“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Those are the words of Thomas Alva Edison, one of the greatest     1     (inventor) in the history of the United States.

Edison, who grew up in the Midwest, was     2     (large) self-educated. He earned 1,093 patents in his lifetime, including the lightbulb. Being     3     successful businessman, Edison often reworked existing technology, making it more practical for widespread use.

Edison was born on February 11, 1847, a day that     4     (celebrate) as National Inventors’ Day today. The Thomas Edison Center, which was created in memory of Edison, is at Menlo Park in New Jersey. It is said that the seven years Edison spent at the lab he created in New Jersey were the most     5     (product).

“Menlo Park is the birthplace of     6     (record) sound. It was in Menlo Park     7     Edison invented the phonograph (留声机) in 1877. The invention led to the 30-year-old Ohio native’s international fame. From then on, he was known     8     the “Wizard (奇才) of Menlo Park.”

A phonograph was the first device that was used     9     (reserve) sound. It was the precursor (先驱) to record albums and CDs. The original model had no volume knob (旋钮), so listeners would have to control the sound by     10     (place) a sock in the machine. That’s where we get the expression “put a sock in it”, which means “stop talking”.

A 13-year project has finally come to a close. British artist Kirstie Macleod came up with The Red Dress idea     1     (explore) identity, culture and tradition through embroidery (刺绣).

After passing through the hands of 343 artists across 46     2     (country) , the final piece was assembled (拼装) into a lovingly made and beautifully designed floor-length dress. It is made from 84 pieces of silk, all of     3     were hand-embroidered by artists around the globe. They were from South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Kenya, Japan and beyond.

The artists were encouraged to create     4     work that expressed their own identities while adding their own cultural and traditional experience. Among the artists     5     (be) refugees (难民) who escaped from the war, craftsmen who are carrying on age-old traditions     6     people who learn the art for the first time.

“Initially the project     7     (intend) to produce a dialogue of identity through embroidery and combine diverse cultures,” Kirstie Macleod says. “However, over the 13 years, the dress has also become a platform for self-expression and an opportunity for voices     8     (hear).” The finished dress was worn by several of the artists who helped create the piece,     9     (bring) an added sense of completion to the project. Now, the completed and     10     (full) assembled red dress is going on tour to be displayed at galleries and museums across the globe.

Yang Jiang was a well-known Chinese playwright, translator, and author. She belonged to     1     unique and beautiful existence in Chinese literature. She was the first Chinese academic     2    (translate) Miguel de Cervantes’ Spanish novel Don Quixote to Chinese and at that time, her translation     3     (honor) as the recreation of the original work       4     the basis of loyalty.

Yang was born into a rich family in 1911,     5    (original)named Yang Jikang. After eventually     6     (graduate) from Soochow University, she enrolled at the graduate school of Tsinghua University. She met her husband there, Qian Zhongshu, another acclaimed writer in China.

Other than translations, Yang     7     (author) many plays, novels, and essays during her writing career. Her short novel Mr. Wang,     8    (write) in 1984, was selected as an article in the textbook. In 1986, she got the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise, a famous Spanish civil order, for her     9     (achieve) in Don Quixote. Her bestseller was We Three in 2003,     10     sales exceeded 180,000 copies in two months. Yang passed away in 2016, at the age of 105.

4 . Growing up in coconut-rich regions in India and with his father working in the related industry, Anees Ahmed heard of coco peat (椰壳泥) at an early age. After completing graduation in bio-technology from college, Ahmed worked as a researcher on agriculture in various places. He recalls that while studying about coco peat, he discovered that many countries used peat moss (泥炭苔) as an ingredient to keep soil rich. The extraction of this material leads to the release of carbon dioxide, which further contributes to global warming.

According to Dutch researchers, coco peat’s water-holding capacity, disease resistance, and renewable nature make it suitable for gardening and agricultural activities. Ahmed realized that coco peat could be a better alternative to peat moss and then started a company, Global Green Coir, in 2012. When Ahmed entered the market there were only few companies using this material as coco peat was not popular among people, and even coco peat was mostly considered as wastes. “At first people and companies used to give us coco peat for free.” he said.

Now Ahmed’s company gets coco peat from coconut shell to make varied products like pots, bricks, blocks, and grow bags that are exported internationally. However, Ahmed’s journey was not without challenges. He was met with doubts at the beginning. He insisted to demonstrate the potential of the material. His efforts paid off and gained recognition slowly at home and abroad. Ten percent of his business comes from India and the rest is from countries like the US, Europe, the Middle East, and more. Anyway, India is a huge market and most people are adapting to such products gradually.

Ahmed and his family made an initial investment of $5,000 to start the business. Now their sales volume of the last five years has been around $6 million. “With increasing focus on organic farming, coco peat will soon gain more popularity. It is estimated that the cos e pest market is expected to reach 5. 26 billion by 2030 from 3. 89 billion in 2023. ” Ahmed said.

Sun Zi Bingfa, or The Art of War, is one of the most     1     (influence) military books in the whole history of humankind and     2     (read) for more than 2,000 years. Sun Tzu, a legendary military Chinese strategist during the Spring and Autumn Period, is regarded as the ultimate master of war.

Sun Tzu moved to the State of Wu in 532 BC, and later completed the great military work    3     (compose) of 13 articles altogether,     4     he fully demonstrated his insight into warfare. He suggested     5     (analyze) the conditions between one side and the rival before drawing the war plan. He emphasized the victorious general must be familiar with his enemies just as    6     himself. He also explained two types of decisive factors: the objective and stable one, like the     7     (effective) of the army; and the subjective and changeable one, like the spirit of the soldiers. He believed that competition of economy between states is     8     nature of war. Meanwhile, the supreme art and goal of war is     9     (defeat) the enemy with strategies instead of only force. His spirit and wisdom    10     (unique) remind us that peace is the common objective we should pursue.

7 . Three Americans, including one teenager from NYC, were among the 20 Legacy (遗产) Award recipients at Thursday’s 2024 Diana Awards, named in memory of the late Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales.

The Legacy Award specifically, launched in 2017, aims to celebrate the achievements of 20 outstanding young leaders, visionaries and role models from across the world.

16-year-old native New Yorker Hailey Richman was recognized for her work as the founder and CEO of Kid Caregivers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting young people who serve as caregivers, and to enriching the lives of adults affected by Alzheimer’s. Richman launched the organization when she was just 8—four years after her own grandmother was diagnosed with the disease.

Richman, who was previously honored at the age of 12 as a 2019 Empower Player by DoSomething. org, said she hopes the award will “spread awareness but also inspire other young people around the world to do something to make a change.”

Among the other American nominees (被提名者) was 18-year-old Olivia Zhang, born in McLean, Virginia, who was recognized for creating Cancer Kids First, the world’s largest youth-led organization, which works towards lessening the challenges that patients of pediatric cancer face.

Meanwhile, University of Michigan School of Business alum Sikander “Sonny” Khan, 26, founded the Paani Project and has since raised over $ 6.1 million to tackle Pakistan’s lack of secure access to clean water. The organization has built over 17,000 wells and served more than 2. 5 million meals to villagers across the Southeast Asian country.

Diana’s oldest son, Prince William, was on hand at London’s Science Museum on Thursday to give a speech and present this year’s Legacy Awards.

“I know that she would have been honored to see a charity in her name doing such inspirational work to uplift young people from all corners of the globe,” he said, regarding his late mother, who died in 1997. “She taught me that everyone has the potential to give something back, that everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life.”

9 . Inside the low lighting of Gather East Rock, the smell of coffee beans swirls (打旋) through the air. Art adorns (装点) the blue walls, but one painting stands out among the others. The painting’s name is “Mother Divine”, by the artist Sarahi Zacatelco. The mother in question is a green woman, with colorful plants adorning her head and water dripping (滴下) down her neck. In every brushstroke, Zacatelco pays homage to the man who taught her how to paint: her grandfather Agustin.

Born in 1982, Zacatelco learned how to create art from her grandfather in Oaxaca. At the time, her grandfather lived with her while her mother worked. Together, the two spent hours going out to the central plaza in Juchitán, where she let her senses take over. “You can see the food, you can smell it, you can see the lady selling flowers, and you can see everything,” she recalled excitedly. When she was six years old, her grandfather gave her a piece of paper and watercolors and showed her how to put the colors on it. She hasn’t stopped making art since.

Zacatelco’s grandparents made chess pieces out of rocks and wood to sell. They also made Talavera pottery (陶器) pieces, which Zacatelco described as “a Baroque tradition” that one might see in old colonial (殖民地的) homes. She no longer has any of her grandparent’s Talavera —“the tradition was lost due to being poorly paid and a lot of effort going into each piece.”

In the 1990s, Zacatelco’s mother decided to move her family to give them a better life. She moved her children to Mexico City, then to the Bronx, and then to the Brownsville neighborhood in Eastern Brooklyn. The family moved to Fair Haven, where Zacatelco still lives, in 2001. She called it the perfect place to raise two boys and two girls. Her family did not keep any of her grandfather’s old art before he died. But his artistic spirit did not die with him. Zacatelco carries on his legacy today with her art.