3. —Did you hear anyone calling you, Gina?

—Not really. My little brother ________ the drums so loudly that I heard nothing.

4. —John finished the difficult task ________.

—No one helped him? He is so great.

6. —Before the P. E. test in late April, the senior students practice hard but carefully ________ hurt.

—Yeah, safety always comes first.

7. —The boy looks upset. I don’t think he does well in the important competition.

—________ That’s why his parents are unhappy either.

9. —Now more and more people are riding shared bikes when going outside.

—Well. ________ shared bikes we use, ________ pollution there will be.

In April, beautiful flowers and green trees are truly pleasant. A trip into the world of nature can be great fun. But you need to make sure that you don’t get hurt on your trip. Check these out before you go.

If your family is planning a hike, you’d better wear sports clothes, sports shoes, and take water and food. Don’t forget your umbrella to protect yourself ______ a sudden rain. When walking through woods with all the other classmates, don’t step over a fallen wood or rock before looking what’s on ______ side. Spring is the season when snakes and insects like butterflies become ______. Charge (充电) your cellphone if you have one. If you don’t, it’s a good idea to take a whistle with you. Because it is very easy to get lost, even in a small place. If you do get lost, stay where you are and blow the whistle until help arrives.

Wild animals can be beautiful but also ______. If you see one, don’t try to touch it. Stay away from it. You may find fruit in the great outdoors. But think twice before eating any. There are plenty of toxic (有毒的) plants. It’s best not to take any ______.

Some book lovers like to go to a mountain in Chongqing, but they don’t go there for the views(风景). They go there for ______. There’s a really special place on the mountain.

On World Book Day (April 23rd), a(n) ______ book fair was held in the bookstore. People could read books, buy books and even enjoy drinks at the book fair during the 48 hours. Many people ______ the fair. They came from many different cities.

A reader said, “I like this bookstore. It gives me a different ______. The beautiful views, coffee and comfortable sofas create a very comfortable environment for me to enjoy books. I guess that’s the ______ of its success.”

The 700-square-meter bookstore ______ people on both workdays and weekends. One year after it opened, Cheng Yusi, Che Yun and her team built a new shop near the old one. The new place has a ______, a hall for ceremonies, a restaurant and rooms for parties. So people can watch movies and enjoy other interesting things here.

The success of the bookstore has brought a new kind of life to the community on the mountain. Several companies ______ the bookstore and started their business on the mountain. The government there has also offered help to the _______of the companies.

Many young people love to come here. “We expect more visitors to come and improve the local economy(经济),” said Che. “Many people want to learn from our successful experience, and we are happy to ______ with them. We hope our success will encourage more people to join us.”

The music is on. The figure skater glides (滑行), jumps and spins (旋转). One turn, two turns, three turns—it seems they never get dizzy (眩晕的) no matter how many times they spin.

People often feel dizzy and can’t stand well after spinning around. This is because when we move our head during a spin, our eyes start to move in the opposite direction. They reach their limit (极限) before our head finishes a full turn, so they turn back to a new starting point, said Scientific American. When our eyes do this over and over again, we get dizzy.

Figure skaters don’t have any super power. They get dizzy, too. Their secret is lots and lots of practice and training, according to Science Focus Magazine.

Skaters also have ways to help themselves feel less dizzy. One way is called “opposing eye movement”. It’s like the eye movement when we watch a moving train pass in front of us while our heads stay still. Skaters can train themselves to have this eye movement when they spin. Scientific American said this can make dizzy feeling disappear.

Other ways include keeping a uniform speed. We feel dizzier when our brain feels changes in speed. Skaters can also pick one spot (点) to look at as they stop turning. Some skaters will have a dance move at the end of a long spin, said Science Focus. This provides a little break while the dizziness passes.

Plant-based meat (植物肉) is not real meat. It’s made out of things like soy (大豆) and peas (豌豆), or some other plants. It not only tastes like the real thing, but looks so close. KFC has started to sell plant-based burgers and chicken nuggets (鸡块) in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Not long after that, Shanghai is also in the list. At the same time, Pizza Hut in China has added such meat to its menu. It’s getting more and more popular now.

Scientists say this food is better for the environment. Producing meat makes too many greenhouse gases. If people in the world stopped eating meat, it would cut down greenhouse gas by two thirds. Eating plant-based food is also healthier. Many people get heart problems because they eat too much meat.

How do you like plant-based meat? The idea of plant-based meat is not new. What do Chinese people think about it? Here are the survey results.

Power of “big data”

Many of us may have experienced the great surprise of seeing recommended(推荐的) songs after you listen to certain songs on a music app. When we open shopping websites, it is more possible to see things on the homepage(主页) that we might want to buy.

This is based on data(数据). Data is no longer only about numbers, but information from almost every aspect of our lives: our location, shopping habits and interests. All of this is called “big data”.

President Xi Jinping called for China to speed up its big data strategy(战略) in order to better help the development and improve people’s lives, the Xinhua News Agency reported. He also asked for greater use of big data in areas like education, social security(安全) and transportation.

The past few years have seen big data being used more often in China. The role it plays in tourism is just one example. The data travelers share online is providing the tourism industry with a lot of information about the country’s scenic areas. After the data is studied, different scenic areas can create their own online introduction for other travelers to see. The introduction not only shows travelers’ ideas, but also tells the scenic areas which services need to be improved.

Big data also serves as an important cause of the economic development. With a growth rate of 30 percent every year, sales of big data services and products in China will reach 1 trillion yuan yearly by 2022, China News Service reported.

Have you ever tried to hide your feelings from someone during a conversation? It’s not always easy, as the color of your face might tell the truth. Scientists from the Ohio State University have found that people are able to tell other people’s feelings according to changes in the color of their faces, The Guardian reported.

Scientists studied pictures of people’s facial expressions. They found that every facial expression has a special color pattern(模式). For example, happiness makes our faces red around the cheeks and temples and a little blue around the chin. Dislike creates a blue-yellow color around the lips, but also a red-green color around the nose and forehead.

“We believe these color patterns are the result of small changes in blood flow by the central nervous system(神经系统),” lead researcher Aleix Martinez told The Guardian. But this raises a question: Is it the color alone, or also facial expressions, that help people tell others’ feelings?

Scientists said color patterns to pictures of faces showed no facial expressions. They asked volunteers to tell what feelings the faces were showing. Volunteers were able to tell the feeling right 75 percent of the time.

This might explain why there are some sayings that connect(联系) feelings to the color of one’s face. For example, when two people are arguing over something, we say they are “red in the face”. When a person is very angry, we’d say he or she is “blue in the face”.