Facial surgery (手术) is a serious business, especially on children     1     are not yet fully grown but Melbourne researchers are developing a technique that could change the face of children’s surgery.

This new     2     (develop) will allow doctors to work out a child’s normal face shape at different ages to predict (预测) future growth.

Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) could soon replace the ruler currently     3     (use) to track changes in a child’s head and face with 3D images. By     4     (improve) the ability to predict normal growth and future changes in a child’s face, doctors will be able to    5     (well) complete their surgery than before.

MCRI’s Mr Harold Matthews said current     6     (method), including using patients’ photographs and X-rays were slow. Together     7     researchers in Belgium, Mr Matthews is pioneering a new tool that provides averages (平均值) for normal growth of the face throughout childhood.

The project intends     8     (take) some of the guesswork out of surgery. For example, in children with Pierre Robin Sequence, a serious condition which means they are born with an underdeveloped jaw(下颚), some doctors choose to fix it early while others wait to see if the child’s face will     9     (natural) correct itself as it grows. Without this new technology,     10     is difficult to know which method is better for each child.

For many of us in the UK and other parts of the world, having an electric kettle plugged in in the kitchen is a part of everyday life. But for people in America, it’s unusual     1     (use) a kettle–and the cultural difference has left many people     2     (confuse). Sophie Monk,     3     Australian host, recently sparked a debate when she     4     (detail) her experience of living in the US.

Sophie lived in America for 10 years before     5     (return) to her native Australia, and she was shocked at the fact that American people boiled their water on the stove. She said, “I was looking     6     a kettle, and they’re like, ‘Kettle?’ They don’t know     7     a kettle is. They don’t use them. They must heat water up on their stove. Yeah, no one has a kettle,     8     is crazy.” Although the concept of not using a kettle is more than a little strange to us Brits, there’s actually a pretty simple     9     (explain) for the decision.

In America, homes only have a voltage (电压) of 100-127,     10     in the UK and other countries, the voltage in a house is around 230. This means electric kettles in the US actually heat water more slowly than they do in the UK, so Americans haven’t bothered to invest in the appliances-choosing instead to boil on the stove.

April Fool’s Day,     1     (celebrate) on the first day of April each year, is a day filled with laughter and pranks (恶作剧). It is a day     2     people play practical jokes on one another. Although the origin of April Fool’s Day is uncertain, it has become a beloved tradition in the world.

On this day, people engage in jokes with friends, family and even co-workers, It is a chance for everyone to show off their sense of humor and bring smiles to others’     3     (face). Common pranks involve harmless tricks like fake spiders and surprise balloons. The goal is     4     (create) light-hearted moments of laughter and amusement.

One popular prank on April Fool’s Day is the “fake news” joke. People come up     5     surprising stories or announcements. and trick others into believing them at first. However, it is important to remember the boundary of a joke and avoid     6     (cause) harm to others.

The joy and laughter shared on April Fool’s Day help strengthen relationships. It is a time for people to come together and enjoy the light side of life. Laughter     7     (know) to reduce stress and improve mood, making this day     8     perfect opportunity to spread some cheer.

In a word, April Fool’s Day is a reminder of the     9     (important) of finding joy and taking a break from the seriousness of everyday life. So, on April Fool’s Day, let’s follow the spirit of fun and enjoy the laughter it     10     (bring).

Last month, scientists from Harvard Medical School talked about EVEscape in the journal Nature. This model is all about figuring out how viruses change. It learned from the history of how viruses     1     (change) over time, and you can give it a lot of details about a virus. Then it can guess how the virus might change, especially in     2     its proteins (蛋白质) work when the immune system puts pressure on it.

    3     (show) what EVEscape can do, scientists gave it the     4     (origin) code of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They did this months before the virus caused the COVID pandemic. Guess what? EVEscape predicted almost all the changes that happened during the pandemic, even the ones we know by names like Omicron and Beta. The Harvard team keeps     5     (give) EVEscape new data about SARS-CoV-2     6     (regular), so it’s like a fortune teller for what COVID might do next.

People are wondering if EVEscape could be the solution     7     stopping pandemics. In an article that goes along with     8     paper, scientists Nash Rochman and Eugene Koonin from the National Center for Biotechnology Information really praised EVEscape. They said, “This way of doing things could     9     (use) to guess what changes might happen in viruses that stick around in the population. It can help make better vaccines (疫苗) and even guess how     10     (risk) a pandemic might be for viruses we don’t know much about yet, even before we figure out their 3D structure.”

In September, UNESCO Director-General Audrey visited Zhoukoudian in Beijing. She was full of praise     1     a special structure which     2     (successful) protected Yuanrendong Cave from an unusual rainstorm in July. The karst cave     3     (reveal) the fossilized remains of 40 individuals so far.

The structure protects the site from the extreme weather, secretary-general Qin Changwei said at the 2nd World Cultural and Natural Heritage Forum. “    4     provides a reference for the protection of cultural relics, and suggests     5     (measure) for helping heritage sites respond to the influence of climate change.”

Organized by various organizations,     6     forum brought together some 50 professionals to discuss the protection and     7     (sustain) development of heritage sites.

“Climate change has been the subject of in-depth discussion by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Questions like how to balance humans and nature, how to respond to natural disasters     8     what new challenges this brings to World Heritage Sites are worth     9     (consider),” says Qin.

“Addressing the issue requires multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation, making full use of cutting-edge technology and jointly     10     (develop) risk prevention and response plans,” he adds.

For Chinese swimmer Qian Hongyan, competing at the 4th Asian Para Games (亚残运会) is more about testing her limits. More     1    (important), the 26-year-old will keep encouraging others to face life’s challenges. “It’s great to participate in the Games     2     the first time. I want to inspire more people with disability,” said Qian in an interview.

    3    (know) as the “basketball girl”, Qian has been an inspiration for years. She lost both her legs due to     4     car accident in 2000. Then, she became familiar to people because of a picture of her as a kid sitting inside half of a basketball,     5     acted as protective equipment to help her move around on the ground.

In 2007, she began training in swimming. It     6    (be) hard in the beginning. Without both legs, keeping     7    (her) above water felt like an impossible task. However, with years of hard work, Qian improved,     8    (become) a national team swimmer at the Rio Paralympics in 2016. She finished     9    (nine) in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Coach Zhang Honghu has seen Qian’s growth from a shy girl into an excellent athlete. “I hope she will keep pushing her limits and have a great life in the years     10    (come),” said Zhang.

A rural basketball league in China attracted well close to 100 million live views across the country in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The Village Basketball Association,     1     (base) in Guizhou Province, is better known as “CunBA”, Cun being the word for “village” in Chinese. The grassroots league was established in 2016 but has recently attracted     2     whole new generation of basketball fans nationwide. Amateur basketball players representing their villages compete not     3     cash prizes; instead, the winning team take home live ducks, rice and     4     (tradition) Miao-style silver headdresses.

The CunBA drums up a special kind of emotion and     5     (excite) among spectators (观众). However, none of the 20,000 spectators     6     made their way to the year’s final game had to pay for their tickets, and they were welcome     7     (enjoy) the game in creative ways.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the sport has a long history in the region     8     (date) back to 1930s. Annual games     9     (hold) during the region’s Miao ethnic harvest festival in the sixth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The CunBA, during the 2022/2023 season,     10     (have) a total of 176 participating teams from the various farming villages in the region, hosting nearly 5,000 grassroots games.

The Yellow River No.1 Tourist Highway,built in 2018 in Shanxi province,was designed     1     (string) together scenic spots along the river. Visitors can both enjoy overnight accommodations in unique cave dwellings (窑洞), with a special chance to sleep on a“Kang”—a comfortable clay-and-brick bed heated from within     2     taste delicious farm-to-table cuisine while experiencing the beauty of the Yellow River.

Thanks to this initiative, Laoniuwan village,an intersection     3     the Great Wall meets the Yellow River, has been transformed into a popular tourist destination.The villager Guo Jianhua’s hostel has witnessed a booming business, with over 100 tourists staying and dining at his establishment,     4     (generate) a daily income of approximately 3,000 yuan.

“Previously, I     5     (register)by the local authority as financially disadvantaged. However, I was able to establish this hostel with the     6     (assist) of poverty alleviation loans. In just a few years, I have not only overcome poverty but also got my quality of life significantly     7     (improve),”Guo said.

Meanwhile, new businesses are also emerging. Since its opening in September last year, the Zhangjiawan recreational vehicle camp located along the highway     8     (welcome) more than 10,000 vehicles, with nearly 10 percent of them being RVs. “Even the local products are selling     9     (well),”Guo said, owing this success     10     the increasing number of tourists and the improved transportation facilitated by the tourist expressway.