the library finally opened．
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
