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4 . The Appalachian Trail winds some 2,190 miles across 14 states in the eastern US. Although it attracts thousands of serious hikers each spring, only one in four hikers completes the entire trail.

The Sutton family recently finished hiking the entire trail. They are a unique trio (三人组) as their son Harvey turned five on the trail, which makes him the youngest to complete the Appalachian Trail.

Josh and Carrie Sutton said they needed to take breaks from busy work called mini-retirements. “ We set the family goal of living a life with extraordinary stories. Doing things like hiking with a child on the Appalachian Trail gives you extraordinary stories, ” Josh Sutton said.

When Harvey turned three, they took him winter camping, and by the time he was four, the family completed a 50-mile hike, camping over six days. Seeing that Harvey developed a passion for hiking, they planned a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. Hiking from end to end is called a thru-hike and generally takes five to seven months to complete.

They hit the trail in Georgia on January 13, 2021. The first weeks were cold. The trail was icy and snow-covered, and the weather was often cloudy and bitter, so they made slow progress. They would wake up early each day, pack their gear (装备), and then start walking. As they had many miles to cover each day, they had to be inventive and started using imagination and Skittles (彩虹糖) as incentive for little Harvey.

The family completed their journey on August 9, 2021. Little Harvey learned to count all the way to 2,193, the total miles his little feet traveled, and a big number for someone who just started kindergarten. “ I will do it again because I like it so much, ” said Harvey.

Although the Suttons are now back home, they have incredible memories of this mini-retirement. The journey is a life-changing experience for the Sutton family and is an inspiration for families who dream of taking a similar journey.

6 . We are so used to the beauty of trees, plants and flowers that we may even take it for granted without realizing how much inspiration it has given us. For instance, an open flower might make us think how _______ it resembles an umbrella. It’s natural to think in this way, but actually it is the flower that inspires the umbrella.

Nature has inspired many of the most fascinating designs around us, those in architecture included. Today, architects continue to _______ ways to capture the beauty of natural forms, to mimic the way nature _______ or even to make natural organisms part of a building.

People whose interest is exploring the _______ between art and science will enjoy Singapore’s ArtScience Museum. It is _______to resemble a lotus flower whose floor collects rainwater and then recycles it through the plumbing system. Visitors are often _______ to find themselves in an urban building that so _______ captures the beauty of natural form.

Watching a nature documentary in which termites were constructing their nests inspired Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce to create the Eastgate Centre. The design _______ the need for traditional air conditioning and heating systems, so the building uses less energy and costs _______to run.

The world’s first algae-powered building is in Hamburg, Germany. The ________ of the apartment building is covered in panels containing algae, which capture ________ from the sun and change it into energy that powers the building. Therefore, the building not only ________ its environment and uses less energy, but also reduces ________ to the environment.

Creating buildings such as these enables us to live ________ our environment. To meet the needs of today while protecting the world of tomorrow may be a challenge, but even the ________organisms can help teach us how to achieve this.

7 .

It may sound like the plot of a Disney movie, but Todd, a fox, really does think he’s a dog. The animal was tamed after being rescued as a 4-month-old cub (幼崽) and was raised as a pet by owner Emma D’ Sylva. Since then the lovable fox has picked up a number of dog characteristics such as tail wagging (摇尾巴), playing with toys and even walking on a lead.

The 11-month-old animal accompanies Emma’s pets Sky and Oakley on walks, drawing double attention from other dog-walkers when they see Todd moving quickly through the local park with Sky and Oakley. They thought as a fox, he has too many dog characteristics. He also sleeps in a kennel (狗窝) , plays with the other dogs and even wags his tail during its feeding time.

“I’ve had Todd since he was about 4 months old because his previous owners couldn’t look after him anymore. He was a bit crazy when he first came to me last year, but now he has a really strong bond with me. He will run up to me wagging his tail when I go to feed him.” Emma, 25, from Stanfield, said.

“Sometimes he comes into my room, but he prefers being outside. He gets on well with my two dogs, and wants to play with them all the time. If people or dogs come up to him in the park, he will lie down at first and freeze but after a few seconds he will sniff (嗅) around the dogs or sit patiently.”

Emma takes some of her 40 pets into schools and care homes to enable children and the elderly to interact with a range of animals. Emma’s husband, Steve Johnson, added, “Todd went out on his first school visit the other week and the children really enjoyed playing with him.”

9 . The increase in the price of oil has brought the world to its senses. Scientists are searching for suitable alternative (替换) but so far in vain. They are considering how they can make better use of the two other major fuels, coal and natural gas, but they have found that neither can take the place of oil in their economics. In recent years there has been a growing concern for the environment and coal is not a popular fuel with environmentalists. Natural gas, the purest of the three fuels, is also the most limited in supply.

The answer would seem to lie in nuclear power stations. They need very little fuel to produce enormous amounts of power and they do not pollute the atmosphere. Their dangers, however, are so great and the cost of building them are also high. Not only could one accident in a nuclear power station spread as much radioactivity as a thousand Hiroshima atom bombs, but the radioactive waste from these station is extremely dangerous.

Scientists have recently turned their attention to natural sources of energy: the sun, the sea, the wind and hot spring，of which the sun seems the most promising source for the future. Houses have already been built which are heated entirely by solar energy. However, solar energy can only be collected during daylight hours, and in countries where the weather is unreliable, an alternative heating system has to be included.

However, many scientists are optimistic (乐观的) that new ways of generating large amounts of energy will be successfully developed, but at the same time they fear the consequences. If the world population goes on increasing at its present rate, we may, in fifty years’ time, be burning up so much energy that we would damage the earth’s atmosphere. By raising the temperature of the atmosphere, we could melt the Arctic and Antarctic ice-caps and change the pattern of vegetable and animal life throughout the world — a frightening possibility.

10 . Fire ants are famous for their construction projects (as well as their burning bites). When they need to, colonies of these insects turn themselves into ladders, chains and walls. And when flood water rises, a colony can float to safety by making an unusual boat. The ants hold tightly to each other, forming a floating disk atop the water. The antraft may float for months seeking safe harbor. The ants on the bottom don’t drown, and the ants on the top stay dry. Working together, the ants float to safety — even though a single ant alone in the water will struggle to survive.

“They have to stay together as a colony to survive.” Nathan Mlot said.

Fire ants and water don’t mix. The ant’s hard outer shell, naturally repels water. A drop of water can sit on top of the ant like a backpack. When an ant does end up underwater, tiny hairs on its body can trap bubbles of air that give the bug a boost up.

To investigate the science behind the antraft, the scientists placed hundreds or thousands of ants at a time in the water. A group of ants took about 100 seconds, on average, to build a raft. The researchers repeated the experiment multiple times. Each time, the ants organized themselves the same way, creating a raft about the size and the thickness of a thin pancake. The rafts were flexible and strong, staying together even when the researchers pushed the rafts underwater.

The scientists then froze the rafts in liquid nitrogen and studied them under powerful microscopes to figure out how the ants kept everyone safe and the water out.

The team found that some ants used their jaws to bite other ants’ legs. Other ants joined their legs together. Thanks to these tight bonds, say the scientists, the ants did a better job at keeping the water away than any one ant could do on its own. By working together, thousands of ants can stay alive in the face of a crisis like a flood by using their own bodies to build a boat.