Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum

    Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don't need to book. They end around 21:00.

November 1^th The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis.

    James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of nanal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early "civil enginerrs".

December 2^th Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker.

    Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London's ice trade grew.

February 3^th An Update on the Cotsword Canals, by Liz Payne.

    The Smoudwater Canal is moving towards reopenling. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.

March 4^th Eyots and Aits- Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers.

    The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.

    Online bookings: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book

    More into: www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

    London Canal Museum

    12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

    www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www.canalmuseum.mobi

    Tel:020 77130836

    Everyone needs friends. As the saying goes, "Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

    The American writer, Sally Seamans, tells young students some smart ways to make friends. Sally says finding friendship is just like planting a tree. You plant the seed and take care of it to make it grow.

    First you should choose a friend. What makes a good friend? It is not because a person has money or good looks. A good friend should be kind and patient. For example, if you have a bad day, a good friend should listen to your complaints and do his best to help. To make friends, you cannot be too shy. You should make each other happy and share your lives.

    But things cannot always be happy. Even the best friends have fights. What should you do when you have a fight with your friend? You have to talk to him or her. When there is no one around, have an honest talk. If he or she doesn't want to talk, you could write a letter.

    There are three steps to be friends again:

    Tell him or her how you are feeling; say what your friend has done wrong; explain why you did this or that. Remember that friendship is the most important thing in your life.

China is a land of bicycles. At least it was back in 1992 when I traveled the country. Back then everyone seemed to be riding a bicycle. Millions of them, all black. Cars were rare. Yet since my arrival in Beijing last year, I've found the opposite is true. There are millions of cars. However, people still use their bicycles to get around. For many, it's the easiest and cheapest way to travel today. Bicycles also come in different colors — silver, green, red, blue, yellow, whatever you want.

    It's fun watching people biking. They rush quickly through crossroads  move skillfully through traffic, and ride even on sidewalks. Bicycles allow people the freedom to move about that cars just can't provide.

    Eager to be part of this aspect of Chinese culture, I decided to buy a bicycle. Great weather accompanied my great buy. I immediately jumped up on my bicycle seat and started home.

    My first ride home was orderly (守秩序的). To be safe, I stayed with a "pack" of bikers while cars on the streets came running swiftly out of nowhere at times. I didn't want to get hit. So I took the ride carefully.

    Crossing the streets was the biggest problem. It was a lot like crossing a major highway back in the United States. The streets here were wide, so crossing took time, skill and a little bit of luck.

    I finally made it home. The feeling on the bicycle was amazing. The air hitting my face and going through my hair was wonderful. I was sitting on top of the world as I passed by places and people. Biking made me feel alive.

    Going green seems to be fad (时尚) for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can't really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.

    On April 22, 2011, we decided to go green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different green things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.

    With the idea of going green every single day for a year, Our Green Year started. My life and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.

    Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyle. We now shop at organic stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don't need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.

    Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet.

On Forgiveness (论宽恕)

    To forgive is a virtue (美德), but no one has ever said it is easy. When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your hate. However, forgiveness is possible, and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health. People who forgive show less sadness, anger and stress and more hopefulness, according to a recent research.

    Try the following steps:

    Calm yourself. You can take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, or someone you love.

    Don't wait for an apology. Many times the person who hurt you does not intend to apologize. They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean becoming friends again with the person who upset you.

    Take the control away from your offender (冒犯者). Rethinking about you hurt gives power to the person who causes you pain. Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you.

    If you understand your offender, you may realize that he or she was acting out of unawareness, fear, and even love. You may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender's point of view.

    Don't forget to forgive yourself. But it can rob you of your self-confidence if you don't do it.

A. Why should you forgive?

B. How should you start to forgive?

C. Recognize the benefits of forgiveness.

D. Try to see things from you offender's angle.

E. For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge.

F. To make your anger die away, try a simple stress-management technique.

G. If you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time.

    Carol's husband was killed in a car accident last year.

    Jim, only 52, was 1 home from work. The other driver was a teenager who had 2 a lot. Jim died at once. The teenager was in the 3 for less than three hours.

    It was Carol's fiftieth birthday, and Jim had two plane tickets to Hawaii in his pocket. He was going to 4 her. However, he was killed by a drunken driver.

    "How have you 5 this?" I asked Carol, a year later.

6 welled up (涌出) in her eyes. I thought I had said the 7thing, but she said, “It's all right. I want to 8you. The day I married Jim, I promised I would never let him leave the house in the morning 9telling him I loved him. He made the same10. It got to be a joke between us, and as we grew older it got to be a (n) 11 promise to keep.

    "I remember running down the driveway, saying 'I love you' just before he drove out of my   12, or driving all the way to his office just to put a(n) 13  saying 'I love you' on his car. It was a funny   14.

    "We made a lot of15   trying to say 'I love you' before noon every day of our married life.

    "The morning Jim 16, he left a birthday card in the kitchen and then left 17. I heard the engine starting. Oh, no, I thought. I18 out quickly and knocked on the car window 19 he rolled it down.

    "Here on my fiftieth birthday I, Carol Garret, want you, Mr James E. Garret, to 20 that 'I love you!'

    "That's how I've survived, knowing that the last words I said to Jim were, 'I love you!'"

    Famous scientist as he is, Yuan Longping considers himself farmer. He grows is called super hybrid rice. As a young man, Yuan Longping saw the great need for increasing the rice output. At that time, hunger was a disturbing problem in many parts of the countryside. He wanted to increase rice harvest without  (expand) the area of the fields. In 1973, a special strain of rice made possible to produce 20% more of the crop in the same fields. Thanks his research, the UN has more tools in the battle to rid the world of  (hungry). Using his hybrid rice, farmers are producing harvest  (two) as large as before. He is now circulating his rice knowledge in less developed countries  (increase) their rice harvests and he wants to export his rice so that it can be grown around the globe. Though he  (struggle) for the past five decades, Yuan Longping is quite satisfied his life. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to violin music, playing mah -jong, swimming and reading.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。

修改： 在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：

1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起) 不计分。

    I often go to a weekend school. So did many of my classmates. This seems popular among students. Good weekend schools have excellent teachers which help us improve our studies. Besides, we get to know students from another schools and learn about their campus of life.

    So every coin has two sides. Our school work is already a heavy burden. Extra lesson often take up too much of our time. In addition, pay lots of attention to the extra lessons will affect their school subjects. We may also find ourselves very tired on Monday to concentrate on the lessons in our own school. We should think serious about this issue and make the best use of our time.

1）讲座的地点与时间；

2）讲座的主题与内容；

3）自我推荐做Cooper 翻译，期待他的参加。

字数100字左右（包括所有内容，可适当发挥，开头结尾已给出，不计入总字数）

Dear Cooper,

     ……

Yours

Lin Tao