20210213 Sat

初级英语阅读 

杰生有了新朋友

Jason made a new friend. His name is Daniel. Daniel only has one arm. He lost it in a car accident as a child. Jason really enjoyed Daniel's company. He invited Daniel out with some other friends. Jason was sure the other guys would like Daniel, too. "Meet us at the restaurant," said Jason. Daniel walked into the restaurant. All the other guys stared at him. Daniel got very nervous. "I hope they don't make fun of my arm," he thought. He really wanted to become friends with Jason's buddies. "Wow," said one of the guys. "That's a really nice shirt! Daniel was relieved. He was invited along every week after that.

20210213 Sat

中级英语阅读

新的发型改变形象

A different hairstyle or color can change a person's entire look. It can make a person look better or worse. Jean was about to enter her first day of college. She wanted a new look. Her current hairstyle was nice, but it was boring. She had it since she was a 9th grader. Her hair right now was straight, long, and blonde.

 

She went into the hair salon and asked for the hairstylist. "What kind of look are you going for?" the hairstylist asked. "I want to look like a model," Jean said. "Well, we can add layers to your hair. We can also make your hair more blonde," the hairstylist said. "That sounds good!" Jean said. Jean sat in the chair while the hairstylist cut her hair. Jean couldn't see herself in the mirror because she didn't have her glasses on. She just trusted the hairstylist. An hour later, the hairstylist said, "Done!" Jean put on her glasses and looked at herself. She looked totally different! She liked it, but felt strange. She could barely even recognize herself.

Jean asked her friends and family what they thought. Most of them liked it. They said it made her look edgier, but very different. In fact, when she met up with her friends, they asked who she was. One of them even tried calling the police when Jean showed up in front of her house.

When Jean was shopping with her friends at the mall, a model scout came up to her and asked if she would consider modeling. Jean said she would think about it and took his business card. The new hairstyle was really working out for her.

20210213 Sat

高级英语阅读

新冠病毒或长期存在

More and more physicians and public health officials are warning that even with the mass rollout of safe and effective vaccines, Covid may permanently establish itself.

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel and World Health Organization executive director of the Health Emergencies Program Dr. Mike Ryan have said in recent weeks that the coronavirus may never go away.

To date, more than 107 million people worldwide have contracted Covid-19, with 2.36 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, warned in October that the virus appeared to be on course to become endemic. He reaffirmed his position this week during a webinar for think tank Chatham House.

“I think if you speak with most epidemiologists and most public health workers, they would say today that they believe this disease will become endemic, at least in the short term and most likely in the long term,” he said.

Heymann is the chair of the WHO’s strategic and technical advisory group for infectious hazards and led the U.N. agency’s infectious disease unit during the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003.

Heymann cautioned that it was not yet possible to be sure of the virus’s destiny since its outcome depends on many unknown factors.