天津阅读 Rd013・2019_03 阅读理解

Welcome to University of Waikato. Our mission is to create a welcoming environment in which residents feel comfortable, safe and a sense of belonging.

Student Village and Waikato Apartments

Waikato Accommodation Services offers two types of residential accommodation: Student Village and Waikato Apartments.

Student Village consists of fifteen independent units. Each contains five bedrooms, toilet facilities, and a shared kitchen with a fridge and cupboard. There is also a games room and a TV room.

Waikato Apartments are situated in a three-level apartment building. Each level has four apartments containing six bedrooms, toilet facilities, and a kitchen. Each level has a shared area with a TV, a study desk and easy chairs.

Security and Safety

Campus Security is available to assist 24 hours, 7 days a week. If you see anything suspicious, please call Campus Security on 0800863800.

Please ensure that you have your own insurance for your personal belongings as Waikato Accommodation Services takes no responsibility for any theft or damage to personal belongings.

Housekeeping and Maintenance

Housekeeping staff service all shared areas. Residents are responsible for keeping their rooms, kitchens and shower rooms clean and tidy.

Maintenance staff ensure necessary repairs to facilities are made. If your room or other shared area needs maintenance, please inform the Accommodation Office. Maintenance staff may be required to enter your room to tend to a maintenance request—this will be prearranged.

Termination (终止)

You are required to pay accommodation fees for the full period of the residency contract. At the end of your contract you must arrange a time with the office staff to check out. A room inspection will take place and you will be responsible for payment for any damage or missing items. If you fail to check out in this manner, the staff will hold an inspection in your absence and assess whether any payment is required.

An unpleasant smell floated into my nose as the bowl of fried stinky tofu (臭豆腐) settled onto my grandmother’s dinner table. I immediately sat back. The smell ruined my appetite, and I pushed the dish away.

“It’s supposed to stink. Just give it a try!” my grandfather said.

Holding my breath, I unwillingly took a bite. To my surprise, the tofu beneath the fried skin was warm, soft, and mouthwatering. Since then, whenever I visited my grandmother’s house, I would rush to the kitchen for the stinky tofu with excitement. Thus, stinky tofu became more than a household tradition. It became my favorite dish.

Along with the stinky tofu, I would meet my Uncle Chan on every visit. As an immature boy, I never understood my uncle’s condition of Down syndrome (唐氏综合征). He was an unfriendly and terrible creature in my eyes. He constantly walked around the house, talking to himself. Whenever he was within sight, I would run away in fear.

However, one day, my view of my uncle suddenly changed. I was just getting out of my bed when I heard soft steps approaching. It was my uncle. My muscles froze. He slowly sat next to me and touched my face gently, as a mother would stroke (抚摸) a baby. A wide smile emerged from his blank expression. How beautiful his smile was! I could not help but smile back. My fear disappeared gradually, and my muscles relaxed. For the first time, I could see softness and warmth in his eyes.

My uncle very much resembles stinky tofu. Stinky tofu smells unpleasant on the outside, yet feels warm and soft on the inside. Like stinky tofu, my uncle’s Down syndrome made me keep my distance at first. Yet, I learned that deep inside, he is harmless and has a loving nature.

Some people tend to look down upon disabled people and regard them as unfit for a regular life. As I was unable to see through the outer surface of the tofu, these people are unable to see through the surface of prejudice (偏见). As a result, they judge the disabled with one glance.

The outside and inside of the stinky tofu exist as two extremely different worlds. Perhaps that is what makes it such a tasty dish. Not only is it delicious, stinky tofu offers a valuable lesson: never judge people at first glance, for true beauty comes from the inside.

Essentially, everyone has two ages: a chronological (按时间计算的) age, how old the calendar says you are, and a biological age, basically the age at which your body functions as it compares to average fitness or health levels.

“Chronological age isn’t how old we really are. It’s merely a number,” said Professor David Sinclair at Harvard University. “It is biological age that determines our health and ultimately our lifespan. We all age biologically at different rates according to our genes, what we eat, how much we exercise, and what environment we live in. Biological age is the number of candles we really should be blowing out. In the future, with advances in our ability to control biological age, we may have even fewer candles on our birthday cake than the previous one.”

To calculate biological age, Professor Levine at Yale University identified nine biomarkers (生物标志) that seemed to be the most influential on lifespan by a simple blood test. The numbers of those markers, such as blood sugar and immune (免疫的) measures, can be put into the computer, and the algorithm (算法) does the rest.

Perhaps what’s most important here is that these measures can be changed. Doctors can take this information and help patients make changes to lifestyle, and hopefully take steps to improve their biological conditions. “I think the most exciting thing about this research is that these things aren’t set in stone,” Levine said. “People can be given the information earlier and take steps to improve their health before it’s too late.”

Levine even entered her own numbers into the algorithm. She was surprised by the results. “I always considered myself a very healthy person. I’m physically active; I eat what I consider a fairly healthy diet. But I did not find my results to be as good as I had hoped they would be. It was a wake-up call,” she said.

Levine is working with a group to provide access to the algorithm online so that anyone can calculate their biological age, identify potential risks and take steps to improve their own health in the long run. “No one wants to live an extremely long life with a lot of chronic (慢性的) diseases,” Levine said. “By delaying the development of mental and physical functioning problems, people can still be engaged in society in their senior years. That is the ideal we should be pursuing.”

When I graduated from high school, I wanted to major in comparative literature. But, once I found out my friends were going into “real” majors, like marketing, nursing, and engineering, I figured I needed to do the same to ensure a good career. So I changed my mind and chose Business Management as my major. I forced myself to believe that I would enjoy it and succeed in the future, but eventually I exhausted myself understanding the economy and trying new marketing techniques. Coming out of this experience, I realize it is ok to be different from others and to study things like classics, art history and other majors offered in the College of Humanities (人文学科)!

The worries most people have about a Humanities degree and finding a career afterwards are that the majors are too abstract, and one will not obtain any applicable skills. Actually ideas discussed in Humanities classes, which are occasionally different from what people commonly believe, offer a broad perspective (视角). How could one effectively be an unbiased (无偏见的) writer with only a knowledge of the popular opinion of society? How could one speak persuasively with closed minds? Only seeing the world through a single perspective leads to missed learning, missed friendships, and missed growth! With a broader perspective, we’ll be freer, more open-minded, and less limited in what we can become!

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates learn actual skills in their studies, while humanities majors learn “soft skills” like communicating effectively through writing critically and speaking persuasively, synthesizing (综合) ideas through gathering and interpreting information, and developing cultural awareness. Do those soft skills sound useless and inapplicable to you? Think of it. How often do you communicate with others? Produce ideas? Encounter people from other cultures? Every day. Every SECOND of every day. So why not master these skills?

If you choose a major in the College of Humanities, you will be needed. The job market is quietly creating thousands of openings a week for people who can bring a humanist’s grace to our rapidly evolving high-tech future. Your skills will be valuable to any workplace you hope to be in. Chase after your dream major with all your energy, no matter what other people think.