1 . There is a curious love triangle that sits at the center of the new documentary Fire of Love. It’s between a man, a woman and a volcano. Well, all of them are volcanoes.

Their names might not be especially well-known today, but in the 1970s and ‘80s, French scientists Katia Krafft and Maurice Krafft were very famous for their photographs and writings about the volcanoes. When they died in 1991 on Mount Unzen in Japan, their deaths were covered globally. But their story has somewhat faded in the public memory in the past three decades? though Werner Herzog did spotlight them in his 2016 documentary Into the Inferno.

The Kraffts? who first bonded over Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli and were married in 1970, witnessed about 140 eruptions on every continent except Antarctica and won an Emmy for their National Geographic documentary Mountains of Fire. They would famously drop everything to get to an active volcano, and were often the first on site. They were also known for their willingness to get dangerously close.

Filmmaker Sara Dosa once met the Kraffts while making an earlier film about Iceland many years ago. In 2020, with the help of Image’ Est, a French museum, and Maurice Krafft^’s brother, Bertrand Krafft, Dosa and her team were able to get access to over 180 hours of footage shot by the Kraffts. So Dosa decided to make something about the Kraffts in the true spirit of the Kraffts.

“We wanted to let them play themselves. We see them as the authors of their own story,“ Dosa said. ”This is a co-creation, shot by them and starring them. We’re just stringing together the pieces of their life for the audience to connect with.”

However, Fire of Love is anything but a filmed Wikipedia(维基百科)page. Dosa and her team have drawn on the techniques of French New Wave films to help shape the style of their film, including playful multiple screens.

2 . Recently, the dog my aunt had been keeping for almost 18 years died of old age. So _________ was the poor lady that she kept telling others not to raise a pet, saying she wouldn’t have had to _________ this much grief if she hadn’t kept the dog.

For sure, the loss of something precious is in no way a _________ experience. But, despite my _________ for her, I was somewhat frustrated about her nagging (唠叨). By saying her _________ words, she was in fact increasing the _________ rather than reliving the happy hours she had spent with her dog, the heartfelt _________ whenever she would stroke (抚摸) its furry head, her _________ nights when the dog was around, and the many other sweet _________ .

I myself have also had dogs that I’ve lost three __________ . But still, I am now __________ another one. Knowing that I will one day lose him simply makes me __________ the time we have together. Having an __________ to have something special before losing it is a blessing. It __________ us that the things we hold dear will not be with us forever, teaching us to __________ the present moment and to live our lives to the fullest.

3 . A recent story on TikTok showed how two neighbors found companionship (陪伴) and a new spirit in life during COVID-19, thanks to a shared love of the piano.

The heartbreaking story started when Giorgio Lo Porto heard his neighbor playing the piano through their dividing wall. Lo Porto is an Italian living in London. He reached out to his neighbor and left a note, saying if he or she could play My Heart Will Go On. The mystery neighbor agreed, suggesting they play together. Over time the music between two complete strangers became a regular weekend engagement(约会).

A week later, the pair finally met and “it was better than expected,” shared Lo Porto. The mystery pianist happened to be a78-year-old Polish man named Emil. “He lost his wife in December due to COVID-19 and all he has been left is the piano. And he plays at 2 p.m. every weekend because his wife loved it,” shared Lo Porto.

While Emil didn’t want to appear on any of the videos, he did share his thankfulness to Lo Porto for keeping him motivated during a most emotional and lonely time.When the pair offered each other company, Emil also inspired Lo Porto to continue writing his own song. And Emil reported being happier after playing music with Lo Porto and was thankful to those who watched their performance.

The bittersweet story shows the unbelievable influence two complete strangers can have on each other. Emil moved out at the end of February. Lo Porto wrote, “Dear Emil, you changed my life. You gave me back my passion (激情)，and we shared that with the world. You’ll be in my heart. I’ll keep playing, thinking of how powerful music can be. You said I was your light, but you’ve been mine too. Bye, Emil.”

6 . The computer plays an important part in our everyday life. It is one of the great _________ in the world in the _________ century. It works for us not only at home, in the offices, in big shops, _________ at schools. Today it is used _________ many ways. It really _________ the world large wealth (财富) and happiness.

The first computer in the world was _________ Enid. It was built in America in 1946. It was _________ and heavy. _________ it was born, it has been developing very fast. Until now it has gone _________ four periods (时期，阶段)and changed a lot. There’re many kinds of computers. Computers are getting smaller and smaller and computing faster and faster. It becomes more and more __________.

The computer can do most of the things __________ the people. It can help us to __________ about the real world more quickly, to learn __________ we want to learn and to think __________ ourselves. __________ a student in the twenty-first century, you must work hard at it.

8 . For most of my life, I didn’t like being seen. I went bright red when it was my turn to speak in a group. I hated the teacher asking me something. I even didn’t like my family all looking at me! I often tried to hide away and avoid being seen by others! So, it’s not strange that I feared speaking in front of others.

Luckily, I’ve learned to overcome my problem. Now I love helping others who have the same problem that I once had but want to speak up because they have valuable things to share. I particularly love helping entrepreneurs (企业家) to become more confident. When you help a leader, the impact is so much greater.

Over the years I’ve discovered that there are three main problems that people have when it comes to speaking in public. The first is a lack of self­belief. They doubt themselves and question whether what they have to say is valuable. The second is a fear of being seen as arrogant (傲慢的). The third is a fear of rejection or a fear of not being liked.

All of these problems are related to mindset, specifically, a fear­based mindset, which is common. These fears stop people from stepping up as the leader and influencer they were born to be.

If you want to become a more effective influencer, it is so important to work on any fears you have of judgment or rejection. They will be a ball and chain that will hold you back from success. We need to take action despite feeling fear. We can’t wait for the fear to go away as it won’t go away itself. We have to act while we still feel it. And to overcome fears, we should practice. Confidence is attached to progress, and we only progress if we practice. If you don’t feel you’re progressing, you’ll start to lose your confidence and stay stuck in fear.

10 . Are you the only child in your family? If so, do you enjoy it or do you want more siblings（兄弟姐妹）?

On May 31, a key meeting of the Communist Party of China unveiled a policy that would allow all couples to have up to three children.

The move is expected to maximize the population's role in driving economic and social growth, since this is a critical time for China to transform the world's most populous country into a powerhouse（强国）with a quality workforce, according to the National Health Commission.

The three-child policy is also expected to prevent the decline in the nation's birthrate and address the challenge of a rapidly aging population, China Daily reported.

China's annual number of newborns has fallen for four years in a row. The country's total birthrate—the average number of children born to each woman—stood at 1.3 in 2020. The number is below the rate of 2.1 that would maintain a stable population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The declining birthrate has also brought a sharp increase in the proportion of the population aged 60 or above, rising from 10.3 percent to 18.7 percent in the past decade. An increasingly elderly population will increase the cost of labor and the pressure on the social security net. It also means there will be a lack of young labor force. Therefore, it's not good for economic growth, according to Chen Youhua, a professor at Nanjing University.

In fact, the new birth policy is a step to further relax the family planning policy. The one-child policy was introduced in the 1970s and aimed to control the fast-growing population. Then in 2013, China allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child, and in 2016, all couples were allowed to have two children.

However, not all people have shown their support for this latest policy. Many couples complained about the rising costs of raising a child. A netizen named Qinfeng commented, "High cost of education and both the physical and mental exhaustion stopped me from having more than one child." Also, many women are reluctant（不情愿的）to give birth because that could mean sacrificing their career prospects, according to Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University.

In that case, Mu noted that it is better to implement supporting measures with the three-child policy, such as more preferential（优惠的）policies for couples that would ease their parental burden.