1 . For all the talk of helicopter parents and their snowflake children, most parents I know are more concerned with whether their children’s development would be considered normal by experts than whether they are raising a prodigy (天才).

When the teen years arrive, the “Is it normal?” instinct can go into overdrive. Adolescence is marked by many changes, including ones that manifest(显示)physically and, their more challenging counterpart, ones that manifest emotionally. The moods and deep feelings are intense, and make many helicopter parents in a state of extreme panic.

But difficult feelings are often not a cause for concern, according to psychologist Lisa Damour in her new book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents. Not only are sadness and worrying healthy and natural parts of being a teenager, but the ability to experience these feelings(without a parent panicking)and to learn how to cope with them is developmentally necessary.

There is a lot of commercial marketing around wellness that can give people the impression that they are only mentally healthy or their kids are mentally healthy if they are feeling good, calm or relaxed. This is not an accurate definition of mental health. Mental distress is not only inevitable—it is part of mental health and experiencing it is part of how kids grow and mature.

There are many other healthy ways kids regulate emotions besides talking. Listening to mood-matching music is a very adaptive way to regulate as the experience of listening to the music catalyzes the emotion out of them. Teenagers also discharge emotions physically—by going through a run, jumping on a trampoline or banging on drums. Sometimes they will discharge them through creative channels like drawing or making music.

As adults, we should not diminish the value of emotional expression that brings relief, even if it doesn’t come in the verbal form to which we are most accustomed. Don’t join in because what we ultimately want is for our teens to become autonomous in dealing with their hard feelings.

2 . Historical accounts often described the now-extinct California grizzly bears as huge beasts ready to attack humans and livestock at any time. But according to a new paper, scientists say the truth might have been less dramatic: The bears ate a mostly vegetarian diet and were smaller than previously described. California grizzly bears once roamed in the Golden State. But European settlers often hunted, poisoned and trapped the creatures. Over time, because of these human activities, the California grizzly population declined. The last reliable sighting of a California grizzly bear occurred 100 years ago in 1924, and the animals disappeared completely sometime after that.

Researchers wanted to get a better understanding of the factors that accelerated the bears’ extinction. They also hoped to gain more insight into the creatures’ behavior, size and diet. To do so, they turned to documents and California grizzly specimens in natural history collections. They measured the animals’ skulls and teeth and analyzed their bones and pelts. The researchers found that California grizzly bears were much smaller than the 2,000 pounds often reported at the time. Historical accounts might not necessarily have been wrong, but they might have only included the largest bears. In addition, analyses of the animals’ bones and skins suggest the bears were primarily eating plants, which stands in contrast to their fear some hyper carnivorous (超级食肉的) reputation. “The bears likely increased meat consumption due to landscape changes coupled with the arrival of livestock,” says study co-author Alexis Mychajliw. However, researchers found the animals still ate a majority vegetarian diet and killed far less livestock than historical accounts suggested.

By digging beyond the bears’ reputation, the researchers gained a more accurate understanding of the California grizzly’s biology and natural history. And since scientists and land managers often rely on historical accounts when reintroducing animals to their former habitats, the study serves as a reminder that those old newspapers and journals do not tell the whole story.

Incense (香) is material that releases fragrant (芳香的)smoke when burnt. Yang Jinqing, an inheritor of Qingyuan traditional incense making, has a burning desire     1    (develop) popular fragrances. For decades, Yang has committed himself     2     the traditional incense craft in Qingyuan,     3     was named a national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council in June 2021.

The country boasts a profound incense history     4     (date) back to before the Qin Dynasty. The craft and its culture thrived during the Song Dynasty. It found wider     5     (popular) during the Ming and Qing dynasties when it was used to fend off diseases, insects, mosquitoes and preserve people’s health.

Qingyuan saw many incense workshops set up during the Song Dynasty, thanks to its close geographical location to abundant herbal resources     6    (hide) in the Taihang Mountains.

Nowadays, with the     7    (increasing) expanding market, more than 50,000 people     8    (engage) in the incense business in more than 500 local incense businesses.

Yang Jinqing has helped to establish an engineering center for herbal incense in Hubei that specializes in studying ancient recipes     9     developing new crafts based on the fragrance. “We might think incense culture is very elegant and, therefore, far away from us, but it is actually very close to our lives.” he says. “When drinking tea, playing chess, reading or writing,     10    (light) an incense stick can help calm the nerves and concentrate the mind.”

“I want future generations to appreciate the charm of China’s incense culture and craft.” he adds.

4 . In high school, I did a scientific experiment. The experiment made me _______ that science could teach us a lot. It teaches us the _______ so we know where we are from. That day, I firmly _______ to be a scientist. Ever since that day, I have studied harder _______ in all my science-related subjects. After school, I do much research on how I can become a _______ scientist in the future.

One of my _______ in becoming a scientist is Barbara McClintock, who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. At 25, she already had her PhD in botany. After that, she started her _______ as the leader in the development of maize cytogenetics (玉米细胞遗传学) and she _______ herself to that research for the rest of her life.

If I am lucky and given the _______ to achieve my ambition as a scientist, I want to be like Doctor McClintock. She ________ something that helped the other scientists ________ the things about genetics (遗传学).

I know I will be able to achieve my ________ as long as I put my heart and perseverance into it. If I achieve my goal, I will share my ________ of success with all the kids who also love science and want to become scientists. My future will be as ________ as the stars in the night sky. However, my future is still far. I will make the most of the ________ to achieve my greatest ambition of becoming a scientist.

7 . Growing up in poverty in rural Kenya, Nelly Cheboi watched her single mother work tirelessly so she could attend school.

From an early age, she realized that her family, along with others like hers in their village, was________ a cycle that left them little hope. Cheboi attended college ________ scholarship in the UnitedStates, worked odd jobs to support her family, and discovered her ________ for computer science. She________ the success in finding jobs to her computer literacy. She knew she wanted to share it with her________ back home.

Today, she’s giving 4,000 kids the chance for a ______ future through her nonprofit, TechLit Africa.The organization, whose name is short for Technologically Literate Africa, uses recycled ______ to create technology labs in schools in rural Kenya.

In 2018, she began ________ recycled computers. She started small, carrying the machines to Kenya in check-on bags and ______ customs fees and taxes herself. TechLit Africa now works with shipping companies to ______ the donated computers so it’s more cost ______.The donated hardware is ______ to partner schools in rural Kenya, where students aged 4 to 12 receive daily classes and frequent ________ to learn from professionals and gain skills that will help improve their education and prepare them for future jobs.

“My hope is that when the first TechLit kids graduate high school, they’re able to get a job online________ they will know how to code,”Cheboi said.“The world is your oyster when you are educated. By bringing the resources, by bringing these skills, we are ________ the world to them.”

8 . In 1665, Johannes Vermeer dabbed (轻涂) the last drop of paint onto a canvas in his Dutch studio, completing his masterpiece “Girl With a Pearl Earring.”

On an April day 357 years later, Ms. Strong slowly stopped her bike, paused her fitness app, and watched as the snaking line of her _________ route drew the shape of Vermeer’s _________ over the streets of Brooklyn.

Ms. Strong _________ what has come to be known as “GPS art”— a _________ that uses the mapping capabilities (地图绘画功能) of modern phone apps to create _________ drawings using a route across the streets. The hobby has grown with the widespread _________ of satellite tracking for use by ordinary people.

It is _________popular on Strava (a fitness app) and often _________ as “Strava art”. Strava art has existed since that app’s release in 2009, but it _________ a surge (激增) in use during the pandemic. According to the company, more than three billion activities (动态) have been __________ to Strava since the beginning of 2020. This __________ usage of GPS devices has resulted in more __________ maps. Thus, it has improved the __________ and complexity of the art.

The art form even has its own Guinness World Records categories. A couple __________ a 4, 500-mile ride across Europe (while blogging the journey) that __________ a 600-mile-wide GPS drawing of a bicycle — the largest such drawing on __________.

Each creator uses a slightly different __________. Ms. Strong said she will see if the lines of a map inspire something. __________, on a visit to a place she noticed certain streets formed the __________ of a shark tail, and took it from there. “The crazy thing is that you sort of don’t know where the map takes you; you just __________ with it,” Ms. Strong said. “I always end up with what I’m looking for.”