1 . I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.

I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see — the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.

The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost — having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times.”

My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.

From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.

2 . Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus (马戏). ________there was only one family between us and the ticket counter. This family had eight children, all probably________the age of 12, who were________talking about the clowns, elephants, and other acts they would see that night. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him with a big smile on her face.________, when the ticket lady quoted (报价) the price, she let go of his________, and her head dropped. The father’s lip began to shake. He moved a little________and asked, “How much did you say?” The ticket lady again quoted the price. Obviously, the man didn’t have enough money.

Seeing what was going on, my dad________a $20 bill on the ground. Then he picked it up and said to the man, “Excuse me, sir, this fell________your pocket.” The man________what was going on immediately. Looking________into my dad’s eyes, he took the money and said “Thank you, sir. This really________a lot to me and my family.”

That day we came home without any tickets. When I asked dad why he did so, dad said, “My child, it was heartbreaking and________for a father in that situation. Surely he wasn’t________a helpful hand, but he needed our help.” “We couldn’t enjoy the circus tonight, but they could because of our kind help,” added my father with________on his face.

That was a________lesson I learned from my dad.

3 . Several months ago, a tornado fiercely hit our city without any signs before. We hadn’t ___________for it in advance, so we were just forced to go into our___________actions. I happened not to be in the classroom when it attacked. Hearing the alarm screaming, I rushed___________as fast as I could back to the classroom.

Never did I imagine that we would put our regular_________to use. Never did I imagine that my students had ___________against the wall and crouched(蹲) down on their knees. Their eyes were obviously filled with___________as they asked if their parents, pets, and friends would be okay. I, along with other teachers, tried our best to___________them, though we actually didn’t know what the___________would be.

I couldn’t ___________the tornado anymore. However, I’m very proud of my students who performed so well. In such a(an)____________and dangerous situation, they behaved beyond their ages. Never in my life had I seen them ____________instructions(指示) so quickly, without any hesitation. Though some tears were dropping and some hearts were beating fast, the kids were incredibly____________. I’m extremely proud that they struggled to calm down because of their____________in me.

Because of the tornado, I realized that my job as a teacher meant a lot. Behind every well-behaved students are a long line of teachers who have made it their life’s ____________to educate them with safety, courage, calmness and trust. Though the tornado has presented ____________, I’m sure we can handle them one by one.

4 . As a teenager in the 1960s, growing up in suburbs south of Boston, I fell under the control of the very pleasantly ________ mysteries (谜) of the Chinese language. Someday, I told myself, I would ________ the meanings of the mysteries.

So, entering college, I decided to ________ the study of Chinese. But my small college in Maine offered no courses in that language. Following graduation from college, I entered an evening course at a language center for adults, and thus ________ my personal journey in the study of Chinese. That journey ________ George Washington and Georgetown universities, the Department of State’s Foreign Language Institute’s early mornings classes… and after a 15-year ________, restarted in tutoring classes starting in 1999 and later in independent study at George Mason University without ________ From 1983 and through the following decades, a dozen business trips to China ________ my study of Chinese, I experienced the amazing change of China.

In 2012, I retired. I began to attend weekly presentations about Chinese affairs sponsored (主办) by George Mason’s Confucius Institute, where by late 2014 this casual (偶然的) contact had led to the ________ of a Chinese Reading Club. By mid-2016 six experienced Chinese learners could read and discuss difficult, ________ literary shorter works of such ________ Chinese authors as Mo Yan, Liu Zhenyun, and Su Tong.

Under the teachers’ guidance the ________ and joys of the group meetings to understand the secretes of the short stories I read, in Chinese, have brought me to a deeper understanding of China. I am personally ________ for the opportunity provided. I can only suggest George Mason Confucius Institute consider ________ the model of this reading group to others, as the world’s most spoken and read language is ________ popular among the Westerners who have started the wonderful voyage to it.

6 . Friday and Saturday were full of surprises for Chinese, as two places in China were listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The first, a World Natural Heritage, is made up of a series of migratory bird sanctuaries (候鸟保护地) along the coast of the Yellow Sea in Yancheng, East China’s Jiangsu Province. The second, the Liangzhu Archaeological Site in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site.

China began the application process for the bird sanctuaries in 2017. It only took two years to successfully complete the process. The migratory bird sanctuaries are the central point of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and many endangered species, especially threatened migratory birds including red-crowned cranes and flamingos, go there to hunt for food during the migration season. The birds usually take a month to finish their migration. At about 10 days into their migration, they must stop and find food in order to have the energy to continue their journey.

Compared to the short period for the World Natural Heritage’s application, the Liangzhu application was far more challenging. The application team spent six years making their dream a reality. The site in Liangzhu is evidence of the existence of an early regional state in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the late Neolithic (新石器) period in China, which helps fill in the gaps in the history of the rice-cultivating (种植) civilizations of China and East Asia more than 5000 years ago. The site was one of the 20th century’s most important archaeological discoveries in China.

With these two new additions, China now has 55 World Heritage sites, the highest number in the world. The successful application means greater responsibility and duties. Protecting these places is much more important and is our future work.

7 . According to related new research, tropical cyclones (热带气旋), from hurricanes to typhoons, are moving more slowly across the globe than they did decades ago, meaning that they get more destructive power and last longer.

It may seem like a good thing that cyclones pace at a slower speed, but in fact it’s not the case. Although the cyclones are moving slower across the ground, they still get high wind speeds inside, which makes hard rains stay longer over communities.

“Nothing good comes out of a slowing storm,” says James Kossin, a climate scientist, “It can increase the amount of time that buildings are suffering strong wind. And it increases rainfall.”

According to Kossin’s findings, changing storm patterns (模式) is causing greater destruction in another way. He noted that the speed of global tropical cyclones slowed by an average of 10 percent from 1949 to 2016. The pace of the storms slowed even more as they made landfall in some regions (地区). In the western North Pacific, it slowed down by nearly a third. That means there will be more time for a storm that may already contain large quantities of water to give off more of it in each place.

Basing his research on the details of nearly 70 years’ worth of storms, Kossin did not try to determine the cause of the slowdown. Even so, the change is the expected result of climate change, just as he and other cyclone experts said.

Kossin’s work was considered to be “important and new” and “pretty reasonable” by Christina Patricola, who has been studying this issue.

It is Kossin’s hope that a model (模型) showing which communities are likely to be at the highest danger could be developed by scientists. Given that in some areas, the storms are moving poleward (极地) and gaining in strength as well, places not normally passed by could be affected by unusually heavy rainfall as a result. “These are not good things to be put together,” he says.

8 . Russ Miller, 36, from Ohio, was first found ill with a serious disease when he was just 26. The condition attacked joints (关节)，making it more and more difficult for him to do everyday tasks.

“My hands are not shaped properly and I can’t manipulate them normally,”said Miller in a letter to the company. “I can no longer use normal computer keyboards and it’s hard for me to even hold a pen anymore.”

Russ’ condition worsened at fast speed, which resulted in him living on the streets in Florida for 4 years —but in 2018, he started trying to turn his life around.

“I was trying to get help and get myself out of my situation. I had a phone, but I had difficulty typing on normal keyboards... So I started looking for different smartphone keyboards. I found Typewise by accident.”

Russ thinks much of the Typewise smartphone keyboard for it enables him to “get his life back”by giving him freedom to communicate with people, get help, get an apartment and even get a job.

“Because I was able to type on my phone again, I was able to use social media to reach out to an organization that helps people with disabilities.”

It’s the specially designed keyboard that Russ finds a lot easier to use. “I can move my fingers around and don’t mess things up as often.”

“Now I have a part-time job where I take care of dogs and cats. I can’t work full-time because of my physical problems, but at least I have something to do and something to look forward to.”

10 . A study from the University of Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, published in Frontiers in Medicine, found that regular virtual visits to museums could help seniors stay mentally active and come with a host of additional health benefits. That’s because these digital connections can make retirees feel less lonely and isolated (孤立的).

Social isolation has been associated with the risks for heart disease and the decline of recognition abilities in seniors and the pandemic (疫情) increased the risks due to the need for seniors to stay home and isolate, according to a press release from the university.

The researchers investigated the potential benefits of weekly virtual visits for a three-month period. The participants were people aged 65 and older who lived in Montreal. Half of the participants took part in online visits and a discussion afterwards, while the control group did not participate in any cultural events at all. The group who participated in the virtual visits showed improvements in their quality of life. “Our study showed that art-based activities may be an effective intervention,” lead author Dr. Olivier Beauchet, a professor at the University of Montreal, said in the press release. “On a global scale, this participatory art-based activity could become a model that could be offered in museums and arts institutions worldwide to promote active and healthy aging.”

The initiative reflects approaches recommended by the World Health Organization to manage certain diseases, according to Beauchet. For instance, the WHO launched the Aging and Health Program in 2015 that included using community-based organizations to promote culture as a key component of improving health. Traditionally, these sorts of preventive health activities have taken place in schools, community centers, and workplaces. “While these are suitable locations that reach a great number of people, there are additional organizations and sectors that could become partners in public health research and practice development,” Beauchet said. “Museums are among such potential partners. They are aware of the needs of their communities and are consequently expanding the types of activities they offer.”