2 . I have begun every conversation with the usual opening line, “Entschuldigung, mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut” since I moved to Hermsdorf, a little village in east Germany in 2015. The purpose was to let the Germans know that they shouldn’t expect me to express more ideas or respond quickly and accurately, so I escape too much conversation with them.

Learning to speak German was not funny for meat all. Even if I could technically write academic (学术的) articles in German, the thought of calling a doctor to make an appointment (约定) would still bring me anxiety. I would stammer (口吃) during small talk with a mother I had never met before, while dressing my one-year-old at kindergarten.

This went on for almost ten years until a month ago. I was at home, telling my husband about a meeting I’d had. As usual, I started the meeting by apologizing (道歉) for my poor German. The lady behind the desk looked at me somewhat confused, “But your German is great.” “She is right, you know,” my husband said. “I don’t know why you still think you speak poor German. OK, it is not perfect, but who cares?” After living in Germany for nearly ten years, why did I still worry so much? I finally saw the light. It was because I was trying to protect my feelings.

Lately, when I sat across from a woman who could be my future boss, I felt anxious about the interview, especially the unavoidable question, “Tell me about yourself.” I really wanted to use my usual opening line, but I didn’t and thought I should trust myself and my German. That afternoon, l was called back to meet the CEO who told me that I was hired, and when we shook hands, she didn’t mention anything about my German skills.

Music in its many forms is a powerful force. For centuries, people all over the world have created or listened to music in its     1     (variety) forms. The power of music can     2     (feel) from the beating of drums to the ringing of bells, from the sound of a piano to the clapping of hands and stamping of feet.

In many cultures, music making     3     (happen) with story telling. In some cultures it has been used     4    (help) treat illnesses. Today, music therapy (疗法) is a way of helping people with disabilities. For some people who have trouble     5     (communicate) in words, music can be the bridge     6     helps them express themselves more     7     (free).

The power of music is this―it will touch all our lives in some way. It could be we a e interested in the popular music of today and the classical music of yesterday, or have a fascination with creating wonderful instruments. It could be we join     8     band or an orchestra, become a street musician or     9     (compose), or we could simply be listeners.

Although the music today may be different     10     what the next generation will listen to, it will always be part of our world.

6 . Self-driving cars may sound like something from a futuristic sci-fi novel. However, with advanced trials expected from 2021, they are a lot closer to reality than you may think, and they could really help you.

Connected and automated vehicles (also known as CAVs), are vehicles that could perform many of the functions of today’s human drivers in the future. Aware of the potential benefits of the technology from improving road safety and reducing traffic congestion (拥塞), to enabling greater travel independence-the U. K. government has been encouraging the technology.

“However, we won’t get there unless those designing the technology engage properly with a wide range of transport users,” said lain Forbes, head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

FLOURISH, one initiative that received government backing, has helped to advance the successful implementation of CAVs in the U. K. by developing services and capabilities which maxi-mise the benefits of driverless vehicles for users and transport authorities.

The project was a collaboration between small and medium companies and large businesses across multiple industries, universities, local authorities and the not-for-profit sector, to investigate how these vehicles might benefit older adults and those with mobility-related conditions.

Mervyn Kohler, an Age U. K. spokesman, believes FLOURISH’s approach will be key to the positive impact self-driving cars have on older adults. “The project’s connectivity findings will also help the users of the future to make real-time journey decisions, responding to live information,” Tracey Poole, FLOURISH’s project manager and transport planning specialist says: “Not only will these vehicles be more inclusive; they will also be safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.”

Although safety is one of the big prizes associated with the introduction of self-driving cars, with the vast majority of collisions caused by human error, concerns about their safety are common.

The government is keen to understand the public’s view on CAVs and continues to survey public attitudes. It is also taking big steps towards establishing how our laws and regulations might need to change to support the safe use of self-driving cars.

7 . I grew up on a dairy farm. The particular life location to which I got assigned—“stuck” is a better word if you’ve ever been there — was a small family-owned-and-operated outfit.

I remember the Christmas when our main hired hand dropped out of the work rotation. Sixteen and the oldest of the kids left at home, I was called on to fill in. Halfway through the first day, I realized I had never noticed exactly how much that worker did. For five days I either milked or slept, fed calves (牛犊) or slept. I have to admit this gave me a deep appreciation of how hard my parents worked day in and day out for 30 years, and that understanding solidified my determination to do whatever it took to not stay on that dairy farm my whole life.

Eventually, my determination paid off. I got into college. Now, I no longer have to worry about my father’s voice yelling, “Stace, come out here! We need help!” To be honest, I’m grateful. But at the same time, I also don’t have a compelling reason to be up in time to see the beauty of a sunrise. Nor do I have the opportunity to dance with my sister in the dairy barn, work side-by-side with my dad and hear the old stories.

Now, there are whole stretches of days when I don’t feel any pressing need to even go outside. And I can go months without petting an animal or watching in amazement at their keen sense of the environment around them. Instead, I have neighbors within shouting distance but who feel like they live a planet away.

Eighteen years I lived my life on that dairy, not really knowing there were people who didn’t get up and go out and work together to get the same overwhelming tasks done day after day. Sometimes I wish I had never found out there were.

8 . Sweating may not be your favorite thing to do, but it is necessary.     1    . Here are four research-backed reasons why this salt-based fluid can benefit you.

Sweat is known to cool the skin, bringing toxins (毒素) to the surface and giving the skin a healthy glow. Research shows that sweating can increase and maintain skin hydration. However, leaving sweat on the skin for too long can cause skin diseases such as acne.     2    .

When you’re hot, your heart beats faster to cool the body, releasing endorphins that cause feelings of joy.     3    . In a 2015 study, people who smelled “happy sweat” displayed tendencies associated with happiness. However, those exposed to fear-induced sweat showed characteristics of terror.

When sitting in a sauna (桑拿浴室), your body temperature rises, so your body works overtime to cool itself down by sweating. And you’ll be better off for it. A 20-year Finnish study found that people who sweated it out regularly in a sauna had a lower rate of sudden cardiac (心脏的) deaths.

If you sweat heavily during exercise, that’s usually a positive sign. Athletes tend to sweat sooner and more than inactive people. Their bodies have learned to cool down more efficiently during physical activity. A PLOSONE study supports this, showing that long-distance runners not only got sweatier sooner, but also activated more sweat glands, resulting in more sweat than their non-active counterparts.

10 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.

The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.

When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.

The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.

“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.