As a child, Olympic figure skaters' shining costumes, smooth movements and thrilling jumps attracted me. Olympic-level skaters make their sport look easy, but in fact, skating     1     (event) are full of challenges.

Figure skating was the first winter sport to be added to the Olympics. And then men’s speed skating     2    (put) on the list several years later. In the Olympics,     3     wide variety of skating competitions challenge both male and female competitor strength and agility (敏捷度).

The term “figure skating” comes from figures skaters make on the ice. Until 1991 certain figures were required     4    (test) competitors’ certain skills. Now that this requirement has been removed, skaters     5    (usual) focus on jumps. They take off in different positions and spin (旋转) several times in the air before landing on one foot.

    6    (be) a form of figure skating, ice dancing was inspired by ballroom dance.     7    (like) figure skating, ice dancing only allows jumps of one complete turn. A man can lift his partner, but no     8    (high) than his head. Instead, dancers focus on moves     9     keep them moving in unison (一致地) on the ice.

While figure skating requires strength and agility, speed skating requires different skills. The goal is simple: Cover the distance as quickly     10     possible. Naturally this requires leg strength.

At high levels of competition, skating requires athletic ability and hours of practice, but ordinary people can also get out on some ice and enjoy the sport of skating.

5 . Business etiquette in Singapore

Be polite, professional and patient at all times. This lead to good relationships which you will need in order to do business in Singapore.

    1     And there are rules of etiquette（礼节）that you must follow. Status vey important, and the eldest person in the group is always respected.

You will need to plan ahead.     2     Nowadays appointments can be made by phone or email, although writing to the person concerned is the most formal way to organize a meeting. Many businesses close during Chinese New Year.     3    .

Make sure you arrive on time for business meetings. This is a matter of respect. If you are going as a group, make sure you are lied up cording to your status. Likewise, wait to be seated.

    4     Only use personal names or nicknames（昵称）when you are invited to do so, or when you have known someone for along time.

Business cards are exchanged the beginning of meetings and are always handed out so that the writing faces the receiver. Etiquette demands that you hold the card with both hands and examine it carefully; before putting the card into our card case, smile in order to show that you have noted who the other person is.     5     Make sure your own business cards are in perfect condition before you hand them out.

6 . George Mason University looks like any other big college with its tall buildings, student housing and green lawns (草坪)—except for the robots.

This Northern Virginia university recently set up several dozen meal delivery (递送) robots from Starship Technologies to make it easier for students to get food.

Many colleges across the country have set up delivery robots—including University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and Northern Arizona University—but George Mason University is the first college in the United States to include robots in its student dining plan. The school is partnering with food service provider Sodexo for the program.

"We were amazed by the volume of orders (订单量) that we had when we turned the service on," Starship Technologies manager Ryan Tuohy says. "But what's really touching is how the students in the university have accepted the robots."

Student Grace Pereira-Plaza says she finds the robots "pretty cute" and at first students were crazy about them - taking pictures, dressing them up for holidays. But they slowly got used to them. “We find it normal now. When we see them go by, it’s like ‘Oh there they are,”" Pereira- Plaza says.

How does it work? Students can place an order through an app for food from any restaurant that is part of the program. The cost is $1.99 per delivery. Then, they wait. The goal: a 30- minute delivery. Students can watch robot as it travels toward them- at 4 miles an hour.

The robot is equipped with nine cameras and sensors to navigate (导航) its surrounds. Humans are still needed to put the food into the robots and they can monitor (监控) them from far away and step in if there are any problems. But these are self-learning machines that can adapt. So, if they see a student start across the road they’ll know what to do, "Mark Kroner, head of the school's food operations, says. " So they are learning and its fun to watch them progress. "

7 . Blek le Rat is a French street artist who calls himself "The Man Who Walks Through Walls". He is a pioneer of street art. He began his work as a city decorator in Paris in the early 1980s, when he was twenty. Blek began his artwork in 1981, painting (用模板制成的图案) of rats (老鼠) on the walls of Paris streets.

His real name is Xavier Prou, and he does not draw violent images, only reflective ones, and he says, "My images are a present I make for everyone to enjoy, even children. " He has had a great influence on today's graffiti (涂鸦) art, the main drive of his work being social awareness and his wish to bring art to people. His dream is to be allowed to provide art to the city streets without having any problems. Once he was caught by the police, and afterwards he turned to putting posters instead. They are after all better for the walls, aren't they?

His designs, based on life-size stencils of human beings and animals, don't just decorate cities but awaken people's emotions. Their social observation makes them touching, humorous and political. In 2006 he began his series of images representing the homeless, in attempts to bring attention to what he views as a global problem.

He says that when you go on the street with a spray can (喷漆罐)，and pry your name，you will go back and see it, because when you leave something in the street, you leave part of yourself. Street artists cannot help coming back to admire their own work; it is the main reason for doing it.

The Internet has made street at a global movement, but it is the art of the common people and not of highly paid and respectable artists. There is nothing bigger culturally in the world at the moment than street art. It is taking over the planet Mot cites are covered with it, so much so that it is noticeable when there isn’t any. It is even bring sold, like "real" woks of art.

Chen Yifan, 17, a high school student, hit a     1     (value)SUV on his way to deliver some food, leaving a 20 centimeter scratch(划痕)and a broken mirror.

    2     nobody else was at the scene, Chen left all his money, 31l yuan($45), for compensation(赔偿),and a letter of apology. When the owner Mr. Xue saw the money and letter, he     3     (touch)by the student's deed and decided to return the money.

The owner finally got in touch     4     Chen. "I saw the owner's telephone number on the car window, but I dared not call him. I was afraid of     5     (blame)and decided to leave a short letter, "Chen said. The teenager,     6     does part-time delivery jobs during vacations and earns 60-70 yuan every day, is a high-school student from a low-income family.

“Some people would leave without     7     (word) after hitting a car, but the boy left money and     8     apology letter. His behavior    9     (deep)moved me."

Xue has offered 10, 000 yuan to help Chen's future studies. "He is a kind boy and should be rewarded for his     10     (honest),"Xue said.

9 . We've long known that crows exhibit extraordinary intelligence. These birds have inspired legends for centuries. But the more scientists know about their brain structure and behaviors, the more crows seem to resemble humans.

John Marzluff, a professor from the University of Washington, has been studying crows for decades. He's explored the exceptional size and function of crow brains, their long life and lifestyle. “Big brain, long life and sociality, those are really linked features,” Marzluff says. “You put those together, and it should sound pretty familiar.”

To top that off, just last fall other researchers determined that crows seem to exhibit a level of consciousness shown only in humans and very few of our mammal relatives. The breakthrough study published in Science showed that crows have an ability to draw on subjective experiences from the past in order to solve a task. This means the birds keep new information, or memories, in the front of their brains for extended periods, and use it in reasoning and dealing with new situations they meet.

That is, for people and crows alike, the forebrain deals with higher tasks, including reasoned decision-making, problem-solving and executive function. Taken together, these findings help explain the problem-solving and tool use in crows. The New Caledonian crow, for example, has recently gained welcome for not only tool use, but its ability to make compound tools out of various materials. These birds have been known to make hooks and sharp spears that they use to catch insects in hard-to-reach places. In research labs, they've successfully bent wire to grab baskets with food inside.

“They understand the concept of hooking and-pulling and spearing and what tools are needed to do that,” Marzluff says. These reasoning skills appear to be significantly more advanced than primitive tool use—such as using rocks to break open shells and other food—that researchers have observed in some other animals.

10 . For better or worse, many of us never forget those typical British school days—and with a site that now has over 32, 200 educational institutions as well as a growing number of users, you won't have to.

SchoolMates is a nice networking platform which offers a refreshing alternative to traditional social media in that the focus is on building more meaningful relationships and encouraging interaction between users. While social media sites are customarily designed to form an interactive online community, SchoolMates aims to help people find friends from their past.

“At SchoolMates, our mission is simple. We've created a platform aimed specifically to help people reconnect and keep in touch with former classmates,” explains founder and CEO Chris Goodwin. “Our site encourages people to revive those special relationships from their youth, letting them look back to the ‘good old days’ of summer holidays spent with friends, memorable school trips, as well as less memorable moments like those awful school lunches.”

SchoolMates brings together more than 32, 000 schools, colleges, academies and universities across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and is aimed to help users get back in touch with former classmates. Aimed at the 35 plus age group, which represents 50% of the population, the easy-to-use website enables users to recall and share conversations, jokes, stories, memories and photographs.

Chris was diagnosed with a tumour at the age of 18. He couldn't move and could only sit in a wheelchair. Determined to conquer the world of the Internet and own a successful online business since completing his studies in computer science, he did not let his disability become an excuse to give up on his dreams; he had a successful business career before going on to start up SchoolMates.