Let's have fun!

    Big Hugs Elmo

    Sesame Street Big Hugs Elmo. There are so many ways to play with Sesame Street Big Hugs Elmo! When preschoolers give Elmo a great big hug, he'll hug back, say fun phrases or sing a sweet song about hugs! Press Elmo's left foot and he will invite children to join in 1 of 4 imagination activities. There are 50 plus lively sounds and phrases. Elmo loves getting hugs from you. Let's play.

    Furby Boom Figure—Peacock

    A whole new generation of Furby creatures is about to be born! Dust off your Furbish dictionary and get ready to party with your Furby Boon creature! Your Furby has a mind of its own, and the way you treat your Furby will shape its personality—so the more fun you have with it, the better! It speaks more English the more you play with it. Tickle（挠痒）your Furby, talk to it, and feed it.

    FurReal Friends Cuddles My Giggly Monkey

    Cuddles My Giggly Monkey responds in lifelike ways to being loved and cared for. Feed her with the banana-shaped bottle and she will move her mouth like a real baby monkey, make slurping sounds, and even say “mm” when she's full! Snuggle（偎依）her close and she will turn to snuggle right back while making sweet, lovable monkey sounds. When it's time for bed, rock Cuddles, and she will also sleepy sounds.

    The First Flower Girl Doll—Disney Sofia

    Your little Sofia then first fan will love this target-exclusive 10 flower girl doll; she is inspired by the hit animated series from Disney Junior, Sofia the First. This beautiful Sofia doll is beautifully dressed in a never-before0seen gown inspired by the flower girl fashion she wore at her mom's royal wedding.

    Time flies, or so they say. No matter where you are, humans are constantly measuring and checking time. Some of us are good at it—planning and doing things ahead of time—while others are always trying to beat the clock and do things at last. What about if you are behind time?

    Delay can be serious. If you were one minute late for work, would you resign? It may sound extreme to many of us, but that is exactly what occurred in the UK upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, in January 2018. International development minister Lord Bates arrived one minute late, and, as a result, was unable to answer a scheduled question. Instead of trying to make up for lost time, he resigned on the spot. He apologised for his discourtesy and stated that he was ashamed. His resignation, though, was not accepted by the UK prime minister.

    So, how late is too late? Many cultures take punctuality very seriously, whereas others seem to accept lagging behind as just the normal way of things. BBC employees from Latin America, Rwanda and Sri Lanka said that there are more flexible attitudes to timekeeping in their cultures. In Latin America, things may happen five minutes, 20 minutes, an hour or even two after they were planned. Whereas, in Sri Lanka, lateness is a part of the daily routine. This is because of poor infrastructure and heavy traffic conditions. In Rwanda, those who attend to deadlines with strick timekeeping are said to be “like a typical European”.

    On the other hand, German and Japanese employees mentioned a stricter adherence to time. In Japan, it is common to make an effort to arrive with time to spare for an appointment. Those who arrived at the stroke of nine to a meeting starting at 9 am would be considered late. In Germany, however, if a dinner party were to begin at eight, a person who had arrived five minutes prior, may walk around the block to make sure that they arrive at eight on the dot.

    As we age, our ability to think and remember starts to deteriorate. But not everyone. Some of us have brains that age more slowly. Enter the super-ager!

    Super-agers are people over the age of 80 who have the brain structures and abilities of much younger people. Eighty-seven-year-old Bill Gurolnick is a super-ager. “What do I feel like? If I was to give a number, I probably feel like I'm about my early 70s…”

    Scientists know that parts of the brain decrease in size with age. But in super-agers that process is much slower. Emily Rogalski is a neuroscientist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, Illinois. In a recent study, she showed that super-agers have young brains. The area of the brain responsible for attention and memory—the cortex—was shown to be thicker in super-agers. “When we look at the cortex of their brain, we see that, on average, that it looks more like a 50-year-old brain that it looks like an average 80-year-old bran…”

    Not only do super-ages have thicker cortexes, they have more spindle neurons. These large brain cells appear to be involved with social-emotional communication. But their exact purpose is still a mystery. Scientists writing for Smithsonian magazine say they are “brain cells for socializing.”

    Several factors affect how our brains age. Scientists say super-agers have several things in common, including an active lifestyle. Many travel and play sports. They are often big readers. And they usually have healthy relationships and spend time with friends. Super-agers also seem to have certain common personality traits. Rogalski says they are, for the most part, known for their optimism, resilience and perseverance. Growing old, she adds, does not have to be depressing and sad. “Perhaps, if we expected a bit better from ourselves, then we would understand that not all aging is stressful!”

    Can we all be super-agers? The science behind super-aging is a relatively new, but growing field. Scientists involved in the research offer this advice as we age: Stay active. Learn new things. Challenge yourself. Surround yourself with healthy relationships.

    Three-quarters of a million tourists flock to the primitive, white beaches every year—but this booming industry has come at a price. When foreigners left the government struggling to cope with a stream of rubbish, their answer was to turn one of these islands into a dumping ground. Clouds of sharp, poisonous smoke rising from open fires, piles of rubbish made up of plastic bottles, crisp packets and consumer junk. It's a far cry from the white sands, crystal-clear waters and gently swaying palm trees that we associate with the Maldives（马尔代夫）, the beautiful paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.

    Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are dedicated resorts. Three-quarters of a million tourists visit every year—more than double the domestic population. Of these, over 100,000 travel from the UK. The capital, Malé, is four times more densely populated than London. Given these facts, it's hardly surprising that the Maldives on which has a waste disposal problem.

    What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever fix eyes. Four miles west of Malé is the country's dumping ground, Thilafushi—or Rubbish Island as it has simply become known.

    The country dumps upwards of 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day, a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the chain of islands relies. Each visitor generates 3.5 kg of waste per day.

    Now, the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island, which is too late, due largely to an increase in the number of waste boats “fly-tipping”（非法倾倒）directly into the sea, fed up with waiting seven hours or more to offload their cargo.

How to Introduce Yourself Before Giving a Speech

    Greet the audience and state your name. If you're giving a speech, it's important to state your first and last name.       

           Don't state down or at some aimless point in the corner of the room. If you don't like the thought of looking into that many eyes, look at their eyebrows or noses—they won't be able to tell the difference.

    Share some relevant（相关的）information about yourself. After you provide your name, share why you and the speech are relevant, making sure you provide something believable.        If you're giving a speech about the importance of eating organic foods, tell people that you're a scientist, chef, or environmental professional. If you're giving a speech about child development, be sure to include that you are a child psychologist.

    Communicate effectively. From the very start, make sure your voice is loud enough for everyone to hear you. You can even ask the audience if you are speaking loudly enough for all to hear.       

    Move your body.        Stand up tall, move your shoulders back, and keep your hands free, using them to gesture when necessary. You can walk around to show the crowd how comfortable you are and to make yourself look less stiff.

A. Make eye contact with a few people.

B. Focus just on what you are going to talk about.

C. Stand with good posture（姿势）, and move freely while you speak.

D. As you say hello and give your name, remember to speak clearly and confidently.

E. It depends on the context of the conversation, but start off by telling something about yourself.

F. People will not be able to understand you or respect what you are sharing if they cannot hear you.

G. The sort of information you share will depend on the audience and the subject you'll talk about.

    When Meghan died in a car accident at the age of sixteen, Colleen Keefe together with another friend wrote the following to remember her:

    When I heard the news of you 1 us so soon, all I could do was hug my blanket to me. On my way down to 2 your mom and dad, I realized I needed to give you a 3 of me. I could not cut out my heart, even though it is 4 at this time. So I give to you, my friend, a piece of my blanket in the 5 of a heart. Attached to it is a(n) 6 of the three of us—you, me and Shauna.

    Now, I have to 7 that this blanket was given to me by my grandfather, who is in heaven with you. He will 8 the blanket. He might not recognize my picture, as he has been gone for over fourteen years. But don't be 9--he's really a teddy bear. Give him a big hug and a kiss 10 me, and tell him I said to take care of you. He will 11.

    Now that we know you are being taken 12 of, we can move on with our lives. We found out that one who received your organ（器官）donation is doing 13. Even in your 14 you have helped others. We will be seeing your family soon, and staying in 15 with everyone.

    Good-bye, my friend, we16 you already. You will never be 17 from our thoughts. Give us a nudge（轻推）when we are heading in the 18 direction and, of course, keep “dancing”.

    Every time I 19 my blanket around me I will 20 your presence. Stay warm.

    A US teenager criticized（批评）on social media for wearing a        (tradition) Chinese dress to her high school prom（毕业舞会）defended her decision and has won support from netizens（网民）in China.

    Keziah Daum, 18,        high school senior in Utah, faced a strong reaction from thousands online, some of whom accused her of “cultural appropriation（文化挪用）” after she posted four prom pictures on Twitter on April 22 that featured her wearing a qipao, a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for        (woman). “I        (praise) by the many people from China who have both reached out to me and have posted to social media their viewpoints. I thank them        the moral support regarding my decision        (wear) a qipao,” Daum told China Daily in an email on Tuesday. “I        (sincere) thank the outpouring of support I have received from the people of China.” Daum stood by her choice to wear the dress,        was red and orange with gold-and-black embroidery（刺绣）. She said on Twitter that she will not take down the original post. “The dress        (catch) my eye at first because of        (it) beauty,” she said. “I was also so happy to find a dress with a modest neckline. It is very hard to find dresses in America for prom which cover a women's neckline.”

注意：1．每处错误及其修改仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    Recently an English speaking competition held in Chongqing People's Great Hall on April 15. Senior I and II students from Chongqing take part in it. The students introduced Queensland and Chongqing but also compared life and study to Chongqing and Queensland. Through the competition students know Queensland better. They have also improved their language ability, who will be a good help for cultural communication. The first six best students will enjoy a freely trip to Queensland. We will live and study there for two weeks in August.

    I also took part in a competition. Ranked 3^rd, I will be given the chances too. I am glad I will experience life in Queensland myself and to improve my English as well.

1）社团成立时间、目的；

2）即将开展的活动；

3）报名方式：TaiJiClub.@sina.com

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。太极拳：Taijiquan

Dear Tim,

    Looking forward to your reply.

Yours,

Li Hua