2019年浙江省中考英语真题（阅读理解）

STUDY HELP

    For many tests and exams, you are tested on your abilities to communicate successfully. In order to speak English fluently, you need to think in English. If you don't, your speech will be slow and it won't sound natural. Here are some things you can do to.

    ●Look at objects around your home and school, and think of what they are called in English. Try to make a direct connection between the object and the English word.

    ●When you are out in a public place, practice describing the things and people you see in your mind. For example, think, "There is a man walking down the street. He's wearing a suit. I think he is going to work. "Try to think in English first, not in your first language.

    ●When you have to say something in English, think first and ask yourself" What words and phases do I know in English that I can use in this situation? "Try not to think in your first language and translate your ideas into English. If you do, you will get frustrated very quickly.

    Try these tips and you'll soon find that you are thinking in English.

    "I am going to the store, Uncle Moti, "Mina said. "Do you want to come along? You have not seen much of the neighborhood yet."

    Uncle shook his head. "No, thank you," he said. "It is just too loud and crowded for me. Everyone is always on the go, while I am used to the peace and quiet of our village. I feel afraid out there, like a frightened (害怕的) child. "Mina sat on the sofa next to her uncle. "Tell me about the village, Uncle Moti," she said. "Would I like it there?"

    Uncle laughed. "Without a doubt, you would find it dull at first-the loudest sound is usually birdsong. The people I meet on the street are all people I know, and we stop and talk or go to the tea shop and have tea. There are not many shops, but the shopkeepers know all their customers. Everyone is friendly and has a smile for everyone else."

    "Sounds really nice," Mina said. "But I think maybe it is not different in every way. I really wish you would come with me, and I could show you why I say that. "Uncle sighed and got up, saying, "All right, Mina, I will go."

    Out on the street, cars zoomed by, some of them honking. Uncle looked very nervous at all the noise and activities, and Mina took his hand.

    "Look," she said, "there is my friend Nate, and coming down the street is my teacher, Ms. Sanchez." Mina waved to Nate, who waved back, and called hello to her teacher. Then she led her uncle down the street to the store, where she greeted the shopkeeper. "Hi, Ms. Franklin, this is my uncle Moti, who has come here to live."

    "Over here," Mina took her uncle's arm and led him across the street. A sign over a door read "Navid's Tea Shop." Uncle smiled. They went in and sat at a table. They ordered tea, and Uncle sighed happily.

    "Well, I see what you were trying to show me," he said. "This neighborhood is your village. Now it will be mine to. It has friends, kind shopkeepers, birds, and even a tea shop…"

    Brooke wanted a dollhouse and some sugar cookies. So the 6-year-old asked Alexa to get them. Alexa wasn't her mom or babysitter. It was a voice-activated home assistant powered by AI (人工智能). And it made Brooke's wishes come true. A few days later, much to her parents' surprise, a $170 dollhouse and four pounds of cookies showed up. They ate the cookies and gave away the dollhouse to a local hospital. And that's not the end of the story. When a news reporter told the story of what happened on TV, Alexa devices (设备) in many listeners' homes woke up and tried to order dollhouses!

    Alexa isn't the only AI willing to serve you. Apple Home Pod has Siri, Google Home has its Assistant, and the upcoming Galaxy Home device will have Bixby. People who have these devices use them mainly for listening to music, checking the weather, and setting timers. According to a report from The Information, nowadays voice shopping is rare. But many scientists predict a boom (增长) in voice shopping in the near future. Is that a good thing?

      ▲   You can shout out an order as soon as you think of it, even if you are cooking, cleaning, or driving. In addition, people with disabilities who are unable to use a keyboard or mouse can shop without any help.

    But voice shopping has its disadvantages. Unwanted dollhouses aren't the biggest problem. It's usually very easy to cancel an order or return products. The thing that worries some people is that these assistants are always listening. They have to be able to respond when you want them. So they listen for "Alexa" or "OK Google" or another order. When they hear it, they start recording the conversation. Some have worried about what happens shopping habits? And what if someone hacks (入侵) the device? The CIA found a way to hack smart TVs to turn them into spies that listen all the time. Others could do the same with any smart device.

    What do you think? Are you ready to start voice shopping?

    Tourism (旅游业) is one of the world's largest industries. Many countries depend heavily on tourism as an important part of their economy (经济), while other countries-such as some of the smaller Caribbean island nations-are almost completely dependent on tourism.

    Despite its economic advantages, tourism has disadvantages, too. While countries spend millions attracting tourists, they are also under the pressure that tourism brings.

    One of the biggest problems is environmental. The building of roads and hotels can quickly destroy those very beautiful places. Development on wetlands, for example, influences wildlife; forests disappear as they are cleared to make way for buildings and to provide fuel (燃料). In addition, the tourist industry also puts a huge pressure on water people need. In dry Mediterranean areas, tourists use almost twice as much water as local people when swimming in the pool.

    Tourism is also responsible for producing plenty of waste. Cruise ships in the Caribbean produce a lot of rubbish-more than 70, 000 tons each year. It even has an influence on places far away like the Himalayas, the word's highest mountain, which has more than 100 tons of rubbish sitting on it.

    In spite of these problems, tourism can be good for communities and the environment. The park-entrance fees (费用) are paid for the protection of places of interest or the animals. What's more, tourism brings people closer to nature, and can give them a better understanding of the environment and the result of destroying it. This leads to pressure on local governments to protect these beautiful areas, and can result in the protection of endangered plants and animals. Also, it can provide people with more opportunities to find jobs in the tourist industry.

    Although tourism has many advantages, it clearly has a bad influence as well. The challenge for local and national governments is to manage tourism so that communities can benefit economically, and yet at the same time, make sure that the tourist areas are kept for all to enjoy.

    Hot Dog is popular. It's not a dog, but a cooked sausage in a long piece of bread. Here are some stories and facts about it from English websites.

    Have you ever jumped on a trampoline? Today many people use it for exercise.

    Back in the 1980s, researchers found that jumping on a trampoline was a good way to help astronauts regain their strength. Actually, trampolining has many advantages. It helps bones and muscles grow and improves your balance by stimulating the inner ear. It is especially useful for increasing flow of the lymphatic system. Which helps your body get rid of harmful toxins. Trampolining has benefits similar to those of running, but without too much stress on knees and ankles.

    If you would like to start trampolining, you may first need to ask a doctor to make sure it's a safe activity for you. It's easy to find an inexpensive trampaline, but it should be well made and strong enough to support your weight. To avoid accidents, some trampolines have 8 safety net around them. Remember: whenever you are on a trampoline, be careful not to jump near the edge of it.

    Here are a few exercises for beginners,

    High Knee Lift. Raise one knee at a time. Lift your knee higher than you usually do when you are running.

     Star Jump. Jump into the air and spread your arms and legs into a star shape. As you gain more confidence, practice more difficult levels:

     Tuck Jump. At the top of your jump, bring the knees to the chest. With the arms holding the legs.

    Pike Jump. Jump high, bring the legs up, and point the toes forward. Touch your toes with hands.

    There are many more exercises you can try. Happy trampolining!

    Many objects in the universe are invisible, but they send radio waves. The radio telescope* thus appeared, and it is considered one of the greatest inventions in the twentieth century. Reber built the world's first radio telescope in 1937. Ryle and Hewish developed radio telescope systems for the location of weak radio sources, and they shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974.

    A radio telescope is usually made up of:

    One or more antennas to collect the radio waves. Most antennas are made in the shape of a dish to collect and reflect, the radio waves to the sub—reflector, in the same way as a curved mirror focuses visible light to one point.

    A receiver and amplifier to receive the radio waves from the sub—reflector, and make these weak radio waves strong enough to be recorded and turned into electronic signals. To make an amplifier sensitive enough, it is usually cooled to, very low temperatures (e. g. as low as —270℃）.

    A recorder to keep a record of the electronic signals. Most radio telescopes today keep the signals to the computer's memory disk for astronomers to analyze later.

    Radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, and the radio waves from deep space are always weak. To catch Radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, and the radio waves from deep space are always weak. To catch these waves, radio telescopes usually have huge antennas. The sizes of most antennas in use today are around 50 to 300 metres in diameter. The antenna of FAST in Guizhou, China, the latest and largest radio telescope in the world, is 500 metres in diameter, as large as the size of 30 football fields.

    To avoid interferences, and keep the telescopes sensitive, radio telescopes are built in places where there are no human radio waves or electronic signals. For example, FAST is 5 kilometres away from the closest village and 25 kilometres away from the nearest town.

    Radio telescopes create pictures of the sky, not in visible light, but in radio waves. This is extremely useful, because there are objects that can't be seen, objects that we wouldn't even know without radio telescopes.

    I live in Mentone, a quiet, simple, restful place, where the rich never come. I met Theophile Magnan, a retired, rich, old man from Lyons yesterday. In the Hotel des Anglais. Theophile looked sad and dreamy, and didn't talk with anybody else. Which brought me back to the past.

A long time ago, Francois Millet. Claude, Carl and I were young artists — very young artists — in fact.

    Yes, Francois Millet. The great French artist, was my friend.

Millet wasn't any greater than we were at that time. He didn't have any fame, even in his own village.

    We were all poor though we had stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe painted. Once a person ever offered four francs for Millet's "Angelus", which he intended to sell for eight.

    It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged* until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.

    Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.

    Millet was elected to die.

    During the next three months Millet painted with all his might, enlarged his stock all he could, not pictures, not sketches, studies, parts of studies, fragments of studies, of course, with his cipher *  on them.

    They were the things to be sold.

    Carl went to Paris to start the work of building up Millet's name. Claude and I went to sell Millet's small pictures and to build up his name as well.

    We made Millet a master. I always said to my customer, "I am a fool to sell a picture of Francois Millet's at all, for he is not going to live three months, and when he dies his pictures can't be had for love or money."

    Claude and I took care to spread that little fact as far as we could.

Carl made friends with the correspondents, and got Millet's condition reported to England and all over the continent, and America, and everywhere.

    The sad end came at last, Millet died, not really.  He became Theophile Magnan.

    The pictures went up. There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty—two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays.

    We are no longer artists and Millet dead.

Sing a Song of People

    by Lois Lenski

    Many people might think that if they had more money, then they would be happier in life. For example, people might look at what others have, like expensive clothes or nice cars, and wish they could have the same. But the things that money can buy can not bring happiness to a person for long.

     ① But is that really true? Studies have found that money can, in fact, make people happier.  ② Instead, it's giving money to others that makes people happy.  ③ It could be buying a present for a friend or a family member.  ④ It could be buying a homeless person food to eat. It could be giving money to a person in need. Just think about the last time you used your own money to do something for someone else. How did you feel? Whether it is a small or large amount of money, people feel happier when they give. This is because making someone else happy makes the giver happy, too.

    This idea of connecting your happiness to the happiness of others is described as ubuntu in an African language. There is even a story about a man visiting Africa who asked some kids to race to a nearby tree. The first child to touch the tree would get a sweet treat. Surprisingly, all the children held hands and ran together. They all touched the tree at the same time. The man asked why they had done this. The children simply said they could only enjoy eating the treat if everyone had one.

    The year was 1859. America and England had already fought two wars. Now, they were at peace. But one day a pig got hungry. And it nearly caused another war between the two countries.

    The pig was owned by a British man who lived on a small island. The island was just off the western part of North America. Both England and the US said the island was theirs. Across the island from the British man lived some American farmers. Everyone on the island got along peacefully. But the peace ended the day the British man's pig decided to eat some of an American farmer's potatoes.

    One of the American farmers shot and killed the pig. Then the pig's owner wanted $100 from the man who shot the animal. That was a lot of money, so the farmer refused to pay it. The British and Americans began to argue, and the situation got worse. The farmers asked the governor over the island at that time for help. He sent a group of soldiers to protect the farmers. The British answered by sending 2, 000 soldiers. The British were on one side of the island, and the Americans were on the other. The problem that began with the pig was about to become a shooting war.

    When news of the problem reached Washington and London, both leaders were surprised. Neither country wanted another war. They sent some men to try to fix the problem. After a discussion, it was decided that each country would keep a small group of soldiers on the island. They would stay there until the two countries could decide who owned the island. Then the others would have to leave.

    Twelve years went by. Neither side wanted to give u the island, but they knew they had to do something. They asked the leader of Germany to help decide. After nearly a year of discussion, a decision was made. America would get the island.

    Finally, the Pig War was over and only one shot was fired. That was the shot that killed the pig!

    Big data (数据) is a lot of sets of information that are put together so they can be used by a computer program. The computer program looks for different kinds of answers or patterns in the data. Big data can have different kinds of information from many sources, such as information that comes from schools, social media sites, companies, and governments. One set of data can have people's names and addresses. Another set can have what they like, where they go to school, and how much time they spend on the computer.

    Big data can be used in many ways. The government uses it to understand how many people travel on buses or trains. This information is then used to make bus or train systems better. Some schools use big data to understand which children may need extra help in class. The teacher can then give certain students more help or support so those students can succeed in school. Companies use big data, too. It helps them understand who buys their products. For example, one company uses weather data to see when people eat the most ice cream.

    Big data can be used for good reasons. Some hospitals use big data to predict if a baby who is born too early will get sick. The hospital can then take extra steps to take care of that baby so he or she does not get sick. Big data can also be used for bad reasons. It can be used to predict which kinds of people are likely to break the law or hurt others, even if they have not done anything wrong.

    How can big data be used for good and bad things? It is because the computer programs used to look at big data and understand it are written by people. People think a certain way. Because they think a certain way, they build a model of those ideas. These ideas are then used to look at the data. Sometimes, these ideas are helpful for people or businesses. Other times, bad ideas can cause problems for certain groups of people.

    This painting is called The Fighting Temeraire. Temeraire is the name of the big, old sailing ship that you can see on the left of the picture. People chose this picture to be the greatest painting in Britain.

    J.M.W. Turner painted it in 1839.It shows the old sailing ship, the Temeraire, on the River Thames near London. There's a small tugboat pulling the old ship. It's in fact taking the Temeraire on its last journey. The old ship is going to the breaker's yard. In the background we can see the sun setting.

    The picture, however, is more than just a painting of two boats in the evening. The artist wanted to show the end of an era (时代). The time of the beautiful, old sailing ships is coming to an end. That's why we see this happening at sunset. In the little, brown tugboat we can see the new industrial era starting. The tugboat is small and dark and it's making a lot of smoke, but it's very strong, because it's pulling the much bigger ship.

    The painting shows a real event. Turner watched the Temeraire taking its last journey up the Thames, but he changed some of the details. He painted the old ship white and gold so that it looks like a ghost. In fact, the real ship was black and yellow. We also see the sun setting behind the ship, but in fact, the ship travelled towards the sunset. However, Turner wanted to show the sun setting on the time of the beautiful old sailing ships.

    Turner painted The Fighting Temeraire when he was quite old, so perhaps he wanted to show the sun setting on his own life, too. He loved the painting and he never sold it. You can see it today in the National Gallery in London.

    Smile Train is a charity (慈善团体) that helps the millions of children around the world, who suffer from a facial defect (缺陷). The defect happens when a baby's top lip or mouth doesn't form properly before birth. Eating and drinking is very difficult for these babies. The charity provides free operations, which give these children a new smile, and with it, new hope and a new beginning.

    Children with the defect need all the help. Although many sufferers are accepted by their families, sadly, others are not. In some countries, children with this defect are often abandoned at birth because their parents feel ashamed of them or cannot afford the operations. The good news is that the operation is not difficult. It takes less than an hour and costs the family nothing. The charity raises money and finds the right medical volunteers to perform the operations.

    A Smile Train doctor from the UK said, "Each child who has the operation is given a second chance at life. After years of staying at home, the children can finally go to school and be happy. Every year I perform hundreds of operations free of cost through Smile Train. Some of the stories I have heard are quite surprising. One newborn baby girl was found abandoned on a train. Luckily for her, she was found and adopted (收养) by a passenger. This lady then heard about Smile Train and brought the baby to our hospital. I did the operation and gave hope to the family. Experienced doctors like me share our skills with local doctors. In this way we make sure that these operations will always be available."

    If you go shopping in any toy store, you can see clearly the differentgames and toys for boys and girls: there are a lot of pink toys on one side ofthe store for girls; and dark colored cars, guns, and soldiers for boys. Somebig stores with toys may even have a pink floor for girls and a blue floor forboys. In fact, it is difficult to buy a toy for a girl that is not pink.

    Somepeople think that too much pink is bad for girls. Sue Palmer, writer of ToxicChildhood, is very worried that most girls over the age of three are crazyabout the color. According to some scientists, this happens for two reasons. Firstly,most companies offer too many products in pink. Also, many parents think theirlittle daughter looks cute in pink. Sue Palmer says that girls at this agecannot make proper decisions by themselves, but the pink can affect (影响) the choices and thedecisions they will make in the future.

    Someparents are worried too-for example, Vanessa Holburn, thirty-two, who has twogirls under the age of four. Their bedrooms are a sea of pink and Vanessa isnot happy. "Pink says that you are soft and gentle. Blue says that you arestrong and powerful. I want my daughters to be strong and powerful. I'm worriedthat pink will not help them with that,"she says.

    Butnot everyone thinks there's something wrong with pink. Grayson Turner is afather of three girls and he isn't worried at all. "People forget thatthings change all the time," he says. "My girls used to love pink whenthey were little, but as they get older, they change." Turner explainsthat his twelve-year-old daughter never wears pink clothes anymore. "Thislove of pink is just a fashion and all fashions change," he adds. "It'sonly since the 1940s that people have started dressing girls in pink-beforethat it was a color for boys."

    Every year, more than 26,000 children arrive in Britain. We ask some new arrivals what they like best about their new lives and what's different from home.

    Everyone faces difficulties in their life. Daniel Kish was born with a special eye illness and lost his eyesight before he was only 14 months old.

Soon after, however, he started to do an amazing thing. He learned to make clicks (咔哒声) with his tongue to help him move around. Kish now moves about using sonar (声呐). He is so good at it that he can ride a bicycle by himself on public roads. And he started the organization World Access for the Blind (WAFTB) in 2000, teaching others how to use sonar. In the interview with National Geographic, he explains how the sonar works.

    "When I make a click sound, it produces sound waves. These waves reflect (反射) off surfaces all around and return to my ears. My brain then deals with the sound and turns it into pictures in my mind. Each click is like a camera flash, which helps me make a 3-D picture of my surroundings for hundreds of feet. It's like having a conversation with the environment."

    Kish feels it is exciting to ride a bike using sonar, although he needs to click twice a second, much more than he usually does. "It may sound a bit dangerous to move around the world in this way," he says. "But most people in the world live in fear of things that they imagine. I love hiking and mountain-biking. I go almost everywhere. And I've never had an accident and hurt myself."

    He is happy to be able to help more blind children to improve their life. "We've served over 10, 000 students in nearly 40 countries," he tells the reporter. "Many students are surprised how quickly results come. Seeing isn't in the eyes. It's in the mind."

    Fresh green grass, Hundreds of colorful wild flowers. Water running into little pools. Birds making their homes in boxes. The 9, 500-square-metre Augustenborg Botanical Garden may look just like any other well-organized park but there's a difference. It lies on the roofs (屋顶) of industrial and office buildings in the city of Malmo in Sweden.

    Green roofs are not a new invention. And now they are getting popular again. The common roofs of a modern city have endless black surfaces with no life or water. Perhaps that's why a garden on a roof becomes such a perfect choice for more and more people.

    Green roofs are not just pretty. They also help to moderate the city temperature. The high temperatures on common roofs in the summer can make top floor flats uncomfortably hot. What is more, they play a part in making the cities hotter than the countryside around them, causing the "urban heat-island effect". On a green roof, however, with its plants and water, temperatures change only a little, as they do in a park. This can greatly cut the costs of heating and cooling in the building below.

    Also, a green roof takes in rain water, and protects the city drainage (排水) system.   ▲    And small animals and birds can make their homes on it. Thanks to this, the city may become part of nature, rather than something completely separate from it.

    While the cost of building such a roof can still be higher, it can be cheaper in the long term as a result of energy savings. And wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to walk out into a garden high above the city's noise and traffic, whether you're at school or in an office or just at home in a ten-floor block?

    Mark Zuckerberg, who starts the social network Facebook, often wears jeans and a T-shirt to work, including to important business meetings. Not everyone agrees with him. Some people say he doesn't look serious this way.

    Harvard Business School researcher, Francesca Gino, has a different idea. While most people seem to think that dressing differently from those around you generally has a bad influence, she believes it can actually have a positive (积极的) effect. And she's done experiments to support her idea. When her researchers, wearing sportswear, visited the expensive shops in Italy, they were usually viewed as wealthier and more important people than those who were well-dressed in designer clothes.

    Do people always view less formal (正式的) clothing more positively? Researchers in France took their research out into the street, to the general public. The video they made shows an actor dressed in a well-cut suit and shiny shoes. While walking along the road, he begins to cough badly, stops to catch his breath and falls down. Before he even calls for help, people rush to help him. In another video, the actor appears at the same crowded place and repeats the actions in exactly the same way. But this time, no one comes to help. What's the difference? He's wearing untidy clothes and looks like a homeless person. In a situation like this, the clothes you're wearing could mean the difference between life and death.

    It seems that our clothing doesn't only change the way others view us, but also the way we see ourselves. In an experiment testing students' ability to pay attention to details (细节), the group wearing white lab coats did the best. Why? Researchers told them that they were wearing the doctors' coats. The experiment didn't show whether such influences would last long. More experiments are needed in the future before we decide to make the doctors' coats a must of fashion.

By Anna Matteo

28 January, 2019

    A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home with his family. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers (救援者) that he was not alone in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend — a bear.

    The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends near his grandmother's house in North Carolina. When the other children returned but Casey did not, the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police.

    Police formed a search team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and—no Casey.

    Then on January 24, someone called the police saying he heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. He was in good health.

    Casey told the rescuers he had hung out with a black bear for two days, a bear he called his "friend".

    The police officer Chip Hughes spoke with reporters from several news agencies. He said Casey did not say how he could survive in the woods for two days in the cold, rainy weather. "However," the police officer said, "he did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear with him."

    Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts, including some 600 volunteers, police and members of the army. Doctors at the medical center gave Casey some examination. He was then sent to his family on January 25.

    His mother talked with reporters and thanked everyone who joined the search for her son. "We just want to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took the time out to search for Casey," said his mother. "He is up and talking He's already asked to watch cartoons."

    A myth is something that is not correct, but many people believe. There are a lot of myths about the human brain.

    One of the biggest myths is that we only use 10 percent of our brains. The next part of the myth is that if we can learn to use the rest of our brains, then we'll be much smarter. People say this all the time, but it's absolutely not true! The truth is that although we don't know everything about the human brain, we know that each part of it has an important function (功能). Modern scientists think the "10 percent myth" ridiculous(荒谬的).

    The other most popular myth is about being "right brained" or "left brained". According to this myth, people who use the right side of their brains are more artistic and creative. People who use the left side of their brains are better at math and science. This is as popular as the 10 percent myth, and it's also wrong. In 2013, a study at an American university examined the right brain and left brain myth. According to the study, we use both sides of our brains equally (相等地).

    It's true that we use different parts of our brains for different things. We use our left side for language more, and our right side when we need to pay attention. But there is no evidence (证据) that creative people use the right side more, or that scientific people use the left side more.

    We've talked about myths, so let's look at a few interesting facts about the brain. First of all, the brain feels no pain. Second, about 75 percent of the brain is made of water. It's also the fattest organ in your body. Here's another interesting fact about the brain. Around the time you turn 18 years old, it stops growing.

    Populations of white-tailed deer (白尾鹿) are growing rapidly in many parts of the United States. As populations grow, food becomes a problem. Many deer die of hunger. Others grow up small and unhealthy. In search of food, hungry deer move closer to where humans live. They eat farm crops, vegetables and even trees. Besides, increased numbers of deer near roads can cause traffic accidents.

    People admire the grace and fast speed of deer. Most people don't want these animals to be hungry and ill. Should people take action to control the growing deer populations?

Should People Take Direct Action?

    Many people think that hunting (打猎) is the best way to control the animal populations. Wildlife managers will see if there's enough food in an area and decide its carrying capacity (容量). Then hunters with licenses are sent to help control the number of deer. Hunting is usually not allowed in cities or suburbs, however.

    Some people have the idea to catch the deer and move them to other places. But this method is expensive and requires finding another place that can accept the deer without breaking the balance of ecosystem.

    Scientists are also working to develop chemicals to control the birth rate in deer populations. But this plan works for only one year at a time.

Should People Take Indirect Action?

    Some suggest bringing in natural enemies of deer, such as wolves, lions and bears, to areas with too many deer. But these animals could also hurt dogs, cats, and even humans. Other communities have built tall fences (篱笆) around areas to keep out the deer. However, this is impossible for farmers.

    ▲   

    Some people are against any kind of action. They support leaving the deer alone. Animal populations in an area naturally go up and down over time. Doing nothing means that some deer will die of hunger or illness. But finally, the population will reach a size within the carrying capacity of the environment. So, let nature go its own way.

EXCITING NEW COMPETITION!

    Give your workplace a spring facelift!

    Living magazine is offering three prizes of between ￡10, 000 and ￡50, 00o to be spent on improving the school, college or office where you spend so many hours each day! If you win, the money will be yours to spend as you wish to make life more pleasant.

Just think! You could spend it on any of the following:

    ◇improving the look of the place (new wallpaper, tables or pictures).

    ◇better study places (a computer room, a language laboratory or a small library).

    ◇improving the outside area(making a garden or a car park for example).

    ◇better sports places (a small gym or a swimming pool).

To enter, all you have to do is to design:

    ◇five ways you plan to spend the money if you win.

    ◇what you want to include(for example, sofas in your new computer room).

    ◇why these changes will make your workplace a better place to be!

Email us your design at livingmagazine@hotmail.com before June 16th.

If you want to get more information, please contact us:

Tel+323-647-4200    Fax+323-647-4245

Don't miss this great chance to improve your workplace!

    A British man has learned the skills needed to perform Beijing Opera, making the audience (观众) enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.

    Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, said he has been a big fan of Bruce Lee since he was a child and is full of interest about China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera performed in London by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar said he fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.

    At the age of 32, he had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist. At the time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. To him, it was the biggest obstacle. But he never gave up.

    Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West. He said he arrived in the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character.

    Ghaffar today is not only good a speaking Beijing dialect (方言) but has also built a fame for Beijing Opera. He once got a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.

    To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. When he found that the language was difficult to understand, he started to translate Beijing Opera song lyrics. Ghaffar led a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.

    A zero-waste life is a lifestyle that hardly creates any rubbish. So, a zero-waste store is about providing a kind of everyday and pleasant-looking zero-waste products to help people start on a zero-waste life journey.

    "Zero waste" or "danshari" was first suggested by a French woman called Bea Johnson. Her idea is: live a life and try not to create any rubbish; use different kinds of ways to save the environment such as stopping the use of one-off objects; giving unwanted things to others or giving them away to organizations like the Red Cross.

    Yu Yuan, 27, is deeply interested in this idea. She and her boyfriend have lived in Beijing for many years. And earlier she used to buy things without thinking about them carefully until she saw a video about "zero waste", in which a family of four placed the rubbish they produced every year in a jar (罐). After watching the video, Yu wanted to experience this zero-waste lifestyle with her boyfriend.

    A zero-waste life follows the 6R rule-Refuse Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot. Over August-October when Yu followed the rule of zero waste 6R, she and her boyfriend Joe Harvey both produced only two cans of rubbish.

    Now, the couple have opened a small shop in Beijing, where they use wood products to take the place of plastic ones and cloth bags printed with environmentally friendly logos. Most products sold in the store can be reused. The store also has second-hand books and CDs/DVDs with, ideas to make the best of the used things.

    "Those who once experienced the non-waste lifestyle have slowly changed their ideas," says Ya, "The zero-waste lifestyle is not for ascetics (苦行僧). It is just around us at our finger-tips." Yu expects some of her friends to join her on the road to zero waste.

    To help Japanese companies better deal with the increasing number of foreigners visiting the country, Panasonic has created a megaphone (扩音器) which is able to smartly translate Japanese into English, Chinese and Korean.

    Panasonic named the product "Megahonyaku". It is a term for the Japanese words for "megaphone" and "translate", which actually makes g lot of sense because it's a megaphone that can translate Japanese into several other languages in real time. When a user speaks Japanese into the megaphone, it recognizes (辨认) and translates what is being said immediately, and outputs the words in English, Chinese or Korean.

    It sounds amazing, and seeing it in action is wonderful, but Megahonyaku is not good enough. It cannot translate everything you say, as it only stores 300 common expressions, like "The train has been put off" or "Watch your step". However, the Japanese company behind Megahonyaku promises to add new expressions regularly, which users can get on the Internet.

    The machine was designed to be used in places like transport stations, airports and places of interest where quick and exact announcements are needed most. Around 30 Japanese organizations, including the police and guides, have been trying out Megahonyaku for about one year, but Panasonic says it will come onto the market on December 20th. Instead of selling these speech translators, Panasonic plans on renting (出租) them out for less than $183 a month on a three-year agreement, and offering users future improvements and necessary services.

    Panasonic has also said that it may add support for other languages, like Russian, depending on customers' needs. Megahonyaku also includes a touch screen that allows users to choose the language they need their speech translated into.

International Museum Day is coming! Here are some special museums that you must see.

    It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window facing the blue ocean. And a cool gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.

    Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning.

    But not here. Before we left, I had told my 10-year-old son the rule—no emails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all. Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.

         ▲      I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.

    On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells (贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.

    The next few days passed in peace.

    On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was something shining in his eyes. I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mail.

    A week away from all the electronics arid Lile is good.

    In the park, you see a group of people, all looking up at the sky. Without thinking about it, you look upwards, too. Why? In the concert, someone begins to clap and suddenly the whole room joins in. You do, too. Why?

    Sometimes we feel we are acting correctly when we do the same as others. The more people follow an idea, the better or truer we think the idea is. It's the social proof (社会认同感) that works.

    The scientist Asch carried out an experiment. It shows how social proof can influence us. In a room, a man is shown Line 1, and next to it are three lines (A, B, C). A is longer, C is shorter and B is as long as Line 1. He must tell which of the three lines is as long as Line 1. When the man is alone, he gives the correct answer B. Then, five other men enter the room, and each of them gives the answer C as they were told to. Now the man changes his idea and gives the answer C. Asch got the same result many times among different subjects (实验对象).

    Why do we act like this? Well, in the past, following others was a way to keep from danger. Suppose that 5000 years ago you were hunting (打猎) with friends. Suddenly, they all ran away. What would you have done? Would you have stayed? No, you would have run, too. We are descendants (后代) of those who copied others' action. It is so deeply planted in our mind that we still use it now.

    Social proof has special power. The advertising industry, for example, often makes use of it. So be capful whenever a company says its product is "the most popular".

    On March 10, 2019, eight-year-old Tani won the New York Chess Championship (纽约象棋冠军赛) of his age group. But the boy, who was homeless at the time, began learning the game less than a year ago.

    Tani and his family arrived in New York City from Africa in 2017. A church helped him enter the primary school, P. S, 116. Here the gifted boy was first introduced to chess by a part-time teacher Makofsky, owner of a chess club. Interested in the game, the seven-year-old asked his mother to allow him to join the club. Not able to afford the chess classes, she emailed Makofsky. To her surprise and joy, Makofsky agreed that Tani could learn it for free.

    Though the chess club helps, it's largely believed that Tani's success lies in his hard work. The boy practices the game for many hours a day on the floor with his board. Every Saturday, Tani goes to a free 3-hour class to improve his game skills.

    Not surprisingly, Tani's story, first reported by The New York Times, has brought him great support from the American public. Soon after the young boy won the New York Championship, Makofsky began a GoFundMe activity for Tani and his family so that he could continue his chess journey. It raised $ 200,000 in just ten days, far more than they expected. And the money keeps coming, But the family donates (捐赠) most of the money to the church and to those poor families.

    Tani has also received offers from three famous private schools in New York. However, the family have politely refused all of them and chosen to continue Tani's education at P. S. 116.

    The young boy's story also caught the eye of Bill Clinton, the 42nd US President. "Tani, you're an example of a winning spirit - in chess and in life. I'd love to meet you," he said on his Facebook.

    While excited about his new life, Tani is ready to meet great challenges (挑战). He is busy preparing for the 2019 National Primary Championships. Winning the competition will bring the chess player closer to his dream of becoming the world's youngest chess grandmaster (大师). The record has been kept for 17 years by the Russian chess player Karjakin, who won the title at the age of 12.