1 . Rick Guidotti put aside his career as a fashion photographer to turn his lens (镜头) to people living with genetic, physical and behavioural differences.

He says what changed his perception (看法) of beauty was a chance encounter with an albino (患白化病的) girl. “I was just tired of people telling me who was beautiful. Every season that face would change but I was always told who was beautiful. As an artist, I don’t see beauty just on covers of magazines. I see it everywhere. So that was my original intention — that opened my eyes a little wider and wider.”

Guidotti has created Positive Exposure, a not-for-profit organization that uses photography and video to transform public perceptions and promote a world where differences are celebrated. Guidotti and Positive Exposure are featured in a new documentary called On Beauty.

One of the women featured in the film is Jayne Waithera. “I never thought I was beautiful because nobody said that to me, but meeting him was my profound moment. I remember that particular day. He took my picture and I felt so good like I felt there’s somebody who, like, really loves me and sees me for who I am and who sees me more than my condition.”

Guidotti is travelling from city to city to promote On Beauty. He says his tour is not about money; it’s about the message. “As I travel from community to community, I’m taking photographs and I’m empowering (给某人……的权力) individuals with a positive sense of who they are. They’re seeing beauty in their reflection but I’m also empowering their families and they in turn are empowering their communities as well. All is based on the philosophy of change — how you see, how you change.”

2 . A dozen years ago, William Dunn noticed his six-year-old neighbor, Camran, shouted at his mom angrily. He started a (n) _________ with the boy. Camran told him that his _________ wasn’t in his life.

William asked Camran’s mom for _________ to take him fishing. Camran was _________ by the experience from that first trip. The two fished together several times a week, and William saw _________ changes in Camran’s behavior. Soon William was teaching Camran’s friends and other kids in the neighborhood to _________.

On weekends, William and a few other _________ take 20 to 25 kids out fishing on a rented boat. Many have never been fishing or even on a boat, so William starts by teaching the _________. Then come the life _________ that fishing offers: patience, team work and the simple __________ of relaxing outdoors. He and the other volunteers have taken more than 600 fishing trips with almost 2, 000 __________ who don’t have a father in their lives.

William wants to share his __________ of fishing with kids who don’t have a father to take them. He said he just wanted to show the kids that he __________ them and that he was there for them. Because many kids go on several trips, William is able to build __________ with them. He and Camran, now 20, still __________ fish together, and Camran sees Big Willam as a father figure.

6 . Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said, “Let’s do something to pass the time.”

“What do you want to do?” the businessman asked. “We can ask each other riddles (谜语).” The farmer said, “You start.” “Let’s make the rules first,” the businessman said. “That’s not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.”

“That’s true.” The businessman said. “What do you want we should do?” “If you don’t know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50.” The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, “OK. That’s fair. Who will go first?”

“I will,” The farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The business man repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that’s a good one. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.” He gave the farmer $100, then said, “Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? “I don’t know.” The farmer said and gave him $50.

7 . There is an old saying in China that goes, “The days of the Sanjiu period are the coldest days.” “Sanjiu period”, which is in Minor (较小的) Cold, refers to the third nine-day period (the 19th to the 27th day) after the day of the Winter Solstice (冬至). There are many different customs related to Minor Cold in China.

Eating hotpot

During Minor Cold people should eat some hot food to benefit the body and defend against the cold weather. Winter is the best time to have hotpot and braised mutton with soy sauce. But it is important to notice that too much spicy food may cause health problems.

Eating huangyacai

In Tianjin, there is a custom to have huangyacai, a kind of Chinese cabbage, during Minor Cold. There are large amounts of vitamins A and B in huangyacai. As huangyacai is fresh and tender, it is fit for frying, roasting and braising.

Eating glutinous rice (糯米饭)

According to tradition, the Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning during Minor Cold. Cantonese people add some fried preserved (腌制的) pork, sausage and peanuts and mix them into the rice.

Eating vegetable rice

In ancient times, people in Nanjing took Minor Cold quite seriously, but as time went by, the celebration of Minor Cold gradually disappeared. However, the custom of eating vegetable rice is still followed today. The rice is steamed and is unspeakably delicious. Among the ingredients (原料), aijiaohuang (a kind of green vegetable), sausage and salted duck are the specialties in Nanjing.

9 . Art museums are full of centuries-old paintings with details of plants that today give us clues about evolution and breeding.

Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Harvesters created in 1565 shows farmers cutting wheat nearly as tall as they are. “Nowadays, if you walk through a wheat field, you basically see that w heat is about knee height. The short wheat is essentially a consequence of breeding from the second half of the 20th century,” said biologist Ive De Smet.

According to De Smet, wheat is just one example of how historical artworks can allow us to track the transformation of crops over time. He has teamed up with art historian David Vergau wen to seek similar kinds of artworks around the world.

As friends since childhood, their interest in plants in artworks began with a visit to a museum in Russia, where they noticed an old-looking watermelon in an early-7th-century painting. A watermelon is usually believed to be red on the inside. However, that one appeared to be pale and white. De Smet assured the painter had done a poor job. But Verguawen had a different idea. “This is one of the best painters ever in that era. So, if he painted it like that, that’s the way it must have looked like.”

Other paintings revealed that there were both red and white watermelons grown in the 17th century. The chemical compound that makes watermelons red is lycopene (番茄红素). “There must have been some sort of mutation (突变) preventing the accumulation of that color. Now, with all the genetic knowledge that we have of various plant species, we can look in more de tail at how something comes about.”

De Smet and Verguawen hope to create an online research database of historical plant artworks. They call for contributions of art enthusiasts around the world via the social media. But they caution, the source paintings need to be realistic. “If you’re going to use, for example, Picasso’s paintings to try and understand what a pear looked like in the early 20th century, you might be misled.” Instead, such an attempt could be fruitless.

10 . The e-mail request came in to Ekiben restaurant in Baltimore late on a Thursday afternoon: tempura broccoli. The man who sent the e-mail was writing ________ his mother-in-law, who liked the dish very much. He went on to explain that she was now in the final stages of lung cancer at her home in Vermont and that he was hoping to get the ________ to make it for her there.

Steve Chu, one of the Asian restaurant’s co-owners, read the e-mail and quickly replied with an ________ suggestion. “Thanks for reaching out,” he wrote. “We’d like to meet you in Vermont and make it ________ for you.”

Brandon Jones, the son-in-law, was ________. “I e-mailed back, saying, ‘You do know that this is Vermont we’re talking about, right?’ ” says Brandon. “ But Steve responded, ‘No problem. You tell us the date, time, and ________ and we’ll be there.’ ”

That Friday after work, Chu loaded his truck and then ________ for Vermont with his business partner, and an employee. As soon as Chu and his team ________ the parking lot, they got to work. In addition to broccoli tempura, they made tofu with peanut sauce and fresh herbs and some steamed rice. After neatly ________ everything up, they knocked on their customer’s door.

“As soon as she opened the door, she ________ the pleasant smell,” Rina Jones, Brandon’s wife, says. Her mother also recognized Chu and his coworkers. She was so happy and touched to have that broccoli. She couldn’t believe it. As for Chu, he couldn’t help remembering his ________customer.

The Joneses invited Chu and his team to join them for dinner, but they needed to get back to Baltimore. Chu also wouldn’t accept any money from the family ________. “It was an honor to help ________ the family’s wishes.” Chu says.

Rina was happy that her mother was able to enjoy her beloved broccoli with a side order of remarkable kindness one last time. “My mom cried later about their ________, and so did I,” Rina says. “I’ll carry that positive memory with me ________.”