1 . The stands were always filled with family members to support their favorite players. I attended each of my son’s games. His father worked nights for years, and missed out on most of his games. My son Jorden knew if his dad could, he would be there sitting right beside me.

When Jorden was younger, some family members would occasionally come to watch. But gradually they stopped showing up. Never once did Jorden lead me to believe that this bothered him, but apparently it did. It wasn’t until when he was asked to give a speech at his baseball event that he made it very clear not only to me but a room filled with over 150 people just how important it is to have extra fans in the stands.

His speech was anything but like I thought it would be. It wasn’t short and bittersweet. It wasn’t his quick thank you to his coaches and teammates. He poured his heart out, saying he seldom had grandparents, aunts or uncles coming to support him. He was grateful that his teammates’ family members showed up to support not just their own loved ones but the entire team of boys. Clearly Jorden desired more than just me. Never did I ever think my son would be hurting inside as he looked out to the bleachers to see only me at each and every game.

As he struggled to get each word out through tears, I promised I would attend as many events of the children around as I possibly could. There was no way I could allow another child to feel what my son was feeling. This small simple gesture would mean so much to any child. Neither Jorden nor I was upset with those who never attended his games. Jorden just wanted someone else besides me to witness his craft in action. I understand all of our lives become complicated and that everyone is busy with their own children and jobs that may not allow them as much free time as they’d like.

5 . After three decades of teaching, Jim Stanley, a chorus and piano teacher at Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Georgia, Atlanta, is getting ready to retire. But before he goes, there was one thing he wanted to do: __________ with some of his former students for one last performance. That wish __________ on May 13 with a heartfelt rehearsal (排练) and alumni (校友) concert at Cartersville’s auditorium (礼堂). Video of the rehearsal was captured and quickly went __________ online with 2 million views and counting.

Stanley __________ the idea of inviting his former students back to Cartersville last year, __________ this would just be a good__________ to reconnect with those kids reaching adulthood.

Little did he __________ at the time that a small group of 20 to 25 alumni would quickly balloon into a __________ of nearly 100 former students, some of whom __________ back to Georgia from other states and as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia to give Stanley a tremendous send-off into retirement.

“I choked up a little bit. But I tried to keep the __________ from flowing.” he added. “It was __________ an emotional day for me and I think for a lot of the kids too. We were all in a __________ place.”

Stanley was __________ to become an educator himself after taking a chorus class in the ninth grade and credited his own chorus teacher for the __________ he needed to pursue the profession. He hopes he has made a positive __________ on his students over the years.

6 . New Mexico is famed for roasted green chillies with a distinctive smoky flavour, but it comes at a cost — producers in the state typically use propane (丙烷) as fuel, releasing an estimated 7,800 tonnes of CO2 a year. Ken Armijo at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) wanted to see if he could match the flavour without the need for fossil fuels.

Armijo, whose family owns a chilli farm, works with solar concentrators at NSTTF, normally used for experiments boiling liquid to produce electricity, or simulating (模拟) the effect of re-entry on materials used in spacecraft. The facility uses rings of mirrors to focus sunlight on a 60-metre tower at the centre. He improved a traditional chilli roaster and loaded it with 10 kilograms of chillies before placing it in the tower to roast at 480°C.

A group of green chilli connoisseurs (品鉴师) blind-tasted the solar-roasted version alongside the traditional variety and rated them higher for both flavour and smell. Armijo says infrared (红外线的) imaging showed solar heating produced a more even distribution (分布) of heat with fewer hotspots. “Solar-roasted chillies appeared to have a much cleaner taste because the localised heat from propane roasting can cause localised burning,” says Armijo.

Although this test took place at a research facility, Armijo says the cost of solar concentrators is dropping and it could be possible to use technology developed at Sandia to build small solar concentrators at low cost. These could produce the high temperatures needed for roasting chillies and other foods.

Armijo is eager to try the technique with other foodstuffs, including cocoa and coffee beans, which are grown in lower-income countries and could be solar roasted.

Pete Schwartz at California Polytechnic State University, who has been exploring solar cooking for many years, said that he was not sure “whether solar concentrators will catch on in lower-income countries, where he has seen many solar projects fail due to lack of training and technical support.”

Armijo says he has been approached by at least 15 companies and is in discussions on ways to commercialise the technology. He is seeking extra funding from the US Department of Energy and other organisations to pursue small solar concentrators for food processing.

7 . At the times in my life that I had been upset or angry, a good hug was usually a very quick cure for what was bothering me. After receiving a warm and genuine embrace from a loved one or friend, the tension in my body would melt almost immediately.

How does a hug deliver such a remarkable effect so quickly? Touch is a powerful means of communication and a great way to relieve the response to stress. Through touch, a person’s intention is readily discernible–you can tell comfort from potential harm easily. In the positive mode, hugs are one type of touch that relays the message: “I care about you. You matter.”

We require touch with other living beings to grow well. Children who are not held or hugged have significant developmental and socio-emotional delay accompanied by smaller brains. This means that physical contact is not only critical for how these children behaved, but for the development of the brain itself.

For adults, touch affects the response to everyday conflict. Some researchers interviewed404 adults daily for 14 days regarding their health, conflicts, how they felt emotionally (positive or negative), and whether or not they received a hug. People who had received a hug and had an interpersonal conflict reported feeling more positive with less severe negative reactions on that day. It has also been found that hugging may favorably influence the rate of infection from a cold as well as symptoms.

As hugs are a great way to relieve the response to stress, it is not surprising that the number of hugs that a woman receives from her partner is highly related to lower blood pressure as well as higher levels of hormone known as oxytocin, colloquially labeled the “love hormone”.

Hugs, of course, are a form of touch that share elements with other types, like massage (按摩) as well as gentle, light touch. Like hugging, massage is a great way to release tension.

The revitalization (复苏) of abandoned properties in rural China is on the rise. Each     1     (locate) in remote Chinese towns, the following three striking hotels are far from the hustle of the city.

WuYuan Skywells Hotel in Jiangxi province, a previously neglected 300-year-old mansion, was     2     (incredible) restored to its former glory, while maintaining its regional architectural feature Tianjing, a narrow and tall courtyard pulling sunlight inside,     3     introducing elements of modern comfort.

Similarly, by the end of 2022, designers     4     (restore) the Bamboo Craft Village near Chengdu city, preserving the construction traditions to build an extremely     5     (impress) roof. Seen from above, the shape of this building is like a figure “8” or the infinity sign “∞”.

The Treewow Tribe in Zhejiang province     6     (feature) houses that are surrounded by a sea of bamboo trees to provide tourists     7     comfortable privacy. Notably, the free-form roof imitates the free-flowing lines of nature, gracefully     8     (invite) the green landscape into the private space.

Marrying the charm of traditional Chinese designs and the     9     (rich) of modern living, these hotels will definitely offer you     10     unforgettable experience and a perfect getaway.