1 . In the United States, most of our electricity comes from power plants(发电厂) that burn coal and oil.

There are two big problems with using these things for electricity. First. their supply is limited(有限的). Second, burning them causes pollution. So to make sure we always have power and to keep our planet clean, we must find other ways to make electricity.

Some people think that wind power is our best choice. First, there will always be more wind. Also, wind power does not pollute the environment. Best of all, we don’t have to search for wind.

Today, less than 1 percent of our electricity comes from wind. But scientists have been developing better wind machines. As a result, wind power is getting more popular in this country.

Yet wind power may not keep growing so quickly in years to come. Why not? Many wind turbines(风力涡轮机)are needed to make much electricity. So wind-power companies try to build wind farms but are competing(竞争)with other uses for the land. A wind farm is a group of turbines placed close together in an area with frequent winds.

In places where companies try to build wind farms, people think that lines of turbines are ugly. Noise from turbines often troubles people. Also, turbines kill birds that fly into them.

Wind-power supporters disagree. They think the sight of wind turbines is lovely. They point out that people have gotten used to living near noisy highways. They say ways can be found to keep birds away from turbines.

In today’s world, we need clean and unlimited power sources more than ever. Unless a better power source comes along, people may just have to accept wind power as a part of their lives.

2 . About a year ago, my department invited me to submit a 5-minute video clip about my research laboratory to be screened at a secondary-school summer camp. With many ________ under my belt (已获得的) after five years as a main investigator, I was quite ________ about getting this ________.

Three seconds into ________ myself on my phone in my office, I realized that I had been too ________. I had to press ‘Pause’ ________ I couldn’t help looking around the room. And while watching myself on camera, I couldn’t obtain the excitement I brought to the classroom—all my ________ trained teaching method didn’t work well for a video clip. Admitting that my acting career had ________ a wall, I decided to ________ to a directing role and asked my graduate students to help me to film and present the video.

The 5-minute clip ________ taking 2 hours to finish, but it was so well received by the audience that it ________ me to create an account on Bilibili, one of the leading video-sharing websites in China. I got my lab to ________ making short films in Chinese on the main topics of our ________, which include digital fabrication (数字制造) in architecture and adaptive structures that can respond to stimuli (刺激物). In the nine or so months since I created that ________, our lab videos have attracted more than 20,000 subscribers and received nearly 3 million ________, mainly in China.

3 . Winning a remarkable science award is really a big deal, especially if you are 12 years old. But Shanya Gill, a middle schooler from San Jose, California, won the top award in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge for designing a fire detection system that is superior to existing ones, as stated in the press release.

“The top winners have exhibited boundless curiosity,” Maya Ajmera president and CEO of Society for Science, said in the press release. “Their remarkable research not only reflects their talent but also paves the way for an exciting new future.”

Shanya’s inspiration came after a fire destroyed a restaurant in her neighborhood during the summer of 2022, reported The Washington Post. “I had never really experienced something like that before,” she told The Washington Post about the early morning fire at Holder’s Country Inn, which started in the kitchen. “They had smoke detectors, and yet it still burned down,” she added.

After she studied fire statistics, Shaya spent over a year developing a fire detection system that she believes could have prevented the fire. Unlike traditional smoke detectors that sense active fires from the smoke in the air, Shanya’s thermal (热的) imaging device is designed to stop fires from occurring.

With a thermal camera and a tiny computer, the device detects when a heat source has been left unattended for ten minutes and sends a text message warning. Shanya wants to bring the costs down to make it even more common than hardwired smoke detectors.

“Shanya saw a problem, went after it and tried to solve it, and that’s what we need to encourage with all young people,” said Ajmera. She also highlighted the significance of supporting individuals, especially girls and kids of color, in STEM fields.

6 . Growing up in coastal Maine, Lynda Doughty spent lots of time out on the sea. There she often saw whales, seals and other marine (海洋的) animals. She developed a(n) _______ for the wildlife living along the coast.

“I remember being so amazed by them and _______ what was happening in their life,” Doughty said.

She also _______ that their livelihood was influenced by pollution and other human-related activities. She wanted to do something to _______ these animals.

So she became a marine _______ and worked with organisations that provided help for sick and injured sea animals. But as many nonprofits (非营利机构) closed their doors, Doughty decided to step in.

In 2011, she _______ her nonprofit, Marine Mammals of Maine, and has since provided help and medical care for more than 3,000 sea animals.

When COVID-19 broke out, things became more difficult, but they couldn’t _______—the animals _______, needed their help.

“We were so nervous of how we would _______ as a nonprofit in uncertain times,” Doughty said. “________, our team stood strong and we were able to continue to help animals.”

When another New England-based marine animal rescue program ________ its animal care during COVID-19, Doughty’s work became more ________ than ever.

“We could no longer take any ________ to their rescue center and there were not enough rehabilitation (康复) places for these animals. Actually, we were really ________ and there was more pressure for our center to stay open,” Doughty said.

“I feel this strong ________ to help these animals,” Doughty said. “This is what I was put on the earth to do.”

7 . Andy Kong has worked very hard to get to where he is today. He credits becoming a millionaire by 20 to his strict Asian parents who tutored him at a young age by working for the family.

Kong, of Danville, Virginia, started working when he was only nine. English wasn’t a strong suit for Andy’s parents, and that’s where he was able to assist his family the most. After school and on weekends he would help out at their family-owned restaurant and nail salons. Not only did he do the labor work, but he was also involved in creating online ads. This was his introduction to the world of online business.

Andy started his Amazon business in the eighth grade. When he learned about Amazon Dropshipping (代发货模式) from a kid he saw on Instagram, he got inspired and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the store eventually got shut down because he was impatient with the growth. Instead of considering it a failure, he viewed this experience as a life lesson and learned from his mistakes. Meanwhile, his parents never stopped trying to talk him into focusing on school and their retail business.

“The biggest challenge when starting a business is getting someone to believe in you,” Andy says. He pushed through and did things for himself even when his loved ones discouraged it.

In 2019, Andy met his now business partners, and together, they created an Amazon management company called Project WiFi. This Project has proven to be extremely successful. They currently help over 55 clients run their online businesses, and plan to help many more in the future.

When asked about the secret to his success, Andy says, “Learning to sacrifice whether that’s family, friends, or soccer game for a single goal is the only way to succeed, rather than attempting multiple things. If it’s worth doing then it’s worth doing well with no shortcuts.”

8 . Maya Lin, designer and sculptor, has created some of the most iconic works and spaces with the belief that art can address important issues. Her latest projects are no different, from museums to sculptures for Presidential centers.

Lin, 62, grew up in Ohio, the daughter of college professors who were Chinese immigrants. As a 21-year-old student at Yale University, she gained national prominence when her entry won a design competition for the new Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Her winning design — two black granite (花岗岩) walls engraved with the names of US service members who died in the Vietnam War (1954-1975) or remain missing — is considered one of the most influential in modern architecture.

Lin went on to design the 1989 Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, and dozens of other projects globally, all with social and environmental justice in mind. She told The Wall Street Journal she uses facts in her art. She said, “I am going to present you with what the story is, but I am not going to draw the conclusion for you.” Currently underway is Lin’s plan for the new Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Lin said she wants it to be a celebration of Chinese American stories and contributions to the country.

Lin is also designing a sculpture to honor former President Barack Obama’s mother, who died in 1995, at the Obama Presidential Center in Illinois. When Obama awarded Lin the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, he called her work “physical acts of poetry, each reminding us that the most important element in art or architecture is human emotion.”

9 . While scientists have many ideas, they are not certain why humans yawn(打哈欠). Still, there is one thing experts know—yawns seem to be contagious(传染)!

Have you ever caught a yawn from someone else? Most people have. In fact, a person is six times more likely to yawn after seeing someone else do so. Experts have done many studies into why yawns seem to pass from person to person. As a result, they have a few theories(理论) for the reason behind it.

One possible explanation has something to do with social mirroring, which is caused by mirror neurons(镜像神经元) in the brain. These mirror neurons help the brain notice useful behavior of others and then copy it. When one person sees another yawn, his mirror neurons observe the action and consider it to be beneficial. That may cause him to yawn, too.

Another popular theory is that yawns are contagious because of social relationships. Being social creatures, humans form friendships, families and live together in groups. That’s why many people mirror others, such as smiling when another person smiles. Yawning may be just another example of this. In fact, research has shown that one is most likely to catch yawns from another person if the two share a social relationship.

The answer could even be that yawns aren’t truly contagious at all. Instead, people yawn together simply because they’re in the same environment. Experts say many things may cause yawning, including temperature and time of day. Whatever the explanation is, experts do know that contagious yawns aren’t limited to humans. One study found that lions in South Africa also caught each other’s yawns.