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Jean's dream was to be a great chef, so when she was 20, she travelled to France, which has the most famous cuisine in the world, to learn to cook. After twelve years, she was among the best.

Her father, Bob, was getting old, and she wanted to be near him. Jean accepted an offer from one of Washington's top restaurants. The manager offered her a handsome salary, and 30% ownership of the restaurant. The next day, Jean went to sign the contract. As she got out of the car, she caught sight of a green sunshade. Instead of going to meet the manager, she crossed the street towards the old restaurant, Fargonetti's. She pushed open the door and the memories came flooding back.

Jean's mum died when she was just 11, and her father lost his job and was forced to take on odd jobs to make ends meet. Money was very short. When Jean turned thirteen, Bob had made a reservation at Fargonetti's, the capital's best restaurant.

"I'm not hungry, baby girl. I had a huge breakfast," Bob said. "This is all for you!" "Oh," Jean cried. "Daddy was so silly! He's been saving to come here for lunch for MONTHS and now he ruined his appetite with breakfast!" The waiter, Carl Bader, immediately realized what was going on and went to Mr. Fargonetti, the restaurant owner, and told him about Jean and Bob.

An hour later, surprisingly, the waiter brought wonderful dishes and set them before the father and daughter. "Lunch is on the house with Mr. Fargonetti's compliments (致意) Carl said. For Bob and Jean, it was a free but magical meal. They were on cloud nine when they walked out "Jean," said Bob happily. "I feel our luck has changed!" And it did! The next day, one of Bob's old friends called and offered him a job at a new magazine, and Jean believed Fargonetti's had made it all happen. That was when she decided to become a chef!

Twenty years later, the old restaurant looked run-down and depressing, but Jean recognized the waiter immediately. "Carl?" she asked delightedly.

注意：

1.续写词数应为150左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。

The man looked surprised. 

Jean was staring at Carl and a brilliant idea was taking shape in her mind.

1.游泳馆的开放时间及注意事项：

2.倡导同学们积极参加游泳，强身健体。

注意：

1.词数应为80个左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题卡规定位置作答。.

Welcome to Our Swimming Pool

Dear fellow students,

"Long Chenchen," the mascot for China's upcoming Dragon Spring Festival Gala, has been designed and released recently as a cute yet lively dragon (celebrate) the year

2024. The seemingly cute-looking dragon takes inspiration from Chinese archaeological discoveries. The design of its nose (inspire) by a dragon-shaped jade item that was discovered in the Erlitou Ruins, major site in Luoyang, Central China's Henan province that witnessed the rise and fall of the Xia and Shang dynasties. The fire shape pattern on (it) shoulder originated from a bronze piece with cloud patterns dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period, multiple materials appeared and social changes were underway.

receiving many likes, the mascot has also sparked criticism. Some netizens doubt the dragon character might have been synthesized (合成) by artificial intelligence. CMG, a design studio, (admit) that it has some "imperfections", said it was created by designers "one stroke after another" and that "all the (feature) about the dragon, deluding its patterns, colors and face, have been revised by designers through a lot of versions."

The design has become one of the (hot) topics on Sina Weibo and has been commented by more than 200 million netizens. " it was created by AI or human beings, the mascot has successfully delivered the spirit of the dragon." a netizen posted on Sina Weibo.

Some years ago, 1 was stuck on a crosstown bus during rush hour. The bus was filled with cold, tired people 1 with one another. Two men 2 at each other for an unintentional push. An elderly woman got on, and nobody offered her a 3 . Anger was in the air; no 4 could be found here.

As the bus approached Seventh Avenue, the driver's words came from the speaker. "Folks," he said. "I know you've had a (n)5 day and that you are depressed, but I will6 . When each of you walks by before getting off, drop your7 into my palm(手掌). My route goes right by the Hudson River, into which I'll8 them."

It seemed as if a spell had lifted. Everyone burst out laughing, their faces shining with9 . The passengers who had been10 each other's existence were suddenly grinning (咧嘴笑) at each other — is this guy serious?

At the next stop, just as 11 , the driver held out his hand, palm up, and waited. All 12 passengers performed the gesture of dropping something into his palm. The driver 13 the same action at every stop that followed.

Occasionally we may sink into a gray world, but someone can 14 it like a ray of light，showing us hope. What if we are the light? 15 , anyone possesses the power to shine on others, dark days.

Minimalism isn't about being boring or getting rid of most of your things and living in empty rooms. It's more about identifying what adds value to your life and brings you joy and parting with things that don't.

Whether you want to start the process of living a more minimalist lifestyle or have already started but are finding yourself stuck, here are some tips to help you.

Be Clear On Why You Want To Live a Minimalist Lifestyle

Getting rid of useless things in your home, workspace and life, in general, can be challenging. Yet, chances are, if you've barely used these items, you won't need them in the future.

Being clear as to why you're doing it can be critical as it'll help remind you of your goal, fuel your motivation and keep you going even when you're feeling overwhelmed. No matter the reason, knowing why you're doing it is the best way to ensure you successfully move towards a more minimalist lifestyle.

Clear Out Responsibly

Opening a garbage bag and clearing out everything you don't want to keep is quick and easy. Yet, someone else could use your items or recycle them. One of the best things you can do is donate your clothes to someone you know or a charity. Lastly, as mentioned before, certain items can be recycled. You should only throw away things you can't sell, donate or recycle.

Get In the Right Mindset

It's about finding joy and gratitude. It's about being satisfied when you need to throw out something old and promoting self-care and loving yourself. The minimalist seeks simplicity, usefulness and clarity with less focus on material possessions and more focus on value in life. Clear the useless things so you can focus on your priorities and goals.

A. That's because it might be hard to part with some of your things.

B. The best way to tidy up is to take it one step at a time.

C. This way, you can get rid of the unnecessary things that burden you.

D. Mindset is key to a "less is more" attitude and lifestyle.

E. Living a minimalist lifestyle can allow us to create a more fruitful life.

F. Perhaps you want to create more space in your home or limit your carbon footprint.

G. You can also organize a big garage sale.

A new study has found that a child's reading speed can be improved by simply increasing the space between letters within a piece of text. The research, led by Dr. Steven Stagg of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), examined the benefits of letter spacing and coloured overlays (颜色标注) among children.

Two groups of children, dyslexic (有阅读障碍的) and non-dyslexic children, were asked to read four texts with either standard or extra-large letter spacing, both with and without a coloured overlay. They were instructed to read the text out loud while being recorded. The recording was used to measure the number of errors they made—specifically missed words, added words, wrong words, and pronunciation—as well as the participants' reading time.

The study discovered that text with increased space between letters provided a benefit for both groups. On average, the dyslexia group showed a 13% increase in reading speed, while the group of non-dyslexic children showed a 5% increase. In addition to improving reading speed, it also resulted in a significant decline in the number of words missed by the children with dyslexia. However, the study found that coloured overlays had no significant impact on reading speed or the reduction of errors for either group.

Dr. Stagg, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at ARU, said: "We believe extra-large letter spacing works by reducing what is known as the ‘crowding effect', which canhamper the recognition of letters and reduce reading speed."

"Our findings strongly suggest that teachers can be confident that all children would be helped by increased letter spacing in reading materials." Dr. Stagg added. "While we found that coloured overlays provided little benefit, we suggest children should be encouraged to use overlays if they find these help their reading. Coloured overlays may not increase reading speeds, but they may extend reading stamina (持久力). Previous research suggests their benefits may not become apparent if reading time is less than 10 minutes and the short reading duration of the tests in our study may have put coloured overlays at a disadvantage."

The last decade saw the rise of the field of "plant neurobiology (植物神经生物学)". That debatable field is based on the idea that plants — which do not possess brains — handle information in ways similar to complicated animal nervous systems. This thinking implies that plants could feel happiness or sorrow or pain，make intentional decisions and even possess consciousness. But the chances of that are "effectively zero". "There's nothing in the plant comparable to the complexity of the animal brain," says Taiz, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Some plants are capable of complicated behaviors. For example, wounded leaves can send warning signals to other parts of the plant. But plants perform these with equipment that's very different from the nervous systems of animals, no brain required, Taiz argues. He and his colleagues point out methodological faults in some of the studies that claim plants have brain-like command centers and animal-like nerve cells. But beyond the debate over how these studies are conducted, Taiz's team argues that plant consciousness doesn't even make sense from an evolutionary point of view.

"Complicated animal brains advanced in part to help a living being catch a meal and avoid becoming one," Taiz says. "But plants are rooted to the ground and rely on sunlight for energy, an inactive lifestyle that doesn't require quick thinking or outsmarting a predator (捕食者) or the energetically expensive nervous systems that enable those behaviors." "What use would consciousness be to a plant?" Taiz asks. "If a plant worried and suffered when faced with a threat, it would be wasting so much energy that it wouldn't have any left to do anything about that threat," Taiz says. "Furthermore, plants have plenty to do without having to be conscious, too. With sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, plants create the compounds that sustain much of the rest of life on Earth," Taiz points out. "Isn't that enough?"

A rising star from Virginia has secured the title of "America's Top Young Scientist" for his groundbreaking creation — a bar of soap designed to battle against skin cancer. At just 14 years old, Heman Bekele emerged as the victor of the 2023 Young Scientist Challenge, standing out among the ten finalists with his innovative creation known as the Skin Cancer Treating Soap (SCTS).

Bekele's brilliant concept centers on the development of a soap that is not only affordable, but also has the potential to reactivate the body's natural defenders of the skin to stop skin cancer. In Bekele's own words, "Curing cancer, one bar of soap at a time." He always has endless passion for biology and technology, and the Young Scientist Challenge just provided him with the perfect platform to display his ideas. Reflecting on his inspiration, Bekele shared that his childhood played a significant role in shaping his innovative thinking. Having witnessed people work tirelessly under the sun, he couldn't help but wonder how many were aware of the risks associated with constant sun exposure.

"I wanted to make my idea not only scientifically exceptional but also accessible to a broad audience," Bekele expressed during an interview with the media. He received invaluable guidance from Deborah Isabelle, a product engineering specialist, who connected him with other scientists to aid him in reaching his ambitious plans.

During his presentation, Bekele passionately expressed his vision of turning the soap into "a symbol of hope, accessibility, and a world where skin cancer treatment is within reach for all."

Over the coming five years, Bekele longs to perfect his invention and establish a nonprofit organization devoted to distributing his innovative creation to more places including undeveloped communities, offering hope and a practical solution in the fight against skin cancer.

What is PayQuick?

PayQuick is a fast payment service for shopping in the biggest supermarket in UK — Tesco. It allows you to add your credit or debit card details to the app so you can use your smartphone to pay for your shopping with just one scan, which means you can go wallet-free in all UK Tesco stores.

What are the benefits?

• Collect your Tesco points automatically

• Pay for your weekly shopping up to £250

• Use PayQuick offline, even with no signal

• Track your spending in Tesco

However, only one qualifying deal per week will collect the extra Tesco points. Additional payments in the same week won't receive extra points. Tesco points will be added to your future Tesco points statement.

How to get your PayQuick?

Available to new customers who sign up by 3rd March 2024, the PayQuick app can be downloaded from the App Store or our official website. Once you have the app on your phone, register your personal details on the app to get an account. Note that for each customer, only one account is allowed and a family shared account will not be acknowledged. Finally, with all the preparation work done, you'll be ready to shop using just your phone.

Plus, there's no need to worry about your bank details being stored on your phone — they're all securely protected in our data centers. So not only is it quicker and easier, it's safer than going shopping with your wallet as well.