2 . Cherry blossoms (樱花) in Kyoto, Japan, reached peak bloom (绽放) on March 26 this year — the earliest the event has occurred in 1,200 years of records. Why so soon?

According to records previously collected by Professor Yasuyuki Aono, Kyoto’s cherry blossoms had consistently flowered around April 10 to 17 for over a thousand years. The Washington Post reports that Japan’s most famous flowers have been trending toward blooming earlier each spring, with scientists blaming the phenomenon on increasing global temperatures. And this year, the peak has shifted all the way into the previous month. “The Kyoto Cherry Blossom record is incredibly valuable for climate change research. Even a slight drop or rise of springtime temperatures can be recorded by it,” research scientist Benjamin Cook said, noting that warmer temperatures typically mean cherry blossoms bloom earlier.

Cherry blossoms are influenced so easily by temperature that trees in Tokyo even bloomed in autumn after typhoons caused warmer weather in 2018. Meanwhile, Aono estimated that Kyoto has warmed by 3.4 degrees Celsius since 1820.While this year’s cherry blossom peak was Kyoto’s earliest in 1,200 years, this isn’t the case in other parts of Japan Tokyo reached peak bloom on March 22, which is three days earlier than average and the earliest date since 1953.

However, the global trend seems to be slowly pushing cherry blossoms into full bloom to earlier in the year regardless of where they’re planted. In 2019, scientist Patrick Gonzalez noted that the trend of earlier blooming seen among cherry blossoms in Washington was “consistent with human-caused climate change.”

Cherry blossoms are considered in full or peak bloom when 80 percent of the flowers have bloomed, which usually occurs within a week of the first flowers opening. Elements other than may also be involved in the early blooming. Gonzalez offered the warning that “no research has examined all of the factors, and it is a long way to go.”

5 . At the beginning of Grade Two, I joined the cross-country running team in our school.

When I came to the first practice, I was filled with optimism. But as the distance we ran in each practice gradually increased from three to four, to six miles, I realized with surprise that no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to run as fast as others. In fact, I was one of the slowest on the team.

What was the point of putting myself through so much pain? After the first few weeks, I wanted to quit.

Then we had our first cross-country meet.

When we started the race, I felt the great pressure of expectations sink onto my shoulders. And after a while I stopped running and struggled to walk up the hill. But then I heard my coaches shouting my name from the top of the hill. I felt confused and embarrassed; why were they cheering for me? I was running terribly! As I tried my best to finish the race, I realized that my coaches didn’t care how fast I ran. Neither did my teammates. During the rest of the season, they were always on the sidelines of every race, cheering for me just as loudly as they’d cheered for the front runner.

From then on, I began to put my effort into supporting my teammates instead of focusing on my own performance. In that way, I celebrated my teammates’ victories as if they were my own; I felt their pain and exhaustion as if they were my own.

Cross-country running made me realize I don’t need to be the best to be successful in life. It taught me to value my relationships with people more than my relationship with my ego. It taught me to cheer for others even if I don’t know their names.

6 . “What’s it like to have a gap legwear your teeth?” a girl asked me one day.

Nobody had ever______before. My hand unconsciously rose to cover my mouth. But, as she looked at me, sincerely waiting for a(n)______, I realized she was not trying to be rude. I never think about it, ” I truthfully replied. She nodded and turned away. I was left wondering if people ______me and saw only gappy teeth.

Later that day at home, I began to______my teeth again. I felt______I thought my life would be somehow better if my teeth were not gappy. How I wanted the perfect teeth that everyone else seemed to have!

Of course, Mom______everything. She has lived her whole life with gappy teeth, and tried to______me that there was nothing to______.When I refused to listen, she told me. I could get the surgery to close the gap if it was that important. “Let’s be______though,” she said! “if everyone got surgeries to become attractive, everyone would be exactly the same. There is beauty in______.”

Her______made me consider my teeth seriously. The thought of losing my gap was more terrible than the reality that people were going to notice it. I realized how important it was to me.   It is part of my______

Nowadays many people do crazy things to realize their dream of “perfection”. The______is that no one is perfect. When all potential for ugliness is removed, so is all of the potential for______

So if that girl ever asked about my teeth______, I would truthfully answer, “You know? It’s really cute.”

8 . A team of researchers from several institutions in the UK and one in Estonia has created a type of buoy(浮标)that has proven to be effective at frightening seabirds, thus preventing them from getting caught in gillnets - a type of vertical fishing net that is made of a material that makes it nearly invisible underwater.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of seabirds die when they get caught in gillnets. Some estimates suggest that up to a half-million birds are caught in them each year. Over the years, researchers have created devices to prevent the birds from trying to catch fish near or in gillnets, but those didn’t work well.

To find a way that would work for all seabirds, the researchers first studied seabirds in a general sense, looking to find things that they would avoid. They noted that seabirds avoided eye contact with other creatures. Then the researchers came up with a simple idea - they put a small pole to a regular buoy and then attached a pair of googly eyes(金鱼眼) to the top of it. They made the eyes big enough so that even birds with poor eyesight, such as geese, would see them. Adding to the effectiveness of the device, waves made the eyes move back and forth. And the wind made the buoy spin very slowly, making sure that birds from every direction would get a good look at the eyes.

To test their idea, the researchers selected several sites near gillnets and counted how many birds approached and how many attempted to catch fish near the nets. They then set up their googly-eyed buoys and once again counted birds. Over the course of 62 days, they found the number of birds that tried to catch fish near the gillnets dropped by approximately 25% for a distance of up to 50 meters. They also found that the birds were less likely to fish near where the buoys had been for up to three weeks after they had been removed.

9 . “You’re so smart!” This encouraging response to children’s math performance is commonly heard. Recently, a new study, conducted by the University of Georgia, found that encouraging children with responses related to their personal characteristics or inborn abilities might weaken their math achievement over time.

Parents who make comments connecting their children’s performance with personal qualities like IQ are using what’s referred to as person responses. In contrast, parents who connect their children’s actions, such as efforts or strategy use, to their performance are using process responses.

For the study, researchers asked more than 500 parents to report on how they responded to their children’s math performance and their math beliefs and goals. Children were divided into two groups across a year to measure their math achievement.

The results show that parents who view math ability as changeable are more likely to give process responses focused on their children’s strategy use and efforts rather than their IQ or other personal qualities. In contrast, parents who believe math ability is unchangeable and that math failure can’t be constructive give more person responses. Parents with high expectations for their children give both responses. While responses focused on strategy and efforts are not related to any achievement results, children who receive more responses about their personal qualities — especially, related to failure — are more likely to avoid harder math problems, show higher levels of math anxiety, and score lower on math achievement tests.

Because person responses mean poor math change in children over time, researchers suggest parents limit this type of responses at home. Another recommendation for parents is to think about their own beliefs and goals for their kids and examine how these might lead them to respond in person or process ways. Simply telling parents to avoid talking about math ability may not be enough. Focusing less on how children perform and more on their strategy and enjoyment of math might be a more effective way to encourage children.