1 . Four Interesting Science Museums

Polytechnic Museum, Russia

For many guests of the capital, some of the most vivid childhood memories are associated with this museum. A variety of technical fields are presented in 65 halls-Mining, Space, Energy, and Transportation, etc. And the exposition（博览会）is the only museum project in Russia about the history of the bike. The interactive division "Technoplay" is open, where you not only can but also need touch most of the exhibits with your hands. In addition to self-experimentation, for personal requests the museum's experts will show many entertaining experiments.

Eureka, England

The Eureka educational center is a huge complex where modern science and technology are becoming clear, even to kids. The main exhibition is devoted to the human body, the laws of physics and natural things. Visitors can obtain energy or create paper with their own hands. On the area of the Eureka educational park there is a botanical garden and a collection of minerals from the rock types of Finland is presented there.

Deutsches Museum, Germany

In this museum you can see more than 100 thousand different items from windmills（风车）to medical equipment. All aspects of industrial production appear before the eyes. Several museum rooms are arranged especially for children-there are exhibits that entertain kids starting from three.

NEMO, the Netherlands

The largest Dutch research centre stands ready to share its secrets with everyone. This immersion（沉浸）in the world of science and technology will not be dull. All significant information is presented in the form of exciting games. All exhibits are interactive; visitors are allowed to touch, pull and press on anything. The museum is for children from 6 to 16, as well as for their parents-it will be interesting to all.

2 . A few years ago, my father arranged to send me a mail-order fruitcake at Christmastime. While I had recently settled in Manhattan with a good job, he _______my cupboards and refrigerator might be bare.

I was 44 then, and he was 72. He wanted me to have a particular brand of fruitcake. Made in Texas, it was famous among fruitcake lovers-or, _______ , among people who gave fruitcakes to those who were assumed to _______ them. "It reminds me of my mother's," he said. My grandmother's _______ , I later learnt, was a cake typical of the Great Depression Dad grew up in, made without sugar, butter or eggs.

_______ the fruitcake was his way of trying to take care of me from afar. Regardless of my _______ status, I was still his son. A fruitcake, in his mind, was a _______ Christmas gift: Fruitcake can fill your belly and has a long shelf life.

“It should arrive the first week of December,“ he said. "Let me know what you think _______ you get it." I was looking forward to _______ the flavors that transported him to his childhood. The first week of December passed with no sign of his fruitcake. ________ by holiday mail, I assumed.

He remained ________ the fruitcake would come by New Year's Eve. Yet, January, February, and March came and went with no fruitcake. Though my father ________ to ask about it, I never once considered lying and telling him the fruitcake had ________arrived and was delicious. Instead I said, “That cake is orbiting earth, and sooner or later it will ________ . ”

Early last December, nearly a year after my father died from a failing heart, I got a call saying, “You have a package. " I went downstairs to pick it up. The brown box had a FedEx label with a ________ address in Texas.

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     1     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi papercuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chineseelements (要素), which turns out to be a     4     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     10     (visit) to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

5 . Giving generously and receiving gratefully make it easier to live happily with others.    1    

Let me start with the idea of giving generously.    2    For example, my husband and I have family members who only contact us when they need money. We usually accept their requests, but we rarely receive a “thank you”. Most people would say that my husband and I are being used, and I suppose we are. But when we give, we shouldn’t be giving for the purpose of getting gratitude or praise. Rather, we should be giving because it is a good thing.

The good news is that when we lead our life being nice to others, our life runs more smoothly.    3    But if you practice being generous, most of your relationships will improve.

At the same time, we should remember to receive gratefully. I truly believe that you cant say “thank you” enough when you receive.

    4    Parents can feel unappreciated by their children, and teachers can feel unappreciated by their students. Do you think it unnecessary to thank them when receiving just because a task is part of someone’s job description？ That’s wrong！

    5    It is good for us to say “thank you” because we regularly need to remind ourselves how lucky we are. And hearing those two words can make us feel great for days.

If you are looking for a way to improve your life, I can give you one: Give generously and receive gratefully.

8 . Some termite (白蚁) species have figured out how to enjoy the shelter of the huge complex nests that the insects build without contributing to their construction. They avoid the full anger of their builder hosts by being extremely easy-going.

Animals that live in the nests of another species without affecting them are known as inquilines. Inquiline termites are unique among termites in being unable to make their own nests. Instead, they live in the hallways built by another termite, Constrictotermes cyphergaster. Until now, it has been unclear how the two parties kept peaceful in such tight quarters because termites are typically very aggressive towards outsiders.

Helder Hugo at the University of Konstanz in Germany and his colleagues collected Constrictotermes cyphergaster’s nests in the Brazilian Cerrado and brought them into the laboratory. They then placed host and tenant (房客) termites in either open or narrow areas and used video to track and record the ways in which the two species reacted to each other.

Right from the start, the inquiline’ termites moved around less than their hosts and interacted little with them, even in the much narrower area. “Many times,” says Hugo, “when two unrelated groups are put together in a limited space—such as an experimental area—the outcome is conflict with losses from both sides.” But that didn’t happen here. Despite attacks from host termites, the tenant termites were obedient. Hosts would bite or attack the inquilines with strong chemicals, but their targets never responded in the same way, choosing to flee. Some ignored the hosts completely.

“We did not expect that they would never fight back,” says Hugo, noting that the inquilines are capable of protecting their own place with mouths. “By preventing conflict going worse, inquiline termites may considerably improve their chances of living together with their host termites peacefully.”

“Passiveness does not necessarily lead to defeat, but can be a very useful strategy, saving energy and resources,” she adds. “Nature may not always be red in tooth and claw, and aggression is not any more successful a strategy than ‘cowardice’ (儒弱).”