1 . The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to former U. S. Poet Laureate (桂冠 诗人) Louise Gluck. The prize committee cited “her unmistakable poetic voice that with plain beauty makes individual existence universal”. Gluck is the first American woman to win the award since Toni Morrison in 1993. Gluck, 77, joins a list of literary giants and previous Nobelists who include, in this century, Canadian short-story master Alice Munro, Chinese magical-realist Mo Yan, etc.

Gluck’s work includes 12 collections of poetry and a couple of volumes of essays on literary writing. “All are characterized by striving for clarity (清晰). Childhood and family life, the close relationship with parents and siblings is a theme that has remained central to her,” Anders Olsson, the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Literature, said. “She seeks the universal, and in this she takes inspiration from myths and classical themes,” Olsson added, citing her 2006 collection Averno, which the committee described as “masterly” for its “visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone’s fall into hell in the captivity of Hades, the god of death”.

Being a professor at Yale and a resident of Cambridge, Gluck also served as U. S. Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2004 and is no stranger to awards. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for her collection of poems titled The Wild Iris, in which “she describes the miraculous return of life after winter in the poem Snowdrops,” the Nobel literature committee said Thursday. She also won the 2014 National Book Award for poetry for Faithful and Virtuous Night. In 2016, President Obama awarded the National Humanities Medal to Gluck in a White House ceremony.

The publicity-shy Gluck did not immediately issue any comment about the latest honor for her body of work, which spans more than half a century. In a 2012 interview, she acknowledged that prizes can make “existence in the world easier” but did not amount to the immortality (不朽) of a true artist.

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.

4 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the Supreme Court of the United States. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 25 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott (抵制). It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

6 . What are scientists?They are often described as gray-haired white-coated dull scholars.

But the world has changed.Young scientists are making their voices heard and releasing their powers on the world stage.

This is also true in China.Rising stars include new materials expert Gong Yongji,university professor Liu Mingzhen,and biologist Wan Ruixue.At the age of 28 in 2018,Wan Ruixue received the 2018 Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists.This is a global prize to reward outstanding scientists at an early stage of their careers.

She focuses mainly on biomedicine (生物医学) and artificial intelligence.“Both are cutting-edge (前沿) technologies at an early stage of development,” she said.

“So,I think they have great potential to be developed.I think in the study of cutting-edge technologies,China and other leading countries in the world are standing on the same starting line.And in the study of structural biology,China is likely to become the leader.”

She felt it was her fate to become a biologist.“I grew interested in the natural world,when I was very young,” she said.In 2009,she entered Sun Yat-sen University.

In her third year at the university,she realized that she wanted to do something related to biomedicine.So she emailed China’s top biologist Shi Yigong,hoping to join his lab at Tsinghua University.

Shi recognised her talent and welcomed her.Years of efforts at the lab have paid off.Her research on the high-definition 3D structure of spliceosome led to a scientific breakthrough.

Unlike many of other young scientists who choose to pursue further study abroad,Wan currently has no plan to go overseas.

“The whole ecosystem for scientific research is continually improving in China,” she said,adding that the country has great science facilities.

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     1     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi papercuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chineseelements (要素), which turns out to be a     4     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     10     (visit) to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

The Scream was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893. What makes     1     striking is that it shows a thin figure     2     an expression of fear——the figure’s mouth is wide open and letting out a     3    (power) scream. The figure covers his or her ears and looks    4    (direct)at the viewer. This figure is     5    (set) on a bridge above a dark, stormy sea, and    6     a burning orange-red sky. In his diary, Munch talked about     7     inspired him. “I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly the sky turned as red as blood. I stood there     8     (shake). Then I heard the scream of nature.” Many experts say that The Scream is connected to Munch’s     9     ( mentally ) health problems,     10     caused him a lot of pain.

When Beethoven was only four, his father decided to make him a musician. Beethoven was made to practice     1     (play) different musical instruments hour after hour. Whenever he did not put his heart into his practice, his father would be strict     2     him.

    3     (fortune), the boy loved music very much and learnt so fast that he was able to go around and give     4     (concert) when he was only 11. When he was 17, he received high praise from Mozart,     5     great Austrian composer. A few years later, Beethoven went to Vienna     6     ( study) under Haydn, another great Austrian composer. Then he     7     (write) a great deal of music, even at his most difficult time. But after one illness, he suddenly found     8     (him) deaf at the age of 31.

However, this didn’t stop Beethoven. During his life, he composed about 30 pieces of music. It is     9     (amaze) that he wrote some of his best pieces after he became deaf, many of     10     are well known and loved all over the world.

Lionel Andres Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1987. As Messi grew up playing soccer     1     his older brothers, his controlling and kicking the ball became as natural and easy as breathing, and he was quite    2    (satisfy) with his progress. At the age of 4, Messi joined a local team     3     (accompany) by his father. Starting at age 6, he played for six years with     4     older boys’ team. Around the age of 10, he     5     ( find) to have a growth hormone deficiency (生长激素不足). Because of this condition, he would never grow taller than 170cm.     6     Messi never stopped     7    (improve) his soccer skills or scoring goals.

In 2000, at the age of 13, Messi went to Barcelona, Spain. Futbol Club Barcelona (Barca), one of the great European     8     (team), was impressed with his skills for such a young player. In his very first game, he started making soccer history. He scored a goal, becoming the    9     (young) Barca player to do so in an important league match.

Messi is now a master in soccer     10     has led his teams to win over 30 medals, including an Olympic gold medal. The soccer’s little superstar will achieve more goals in the future.