1 . It took a thunderstorm for Gordon Hempton to truly appreciate quiet. After a visit home to Seattle, Washington in 1980, the graduate student found himself tired from the 3,000km way back to his university in Wisconsin.

Deciding it was time to sleep for the night and that the August heat made it unnecessary to live in a motel, Hempton pulled over and laid down in a field. He stretched out after hours on the road. Suddenly, a thunderstorm sounded overhead. Too tired to move, he decided to stay right there. What he did next led to an awakening: he listened.

“I heard all: the movement of the air, the insect activity, the drops of the rain, the echo of the thunder,” he says. “My eyes were closed, but it was as if I could see all the creatures I’d been sharing life with but never known. I was impressed by my awareness.” So vivid was Hempton’s awakening that he immediately dropped out of university, giving up a degree in Economics, and changed the course of his life.

After that, Hempton travelled within Olympic National Park with microphone and recorder, where he captured the wonderful sounds from the wildlife in quiet. Quiet, in this sense, does not mean complete silence. He says, “We might say that quiet offers an opportunity to be aware of our surroundings.”

Yet, despite these ear-arresting experiences, Hempton realized that quiet places were disappearing at an alarming rate, with noise pollution making it more difficult to listen to the quiet sounds of nature.

In 1998, the Smithsonian hired Hempton to go on a trip to Hawaii, collecting sounds of endangered animals and plants to be played at a photography exhibition.

Now 67, he is a famous acoustic ecologist (someone who studies sound in living environments) and co-founder of Quiet Parks International (QPI), an organization that identifies and preserves natural soundscapes by testing sound levels and encouraging visitors to recognize the importance of quiet.

On July 19, 2013, a girl who was coming to 10 signed up on Weibo with the nickname (外号) “frog princess Gu Ailing”,     1     she has posted some pictures of her skiing     2     (compete). The nickname came from Gu’s first helmet when she started skiing,     3     was green and had a crown (冠) and a pink hair pin on it, according to media reports. Gu first went into public view on June 6, 2019, when she     4     (announce) on Weibo that she would represent Team China in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. In the same month, Gu changed her registered nationality from the US to China on the official website of the International Snow Federation (FIS). Due to the sensitivity on     5     (change) nationality and lack of attention on winter sports, Gu did not attract much enthusiasm in the first place. Over the next two years, she won 12 gold     6     (medal) for China. More and more people become familiar     7     Gu, a girl who loves to eat dumplings and Peking roast duck,     8     (particular) when they found out that Gu’s Putonghua with a Beijing accent is “more standard than my own”. And no one in China doubted     9     (she) from a patriotic standpoint. Some have noticed that there’s     10     “Chinese dragon” on Gu’s outfit to win the gold medal.

4 . Mathea Allansmith isn’t your typical grandmother. She’s the oldest woman in the world to have completed a marathon. She was 92 years 194 days old when she crossed the finish line at the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, setting the record for the oldest female to complete a marathon.

Mathea, now 94, of Koloa, Hawaii, USA, stays in shape all year round by running seven days a week, no matter what the weather is. Come rain or shine, she covers 36 miles every week, even when she’s on holiday. The retired doctor didn’t take up running until she was 46 years old —after a friend suggested running two miles per day.

“The Honolulu Marathon is my favorite marathon mainly because it doesn’t close the gate at a certain time, which allows even the slowest runner to finish the race,” she said. “It’s one of the best races. Fantastic registration (注册), set-up and management make it a joy to run the race.”

Mathea, who doesn’t allow her age to slow her down, thinks she is the happiest person when she’s on the road. She enjoys running for miles and waving and saying hello to the people she passes. To stay in shape, Mathea keeps a steady training routine (惯例) . “I train all year round but increase the mileage 18 weeks before a marathon,” she said.

Mathea said it was her career as a doctor that allowed her to understand how her body and mind respond to diet and exercise. “I see the direct relation between moving and health,” she said. “It is important to reduce stress rather than ignoring it without a plan on how to do so. Of course, exercise of any kind is a natural stress reducer.”

Mathea thought getting through the finish line and winning a Guinness World Record title was the excitement of her life. “My family completely surprised me after the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, in which I achieved the world record, by wearing matching T-shirts stating my achievements,” she said.

5 . Bill Gates was born in 1955. He grew up in Seattle, Washington. When he was young, he was good at science and maths. And he wanted to be a scientist.

Bill started to play with computers when he was 13. At that time, computers were very large machines. Once he was interested in a very old computer. He and some of his friends spent lots of time doing unusual things with it. In the end, they worked out a software program with the old machine. Bill sold it for 4,200 dollars when he was only 17.

In 1973, Bill went to Harvard University. He developed the Basic Language for the first microcomputer. In his third year, he left Harvard. Bill began his company in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen. They thought that the computer would be a very important tool in every office and in every home, so they began developing software for personal computers. They developed the software to make it easier for people to use computers.

In 1999, Bill wrote a book. In the book, he told people how computer technology could solve business problems in new ways. It was one of the best-sellers on The New York Times’ list. Bill Gates has many hobbies. He enjoyed reading very much. He also enjoys playing golf and bridge.

Marie Kondo is     1     internationally known expert on cleaning. Her first book, called the “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up,”     2     (publish) in Japanese in 2011.     3     has sold more than 10 million copies in more than 40 countries.

Yet fans want more help and     4     (inform). So Kondo is launching a television show ‘a team of workers who will visit clients’ homes, and a set of special paper boxes     5     (keep) things organized. A set of three costs $89.

Kondo says the boxes were not part of her     6     (origin) idea. In her book about tidying up, she gave two main pieces of advice. First, keep only things that give you joy. Second, store those things in places they can be     7     (easy) reached and put away.

Kondo did not tell readers to get special containers     8     their things. Instead, she suggested people use containers they already had, such as shoe boxes.

But fans still ask Kondo     9     kinds of containers they need to achieve her special way of organizing. So Kondo recently appeared in New York City to launch her new boxes. They are about the shape and size of shoe boxes. They are colored light pink, gray, brown and purple. The insides are painted with designs such as a tree branch dotted with small white flowers.

Kondo says the idea behind the boxes is not to hide things.     10    , it is to make the things inside feel happy.

7 . Film director James Cameron first became interested in sea exploration when he was a little boy. His love for the ocean grew after he made the 1989 undersea adventure film The Abyss and the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, one of the most successful movies of all time. Following that big success, James Cameron decided to put his film career on hold to become a sea explorer.

In 2012, James Cameron made a journey to the deepest spot in the Mariana Trench, known as Challenger Deep. And now the great journey has been made into a documentary film, named James Cameron’s Deep-sea Challenger 3D.

In James Cameron’s fantasy films, such as Avatar and The Abyss, the unexplored areas are decorated in colors and full of danger. But on his dive into Challenger Deep, the reality proved far different: white, deserted and dull.

“I felt like I had gone to another planet,” Cameron said after returning from the cold and dark place in the Western Pacific Ocean, nearly 7 miles below the surface.” I really have a sense of being separated and realize how tiny I am down in this big, black and unexplored place. “Cameron captured the moonlike landscape of the deep sea and documented the sea creatures he observed in the ocean.

James Cameron’s Deep-sea Challenger 3D tells the story of Cameron’s journey. It is a film about determination, danger and the ocean’s greatest depths. The movie shows a unique insight into Cameron’s world when he makes his dream reality and makes history by becoming the first person to travel alone to the deepest point on the planet.

It’s an exciting film and inspiring reminder that our beautiful planet still has a lot to explore.