Recently researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia,    1    (invent) a soft skin stretch(拉伸) device (SSD), a haptic device that can recreate the sense of touch. It is similar to     2     is felt in the real world, through force, vibration or motion.

The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”. It works like this: Imagine you are at home and your friend is in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with     3     (integrate) 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up     4     object, it will     5    (physical) press against your friend’s fingers. And their glove with 3D force sensors will measure these interactions. The force signals can     6    (send) to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces,     7    (make)you experience the same sense of touch as your friend. The haptic devices could allow users to feel objects inside a virtual world or     8     a distance. This could be especially     9     (benefit) during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors can feel a patient’s organ tissues with surgical tools     10    touching them.

Thanks to advances in technology, how we make friends and communicate with them has changed     1     (significant). Nowadays, we can move around the world and still stay in touch with the people that we want to remain friends     2     .

Social media tools let us see what our friends are up to and maintain friendships. The digital age also enables us     3     (find)people who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or     4     (play)an unusual instrument. Whatever our     5     (hobby), the Internet can connect us with others who also enjoy doing them, even if they live on the other side of the world.

However, the “friends" online don’t necessarily become our real friends. If people always exchange true     6     (person)information online, then these friendships can be real and meaningful. But we need to keep in mind that what we see on social media     7     (be)often not the whole truth about a person. On social media sites, people tend to post only positive updates     8     make them appear happy and friendly and the smiling photos can hide real problems.

    9     this doesn’t mean that we should throw the baby out of the bathwater. Although in recent years technology     10     (change)the way we acquire friends, the meaning of friendship and our longing for friends remain the same.

England became England, the land of English-speaking people, at the beginning of the Middle Ages.     1     that it had been the home of Iron Age Tribes known as Celts, and for a time, part of the Roman Empire. Then beginning in the 400s AD, tribes from the north, known as the angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes,     2     (move) in.

The most famous leader of this time period in England was Alfred the Great. Alfred lived in Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, which     3     (locate) in the southern part of England. He was a good leader     4     made his kingdom stronger. He created a system of defenses (防御),     5     (call) burhs, across the country. He reorganized the army so that his men     6     have time to fight and time to farm. Alfred’s efforts protected his people from the Vikings and allowed Wessex to grow. Eventually the rulers of Wessex would rule all of England.

Alfred also made other improvements. He made laws for his people. He encouraged learning and translated several important books     7     his Saxon language. This was     8     modern people think of as the start of the language we call English today.

Two important pieces of literature from that time period are the anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Beowulf, both     9     (write) in old English. Old English lasted through most of the Middle Ages. Middle English came in during the late Middle ages and modern English began about the time of the renaissance.

England and English got their names, not from the Saxons, but from one of the other tribes, and Angles. The original name of England must have been     10     like Angle-land (only in old English of course).

Yang shuo，China

It was raining     1     (heavy) when I reached Yangshuo just before dawn. But I didn’t care. A few hours before, I’d been at home in Hong Kong,     2     is full of chocking smog. Here, the air was clean and fresh, even with the rain.

Guilin is a dream place for     3    (visitor) from all over the world, but I chose to pay a visit to Yangshuo instead     4     it. For those     5     (fly) to Guilin, it takes only an hour to get to Yangshuo     6     car.

Yanshuo     7     (be) really beautiful. A study of travelers which is     8     (carry) out by the website names Yangshuo as one of the top ten destinations in the world. And the town is becoming a popular weekend destination for people in Asia. Abercrombie & Kent, a travel company in Hong Kong, says it often make     9     (arrange) for people who live in Shanghai and Hong Kong to spend     10     (they) holidays here.

In the Arctic, snowy owls(雪鸮, 雪枭)stick close     1     their nests, so scientists can     2    (easy) observe them. But once the owls fly south for the winter,     3     (expert) aren’t exactly sure where they go or what they do. Project Snow Storm is trying to solve these mysteries.

    4    (introduce)in 2013, the program uses GPS tracking devices to follow owls across the United States and Canada on their inter migration(迁徙)paths. First, scientists catch     5     owl using a harmless net trap. Then the bird is equipped with a light weight backpack that won’t affect its ability to fly. The tracker sends the bird’s location back to scientists through cellphone towers.

So far, Project Snow Storm     6    (track) nearly a hundred owls. Scientists have discovered that some birds remain in the same small patch of land every winter, while others travel     7    (hundred) of miles in a few weeks.

The tracking data also shows that owls in some areas are     8     (make) lots of short flights, which is because the birds keep having to fly away from     9    (curiosity) people. “Humans might love the birds a little too much, ” Weidensaul says, “    10    you’re luck enough to see one, give it plenty of space. ”

Sometimes we have a fight with a friend. Many times, you find that you even forget     1     the fight was about. You just seem to be     2     (anger), and then stop     3     (talk) to each other. Time goes by and you realize that you miss     4     friendship, and wish you could talk to your friend again. And     5     (probable) your friend feels the same way as you do. So how can you get out of the fight without     6     (hurt) your feelings?

Leave the argument alone, and avoid communication. If you talk right after fight, you will say many     7     (word) out of anger. However, do not wait too long. It will become hard     8     (make) up the relationship after too long waiting. So after the fight calms down, make sure you talk to the person before it is too late. Say sorry if you     9     (be) to blame (负有责任) for the fight.

Maybe it is your friend’s fault (过错) and you have done nothing wrong. In that case, wait until he says he is sorry! And if he doesn’t, he’s not worth your time. You can spend the time     10     other friends.