It is not always simple to predict how long a task will take.     1    , of course, you’re a rat. According to     2    recent multinational study, rats can learn from their prior activities     3    (perfect) their skills and timing.

The scientists who conducted the study have found that rats, like humans, can estimate temporal errors in their behaviors. Humans can guess the time of their actions due     4    their capability for self-analysis. When they complete a     5    (time) task, they can evaluate their performance and correct     6    (them) to do better the next time. Now fresh research has shown for the first time that rats can do it as well!

The researchers devised an experiment     7    rats were taught to press a lever (控制杆) for at least 3.2 seconds to see how well they performed while     8    (complete) the job. Two feeders     9    (deliver) a reward based on the animal’s performance. As a result, the rats learnt that the placement of the reward depended on their     10    (accurate) and they all made the correct choice to find food!

This finding opens up new opportunities for uncovering the mechanisms (机制) and brain structures involved in our internal representation of time.

Blue talk is language or a topic not fit for polite conversation. It is     1     (typical) charactered by the use of words which are considered profane (亵渎的) and discussions of topics which are considered offensive (冒犯的). What can be considered as blue talk often changes,     2     (depend) on the culture and the company one is keeping. As a general rule, if one is not sure whether or not something will be considered offensive, it is better to remain in complete     3     (silent).

The use of “blue” to describe something profane     4     (date) from around the 1800s, but its origins are a bit unclear.     5     we know for sure is that people in the USA were certainly referencing blue talk by the 1840s and the word spread to     6     English-speaking corners of the world very quickly. As time goes by, the rules about acceptable conversation have changed greatly; at one time, for example, few women     7     (allow) to participate in     8     (politics) discussion, but currently they run for President.

Different people have different values, especially when it comes to language. Topics or words which are     9     little importance to some people may be deeply offensive to others.     10     (deal) with social situations more easily, it is necessary for us to stay sensitive all the time when talking.

Economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize for their work in fighting against poverty (贫困),     1     is an award for their efforts to help millions of children around the world.

Duflo became the second female economics     2     (win) in the prize’s history, as well as     3     youngest. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work had shown how poverty could be addressed by     4     (break) it down into smaller and more precise questions in areas such as education and healthcare, making problems much     5     (easy) to solve.

“Our goal     6     (be) to make sure that the fight against poverty is based     7     scientific evidence,” Duflo said.

While the UN estimates (估计) that global poverty     8     (cut) by more than half since 2000, it says one in 10 people in developing regions still live on less than $1.90 a day.

Asked whether Duflo’s award was an attempt     9     (correct) the gender imbalance in the prize’s history, Peter Fredriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Economic Sciences, said it showed that women were becoming     10     (increasing) important in economics.