When we entered Grandma’s house, I tried not to look at Grandpa’s chair, but I saw it anyway. Even the blanket (毛毯) was still there, as if Grandpa still sat there and pulled it over his legs. I was not much of a hugger, but I gave _________ a hug.

John and Max, my twin cousins, were fighting on the floor as if _________ had happened, as if Grandpa hadn’t died last winter.

“Let’s go looking for lobsters (龙虾)!” John suggested while Max was sitting on top of him.

“Yeah!” Then Max _________ John and ran to the small hall closet. He pulled out Grandpa’s lobster trap, with which Grandpa taught us all how to catch lobsters.

Last summer when I was holding that trap in my hands, Grandpa asked me if I wanted to stay and _________ him to teach Bob, my little brother, how to play chess. I said no. I wanted to catch lobsters with my cousins. But now when Grandpa was gone, there wouldn’t be any _________ with Grandpa.

“Hey, are you coming?” John asked me from the doorway.

“Of course.” I said.

“I’m coming, too,” Bob, my brother, shouted with _________.

“No way,” I said to Bob. “You are too young.”

“Bob is _________ enough to go this year,” Mum said. “Take him with you.”

We ran down the path leading to the river near Grandma’s house. Lobsters swam at the sandy bottom of the river. We lowered the lobster trap into the river in the same way as Grandpa had _________ us. Then we took off our shirts and shoes and jumped in, but the water was very cold. We all jumped out almost as _________ as we’d gone in. After that, we encouraged each other to jump into the water again except Bob. He was the only one on the rock, but he was __________ with cold. So I decided to take him home.

After sending him back home, I decided to __________ back to the river. As I headed toward the door, I saw Bob wrapped in Grandpa’s blanket in the way Grandpa did last summer.

Standing in the doorway, I could hear John and Max screaming and laughing in the river. The river and the lobsters stayed the same. __________ Grandpa was gone.

I walked over to Bob. “Did Grandpa ever __________ you to play chess?” I asked.

“No, Grandpa was too sick last summer.” Bob said __________, looking down at his fingers.

I put the chess on the table. “Well,” I said. “Someone’s got to show you.”

“I __________ Grandpa,” Bob said.

“Me, too.” It seemed like Grandpa wasn’t completely gone. It felt like he was still there with the blanket, lobsters and chess.

Thirty-Six Stratagems(计谋), which show our ancient Chinese wisdom, are our ancient culture treasure. And many of these stratagems can still be put into practice in many fields, such as war, politics, business and even daily life. The following are four of them. Let’s enjoy the charm of our traditional culture.

Many Chinese primary and middle-school students can’t do housework today and do not take such work seriously. As a result, some are unable to cook or wash their own clothes when they enter college.

The Ministry of Education has recently released the new curriculum standard(新课程标准) for housework education for students from Grade 1 to Grade 9, making it an independent course that students must take at least once a week. The new standard requires students in Grade 1-2 to learn to sweep the floor, Grade 3-4 to learn to plant cabbages, and Grade 5-6 to master the skills of cooking two to three dishes. Students in junior middle schools will learn to repair simple electrical machines. This new standard has been widely welcomed by the public.

Wang: We all know the importance of housework education. However, at home, some students are unable to do the simplest housework, as their parents insist they should devote themselves to study. Some of them gradually grow to be unwilling to do any kind of housework. Housework education is supposed to raise students’ interest in labor, help them experience different kinds of housework and, most importantly, correct their attitudes toward labor. The housework course will become an important step to develop and improve personalities of students.

Li: In order for students to develop in an all-round way, it’s absolutely necessary to add the housework course to school curriculums, which aims to encourage students in primary and secondary schools to progressively learn and love housework. It is important to make the housework class interesting, so that the students will really gain some practical skills. For this reason, schools should add professional(专业的) teachers to give the classes, instead of adding this new stress on parents and other teachers who are already busy with their daily work.

Zhang: Some people think it’s unnecessary to waste time on learning housework. If you want to have a meal, you can order food online, and for electrical machine repairs, you can ask for specialized help. However, people with the basic skills for daily life can go much more confidently and smoothly through everyday life.

It is the first step in encouraging young students to develop a healthy concept(观念) of labor and to be able to take care of themselves in daily life.

Technology and sustainability(可持续性) are two driving forces in the world today. For the agriculture department, sustainable agriculture technology must be the new trend, and farmers should follow it.

The following sustainable agriculture technologies are necessary.

Smart irrigation

Crops need water—that’s needless to say. However, how they get water is another story.

With smart irrigation technology, water can be put to good use. New irrigation systems with smart technology can report soil moisture(湿度) and temperature in real time. These new technologies help farmers properly take care of crops in a more efficient way. For example, most crops have specific requirements for temperature and moisture. The new irrigation systems can show farmers whether they need to make changes for their crops’ growing environments. In this way, they may help reduce the waste of water.

Drones

Drones’ abilities get them a place on this list. They can do a lot and most importantly, they can make the boring and tiring farm work much easier.

These devices have high-definition cameras that take pictures and videos. Through wireless control, just at home farmers can fly the drones over the fields and check on crops. If one area of crops isn’t doing well, farmers can quickly record the details and then spray chemicals with the help of the drones.

Data and software

Data is rich in this tech-driven world. Farming and data working together can greatly change the way farmers plant, harvest and water.

As computers gather information, they report it all back to a central system. So when farmers learn in which area crop health needs to improve, they can use water and fertilizer(肥料) more efficiently, causing less waste.

The three technologies are helpful for farmers to save costs, labor and energy. And they can contribute to the final goal of agricultural sustainability—that is to improve the environment. As these new technologies continue to develop, we are sure to have a cleaner environment.

Sustainable agricultural technology is the future—and it will change the game.

As Xiong Chuanfa, 34, blew a lifelike puppy out of molten maltose(溶化的麦芽糖) in just minutes, kids looked carefully at him with great surprise, thinking he was a magician.

Xiong Chuanfa has been working on blowing sugar figurines, a Chinese traditional folk art with a history of over 600 years, for more than twenty years.

In this special art form, the artist heats the syrup(糖浆) to a certain temperature, pulls off a small amount, makes it into a ball with an open center, presses the open area together and stretches it to form a tube. Then he blows air into the tube and makes it into different shapes. The traditional folk art has been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产).

Every morning, Xiong prepares the molten syrup and drives to start his “magic show” around his city. “Many people, particularly kids, are attracted by this sugar art. After all, the ancient art is gradually disappearing,” Xiong said. Simon, from Australia, was attracted by a sugar Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Xiong’s stall. Simon couldn’t resist trying to make one himself. However, he couldn’t get the wanted shape though he tried several times. “It looks simple, but actually it’s very difficult to master the skill,” he said. Thanks to Xiong’s helping hand, Siunon finally saw a horse gradually taking shape. “Can’t believe I’ve done this,” he said, expressing his excitement at how a pot of sugar syrup has been turned into something “truly amazing”.

Xiong said that blowing sugar figurines can date back to the Ming Dynasty and that his family has passed down this art for four generations. “My 6-year-old son often blows up a balloon-like sugar figure, just like I used to do as a child,” he said. Xiong’s wife Wang Li is an artist of the sugar painting, which is a form of traditional Chinese folk art that uses hot, liquid sugar to make 2-D objects.

“None of the cultural heritage left by our ancestors should be lost. They are name cards of the splendid Chinese culture and should be spread around the world,” Xiong said. The couple often show their skills beside colleges to draw youngsters closer to the traditional art and allow them to experience its charm. “Sugar paintings and sugar figurines are childhood memories of several generations of Chinese people. We try to combine paper-cutting skills and modern elements(元素) with sugar figurines, making them similar to modern trend(趋势) while keeping a balance between beauty and taste. We will spend the rest of our lives helping pass on this intangible heritage,” Xiong said.

Many people were deeply moved after learning about the family’s story.

Eat Your Greens!

I have never been a fan of vegetables. But my best friend loves them. “Eat your greens!” he always says. So I decide to learn something more about them.

Plants are a very important part of our diet. Because of the c    66     their leaves vegetables are often called “greens”. They p    67     all kinds of nutrition(营养) that are very important for our bodies. For example, vitamin C gives us healthy skin, and calcium(钙) keeps our bones s    68    . Others help to keep our hearts, blood and muscles healthy Eating vegetables does not make us f    69     because they are low in calories.

It’s said that there are over 80,000 different kinds of plants which can be eaten on Earth. However, 90 percent of the foods we eat c    70     from just 30 plants. This is not because they are the most nutritious, but because they are the e    71     to grow.

It is suggested to eat at least five different vegetables every day. It’s a good h    72     to make vegetables a main part of each meal. However, some people think that vegetables are not so popular compared with meat, so when vegetables are served together with meat, they often c    73    meat instead of vegetables. Others think vegetables are cooked in an unskillful way, making them not d    74    .

In order to help me have a healthy diet, my friend gives me good a    75     on how to cook tasty vegetables. I am on my way to a healthier lifestyle.

A teenager with autism swims toward victory

Chen Xingrong won five medals, including a gold, at the 11th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 8th National Special Olympics Games.

Born in Hainan Province, Chen Xingrong could not say a word until he was 2 years old. When Chen Xingrong was found autistic(自闭的), his parents were worried. In 2012, his father learned that swimming could help people with autism, so he spent months learning how to swim by watching videos and reading books. When Chen Xingrong was 5 years old, he began to teach him how to swim. At the very beginning, he spent three months teaching his son, but all his efforts failed. To his surprise, after another three months, he discovered that his son had developed the ability to control his breath under water, which greatly increased his confidence, and swimming soon became a key activity of the family. His father planned all his exercises for him at first, but then it was all up to him. He decided how many exercises he wanted to do, and his parents respected his choices. It was a process of self-management. With his father’s help as well as his good self-management and perseverance, he succeeded in winning many medals in the swimming competitions.

As well as swimming, learning basic life skills is also an important part of life for a teenager with autism. His father hopes that his son can live well on his own when he and his wife grow old. To help the public to know more about autistic people so as to reduce misunderstanding, he once organized about 500 people to watch an autism-themed film.

Thanks to his father's endless efforts, Chen Xingrong has learned to buy food in the market in their neighborhood. He also does voluntary jobs at supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, such as arranging shelves and cleaning dining tables. “He is good at skillfully arranging things. He is part of the community, and I hope he will live a wonderful life in the future,” his father says proudly.