【推荐1】“Look both ways before you cross the street! Look left, right and left again!” These classic childhood _______ lessons are passed on from generation to generation. Yet traffic accidents remain one of the most common _______ of injuries and deaths for children around the world.

Past studies have found that youngsters are less good at _______ road dangers than adults, but Anat Meir, a lecturer in industrial engineering and management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negeve and the Holon Institute of Technology in Israel, wanted to decide exactly which behaviors lead to accidents, with the goal of finding ways to _______ them.

To do that without putting anyone in danger, she turned to virtual reality. In 2019 Meir and her colleagues simulated (模拟) 18 streets in Israel and used an eye-tracking device to study how 46 adults and children (ranging in age from seven to 13) evaluated when it was safe to cross. Children aged seven to nine, they found, exhibited the least _______ when crossing, typically deciding to step into the virtual road with little or no hesitation, even when their field of vision was limited. “We had parents looking on who were saying, ‘Wow, I cannot believe my child just crossed there!” Meir says.” It caused them to _______ their child’s road-crossing abilities.” The older children did not perform much _______ , though for different reasons. They often stayed on the curb (路缘) for an improper amount of time— a (n) _______ that they are less able to distinguish between safe and dangerous situations than adults— and in interviews did not express an understanding of how _______ such as car speed and field of vision affect crossing safety.

Some ________ do seem to improve crossing success. In Meir’s most recent study, described in Accident Analysis & Prevention, two dozen seven- to nine-year-olds experienced 40 minutes of danger-detection training. Afterward, Meir and her colleagues ________ trainees’ and control kids’ performances in the virtual road-crossing task. The children who ________ safety instructions were significantly better at crossing than the control subjects.

Next, Meir and policy makers aim to figure out how to ________ these findings to the real world. “These results are important because you cannot find solutions without a (n) ________ of the problem,” says Joseph Kearney, a professor of computer science at the University of Iowa. “Now it’s up to people to determine how they can develop ________ programs for children and for parents about good road-crossing habits.”

【推荐2】Whenever Michael Carl, the fashion market director at Vanity Fair, goes out to dinner with friends, he plays something called the “phone stack” game: Everyone_______ their phones in the middle of the table; whoever looks at their device before the check arrives _______for dinner.

Brandon Holley, the former editor of Lucky magazine, had trouble _______ her iPhone when she got home from work. So about six months ago, she _______putting her phone into a milk tin the moment she walked in. It remains there until after dinner. And Marc Jacobs, the fashion designer, didn’t _______ to sleep close to a beeping gadget. So, he_______digital devices from his bedroom—a house rule he _______ with audiences during a recent screening of Disconnect, a film that dramatizes how technology has alienated(使疏远) people from one another.

As smartphones _______to make their way into our lives, and wearable devices like Google Glass_______ our personal space even further, overtaxed users are exploring their own device-free zones. Whether it’s a physical barrier(no iPads at the dinner table) or a conceptual one (turn off devices by 11 p.m.), users say these disconnecting __________ are improving their relationships---and__________their brains.

“Disconnecting is a luxury that we all__________,” said Lesley M. M. Blume, a New York writer who keeps her phone away from the dinner table at home. “The expectation that we must always be__________to employers, colleagues and family creates a real obstacle in trying to __________private time. But that private time is more important than ever.”

A popular method for disconnecting is to choose a box for your cellphone, like the milk tin that MS. Holley uses. “__________my phone is buzzing or lighting up, it’s still a distraction, so it__________in the box.” said Ms. Holley. Others choose new__________. “No screens after 11 p. m.” said Ari. Melber, a TV host. “We found the evenings were more __________and we were sleeping better.” he added.

Sleeping is a big factor, which is why some __________ to leave their phones out of their bedrooms. “I don’t want to sleep next to something full of phones and emails.” said Peter Som, a fashion designer, who keeps his phone charging in the living room overnight. “It __________is a head-clearer and distinguishes daytime and sleep time.”

【推荐1】More than half the world’s population live in cities, and by 2050 the UN expects that proportion to reach 68%. This means more homes, roads and other infrastructure. Such a construction ________ does harm to tackling climate change, though, because making steel and concrete generates around 8% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions. If cities are to ________ and become greener at the same time, they will have to be made from something else.

As it happens, Chicago might become part of the ________. In recent years, as architects have become increasingly interested in modern timber (木材) — construction methods, wooden buildings have been getting steadily ________. The current record is held by the 85-metre-tall Mjostarnet building in Norway, completed in 2019. But this would be ________ by the River Beech Tower, a 228-metre building proposed for a site beside the Chicago river.

As the AAAs meeting heard this week, wood is one of the most ________ sustainable alternatives to steel and concrete. It is not, however, everyday wood but a material called engineered timber, composed of different layers for specific purposes. Besides engineering the shape of a component, designers can arrange the grains (纹理) in the layers to provide levels of ________ that equal steel, in a product that is up to 80% lighter. Engineered timber is, ________, usually assembled into large sections of a building in a factory. That cuts down on the number of ________ that have to be made to a construction site.

All this ________ to carbon-dioxide emissions. Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge told the meeting of a 300-square-metre four-storey wooden building that generated 126 tonnes of CO₂. Had it been made with ________, emissions would have risen to 310 tonnes. If steel had been used, they would have topped 498 tonnes. Indeed, from one point of view, this building might actually be viewed as “carbon ________”. When trees grow, they lock carbon up in their wood — in this case the equivalent of 540 tonnes of CO₂, representing a long-term reduction of CO₂ from the atmosphere.

If building with wood takes off, it does raise concern about there being enough trees to ________. But with sustainably managed forests that should not be a problem, says Dr Ramage. A family-sized apartment requires about 30 cubic metres of timber, and he estimates Europe’s sustainable ________ alone grow that amount every seven seconds. Nor is fire a risk, for engineered timber does not burn easily, because the inner cores of large ________ timbers are protected by a charring (炭化) layer if burnt.

【推荐2】About 20 minutes away from River Campus, one might ______ sounds of magical flights at the mysterious Mushroom House of Powder Mills Park. The private houses, seen as the landmark of Town of Perinton, show off extraordinary architectural ______ with tree-like doors and wooden sculptured, treasure-filled mosaics, and naturalistic components in both in-side and ______ .

This odd artistic ______ has gained the Mushroom House its own official website and widespread media coverage. Since the house's ______ , it has actively been covered by many media. Much like Disney's Pixie Hollow, the Mushroom House appears to be a collection of “found” parts. The ______ starts from the underground garage to the tunnel, a reminder of the University's tunnel system, appearing the outer of the Mushroom House.

The ______ tops and inner branches of the Mushroom House are in good condition, ______ to aha old mushrooms found in a backyard. But the different types of glass, with their unique shapes and materials, used to build walls of the Great Room and the master bathroom lend the inside a colorful personality. Though ______ the curved (曲线) of the ceilings in all four mushrooms create acoustics (音响效果) that its website ______ that of Carnegie Hall in New York City. ______ builders Peter Strong and William Ash ton, the four 80- ton Mush-room House were built from models on the ground. The outside Mushroom House was then ______ with works of art, including fashionable lighting and handmade bricks, hobbit-like doors, tree and ______ sculptured, sand-molded walls and ceilings, custom wood furniture, and iron failings.

These works of art were all designed and ______ by local artists. Though this seems like a dream, it ______ a sweet past.

【推荐3】The International Space Station (ISS) is a huge space station. It is being ____ by thousands of people from 16 countries. All these people are trying to find out if humans can one day build ____ in space.

Floating 230 miles above Earth, the International Space Station currently ____ a huge building-block project out in space. US space shuttles and Russian rockets have been ____ tools and pieces of the ____ into space to help finish building it. From the beginning of its construction in 1998 to its ____, more than 100 major pieces will be put together to create this ____ space station. When ____, it will be the largest structure ever to fly above Earth. The ISS will be ____ than a football field and will weigh about one million pounds.

In addition to helping build the space station, ____ are trying to answer such questions as these: How does space travel affect germs? Does the human body break down food ____ in space? Someday, the station may even serve as a launchpad (发射台) for trips to other ____, such as Mars.

Because of its ____ size, the ISS needs a lot of ____. Like other man-made bodies in space, its power comes from the ____. To create solar energy, large panels (嵌板) are lined with special materials. These materials ____ the sun's energy and change it into electricity.

So what does it cost to build such a ____? It costs over $60 billion dollars. ____ this may seem astronomical, it may be a small price to ____ a project that enables some of the world’s finest scientists to work together, exploring space for the worl’s ____.