2 . Nostalgia (怀旧) has become increasingly common in our current climate of unexpected, fast-paced change. More and more people are turning back with longing for what feels like simpler, sweeter times. They collect cassette tapes, manual typewriters even decades-old video games.

Is it a mistake to get too obsessed with the past? Some psychologists warn that too much devotion to the so-called good old days is an escape from reality; it can indicate loneliness or that a person is having a difficult time coping in the present. Psychologist Stephanie Coontz argues that nostalgia distracts us from addressing the problems of modern life and contributes to anxiety, depression, insomnia etc.

But new studies suggest that a modest dose of nostalgia is not only harmless, but actually beneficial. They suggest it helps strengthen our sense of identity and makes us feel more optimistic and inspired. It is also a tool for self-discovery and memories are a psychological immune response that is triggered when you want to take a break from negativity. Interestingly, those happy memories can be particularly beneficial both to kids in their teens and to society’s elders. Recalling our childhood reminds us of “the times when we were accented and loved unconditionally,” says Krystine Batcho, a psychologist. “That is such a powerfully comforting phenomenon, knowing that there was a time in life when we didn’t have to earn our love.” Nostalgia can transform even the most ordinary past into legends which warms the heart and the body. Let’s not forget that nostalgia has been a source of inspiration to innumerable American writers. Mark Twain recalled his boyhood, writing, “after all these years, I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it was then: The white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer’s morning.”

So go ahead, daydream a little about your best childhood friend, your first car, a long-gone family pet. As Dr. Sedikidessays, “Nostalgia is absolutely central to human experience.” But at the same time, keep these words of wisdom from the great inventor Charles Kettering in mind as well: “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.”

4 . Researchers say two-way communication is possible with people who are asleep and dreaming. Specifically, with people who are lucid (清醒的) dreaming — that is, dreaming while being aware you’re dreaming.

In separate experiments, scientists in the U.S., France, Germany and the Netherlands asked people simple questions while they slept. Sleepers would respond by moving their eyes or faces in a certain way to indicate their answers.

“Since the1980s, we’ve known that lucid dreamers can communicate out of dreams by using these signals,” says Karen Konkoly, a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University, who is the first author on the study published this month in Current Biology. “But we were wondering, can we also communicate in? Can we ask people questions that they could actually hear in their dreams so that we could kind of have a more meaningful conversation?”

Lucid dreaming is not common. So to study it, they found people who had experience with it and also trained people to try to make lucid dreaming more likely. Before they went to sleep, the participants were also trained on how to communicate their answers. Special sensors measured people’s eye movements or experts would judge their facial movements. For example, a typical question would be to ask what is 8 minus 6. A 19-year-old American man was able to respond by moving his eyes left-right, left-right-two times-to signal “2”.

Out of the 158 trials among 36 participants, about 18% of the time they were able to give correct answers. In another 18%, it wasn’t clear if participants were responding or not. They were wrong 3% of the time. Most often, 61%, participants didn’t respond at all.

The researchers write that their findings present “new opportunities for gaining real-time information about dreaming” and “could begin a new era of investigations into multiple dimensions of sleep”.

Konkoly says there’s the possibility of one day doing a sort of “dream therapy (疗法)” for talking down people experiencing lucid nightmares.

The history of painting in China is long or full of masterpieces from different ages when have their own unique styles.

Truly artistic paintings other than calligraphy (书法) came into exist during the Qin Dynasty and matured in the Wei and Jin periods. It were in the Tang Dynasty that it developed more quicklier than any other previous period. An art continued to advance during the Song and Yuan Dynasties with an increased focus such subjects as mountains and animals. Traditional painting techniques lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty, when modern painting techniques started off to challenge the traditional one. Although modern paintings had been heavily influenced by the West, they still value traditional painting techniques.

There are lots of versions of mooncakes all over China. They have a variety of fillings among that I love the red bean filling better.

I remember try my first mooncake as a kid. We sat in my grandmother’s yard while the full moon shines brightly. It was very special moment. My grandmother baked mooncakes for the whole family. She turned flour and red bean into wonderful mooncakes like magic. When she placed them on the table, they looked like small, round and golden-brown. The deliciously smell soon reached my nose. When she took each bite, the sweet and mild taste slowly filled my mouth.

The mooncake is always my favourite because of its good taste and the happy memories it bring to my mind.

8 . In a small town in Oklahoma, many people have lost their jobs because of Covid-19. They do not have as much _______ as they used to. Therefore, in some restaurants, customers pay for their meals, and then they add another food item for someone who cannot _______ it.

On the _______ in a restaurant named The Daug House are receipts (收款单) for the _______ meals. Someone who is hungry can come in, choose one from the receipts and have something to eat. This is what the customers are doing now to _______ others. When they pay for their meals, they can_______ another food item.

Jennifer, owner of the restaurant, started the idea of the _______ wall. Her restaurant has eight tables, _______ only a few people can visit at one time. But in six months, customers have bought 600 _________ meals.

Customers who had no money would take down the receipts to eat and then later returned to ________ more meals, so someone else could eat. Jennifer remembered when a poor ________ came in with their children recently. “They sat there to just have a meal ________, not worrying about how much they were having to pay.”

“That says a lot about how ________ our community is,” Jennifer said. “The small town has been hurt by the ________ crisis(危机). But I believe it will soon return to normal activities. We ________ by helping others.”

10 . Finding spare change or an extra dollar in your pocket always feels like a victory.     1     Without thinking, you might hear the familiar rhyme in your head when you spot one on the sidewalk: "Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck. "

According to one theory, people originally thought pennies would bring good luck because of religious beliefs.     2     This theory also fueled other superstitions（迷信行为）like charm bracelets and metal horseshoes, which are also "lucky". Plus, metal currency like pennies were linked to more wealth and thus more luck. That might be a straightforward explanation, but other eleven strange origins of other everyday superstition sure aren't.

Another reason people might have claimed pennies would bring good luck comes down to the battle between good and evil, which is like two sides of the coin. Finding a penny heads up meant you'd have luck on your side, but tails up would mean the opposite,     3    . Some people say that if you find a penny tails up, you should turn it over to make it heads up so that it can bring luck to whoever finds it next.     4    . The Irish half-penny, which stopped circulating in 1987, is especially lucky to anyone who finds one. Then there's also the old saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a penny in the shoe."     5