Creative Arts Workshop employs over 55 professional artists part-time to teach classes and workshops to young people each year. Classes are kept small to ensure that individual attention can be given to everyone. Students learn in a supportive environment and are encouraged to fully explore their creativity and strive for excellence.

    Draw and Paint from Observation and Imagination — Explore pencil, charcoal, ink, tempera paint and watercolor. Learn about lines, shapes, form, brush handling and color mixing. Subjects include buds and blossoms, birds and springtime animals, still life, outdoor scenes, and portraits, plus ideas from your imagination.

    Instructor: Eva Scopino.

    Wednesdays, 4—5: 30 pm, Mar. 21—May 26 10 sessions: $160; members: $144

    Hooray for Clay — Let's get messy and create wondrous worlds out of clay! Pinch, pull, sculpt and glaze imaginal outer Space visitors, or even your favorite foods. All skill levels are welcome, open to new and returning students. Instruction focuses on creative hand-building.

    Instructor: Violet Harlow.

    Wednesdays, 4—5: 30 pm, Mar 26—May 28 10 sessions: $170; members: $153

    Fun with Metal — Make jewelry and mini-sculpture with copper sheet metal and wire to wear or hang. Stamp, fold, hammer, bend, cut, twist and even heat metal to create forms nature such as pea pods and leaves. Students will explore using basic hand tools, especially hammers, cutters, files, pliers and torches to create works in metal.

    Instructor: Connie Pfeiffer.

    Thursdays, 4—5: 30 pm, Mar 27—May 29 (except May 15) 9 sessions: $158; members: $142

    Teen Digittal Photography — This is an introductory class on digital photography for interested amateurs who want to improve their photographic skills, as well as serious artists excited to explore new photographic technology. We will cover camera basics, file formats and digital printing. Students will learn how to use Adobe Photoshop to crop, tone and improve their pictures just like professional photographers.

    Instructor: Tung Hoang.

    Mondays, 4: 15—6: 15 pm, Mar. 17—May 19 10 sessions: $220; members: $198

    I left home to support my sister in her efforts to present a music festival. She lives on the other side of the world, and I went to visit her, not wanting to leave and feeling like I was leaving home against my will. However, I wanted to show her my support because she is my only sister.

    So I boarded the plane in mid-August, and hated the long flight. I arrived, tired and hungry. I left my husband two years ago, alone, in our old New Orleans house.

    I was all set and ready to perform for my sister for the music festival on Sunday morning when I received a call from Chicago. The hurricane was predicted to hit our city, and many people had already evacuated, but my husband chose to stay behind. He could not get a call to me on the other side of the world, but he could call his cousin in Chicago. He gave his cousin a message for me, that he would be just fine, and not to worry.

    As the days went on, I finally took the stage in front of hundreds of Europeans, and I realized. thanks to CNN that New Orleans was under water.

    I performed, hoping that my husband would survive. And I performed perfectly. The audience stood and applauded. I left the stage and went straight to the TV. I saw the street sign near my home, on Humanity Street, but nothing below it, except water.

    In the days that followed, I found out that my house, my car, my clothes, my furniture, everything that I'd left behind was gone. but not my husband. He survived by riding on the rear bumper (后保险杠) of a VW bus,, holding on to the overhead luggage rack, in the pouring rain, down the highway from New Orleans, halfway to Baton Rouge. The rest of the journey was a long walk, but he survived.

    By the first week of September, I flew back to the Baton Rouge airport, and hugged my husband. Since then, our relationship has grown deeper; we have completely rebuilt our house, bought a new car, bought new furniture and new clothes and joined an inspirational, spirit-filled community.

    Noise pollution in cities is causing our health to suffer: one in five Europeans is regularly exposed to sound levels at night that could significantly damage their health, leading to diseases, sleep difficulties and stress. Researchers in Belgium have developed an app called NoiseTube that allows everyone to transform their smartphone into a sound level meter (仪表).

    NoiseTube works by recording sound levels and GPS locations. Once launched the app shows decibel (分贝) levels of green or red depending on the level of noise. That information is then sent to the NoiseTube server via the Internet where a "noise map" is produced and then made available to the user.

    The project started in 2008 as a new form of data gathering, one that was close to people and of a social concern. "Sound was an obvious choice because everyone has a microphone on their mobile phone, and noise pollution, along with air pollution is an environmental concern. Often the two go hand in hand," D'Hondt of the NoiseTube project said.

    Since its launch, the app has been popular with community groups who want to monitor their own noise levels. They don't think that city produced noise maps give an enough explanation of the level of noise they are experiencing. City produced noise maps are based on statistical models involving very few actual measurements. NoiseTube on the other hand gives a detailed account of the level of noise experienced at a specific time and location. "Ten people walking the same area from 9am to 10am every day for one week can make a valid (有效的) and detailed map for an area of a couple of blocks," D'Hondt said.

    So far these sorts of noise maps have been produced for a number of European cities. The app has been downloaded by 10, 000 people with 2, 700 people registered on the NoiseTube website.

    I was born and raised in England in a culture where privacy and "keeping yourself to yourself" were valued traditions. Speaking to strangers was not encouraged. People were most hospitable and friendly.

    However, I have been lucky enough to spend some time in both Italy and the US, where I found traditions of hospitality and politeness to be very different.

I experienced Italian hospitality firsthand. On a crowded railway carriage travelling, one afternoon, from Genoa to Florence, sinking gratefully into an empty seat, I was scolded in rapid Italian by a gentleman who was returning to this seat —- it had not been "spare" after all. I apologized in English, and got up to allow him back into the seat. The gentleman obviously had no understanding of the English language, but he, too, realized my genuine (真诚的) mistake. He smiled and gestured for me to remain in the seat, and he himself remained standing in the corridor for the remainder of the journey. The other occupants of the carriage smiled and nodded at me and made me feel quite welcome amongst them. I feel that if this had been in England, a foreigner who made a mistake would not always be so kindly treated.

    Transport also featured in the differences I noticed between English and American culture. I flew to New York on a plane with mainly English passengers. We sat together in near silence. Nobody spoke to me nor, as I expected, to anyone else they did not know. They felt it was not polite to interrupt someone else's privacy. However, when I travelled across the United States, whether by plane or bus, I was never short of conversation. Conversation was going on all around me and whoever sat next to me was happy to introduce themselves and ask me about myself. They obviously felt it would have been rude not to speak to another person, whether they were strangers or not.

Keeping Safe in your House During a Fire

    Though you may not think you'll ever fall victim to a house fire, it's better to be prepared to avoid panicking. To increase your chances of survival, just follow these steps.

    ⒈React as soon as you hear your smoke alarm goes off. On hearing your smoke detector or alarm going off and seeing a fire, exit your home as safely as possible.

    ⒉Safely exit through doors. If you don't see smoke at the door, open it slowly and pass through it after making sure the door feels cool. If there is a fire preventing you from exiting the room, close the door.

    ⒊Protect yourself from smoke inhalation（吸入）. Get low to the floor and crouch or crawl on your hands and knees to avoid the smoke.  Cover your nose and mouth if you have to walk by or through a heavily smoke-filled room.

    ⒋ If your clothes catch fire, immediately stop what you're doing, drop flat to the ground, and roll around until you put the fire out.

    ⒌Prevent the smoke if you can't get out.  Close your door and cover all vents（通风口）and cracks（缝隙）around it with cloth or tape to keep the smoke out.

    ⒍Call for help from a second story window.  You can take a sheet or something else—white preferably—and hang it out of the window to signify that you need help when the first res-ponders get there.

A. If you can't escape your home, don't panic.

B. Stop, drop, and roll if your clothes catch fire.

C. You are probably a lot safer by closing doors.

D. Escape from a second story window if you can.

E. Smoke inhalation causes people to become unconscious.

F. Do not try to get your phone, valuables, or your other important possessions.

G. If you are trapped in your second story room, get to an area where people can find you.

    It is widely believed that inner beauty is the most impressive in the world.

    On the outskirts of a town in England lies a nice cottage with a large garden where there lives an old man. The old man is 1 pruning (修剪), watering or fertilizing his flowers all the time. The garden 2 bees and butterflies dance and colorful flowers blossom all year around is so well-tended that every passer-by cannot but stop for a 3 with admiration.

    One day a young 4 went by the old man's garden. He stopped and gazed at the splendid garden and the special cottage, totally 5 the admiration at the beauty of these sceneries, 6 how happy he could be 7 he lived in such a beautiful place. Then, all of a sudden he found the old gardener was 8.

    Greatly shocked, the young painter 9 that old man, asking "why are you busy 10 these flowers every day which you can't see?" The blind gardener gave a wide smile, explaining "First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I 11 like this job. Second, while I can't see these flowers I can 12 them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. And 13 the last one, that's you."

    "Me? But you don't know me." responded the young painter.

    "Yeah. But I know flowers are angels which everyone knows and would never 14. I know a great many people who show 15 for life would stop by and the beauty of my garden will get them into a good 16. In the meantime, it also gives a 17 to me to have a word with you here and to enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us."

    The old man can't see the beauty that he's created. 18, every flower has eyes 19 which they can see the beauty and kindness of the old man's heart and the sweetness of his soul.

    The blind man grows flowers in his heart. Failing the sight of the beauty of blossoming, he surely can 20 the voice of it, I suppose.

    Woodblock printing first appeared in the early Tang period. During the Song dynasty, the technique of block printing was very advanced. Books were (beautiful) printed. Even today the books (print) at the time are valuable and treasured by libraries and book collectors.

    However, block printing (be) not very convenient. Every two pages of a book had to be carved on a woodblock, and a big book would require many blocks. Besides, there had to be large places for storing the books.  (overcome) these shortcomings, Bi Sheng invented the movable type during the years between 1041 and 1048. One word was carved on one piece of clay,  was hardened with fire. Then clay characters were set on  iron plate according to the text of a book. Then ink was applied to them and (sheet) of paper spread over them, and the printing was done. Bi Sheng's invention made printing faster and (easy) than before. Later, movable type of metal and wood was made and widely used.

    The technique of printing was gradually known to other Asian countries and Europe. The great influence printing had the advance of civilization is too clear to need any (explain).

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：⒈每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

⒉只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分

Dear Peter,

    Hearing that you'll return back to your country, I think it was a good idea to choose some items typical of Chinese culture to take with you.

    The item come first into my mind is the Chinese kite, the cultural symbol of my hometown. Kite, mostly made of paper, are often designing into diverse shapes, some with lovely animal images like butterflies, eagles and so on. People can fly kites in the open air, where is a popular form of entertainment. Besides, a pen container with the Chinese ink painting on it is also a nice choose. I'm sure each time you use them, you will recall this unforgettable experience in China.

    I hope my advice can be helpfully to you. Wish you pleasant journey home.

Yours,

Li Hua

⒈目的和时间；

⒉内容：交换书籍，西方文学讲座，中国诗歌朗诵比赛。

注意：⒈词数100左右；

⒉可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Tony,

    How are you doing?

Yours sincerely

Li Hua