3 . He Delivered for Me

At first, I didn’t know his name and didn’t welcome his interruptions. Though I felt ________ by the unexpected knock on my window, I secretly named him Kris. He was a kind of modern-day Father Christmas, ________ presents and spreading cheer. I hated small talk, but that was before COVID-19 ________ everything, including my feelings toward Kris.

Trapped in my apartment, I desired ________ and company. Far from fearing Kris’s knock, I looked forward to his ________. He brought the stream of stuff I had ________ and would then stay for some face time. We discussed plenty of topics. I even learned his real first ________: Dave. I realized that he meant our five-minute conversations to be a ________ for me—and he was possibly doing the same for others, though he was ________ than ever.

One hot day in July, he told me that the company was changing his ________ of his service. My heart sank as we stood in our usual spots.

“I’m excited for a change,” he said, “but I’m going to miss my ________.”

“Congratulations.” I didn’t know what else to say.

He nodded, “I used to consider my job so ________ but gradually I realized that I was delivering people things they needed, things that brought them ________. Now I decide it is important.”

I couldn’t see his smile through his mask, but I could ________ it. “So wise you are,” I said. “And so important.”

At that, Dave finally pulled down his mask and flashed me a ________.

4 . 4 HOMES FROM FAMOUS TV SHOWS

Ever find yourself wondering what it might be like to live in some of TV’s most famous homes? Famous homes can become part of the reason you fall in love with a series, so here are some of our favourite houses.

Modern Family: Jay’s house

The two-story contemporary home is bursting with bold colors and animal prints. But it’s the back yard that makes the house so appealing. The huge pool that’s frequently spotted in various episodes is a strong reminder that we need to move to destination with more sunshine.

Big Little Lies: Madeline’s house

Set on the Californian coast in Monterey, Big Little Lies has made us feel jealous over the casts’ desirable wardrobes, and huge beach houses by the sea. But by far the most beautiful beach nest in the series is Madeline’s house, which is actually located in Malibu. The real house boasts seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and a balcony surrounded by walls providing some unreal ocean views.

The Sopranos: Tony’s house

The spacious New Jersey home has a huge dining area, four bedrooms, an outside pool, and that famous curved driveway featured in the opening credits. It’s no wonder that the famous house has just gone on the market for a whopping 3.4 million! Research shows that the mafia mansion may have more than doubled in value since the show.

American Horror Story: The Coven house

Although taken over by witches in the series and called “Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies”, the elegant house is actually called Buckner Mansion and is some what of a landmark in New Orleans. The famous home is complete with tall ceilings, impressive chandeliers, and stairs that go on forever.

Fiona and I had been classmates since kindergarten. She was always wherever I was and she was always ahead of me. Dance performance needed a big finish? Fiona was picked. Selling cookies for charity? “Oh, I’m sorry,” the lady living next door to me would say, “I just bought twenty boxes from Fiona. Such a nice girl.” And the school plays? Fiona would have the leads while I was cast as her mother or neighbor. I even played her dog once. Yeah, whatever.

Then the day of the choir concert audition(面试) came. We waited while Ms. Jones called us one at a time into the choir room. When Ms. Jones got to the C’s, my heart sped up each time she came to the door. By the time she actually called my name, my whole body was shaking. When I came back, Fiona smiled at me. Ms. Jones called her name and Fiona followed her. She was still calm and smiling when her audition was over.

When Ms. Jones made the announcement of who had made the special choir group, I wasn’t surprised when Fiona’s name was on the list and mine wasn’t. “So,” I said under my breath, “what else is new?”

Sudden clapping brought me out of my thought. Everyone was looking at me. I must have missed something here. Ms. Jones walked towards me and said, “Celia, you will have to start practicing with me. The lead singer takes extra preparation.” Lead singer? I got the lead singer? I glanced over at Fiona. She smiled and gave me the thumbs-up sign. She was always so nice.

Now the big day had come. We stepped onto the stage and took our places. I was front and center. Ms. Jones raised her baton (指挥棒) and we began to sing. The spotlight flashed over me and then circled me in its bright light. Ms. Jones nodded and pointed her baton at me. That baton must have shot out a secret ray because I froze right there on the spot.

I couldn’t think and most of all, I couldn’t sing.

The rest of the performance went well.

6 . Having spent more than a decade on the dance floor, ROME — Niccolo Filippi, a 23-year-old Italian dance performer, recently decided to explore Chinese culture and its traditional dance forms and believes that this experience will not only boost his career, but also broaden his horizons beyond the world of dance.

His interest in diversifying his skills grew after he stumbled upon a short video of traditional Chinese-styled dance on YouTube. “I saw it as an art that combines tradition and modernity, which was mostly the reason why I liked it,” says Filippi.

Ever since, he has been closely following Chinese dance performers and watching numerous videos to learn more about the traditional style that he admires. “I prefer the traditional style because of its light movements. It also reflects my personality with elegance,” he adds.

Filippi’s chance came when he was invited to perform for a Chinese New Year celebration in the central Italian city of Florence. He has since fully committed himself to the art form, learning several pieces and putting his newfound passion into practice.

“The biggest difference that I found (compared to other disciplines) is the change of mood and emotional expressions among dances,” says Filippi, adding that he needed to shift from the dynamic moves of hip-hop to the graceful and fluid movements of Chinese dance. Despite various obstacles, Filippi’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Two of his friends shared videos of his performances on social media, and the response was overwhelming. One video garnered 500,000 views, while the other received 200,000 views.

Filippi believes that learning about different cultures is priceless, and he sees it as a means of personal growth. “I like to think of a person as a book,” he says. “Embracing different traditions and cultures, such as Chinese culture and many others, is like adding new chapters to my book, making it more diverse and wonderful.”

7 . What is the most shocking about the heatwave affecting the Pacific Northwest is not that it has hit a usually mild area, nor that so many long-standing temperature records are being broken. It is that those records are being broken by such large margins (幅度). In Portland, Oregon, temperature reached 46.6℃(116°F) — making it one of several cities in the region where former records have been beaten by a full 5℃(9°F). At the same time, heatwaves are also hitting central Europe and even Siberia.

Heatwaves may become headlines, but less attention is paid to them. In 2018 about 300,000 people over the age of 65 died as a result of extreme heat, mainly in India, a 54% increase since 2000, according to a report in the Lancet, a medical journal. The report also shows that, unlike storms and floods, heat does not lead to dramatic before-and-after pictures or widespread damage to belongings. It is a silent killer. As many as 70,000 people died due to a heatwave in Europe in 2003.

Heat also kills by worsening health conditions such as heart problems, so not all the deaths it causes may be directly attributed (归因) to it. Climate change will make heatwaves more common and more extreme. Even if greenhouse-gas emissions (排放) are cut to zero by the middle of this century, temperatures will go on rising for decades. So other measures are needed to protect people against extreme heat.

Governments can set up early warning systems to alarm health workers, shut down schools and stop outdoor activities. They can provide the public with forecasts of coming heatwaves, explanations of the dangers and detailed advice on what to do. Improved facilities can also help. This includes providing shaded areas, water parks and “misting stations” to help people cool down, and get to airconditioned “cooling centers” where they can find shelter and sleep if necessary.

The world is, undoubtedly, facing a big health challenge right now. There is no excuse for ignoring heatwaves and their effects.

8 . A Chinese girl Tan Fanglin overcame a world-class mathematics problem and was invited again to attend the World Laureates Forum when she was 15. Communicating with 65 top scientists in the world, she became a rising star in this meeting of the world’s sharpest minds.

Her discovery has won her many prizes in youth innovation competitions in China. However, Tan is not a “genius” in the traditional sense. Tan was born in a scholarly family. Her father was a professor of mathematics. Tan showed a high interest in mathematics when she was very young. She likes to find questions on her own. The more difficult the problem is, the more potential she will unlock. In this process, her father will only give proper guidance.

Tan took part in many research projects. So devoted to the projects, she once made serious mistakes during the exam at school. Instead of severely rebuking her, her parents let her find the problem by herself and achieve a better balance between textbook study and research. It was because of the respect and trust of her parents that Tan began to plan her study time scientifically and applied the learning methods summarized in the process of mathematics research to the classroom. With her hard work, she made great achievements in mathematics.

Attending this meeting enabled Tan to get more inspiration from the world’s top scientists. She even got the opportunity to talk with germ Miesenböck, who is pioneering the field of Optogenetics (光遗传学). Miesenböc has encouraged her not to lose her passion and love for what she does and said accepting failure is important to researchers. He has stressed that people all know that even Thomas Edison went through hundreds of unsuccessful attempts before finally inventing the light bulb. Tan has met many difficulties in her research and often feels upset. The words have made her feel inspired.