I knew Marty's magic was fake (假的), but I just couldn't prove it. One day I caught a lucky break. At lunch, Marty was going on about how he could make things 1 . He had a ring in one hand and a pencil in the other.
That's when I 2 it: a thin piece of fishing line around the end of the pencil and attached (连接) to Marty's shirt! Sure enough, he made it by sliding (滑动) the ring over the pencil and hanging it from the line. No one else 3 the line, and soon the whole dining hall was cheering. When the crowds were gone, I walked over. It was time to 4 the Magic Marty show.
"I know how you did it," I said, looking him right in the eye. "5 ," Marty replied. "But the first law of magic is that…"
"It was the fishing line. "
Marty became 6 . He looked a bit worried. Without all his confidence, he seemed more normal (平常). I suddenly felt bad.
"So, are you going to tell other people?" he asked. I thought about it for a moment. If I did, I would 7 be able to prove that Marty's magic was fake. But would that really make me feel happy? What about Marty? He might 8 his new friends. How would that make him feel?
"Nah," I said. "It will be a 9 between you and me. "
Marty let out a relieved sigh, and I turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Marty jumped in front of me. "You've got a pretty good eye for magic. If you' re 10 , I have an idea. "
That's how the Magic Marty and Mysterious Matt Lunch Show began.
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Michael Fiandaca Age 7·Illinois |
Best FriendsBest friends have magic, not the kind you see. If you want to see it, love is the key. Eddie Schiller Age 9·New York |
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Irene Lu Age 8·Shanghai |
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HomeHome, a place to go after a day of fun. Home, a place to go after work is done. Home, a place where family gathers. Home, to be another place I would not rather. Jack Stewart Age 9·New Jersey |
Sam and I walked along the main street, the small buildings giving us a break from the sun. Through the window of the candy shop I could see tubes of colorful jelly beans. A sign on the window's glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Verry special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.
Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster and a border made of orange exclamation points.
The necklace looked different from the one I clutched (紧握) in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago.
"Hey," Sam asked, "are you coming with me?"
We continued to walk, and I noticed four more posters. Someone must have returned that necklace by now, I thought.
Once home, I placed the necklace into my old yellow retainer box. I'd cleaned it out and made it my special place for special things. So far, it held twin miniature seashells, a pebble that looked exactly like a bird's egg, and 11 half-burnt birthday candles.
I looked at the stone, so clean and polished. Could it be Chrissy's? Was it her "very special" necklace?
"Uncle Coop," I called, "would you take me to the store?"
We went into town together and stopped at Luann's. Uncle Coop let me borrow his cell phone to call the number on the poster.
"Hello?" said a girl's voice after one ring.
"Hi," I said, ▲ . "Is this Chrissy?"
"Yes. "
"Um, my name is Ryan. I think I may have something that belongs to you. "
"My necklace?"
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at a table across from Chrissy. We were drinking milkshakes and sharing an order of sweet-potato fries while Uncle Coop and Chrissy's dad drank coffee at the counter.
"It was a gift from my mom," she said, "before she got sick. "
Chrissy looked down at the blue stone in her hand.
"I'm really sorry," I said. "Holding on to it somehow makes things a little better," she said. "Do you know what I mean?"
I thought about the mean kids at school and how holding on to beautiful things often made me feel better.
I nodded. "I think I do. "
Pet parrots that are allowed to make video calls to other birds show signs of feeling less isolated, according to scientists.
The study, which involved giving the birds a computer that they could use to make video calls, found that they began to engage in more social behaviors including preening, singing and playing. The birds were given a choice of which "friend" to call on a touchscreen computer and the study showed that the parrots that called other birds most often were the most popular choices.
Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, of the University of Glasgow and a co-author of the study, said that video calls had helped many people feel less isolated in the last few years. She added, "There are 20 million parrots living in people's homes in the USA, and we wanted to explore whether those birds might benefit (受益) from video calling too. If we gave them the chance to call other parrots, would they choose to do so, and would the experience benefit the parrots and their caregivers?"
Their study of 18 pet parrots suggested that there were, indeed, benefits for the birds. In the wild, many species of parrots live in large groups, but as pets they are, kept alone or in a small group. Living alone can cause birds, to develop mental problems, which include rocking, walking back and forth, or self-harming behaviors such as feather-plucking.
The parrots first learned to ring a bell and then touch a photo of another bird on the screen of a computer to make a call to that bird, with the help of their owners. In total the birds made 147 calls to each other during the study, while owners took detailed notes on the birds' behavior and the researchers later reviewed the video footage.
Jennifer Cunha of Northeastern University said that the parrots "seemed to know" that they were communicating with other birds. "All the bird owners in the study said they valued the experience, and would want to continue using the system with their parrots in the future," she said.
"I was quite surprised at so many different behaviors," said Hirskyj-Douglas. "Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys. "
Video calling could reproduce some of the social benefits of living in a group, according to Rébecca Kleinberger, of Northeastern University and first author of the study.
To support the employment (就业) of disabled people in Guangzhou, Starbucks has opened its first "Silent Café" in China where almost half the staff are hearing impaired.
Fourteen out of the thirty staff members have trouble hearing, and so Starbucks has created a café that doesn't require customers to say anything—nor the staff to hear anything. "This might be the quietest Starbucks among the over 3800 shops on the Chinese mainland," says Leo Tsoi, Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks, China.
The newly opened "Silent Café" has a special ordering system where all food and drinks are numbered, letting customers easily write down their order and allowing them to place orders without having to say a word.
Chen Siting, a staff member shares her thoughts about the idea. "We cannot hear you but would like to share a tasty coffee with you," says Siting. "I believe more people like me could find a career they dream about in the future," she continues.
Like Siting, Zhu Jieying, has been working at Starbucks for about seven years, making him its first hearing-impaired coffee master. He has hopes that Starbucks could open more opportunities (机遇) for those who are disabled, and encourage them to prove themselves and to explore more possibilities in life.
Title; Starbucks "Silent Café"
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Basic information |
The first one in China was in Guangzhou. Almost half its staff have hearing . Its customers place their order without having to say anything by writing down certain . |
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Staff members' thoughts |
Chen Siting: More hearing-impaired people like me could find their career in the future. Zhu Jieying: Starbucks could disabled people with more opportunities. |
注意事项：（1）邮件内容须自拟，要求语句通顺、意思连贯、符合题意；
（2）词数在100左右，邮件开头与结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
（3）邮件中不得使用真实的个人姓名或学校名称。
Dear Mr. Friend,
I'm writing to you about the problem I'm facing at the moment.
……
I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
London Bridge
Singing