紐約時報夏季讀寫寫作大賽2024備賽報名開啟！

NYT Summer Reading Contest是 紐約時報 自2010年起，每年夏天都會(hui) 舉(ju) 辦的讀寫(xie) 競賽，至今已經是第15屆，目前已經有來自全世界各地的8萬(wan) 多名中學生參與(yu) 。紐約時報作為(wei) 美國乃至世界知名的新聞報刊平台，其舉(ju) 辦的比賽具有很高的含金量。如果同學們(men) 能在比賽中獲得認可，不僅(jin) 能證明自己的英文寫(xie) 作能力，還可以提升自己的學術、創意寫(xie) 作背景。The 15th Summer Reading Contest第十五屆夏季讀寫(xie) 比賽要求學生選擇2024年在 紐約時報 上發表的任何內(nei) 容，如新聞、散文、論文、視頻、音頻、攝影等，針對感興(xing) 趣的內(nei) 容寫(xie) 一篇評論文章。

今年夏天，為(wei) 了慶祝比賽成立 15 周年，也為(wei) 了給比賽帶來一些改變，主辦發將嚐試一些新的東(dong) 西：學生可以像往常一樣通過提交簡短的書(shu) 麵回複來參賽，也可以製作一個(ge) 高達 90 分的視頻秒長。

適合學生

全球13-19歲在讀初中、高中對該競賽感興(xing) 趣的學生們(men) 均可參加。

●美國、英國地區參賽的學生：年齡13~19歲

●其他地區的參賽學生：年齡16~19歲

（紐約時報內(nei) 部工作人員的直係親(qin) 屬禁止參賽）

比賽時間

2024年6月7日-8月16日期間，為(wei) 期10周

每周一次，每人每周僅(jin) 可提交一份作品，參賽學生可連續10周每周投稿。

競賽內(nei) 容

自競賽開始的每周五，官網置頂位置會(hui) 詢問同樣的兩(liang) 個(ge) 問題：

— “What interested you most in The Times this week?”

— “Why？”

學生可以任意選擇紐約時報上發布的任意主題下的article、essay、video、interactive、podcast or photograph來發表自己的全英文看法和見解文章，不能超過1500個(ge) 字符，約250詞。

比賽意義(yi)

激勵中學生洞察身邊的世界，思考自己在世界中的位置，並通過寫(xie) 作來提升傳(chuan) 達自身想法的能力。

當學生們(men) 能夠做到閱讀一個(ge) 國家的主流報刊時，除了理解報刊上的字麵意思外，還能了解一係列報道背後的信息、暗示和隱喻，才能真正做到理解一個(ge) 國家的公共輿論。

含金量非常高的文科類世界級讀寫(xie) 競賽。紐約時報自2010年開始，每年夏天舉(ju) 辦競賽，針對世界各地的中學生。目前全球已有超過6萬(wan) 名中學生參與(yu) 競賽。

紐約時報係列比賽項目多樣，受眾(zhong) 廣泛，報名流程簡單，留給同學們(men) 的創意發揮空間也很充足。即使不能獲獎，這樣的寫(xie) 作經曆也能使學生的各方麵寫(xie) 作能力都得到鍛煉和提高。

獎項設置

比賽總共10周，每周都有得獎機會(hui) ，獎項分為(wei) ：

Winner（每周1位）

Runner-up 和 Honorable mentions

（每周若幹位）

每周贏得競賽的學生作品和姓名將被發表在紐約時報官網上

往屆獲獎作品

Your Steak Is More Expensive, but Cattle Ranchers Are Missing Out

“This is ridiculous! Beef is now $15 a pound, twice what I paid before! It has to be all the relief checks handed out by Biden that are causing inflation!” my uncle asserted, echoing the misinformation he had gotten from social media. Born in China and immigrated to West Virginia over 20 years ago, my uncle has seen his fair share of economic ups and downs. But somehow, he often blames “socialist” welfare policies.

I dismissed his wild guess. With my rudimentary Econ knowledge, I knew it had to be something other than the 5 percent Consumer Price Index increase that was causing the hike in beef prices. “Your Steak Is More Expensive, but Cattle Ranchers Are Missing Out” by Julie Creswell not only confirmed my hypothesis, but also enlightened me to the real reason behind it.

It turns out Big Four meatpackers have been monopolizing the supply for years. Despite the surging demand of post-pandemic consumption, ranchers have seen little profit increase while meat processors are making as much as $1,000 in profit per head of cattle instead of the normal $50 to $150. Meatpackers don’t have incentives to increase production “as they make more money on fewer head counts.”

I told my uncle the real reason behind the beef price hike, and he said it made sense. Thanks to Ms. Creswell, my uncle will be wondering when a Senate antitrust investigation of meatpackers will solve the problem, rather than blaming “socialist” policies, next time he buys another expensive steak.

The Best Way to Respond to Text Messages

They say texting is easy, but through the eyes of an avid overthinker, it is an unsolvable, ever-tipping scale between “too much” and “not enough.” In his essay “The Best Way to Respond to Text Messages,” Todd Levin explores the struggle of responding to a text to show enough emotion while preserving genuineness. As Mr. Levin suggests, Apple’s new “HA HA” tapback feature may help make responding easier, until it doesn’t. Because it doesn’t take long before people read into it. Is the joke not funny enough to warrant an emoji? Does the tapback mean the other person wants to end the conversation?

In the pandemic age, overthinkers are hopelessly faced with a million text dilemmas, reading into two-dimensional letters and cartoon emojis. We sit with our thumbs hovering over the screen, spamming the letters “H” and “A” over and over like we are just exploding with laughter, while we sit tight lipped, back hunched, eyes dry from glazing over the screen for hours. Because the joke isn’t really that funny, is it? Or at least not as funny as our text reaction suggests. Because the joke is just letters printed on a screen, or a blurry meme you’ve already seen. Perhaps the problem isn’t how many “HA”s you should be typing out, but the emotional numbness we feel from being online so much that we forget what it is to really laugh. Apple can introduce a million features to combat texters’ overthinking, but no amount of “HA”s will ever seem genuine enough until our feelings are.