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Phonics, which involves sounding out words syllable (音节) by syllable, is the best way to teach children to read. But in many classrooms, this can be a dirty word. So much so that some teachers have had to take phonics teaching materials secretly into the classroom. Most American children are taught to read in a way that study after study has found to be wrong.

The consequences of this are striking. Less than half of all American adults were efficient readers in 2017. American fourth graders rank 15th on the Progress in International Literacy Study, an international exam.

America is stuck in a debate about teaching children to read that has been going on for decades. Some advocate teaching symbol sound relationships (the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck, or ch) known as phonics Others support an immersive approach (using pictures of cat to learn the word cat), known as “whole language”. Most teachers today, almost three out of four according to a survey by EdWeek Research Centre in 2019, use a mix of the two methods called “balanced literacy”.

“A little phonics is far from enough.” says Tenette Smith, executive director of elementary education and reding at Mississippi’s education department. “It has to be systematic and explicitly taught.”

Mississippi, often behind in social policy, has set an example here. In a state once blamed for its low reading scores, the Mississippi state legislature passed new literacy standards in 2013.Since then Mississippi has seen remarkable gains., Its fourth graders have moved from 49th (out of 50 states) to 20th on the National assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide exam.

Mississippi’s success is attributed to application of reading methods supported by a body of research known as the science of reading. In 1997 experts from the Department of Education ended the “reading war” and summed up the evidence. They found that phonics, along with explicit instruction in phonemic (音位的) awareness, fluency and comprehension, worked best.

Yet over two decades on, “balanced literacy” is still being taught in classrooms. But advances in statistics and brain imaging have disproved the whole-language method. To the teacher who is an efficient reader, literacy seem like a natural process that requires educated guessing, rather than the deliberate process emphasized by phonics. Teachers can imagine that they learned to read through osmosis(潜移默化) when they were children. Without proper training, they bring this to classrooms.

“I am so sorry,” I tearfully said to my principal investigator (PI), explaining I would not be able to return to work as originally planned. Before I became a parent, I had assumed a baby would fit right into my academic plans. But now, as the end of my leave approached, I realized I couldn’t simply carry on as I always had. I was worried this decision might signal the end of my academic career-but I felt I had no other choice.

Thankfully, my PI had more foresight. He told me I didn’t need to resign and that he could offer me a contract that would allow me to contribute to our project from afar. It proved to be an absolute career lifeline tailored to me.

Then five years after stepping back from academia, I felt ready to re-enter more fully. Because I had been able to keep my hand in during my time away, the prospect was much less daunting than it would have been otherwise. I ended up landing a lecturer position that allowed me to slowly ease back in, focusing on teaching and scholarship with research taking a back seat. And when, 4 years on, a senior lectureship position came up in the very group I had left a decade earlier, the timing was right. With both of my children in “big school,” I was ready to really put my foot down on the career accelerator. I got the job.

Now, 6 months into my new role, I am happy to be right where it all began, with involvement in so many interesting projects. But what truly made the difference for me was the offer of what I needed during that time away. I hope more institutions and Pls can come up with creative provisions for those in their workforce who don’t want to give up their careers but want-or need-to take extended periods of leave. And to those who are taking such breaks, or considering it, know that returning is possible. Above all, on both sides: Please do not discount extended leavers. We have a lot to offer-if we are given the chance.

Each US university and college sets its own admission standards and decides which applicants meet those standards. But the steps are the same for each. Here are some of the major steps you will follow:

Timing

Universities and colleges in the US usually offer two main academic terms: Spring terms run from January to May, and fall terms run from mid-August or September to December. While each US university and college will have different dates for applying to programs, application submissions are usually open and accepted 10months before the program starts.

Application

Each institution has its own application form, and all US universities which accept international students give you the option to apply online. Keep in mind that many US institutions have an application fee.

Take admissions tests

Students applying to universities and colleges in the US must take certain examinations (SAT, ACT, GMAT, etc. ) that measure achievement. International students must also take a test that measures English language excellence. These tests are given at test centers around the world. They are “standardized”, so that students take the same test at every test center. Your scores give the admissions office a uniform international standard for measuring your ability in comparison with other students.

Receive acceptance letters

After the application deadline, you will begin receiving letters from your chosen schools. Some universities inform candidates of their acceptance soon after their documents have arrived in the admissions office; this is called ”rolling admissions”. Other schools, however, wait several months and inform all candidates at one time.

Life Lies in Movement

Almost all the people like travelling. For some people, travelling is a chance to relax and escape 1． the busy daily life. For others, it’s interesting to learn about other people’s cultures and lives. They consider it to be 2． best way to have fun.

Of course, there are people who are always 3． (happy) with the way the life is. But luckily, those people 4． (be) rather few and most people understand how exciting and interesting travelling is.

As for me. I enjoy watching all-round views from some altitudes. I enjoy watching them in my hometown and as soon as I am in some new city. I start 5． (look) for such places right away. When I’m in such a place, I just hold my breath and enjoy the beauty. At such moments I think about what beauty it 6． (offer) us and how important it is to value each moment of 7． (we) lives.

From such places it’s so exciting 8． (enjoy) city views and imagine how 9． (thousand) of people live there and experience so many different feelings. I understand that I’m not alone, that I have so many chances and 10． I can reach all my goals. While watching the views of nature. I wonder how such beauty can be created and how much it is important not to break it.

Yesterday I was doing some shopping and a man, who was in worn clothes, walked towards a group of us at the checkout stand (收银台). I ________ him say to one woman in front of me, “I don’t want to steal from this store... Would you ________ me some food?” But the woman pretend not to hear him; it was as if she hadn’t seen him. I waited for my ________ to be questioned, but it never came. So I asked him, ”Can I buy you something to eat?"

He ________ accepted. The man got a bag and began putting sandwiches in the bag. As my ________ were being rung up (结账) I watched the man put the sandwiches into the bag: 1,2,3...He finally stopped and I asked him how many he had got and he answered 10.

The ________ cashier (收银员) looked at me for a while and then added them to my ________ . After I was through, the man was wandering around the store saying he wanted something to ________ , too. The cashier seemed to be keeping a ________ eye on him. I admit I was too, as I didn’t want him to ________ anything either! I told the cashier that if he got a drink I’d just paying for it.

We both ended up leaving the store, but he stood outside talking to ________ . Or maybe he was talking with someone who he thought was there.

This man’s situation made me ________ . How many of the homeless also ________ a mental (精神的) illness? Maybe that’s even what ________ him to be homeless. I ________ to run into him again someday... maybe we can sit down and have lunch together.

Studying abroad can be a great opportunity to meet new people and to experience an unfamiliar and exciting culture by yourself. By challenging yourself to try a new culture. you can make a huge influence on the way you see the world. Although it may be great, it is often a costly experience. 1． You can have wonderful experience without the financial pressure.

Write out a travel budget (预算).

2． Think about the amount of money you will need to spend every week and month for housing. food. school supplies, travel, transportation and other living expenses to create a monthly budget that you can follow.

Find a job that you can perform remotely.

See if you can find a job before you go abroad to ensure a constant flow of income. Consider a job as a writer or travel blogger. See if you can find a job that lets you explore the country you’re staying in. like by becoming a photographer. 3．

Cook meals at home.

If you are staying with a host family, try to eat as many meals as you can with them. 4． If you can cook on your own, find a local grocery store where you can buy food material to make a simple meal.

5．

If you are fluent in the language of the country you’re staying in, think about teaching local student your native language. Not only does this let you stay with local students, but it allows you to gain an even deeper understanding the language you’ll hear around you during your overseas experience.

Do you use the weekends to catch up on sleep? If so, you may want to rethink that. in young adults, using weekends to catch up for lost weekday sleep can cause health risks. The take-home message is basically that you can’t make up for lost sleep by sleeping a few more hours on weekends.

Weekends may seem like a great time to catch up on sleep. Scientists, however, weren’t sure that would work. So Christopher Depner and his colleagues decided to test it out. Depner is a sleep physiologist. He works at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The team looked at three groups of people in their mid-20s. For roughly two weeks, each group followed a set sleep schedule. One group slept about eight hours every night. Another group only got about five hours of shut-eye a night. The third group snoozed (打盹) some five hours each weeknight, but could sleep whenever and however much they wanted over the weekend. That last group stayed up until midnight or I am on Friday and Saturday nights. The following mornings, they slept in until sometime between 11 am and noon. But they also stayed up late on Sunday. That left them only about six hours of snooze tine before the next workweek started. Over the whole weekend, these people got only about 1.1 hours more sleep than what their bodies needed, the researchers found.

People in the study who got too little sleep every night gained weight. So did the weekend sleep-in crowd. By the end of the experiment. people in both groups had gained an average of 1.5 kilograms.

Depner says this could be because losing sleep interferes with hormones that control hunger. Since weekend-catch-up sleepers both woke up later and went to bed later, they shifted (改变) their bodies’ internal clocks. As a result, they may have gotten hungry later. During the workweeks, both groups ate roughly 400 to 650 calories in late-night snacks.

Several cultural relics unearthed from the Haihunhou tomb in Nanchang have been confirmed to be official documents presented to the imperial court. The three pieces already released were all written with ink, according to the Nanchang Evening News.

Based on the analysis by Zhang Yuzheng, an expert at Beijing Union University, the relics may be the oldest original copies of senior official documents in the Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220), which have great value for the study of ancient official documents.

Among the three publicly released relics, two of them remain fairly intact with exact date information, though the handwriting is partly damaged. Chinese characters meaning “concubine (妾)” and “Haihunhou He” can be seen on the relics, which show that they were written by the Marquis of Haihun Liu He and his concubine.

Zhang Yuzheng suggested that according to Haushu, the documents presented to the imperial court should be in two copies, with the original copy submitted to the emperor and the copy to the minister. The minister would first review the contents and then decide whether it was appropriate to be submitted to the emperor. The system was ended during the reign of Emperor Hanxuan in the Han Dynasty. The unearthed relics from Haihunhou tomb are believed to have been written on the fourth year of Yuankang during the reign of Emperor Hanxun when the system was already ended.

Therefore, Zhang holds that the unearthed relics written with date information “fourth year of Yuankang” were very likely the original copies of official documents, instead of copies.

The whole structure and content are also complete, the handwriting is quite neat, and the format (格式) is strict, consistent with the features of an original copy, according to Zhang.

In October, I told the eight-year-olds in the class I teach about my plan. “I’d like you to do extra jobs around the house to earn some money,” I said. “Then we’ll buy food for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise.”

Early in the week for that donation, the children arrived with their hard-earned money. They had cleaned yards, set tables, and washed dishes. They couldn’t wait to go shopping. I watched as they rushed in the supermarket aisles (过道). At last we headed toward the checkout, pushing a cart filled with food. Then Kristine cried. “Flowers!” The group rushed toward the plants.

“You can’t eat flowers.” I responded. “Why not use the money to buy more food?” “But Mrs Sherlock.” she begged. “we want flowers.”

Defeated, I looked at the flowers. Stuck in the middle of the display was a pot of purple flowers. “She’ll like this one,” the children agreed, and put the purple plant into the cart.

An agency had given us the address of a needy grandmother. Soon we pulled up in front of a small house. The children hurried to get the food. When Amy put the flowers on the counter, the woman seemed surprised. “Do you like it?” Michael asked. The old lady brightened. She told the children about the animals that lived close by.

We returned to the car. As we fastened our seat belts, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, straight to the flowers. She put her face in them. When she raised her head, there was a smile on her lips.

The children were quiet. In that brief moment, they had seen the power they possessed to make another’s life better. Sometimes a person just needs a pot of flowers on a dark November day.