Martha Graham received many awards during her lifetime. Time magazine her as the “Dancer of the Century” in 1998. The Martha Graham Dance Company still performs her dances.
After fourteen, Martha’s family moved to California. Along the way, Martha enjoyed the wide, open spaces of . So the free, expressive movements of modern dance were influenced by the beauty of nature.
Earlier in her life, however, Martha did not know she would become a . Her family was very religious. The upper class did not accept dance as an art form.
, in 1910, Martha’s father took her to see a dance performance, which then her.
Martha’s parents, however, did not her sudden desire to dance. Martha just followed her of dancing. She attended the dance school, working hard as to improve her ability to dance. She her body to become strong enough to meet the difficult demands of dance. In order to herself freely, she decided to set up her own dance and school, called the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance.
Martha enjoyed having her students to perform her dances. She a dance called “Heretic” in 1929. She wore all white and danced a wall of dancers wearing all black. In 1936, her dance “Chronicle” expressed sadness and loneliness. Showing strong in dance then was very rare. At first, people did not well to her style of dancing with strong and sharp movements, and very different from European ballet. Some of the movements contracting(收缩) and releasing parts of the body.
In 1938, President Roosevelt’s wife invited Martha to at the White House. A dance “American Document” was created. She later danced there for seven other presidents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It was Mother’s Day and I was shopping at the local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were , we realized that only minutes earlier an woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground. was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock. a lot of people stopped to help out.
we were walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very _______about what had happened to the elderly couple. He to me, “Mom, it’s not much fun falling over in front of .” Seeing that there was a flower stall（摊位）at the front of the supermarket, he added, “Why shouldn’t we the lady a flower? It will make her feel better.” I was__ that he’d come up with this idea. So we went over and told the flower seller we wanted. “Just take it,” she replied. “I take your money for such a wonderful .”
By now medical staff had arrived, and were the injured woman. We gave the flower to the woman’s husband and I told him it was my son. At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you very much.” He then turned to me, “You have a son. Happy Mother’s Day to you.”
The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with _______in her eyes and gave him a little .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There was a very special teacher who made a far –reaching difference in my life.
Fall ,1959,the first day of class at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School was about begin .“Who”，I asked a senior , “is Mrs McNamara,my 10th grade English teacher?”He just _ and said something about my being in ____Soon ,I understood what he meant. Mrs. McNamara had a pattern of ______that she repeated again and again. We would have a literature reading task for__ _. The next day ,when we came to class, there would be two or three topics on the blackboard ________ to the homework reading. We were_______to write an in –class essay about one of the topics. The following day ,she would _____thd corrected and graded essays and each person would be called _____ to stand in front of the class and to _________ his\her essay. The class were required to criticize(评论)that essay, _____the grade of everyone in class would be reduced.
The first time that I___her read–write–criticize method, I had not ______to do the homework and had written something without knowing what it meant. ________the extreme embarrassment I suffered, standing before my classmates, _________myself. No one laughed at me, no one would be ________enough ,or foolish enough, to do that in Mrs. McNamara’s class. The embarrassment came from ________and along with it came a strong ________not to let it happen again.
Mrs. McNamara kept all of our written work in files, it was easy to see the ________in writing that had occurred. What was not so easy to see was the inner transformation that had taken place, at least for me. What Mrs. McNamar___________me to do was to see myself as others see me and, having done that, I could improve myself. And I _______. Thank you, Mrs. McNamara.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the United States there was an unusual tale telling of the daughter of a mechanic (技工). One day while walking along the bank of a lake, the girl to see 20 eggs laid by a wild goose. After some time the girl the mother would not return to her eggs and she to take them home. There she carefully the eggs in the heat of a lamp. Several days the eggs broke and the baby geese came into the .
Geese are known to take the first living thing they see as their mother. ，to these young geese, the girl was their mother.
As they , the girl was able to her birds to run across the grass, but she could not teach them to . The girl became increasingly worried about this, both when and in her dreams. later, she had an She would pilot a plane to guide them in . She asked her father for a plane and he assembled (组装) a small aircraft for her.
Caring about safety, the father decided to pilot the plane himself. However, the birds did not or follow him, and slept in the grass.
One day, the girl into the plane, started it and soon left the , Seeing their mother take to the air, the birds flapped (拍打) their wings and . She flew the plane freely in the sky, her young birds following.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You have waited 45 minutes for the valuable 10 minutes’ break between classes. But when the bell for the next class rings, you can’t how quickly time has passed.
If you are familiar with this , you’ll know how time flies when you are having fun and when you are bored. Now scientists have a reason why this is the case.
Scans have shown that patterns of activity in the brain according to how we focus on a task. When we are , we concentrate more on how time is passing. And this makes our brains the clock is ticking more slowly.
In an experiment by a French laboratory, 12 volunteers watched an image researchers monitored their brain activity.
The volunteers were told to concentrate on how long an image appeared for, then the color of the image, and thirdly, study both duration and color. The results showed that was more active when the volunteers paid subjects.
It is thought that if the brain is focusing on many aspects of a task, it has to its resources, and pays less attention to the clock. , time passes without us really it, and seems to go quickly. If the brain is not so active, it concentrates its energies on monitoring the passing of time. , time seems to drag.
Next time you feel bored , perhaps you should pay more attention to what the teacher is saying!
A．guess B．learn C．believe D．doubt
A．view B．point C．scene D．experience
A．drags B．stops C．backs D．gains
A．thought over B．made up C．suggested D．come up with
A．change B．develop C．grow D．slow
A．sleepy B．bored C．excited D．active
A．report B．think C．decide D．see
A．produced B．carried C．tried D．performed
A．so B．when C．while D．but
A．partly B．quickly C．how D．first
A．remember B．focus on C．forget D．tell apart
A．the researchers B．the experiment C．the clock D．the brain
A．much attention to B．more attention to C．attention to many D．attention to more
A．busy B．likely C．ready D．sure
A．focus B．gather C．reach D．spread
A．However B．Furthermore C．Therefore D．Finally
A．recognizing B．watching C．noticing D．counting
A．enough B．full C．right D．proper
A．In fact B．As a result C．For example D．Instead
A．in class B．with work C．in mind D．of lessons
When Danny Bowman was at school, he was so crazy to attract girls. He spent 10 hours a day more than 200 selfies (自拍) trying to find the one.
He would take 10 photos of before he washed and would go class secretly three times every hour. At 16, he dropped out of school he could throw himself into his addiction (上瘾) , and he ate . He did not leave his house for six months, and when he failed to take the perfect picture, he tried to himself by taking an overdose (过度用药). His mother, Penny, to save him, and forced him to ask for help after his addiction had become .
The 19-year-old, believed to be Britain's first selfie , is now under special treatment . He has not taken a picture of himself in seven months and has that achieving perfection is . He told the Sunday Mirror, “I was constantly the perfect selfie and when I realized I couldn’t, I wanted to die. I my friends, my education, my health and almost my life. The only thing I about was having my phone with me so that I could satisfy the desire for a picture of myself at any time of the day.” He expressed his to the doctors and said their help kept him and called on others to ask for help they ended up in hospital.
One psychologist at a clinic Danny was treated said the addiction to taking selfies has now become a mental illness.
A．making B．taking C．having D．getting
A．perfect B．beautiful C．good D．comfortable
A．others B．his teacher C．the classroom D．himself
A．into B．out of C．inside D．away
A．so that B．because C．but D．as if
A．more B．nothing C．less D．everything
A．surprise B．calm C．kill D．thank
A．managed B．decided C．failed D．succeeded
A．under control B．out of control C．in order D．out of date
A．winner B．loser C．killer D．addict
A．in hospital B．at home C．at school D．at work
A．expected B．realized C．imagined D．recognized
A．impossible B．possible C．necessary D．unpleasant
A．in need of B．in want of C．in search of D．in favor of
A．missed B．left C．lost D．got
A．cared B．worried C．dreamed D．talked
A．happiness B．regret C．thanks D．sadness
A．wise B．wealthy C．patient D．alive
A．after B．until C．while D．before
A．when B．where C．which D．how