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"Mom, tell me the story about the black bull（公牛）, " I said when we were driving to my grandparents' farm.

"You know it better than I do. Besides, you can't be too careful when driving, " she answered.

"Yeah, but it's your story and I think that story can remind me to drive slowly. " When she didn't respond, I touched her arm gently.

"I'll start it for you: It was a late Friday afternoon, and you were rushing home from work because you, Dad, Shelby and I were going to Dad's parents' farm, and it was a four-hour drive. "

Mom carried on from there. 

"Once I got home, " she began, "we loaded up and headed out. It took about a half hour to get through the rush-hour traffic, but finally we reached the interstate and headed east. Because I was tired and eager to get to the farm and sleep, I drove as fast as the speed limit allowed—70 miles an hour. "

I rolled my eyes. Mom never drove the posted speed limit; she always went at least five miles over. But if I reminded her of that story, time would come to a stop. 

"Time passed, and it got dark. You girls fell asleep in the back, and Dad nodded off next to me. Seat belts weren't mandatory（强制的） at the time, so no one tied the belts. Hours later, I exited the interstate onto the little state road. The speed limit was 50, but I kept going70. There was no traffic after all, and I knew your grandparents were waiting up for us. "

I'd spent summers with my grandparents as a kid, and they did indeed go to bed early, as farmers do. 

"At last, I reached the turn that would take us to the farm. The road was a narrow, less maintained farm-to-market road that locals used. It was completely dark, and the only light was from my headlights. I pressed the pedal（踏板） harder and sped up."

This was the point in the story that always turned my blood cold. 

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。

注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Tap your fingers on the screen and your favorite books  （deliver） to your door within a couple of hours. Who would have thought that cultural  （consume） in China could become as easy as ordering a sandwich? 

The "Loving to read at home" program （launch） by the Chengdu Library allows readers to log on to a mini program of the same name linked to the library's official digital platform. Readers can then choose their favorite books and wait for them to be delivered to their door for just 6 yuan one to three books. Each user can borrow a maximum of eight books at a time for 30 days.

  total of more than 20, 000 books that come from 22 public libraries are ready for loan,（cover） a wide range of categories, with history, fiction novels and earth science books being the three   （popular） choices among readers. Books about philosophy, biology and agriculture can also be found online, many of  are from foreign authors. 

The Chengdu Library is not the only institution providing books-to-go services. There （be） more than 3, 300 public libraries providing this "library's new O2O（online to offline） path" so far, which reduces the "time cost" for readers （significant） and allows them "to realize that reading is a handy part of people's everyday lives".

Last year, Doctor Steve truly understood what it means to be at the right place at the right time. During a half-marathon, he found himself in the position to 1  not one, but two runners. Things had been going 2  up to 3-mile mark, but that's when Steve noticed a（n） 3  runner named Gregory. 

Gregory had just reached the peak of an incline（斜坡） and was 4  to see that he'd get to run downhill for a bit. This was the last thing he 5  before collapsing.

Meanwhile, Steve saw this happen, and he could tell it wasn't a simple 6  . Steve immediately stopped, performing CPR. Once it was 7  that Gregory was doing well and an ambulance took him away, Steve continued the race. 

The rest of the race itself was 8  but, when Steve crossed the finish line, his life-saving 9  was needed once more. A man named Michael began to feel dizzy moments after crossing the finish line. Then, just like Gregory, he 10  . 

"I never expected something like that in my whole life to happen again, let alone in the same 11 , " Steve said.

The 12  of this entire situation is truly remarkable. Had Steve not 13  to help Gregory, he would have crossed the finish line much sooner than Michael, 14  he wouldn't have been around to save him, too. Thankfully, the events had a happy 15  . Now the three men become good friends. 

Life's rarely boring if you're open to learning new things. No matter what you want to learn, the first step is noticing and seizing learning opportunities wherever you find them. Here are ways to develop the habit of learning. 

Get curious and make friends with your inner child.  This sense of curiosity is how you begin to learn, grow, and understand the world around you. As an adult, it's important to stay curious to remain open to possibilities and opportunities by making a habit of asking questions. 

  Spending time with people pursuing knowledge as intentionally as you are can encourage you to push through challenges to achieve your learning goals. And engaging with people who have different opinions and experiences can help keep your worldview flexible. Then you can continue to find new fields of knowledge to explore. 

Don't disregard the small stuff.  So feel open and willing to seize small chances each day to take in new knowledge. You could ask three people for their names and try to repeat them the next day or read the coffee-roasting brochure at your local café. No piece of knowledge is unimportant.  You just need to keep your eyes open. 

Schedule learning. Life is busy, so consider setting aside time to learn new things. This might mean spending ten minutes reading an article on your work break, or setting aside 30 minutes every evening to work on an online training course.  It also builds an expectation among those nearest to you that this is your time and they shouldn't disturb you. 

A. Surround yourself with fellow learners. 

B. Encourage yourself to brave challenges. 

C. Every kid's favorite question is "Why? "

D. You're surrounded by opportunities to learn. 

E. There's no better or worse hobby or information to acquire. 

F. Of course, scheduling learning isn't just limited to the ways mentioned. 

G. Adding a learning session to your timetable prevents you forgetting about it. 

Identifying common bird species through their song has never been easier, with numerous phone apps and software available to both ecologists and the public. But what if the identification software has never heard a particular bird before, or only has a small sample of recordings to reference? This is a problem facing ecologists and conservationists monitoring some of the world's rarest birds. 

To overcome this problem, researchers at the University of Moncton, Canada, have developed ECOGEN, a first-of-its-kind deep learning tool that can generate life-like bird sounds to enhance the samples of under-represented species. These can then be used to train audio identification tools used in ecological monitoring. 

The researchers found that adding artificial birdsong samples generated by ECOGEN to a birdsong identifier improved the birdsong classification accuracy by 12%on average. 

Dr. Nicolas Lecomte, one of the lead researchers, said: "Due to significant global changes in animal populations, there is an urgent need for autonomous tools, such as acoustic（monitoring, to track shifts in biodiversity. However, the Al models used to identify species in acoustic monitoring lack comprehensive reference libraries." With ECOGEN, you can address this gap by creating new instances of bird sounds to support AI models.

The researchers say that creating bird songs in this way can contribute to the conservation of endangered bird species and also provide valuable insight into their vocalisations, behaviours and habitat preferences. The ECOGEN tool can also be used to help conserve extremely rare species. For instance, it could be used to help conserve the critically endangered regent honeyeaters（摄政蜜鸟）, from which young individuals are unable to learn their species' songs because there aren't enough adult birds to learn from. 

The tool could benefit other types of animal as well. Dr. Lecomte added, "While ECOGEN was developed for birds, we're confident that it could be applied to mammals, fish, insects and amphibians."

As well as its versatility, a key advantage of the ECOGEN tool is its accessibility, due to it being open source and able to be used on even basic computers. 

Since the 1920s, a little-known policy called parking minimums has shaped many Americans' life. In major cities, this meant that any type of building needed to reserve a certain number of parking spaces to accommodate anyone who might visit. 

But as the country attempts to cut carbon emissions （排放）, we should rethink what transportation and public space look like, especially in cities. Earlier this month, the city of Austin, Texas, became the latest community to undo parking minimums. 

"If we want half of all trips to be in something other than a car, then we can't, as a city, in my opinion, demand that every home or business have at least one parking space for each resident or customer," said Zohaib Qadri, the Austin city council member who introduced the measure. Reducing dependency on cars was a huge push for the initiative in Austin. Qadri hopes the measure also will lead to a more sustainable city.

The undoing of this law could pave the way for cities to build denser （密集的）housing, increase public transit options, and reduce their carbon emissions, according to Donald Shoup, an engineer and professor. "It isn't just the housing crisis and climate change; it's a traffic jam; it's local air pollution; it's the high price of everything—except parking," said Shoup.

Climate change and air pollution are particularly costly outcomes, with both estimated to cost the US billions of dollars every year. Parking spots, meanwhile, can run in the tens of thousands of dollars to construct, with one estimate putting that figure at almost $30, 000 per spot. 

But undoing parking minimums does not mean that all parking will disappear overnight. It means that any off-street parking built will not need to meet any minimum standard. 

"Austin is the same city that it was two weeks ago," said Shoup. "It's going to take quite a while for that city to really get the benefits of their parking space reforms. And so it just removes a roadblock and a barrier to other reforms."

When 34-year-old Sourabh Jain first became a father to his daughter, his view on life changed. Like any parent, his daughter became his world. However, he struggled with establishing a close connection with her in the beginning. "She was so tiny and couldn't speak. That's when I realized that games and books are interactive and provide an opportunity to spend hours with her, " he recalled.

Thus he began the hunt for games and toys that not only helped him bond with his daughter but also contributed to her cognitive （认知的） development. During this search, he realized that not only are these toys and games hard to find, but they can also burn a hole in one's pockets. 

"Another realization was that it is very hard to make toys environmentally friendly. There is some amount of plastic always present and it is harmful to the environment and the little ones, " he says.

During changing family dynamics, Sourabh observed the increasing challenge for parents who juggle work and home responsibilities at the same time. While he desired to give his daughter the world, he also tried to leave behind a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable world for her. Today, he owns The EleFant —a toy rental company, or in Sourabh's words, "a labour of love".

The transition（过渡） from the corporate world for Sourabh was gradual. "The idea began taking shape in my mind in 2022, but I wanted a solid plan of action. I aimed to offer parents a reliable service and an effective subscription model, " he adds.

Sourabh also emphasized the importance of ensuring that the toys provided for children are not just enjoyable but also engaging and educational. In pursuit of this concept, Sourabh enlisted the expertise of a psychologist, a doctor and an ex-school principal to make sure the types of toys would be most beneficial for children. 

Currently, the company has a customer base of more than 250 subscribers with over 2, 000 downloads of the application per day. 

Advance Africa Volunteers in Kenya offers opportunities to international volunteers in schools, hospitals and community medical clinics. 

Kenya Volunteer Program Schedule

You can volunteer for any duration and stay as long as you wish. You can arrive at any time during the month and the volunteer work starts the following day. You will typically work between 9 a. m. and 4 p. m. Monday to Friday. You will spend your spare time shopping, eating out, seeing movies, chatting with other volunteers or swimming. 

Kenya Volunteer Program is open to:

We invite individuals, couples, families, students, researchers, and groups （churches, colleges, and student associations）. 

Volunteering in Kenya Costs

Cost for 2 weeks or less $500. 00

Cost for I month $700. 00

Cost for 6 weeks $900. 00

Cost for 2 months $1, 100. 00

$200 more for every extra two weeks. 

No refunds（退款） will be paid to any volunteer who has arrived in the country and started on their program due to program change, early departures etc. 

Our Volunteer in Kenya Program Offers

We have volunteers all year round. This gives you plenty of company to enjoy exciting travel adventures. Some of our volunteer travel projects do not require specific skills. Everyone can participate regardless of age or gender. Other projects require particular skills, education or interest. 

The volunteer in Kenya program fee covers communication, airport pick-up, local support, in-country orientation, training, accommodation and two meals per day （three meals over the weekends if you are at the provided accommodation）. 

The volunteer in Kenya costs you need to meet are: your flight to and from the country, visa fees, work permits, travel insurance, in-country transport and return trip to the airport. 

Typical Living Arrangements: Advance Africa Volunteers' house and home-stays. 

On a hot September afternoon, Peter and his friend Isabel were on their way to the library. When they passed by Tubman park, Isabel suggested cutting through it to get to the library. As they entered the park, the sight of the swings (秋千) and the merry-go-round brought back a flood of memories of their childhood spent there. But now everything looked so old, sad, and dirty. Litter lay on the ground next to an overflowing trash bin. There were still young schoolchildren playing there but they had to avoid the trash that littered the playground. A little boy told them that the city took the other trash cans away and the remaining one never got emptied often.

As they headed toward the library, the two high school students wrinkled their forehead. In the library, they encountered Mrs. Evans, their kind-hearted fifth-grade teacher, retired yet still passionate. Mrs. Evans listened as Isabel and Peter eagerly explained what they'd seen. Finally, she recommended them to go to the City Hall to voice their concerns.

The next day, Isabel and Peter went into the building of the City Hall but were met with an impatient officer. They were informed that the city couldn't help with their problem due to a tight budget. Discouraged, they left and turned to Mrs. Evans for help.

Under her guidance, they decided to ask Go Green, a non-profit organization whose goal is to protect the environment, for help. "This group is good at raising money for projects just like yours," said Mrs. Evans. She promised to arrange them to present their ideas to Go Green. At this, their face lit up.

Two main tasks remained ahead: researching ways to clean up the park and preparing a convincing presentation. As Isabel was good at researching while Peter always had a talent for speaking, they cooperated quite well. Isabel learned from a science magazine that a new type of trash bin can squeeze the trash down without being emptied often, which saves time, money, and energy. Based on this, Peter practiced his presentation over and over again.

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。

Paragraph 1: A week later, Peter stood nervously at the back of the hall where Go Green was meeting. 

Paragraph 2: After the meeting, Isabel excitedly told Peter the good news.

注意：1.词数80左右； 2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Mike, 

……

Yours,

Li Hua

China's top liquor maker Kweichow Moutai and domestic coffee chain Luckin Coffee have got a hit on their hands, with a new baijiu-flavored latte. The latte has become one of the most discussed topics on Chinese social media with people curious about traditional Chinese liquor would taste with coffee.

In Beijijng, the Moutai-flavored latte sold out in some Luckin Coffee  (shop) before midday. And many had to close their online ordering system as orders increased.

"It seems that people prefer (ice) latte, so we quickly used up the ice. The number of orders is scary," said a barista surnamed Zhang. She also said she had no choice to stop the online ordering system (temporary) at around 1:30 pm because there were more than 200 orders still to be completed.

People have been sharing their reactions after trying the latte on social media, with most  (agree) that the aroma of the baijiu is very strong. Some wondered whether they would be allowed to drive after drinking the latte.  response, Luckin Coffee stated that children, pregnant women, drivers and those who are allergic to alcohol are advised not  (order) the drink.

In recent years, Moutai has been looking for ways to be more  (access) and pull in a new generation of users, said Zhu Danpeng,  food and drink expert.

As I sat motionless in a wheelchair by the pool, watching everyone else swim back and forth, I realized that I had spent most of my life watching others enjoy themselves. It was then that I noticed a little girl staring at me with a look of confusion. I smiled at her, hoping to 1 the ice by talking to her. Unfortunately, my 2 failed and she just kept on staring. My 3 increased as a little boy swam up to me and said, "I feel sorry for you."

After the 4 , a thought struck me — I had to change how the world 5 me. Because it was children who stared at me the most, I decided to write a children's book that taught them about disabilities in a/an 6 way. This is when KatGirl, a superhero in a flying wheelchair, came into my mind.

I quickly wheeled inside my apartment and began creating the 7 . As I wrote each word, I could 8  my future as a world-famous author and public speaker. Over the next two years, the story went through many changes before it 9  the world in the spring of 2011. My insistence eventually 10 .

One day I was invited to speak to the students at a neighboring school. "How do you feel when you see me?" I asked them. The 11 bravely responded, "I feel 12 for you."

I opened my book and started reading. Immediately I noticed the children's stares turned to 13 . "How do you feel when you see me?" I asked again. Without hesitation they replied, "You are so cool! Does your 14 fly too?" I just smiled, "No, not yet, but maybe someday." I knew in my heart that this was 15 .

Resolving (解决) Conflict in Friendships

Conflict is surely a common problem in life and friendships.That's because there isn't enough depth to guarantee all the trouble it takes to smooth over the disagreement. Unfortunately, even when the friendship reaches a deeper level, conflict continues to happen and can break apart a relationship. Here are some resolutions.

Resolve it the day it happens. One rule my parents follow in their marriage is that they don't go to bed angry with each other. They always attempt to resolve things the day it happens so that in the morning, it's a fresh start with no past grudge (怨恨). I've found I need a short cool down period so that I don't act in anger. For some, counting to one hundred before saying anything may be an option.

 Sometimes if you sit down and talk things over, you begin to see where the other person is coming from. Realize that everyone has been created differently with various talents, abilities, and personality traits. For example, you might be a leader while your friend is more of a follower. You may be frustrated with him or her for not being very decisive. Yet it is important to understand that each person is unique and needs to be appreciated.

Initiate resolution.Even when you think the other person is wrong, it's not a bad thing to say "I'm sorry if I offended you in that way." If you're honest and genuine in delivering your words, there's a good chance your friend will respond positively.

Most importantly, be loving in what you do. Try to focus on peacefully resolving the disagreement. It is not a most pleasant task to resolve conflict in any friendship.

A. Focus on the bigger picture.

B. Try to see the other person's perspective.

C. Whatever you do, don't let things ride for too long.

D. Be the first person in a fight to say sorry for your part.

E. Offering a listening ear shows you value the friendship.

F. Many shallow friendships end up being ruined after an argument.

G. However, it is worth the efforts because it results in a deeper friendship.

Anyone can be late a handful of times, but to be the person who is always late ― that's an art, a frustrating art. Or, a side effect of your personality traits, scientists have found.

So what is it that causes some people to constantly miss trains, make it to the wedding just after the bride's shown up and regularly annoy their friends? And why is it so hard for us to fix it? "There are all sorts of punishments for being late, and the paradox is that we are late even when those punishments and consequences exist." said Justin Kruger, a social psychologist at New York University.

One of the commonest reasons why people are frequently late is that they fail to accurately judge how long a task will take ― something known as the planning fallacy(谬误). Research has shown that people on average underestimate the time to complete a task by a significant 40 percent.

Another trait is that forever-late-comers are more likely to be multitaskers. In a 2003 study run by Jeff Conte from San Diego State University found that out of 181 subway operators in New York City, those who preferred multitasking were more often late for their job. This is because multitasking makes it harder to have the awareness of what you're doing. Conte also discovered there is a personality type that's more likely to be late. While nervous, achievement-oriented Type A individuals are more likely to be punctual, Type B individuals, who are more laid-back, are later.

Admittedly, knowing all of this doesn't necessarily help fix the problem. But scientists are starting to work on strategies that can slowly improve our punctuality. For people who constantly underestimate tasks, breaking down an activity into detailed steps can help people estimate how long something will take more accurately. As for your personality type, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do to change that. But accepting that you need to struggle for it may just help. Acceptance, after all, is the first step to change.

If someone asked whether you like the arts, you'd probably say you do—at least in theory. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say the arts "lift me up beyond everyday experiences". However, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent went to an art museum. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.

The mismatch can boil down to the fact that we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities, leaving our schedule packed. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work or do the chores, but even before the pandemic, most of us rarely, if ever, saw a live performance, let alone visited a gallery or watched a play.

Too often, we let the dull reality of life get in the way of the arts. But this is a mistake. The arts are the opposite of an escape from reality; they might just be the most realistic glimpse we ever get into the nature and meaning of life. If you make time for consuming and producing art—the same way you make time for work and exercise and family commitments—I assure you that you'll find your life getting fuller and happier. Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or maybe your dizziness as you emerged from a narrow side street in an unfamiliar city and found yourself in a beautiful town square as if in a fantasy. They probably stimulated a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.

If you are among the people who feel that art is pure pleasure to experience and participate in, you might see it as a luxury item, while a preferable attitude is to treat art less like a distracting pleasure, and more like exercise or sleep, a necessity. Then draw up a schedule of your art exposure journey, and gradually weave art into your everyday life.