Zhu Yanjun is a migrant worker (农民工) from northwest China’s Gansu Province. Recently he took part in the 2023 Chinese Poem Competition and won the second place in the final.

Zhu was born in a family of farmers. In 1983, as a first-grader in primary school, he met poetry for the first time in a Chinese class. Since then, he has been in love with poems. After noticing Zhu’s interest, his father spared some money from the family’s living costs to buy him poetry collections (诗歌集). During junior high school, some of his classmates dropped out of school and moved to other cities to look for jobs. Zhu listened to them talking about the outside world during holidays. “I also wanted to leave my hometown to explore (探索) the world,” he said.

After graduating from junior high school in 1992, Zhu stopped his schooling. He began to work as a migrant worker. But he did not stop reading poems.

In the past years, Zhu has worked in seven cities in China. Whenever he arrives in a city, he first visits the bookstores and libraries there. Although he is busy working during the day, he spends his time at noon and in the evening reading poems. He knows about 1,000 poems by heart and the lines help him keep a calm mind.

In 2023, with the encouragement of his wife, Zhu decided to sign up for the 2023 Chinese Poem Competition. To his surprise, he made it to the final. “I hope more people will also fall in love with poetry,” said Zhu, adding that he will continue learning poetry.

For a long time, scientists believed that only humans were left-handed or right-handed.     51     Just like humans, animals favor one side or the other.

In Ireland, scientists studied a group of 42 cats. They gave them three tasks.     52     They found that the male cats prefer to use their left paw (爪), while the female cats prefer to use their right paw.

    53     It can also include eyes, ears, paws, and even tails. In Italy, scientists discovered that dogs wag their tails to the right when they see something that they like. When they see something that they don’t like, their tails go to the left.

    54     They say polar bears cover their black nose with their right paw, which helps them hide in the snow when they are hunting. Then they can step to a seal, and their left paw will be free to catch it. Scientists, however, disagree. Some have watched polar bears for thousands of hours. They never saw the bears cover their nose during a hunt. They also saw no evidence (证据) that they were left-handed. Without taking any notice of this, many websites continue to say that polar bears are left-handed.

    55     The next time you see an animal, whether it’s your pet cat or an elephant, try figuring out which it prefers—left or right.

In May 2001, I found a job in New York at the World Trade Center. On     56     (九月) 11, 2001, I arrived at my building at around 8:30 a. m. I was about to go up when I decided to get a coffee first. I went to my favorite coffee place even     57     it was two blocks east from my office. As I was waiting in line with other office workers, I     58     (hear) a loud sound. Before I could join the others outside to see what was going on, the first plane had already     59     (hit) my office building. We stared in     60     (believe) at the black smoke rising above the burning building. I felt lucky to be     61     (live).

Almost 10 years later, I woke up at 10:00 a. m. on February 21, 2011 and realized that my alarm had never gone off. I jumped out of bed and went     62     [streɪt] to the airport. But by the time I got to the airport, my plane to New Zealand had already taken off. “This is the     63     (one) holiday I’ve taken in a year, and now I’ve missed my plane. What bad luck!” I thought to     64     (I). The other planes were full so I had to wait till the next day. The next morning, I heard about the earthquake in New Zealand the day before. My bad luck had     65     (expect) turned into a good thing.

The first “forest library” in Shanghai recently opened to the public. It offers readers the chance to relax and read in a     66     environment.

Known as Read & Joy Forest, the forest library was     67     by Pudong New Area and Shanghai Library. It     68     near Shanghai Library East. Covering an area of 20,546 square meters, it allows people to take an     69     walk in the quiet natural forest, which includes Camphor, Cedar and Osmanthus trees.

The builders make sure the library has the least influence     70     the forest with existing (现有的) green spaces connected by wooden walkways. The library is in the open air and some useful facilities (设施) have been set up,     71     as long seats and an information area.

“I learnt about the forest library from my friends, so I came here,” said a college student. “The green outdoor environment is good for eyes. I will come back for sure.” “It     72     different reading experiences to readers,” Xu Qiang, head of Shanghai Library, said. Most of the     73     to the forest library were young people and parents with their children, who either put all their     74     into reading or took a walk in the forest. “I’ve spent the whole morning indoors.     75     I wanted to get some fresh air. The library makes it possible to enjoy reading in a natural environment. I feel very comfortable here,” said one reader sitting on a long seat.

【1】Feel down? Hug a tree! Recently, many Chinese young people have turned to trees to help with their stress. ①           it sounds strange, there’s a science behind the act of tree-hugging.

【2】It can be explained by the “biophilia hypothesis (亲生命假说)”. It was pointed out by US scientist Edward Wilson in 1984. He said that humans are born to love being around other living things. Humans’ love for nature is “in our DNA”. This is why people prefer natural, green views to city views. It’s also one of the reasons why people love cute pets.

【3】Some studies have looked into why tree-hugging can help with our health. A study in 2021 reported that the activity can increase oxytocin (催产素). It’s a hormone (荷尔蒙) responsible for feelings. The higher the level of oxytocin is, the calmer and happier you may be. Hugging trees for only 21 seconds can lead to an increase in oxytocin.

【4】Another hormone called cortisol (皮质醇) is a mark of stress. The brain produces more cortisol when the person is anxious, angry, or very sad. ②            trees helps cut cortisol production, which makes us feel better.

【5】Although the activity is helpful to us, it’s important to keep in mind that we shouldn’t hurt nature while hugging trees. Trees often hold valuable ecosystems. Many small creatures live on the tree—and they are ③         small to be seen. 81. You may want to be gentle when hugging trees-just like how you hug a friend! Hugging trees can cut the stress. So if you feel down, have a try!