1 . Mother Teresa was born in Skopje on August 27, 1901. Her father worked in a store. Her family was not rich, but it was a happy family. She went to school when she was seven years old. She said that she had wanted to be a Missionary (传教士) when she was only 12. She took part in a nun (修女) organization when she was 18 years old. In 1928, she was sent to a church school to teach. But she left the school and went out to help the people who suffered from hunger and cold in 1946. Then she left the nun organization and set up a school in the open to accept the children who had no home.

She set up a nun organization in 1950. Now the organization is an international organization with 3500 nuns to accept the refugees (难民). She got the Noble Peace Prize in 1979. But she contributed all of the money to the poor people and the patients who suffered from illnesses. Also she sold the medal to help the people who needed help. We won’t forget the great woman, who looks like a sunshine and is the hero of the world!

2 . Cats are often considered to be colder especially when compared with dogs. But if you find your cat friend is a little hard to get close to, maybe you’re just not speaking their language.

Research shows that it’s actually not so difficult. You just need to smile at them more. Not smile in the human’s way, by showing your teeth, but the cat’s way: by narrowing your eyes and blinking (眨眼睛) slowly. It’s similar to how human eyes narrow when they are smiling, and usually occurs when cats are relaxed and content. The expression is explained as a kind of cat smile.

Jackson Galaxy, a cat behavior expert, says there are some pretty strong feelings behind the cat’s slow blink. He calls it “I Love You Blink”. Galaxy says the cat will blink slowly when cats and people are completely opening up to one another in sharing affection.

Researchers carried out two experiments. In the first experiment, owners slow-blinked at 21 cats from 14 different families. Once the cat was settled and comfortable in one spot in their home environment, the owners were asked to sit about a meter away and slow-blink when the cat was looking at them. The second experiment included 24 cats from 8 different families. This time, it wasn’t the owners doing the blinking but the researchers, who’d had no earlier contact with the cats. They found that not only were the cats more likely to blink back, but that they were more likely to reach the human’s hand after the human had blinked.

Dr Tasmin Humphrey, the first author of the study from the University of Sussex, said: “Understanding positive ways in which cats and humans interact can increase public understanding of cats, improve its welfare, and tell us more about the socio-cognitive (社会认知) abilities of this species.”

3 . It was in the mountain s of Kashmir that we realized how people can show kindness.

On our ________ toward Pahalgam, we came to a sudden ________. We had been driving along the mountain roads of Kashmir, ________ the beautiful views spreading before us. Five hours into the ________, we came across a long line of vehicles ahead of us.

We waited for the roads to ________. Soon we learned that the roads were all ________ because there was a terrible accident. We were full of ________ as we waited, feeling nervous that we wouldn’t reach the town before sunset. ________, it was already afternoon and we were hungry. Even worse, we’d already finished whatever food and water we had with us.

For a long time, we sat there, ________. At one point, we saw a group of people ________ the buses, taking out stoves and some food and starting to cook. They then ________ whatever food they had with all the ________ people that were stuck in the traffic jam.

After waiting for what felt like a century, the cars started ________ slowly. Our driver had all the while been the perfect gentleman. Being a local, he offered to put us up in his home, if required. We reached our destination almost around midnight, and he ________ that we got a proper place to stay that night.

We were really ________ for his care. Truly, there are still many people who live by the values of kindness and understanding.

6 . The Australian National University (ANU) and an Australian start-up, Lunaria One, are teaming up to grow plants on the moon together, as early as 2025. Lunari a One’s ALEPH project is an early step toward growing plants for food, medicine and oxygen production. However, the problem is that the moon is like a desert (沙漠). There’s no life there, only dust, rocks and water.

“Space provides a unique opportunity to study how to grow plants in extreme environments,” said ANU Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt. “The extreme conditions that the Earth is facing because of climate change present challenges for how we manage food security in the future. Having controlled environments can create the ability to rapidly grow plants after natural disasters or events caused by climate change. So this project is important. If you can create a system for growing plants on the moon, then you can create a system for growing food in some of the most challenging environments on Earth.”

As to what plants to be grown on the moon researchers are still deciding, but one of the front runners under consideration is Tripogon loliiformis, a kind of Australian native (本土的) grass that can live in extreme conditions and survive for months without water. According to a plant biologist, even after losing more than 95 per cent of its relative water content, the dead-looking grass remains alive and continues to grow when provided with water. Whatever plants are selected, they will be transported to the moon in a dry and sleeping state and will come to life upon watering.

The ship will take off in 2025. Upon arrival, pictures and videos will be sent back to Earth over a 72-hour period and will be publicly accessible (可得到的). “The ALEPH project aims to make the science and engineering behind growing life on the moon open to people. And we hope to get everyone involved (参与的) and listen to their opinions. If you’re interested in the project, you can get all the necessary information from our website,” said Lauren Fell, the director of Lunaria One.

7 . We’ve all been there: You check your phone and see over 100 unread texts thanks to a group chat. The more this happens, the more it can start to feel overwhelming. “When we see so much activity happening, it creates a sense of panic and often results in difficulty separating from the phone due to fear of missing out,” said therapist (治疗专家) Becky Stuempfig. But group texts don’t have to be a source of stress.     1    .

“I recommend choosing certain times of the day when you plan to catch up on texts,” Stuempfig said. “    2    , one in the morning, afternoon and evening, where they read and respond to messages. By doing so, you avoid feeling like you spent the entire day trying to keep up. and it decreases anxiety caused by receiving constant alerts (提醒).”

“My advice is turning off all notification alerts. No sounds, no vibrating (震动) — nothing.” Stuempfig said. “    3     — all of the necessary positive activities for our mental health.” You can set exceptions for certain contacts and apps, so you don’t have to worry about missing important calls.

    4    . “I recommend minimizing the number of people on group chats so that the notifications are not quite as overwhelming.” Stuempfig said. “Large group chats are extremely hard to manage and create a feeling of constantly needing to check to see what is being discussed.”

Even if you make some changes, you might still find yourself feeling overwhelmed at certain times. It can be helpful to try some mindfulness exercises.     5    . Stuempfig said, “Taking a walk without bringing a phone with you or silencing texts and only allowing calls from emergency contacts can be a great way to refresh ourselves.”

A Californian woman has become a fitness influencer in her 50s after losing more than 40 pounds and taking up bodybuilding.

Denise Kirtley, 52, was inspired     1     (turn) her life around two months before her 50th birthday after finding that her wedding ring no longer fit on her finger.

“When I     2     (start) my transformation in 2020, I had been sedentary (惯于久坐不动的) for     3     long while,” Kirtley explained. She began lifting light weights in her spare bedroom, saying she was     4     unfit for the first two weeks that she quickly felt     5     (breath) and tired. But Kirtley said the secret to     6     (get) started on a body transformation is     7     (simple) to repeat workouts five times per week because action “often precedes (先于) motivation.”

“Action leads to more action. We can’t wait for motivation to kick in as it usually comes     8     (late),” she said. “If you can start taking action, any action, you will build momentum (推进力). That momentum will push you forward. It DOES get easier.”

The 52-year-old said she’s also transformed her attitude toward growing older. “We really do get to choose     9     we age. It’s all about your mindset,” she said. “Old and aging are very different — there’s nothing wrong     10     aging, and I embrace (欣然接受) my age. I’m aging, but I’m strong and spirited.”

9 . Researchers from University of Southern California (USC) may have found the biggest influencer in the spread of fake news: social platforms’ structure of rewarding users for habitually sharing information. The study involved 2,476 active Facebook users ranging in age from 18 to 89. They were asked to complete a decision-making survey about seven minutes long.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that users’ social media habits are closely related to the amount of fake news they shared. Frequent and habitual users spread six times more fake news than occasional or new users. Just 15% of the most habitual news sharers in the research were responsible for spreading about 30% to 40% of the fake news. Users’ habits were more influential in sharing fake news than other factors, including lack of critical reasoning.

The research team wondered: What motivates these users? As it turns out, much like any video game, social media has a reward system that encourages users to stay on their accounts and keep posting and sharing.

Users who post and share frequently, especially eye-catching information, are likely to attract attention. Due to the reward system of social media, users form habits of sharing information that gets recognition from others automatically, without considering consequences such as spreading misinformation.

Then, the team tested whether social media reward structures could be designed to promote sharing of true over false information. They found that incentives (鼓励) for accuracy rather than popularity doubled the amount of accurate news that users share on social platforms.

“We know from previous research that some people don’t process information critically, which influences their ability to recognize false stories online,” said Gizem Ceylan, who led the team. “However, our new study shows that the reward structure of social media platforms plays a bigger role when it comes to misinformation spread.”