1 . There are lots of children across the US who are living in residential treatment facilities (疗养中心). Many of these young people have _________ serious trauma (心理创伤) in their lives.

“People seldom know that they’re there,” said Mike Ball, whose nonprofit, Lost Voices, works with these teens. Bal first _________ this population of youth in 2005 after he was _________ to speak about his writing career at a college.

As a writer and music lover, Ball knew songwriting could have a _________ effect on these young people. He had other local musicians _________ for the project, and Lost Voices was born in 2007. The organization _________ weeklong programs where musicians go into residential treatment facilities to help children to write songs and find their voice.

“I’m often _________ by the songs they write,” Ball said. “Sometimes they’re silly, but heartbreakingly real.” Ball has been writing and playing music since he was a child. He made a career out of his _________. He’s known the power and freedom that comes from _________ personal stories. “Expressing yourself is really essential,” Ball said.

A key __________ of the Lost Voices program is the trauma-informed care approach, which Ball and his team are specifically __________ to carry out. They create a nonjudgmental space where kids from all walks of life can __________ express their thoughts and work through difficult __________.

The program has __________ more than 2,500 kids. For Ball and his team, working with these populations can be demanding at times, but he said it’s __________ to do it.

The Giant Panda National Park,     1     officially came into being in 2021, is a hugely ambitious project.     2     (cover) an area of 27, 000 square kilometers of countryside in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, the park is a massive drive     3     (protect) China’s pandas.

In Wannian Village, however, the news     4     (greet) with some anxiety. Thousands of people were already living in the area when the park was announced. And many of them were making a living through     5     (activity) that were illegal under the new policy.

For decades, mining and hydropower (水电) were the main industries in Wannian. The projects were     6     (profit) and created a lot of jobs. But the mines were ruinous to the local environment.

There only appeared to be one way out: turning the village     7     a tourist hotspot. Wannian has several natural advantages: it’s only 200 kilometers from Chengdu. The village also sits right on the southern tip of the park, making it     8     great jumping-off point for visitors. Plus, the nearby panda training center is famous all over China.

Local officials     9     (immediate) set about rebranding (重塑形象) Wannian as a “panda village”. The place was given a complete makeover. Cute panda sculptures were placed along the winding path leading from the highway. The newly     10     (build) hotels have attracted visitors nationwide.

5 . Self-driving cars are hitting city streets like never before. In August the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted (授予) two companies, Cruise and Waymo, permits to run driverless robo-taxis 24/7 in San Francisco and to charge passengers for those rides. This was just the latest in a series of green lights that have allowed progressively more freedom for autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the city in recent years.

Almost immediately, Cruise was criticized for its vehicles behaving unpredictably. One blocked the road outside a large music festival, and another got stuck in wet concrete. The incidents have brought renewed attention to the potential difficulties of integrating self-driving cars into the urban environment.

Yet despite some ongoing opposition, self-driving car companies have continued to expand testing and operations to more US cities. Many supporters say these vehicles could offer a safer alternative to human drivers, make transportation accessible to more people, improve traffic flows around cities and decrease the environmental impact of cars. So far, though, most of those promised benefits remain squarely in a possible future. Meanwhile, here in the present, complications have become plainly apparent.

AVs, such as those operated by Cruise and Waymo, shouldn’t be confused with commercially available cars, such as electric cars, which come with some driver-assistance features. Unlike those vehicles, which require a human driver to oversee control at all times, robo-taxis run on the road without a person monitoring and managing each movement from behind a steering wheel (方向盘). This is made possible by a very detailed internal map.

Waymo and Cruise maintain that their AVs are safer than human drivers. Both companies have released data that they claim support this, yet some researchers have their doubts. “I actually think there is not yet enough data available to the public, including researchers like me, to be able to judge relative safety,” says Steven Shladover, an engineer at the University of California.

6 . I started considering the power of dogs during one of my daily walks around my neighborhood. Almost invariably, I’ll run into at least one person walking his dog. It’s a joyous moment to approach the dog and pet it. I always walk away from these exchanges feeling just a bit more relaxed and happy. And that got me wondering: Could these short interactions with other people’s dogs actually be good for me?

“Absolutely. I think it is safe to say that animals are beneficial to our mental and physical health,” says Nancy Gee, a professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Gee says there’s some evidence that the act of actually touching a dog might be an important part of the calming effect. For instance, one study done in Canada found college students reported less stress and reduced feelings of homesickness after brief interactions with dogs, and that the effect was much bigger in those who actually got to pet the animals.

Now, the therapy (治疗) dogs used in research are screened for things like friendliness, good behavior and responsiveness to their handler’s cues (提示). And of course, not everyone is a dog person. “Pets are not a panacea (灵丹妙药),” Gee says. “They’re not necessarily going to be great for every single person. But for people who really connect with the animals, they can make a big difference.”

Research on the health benefits of human interactions with animals, especially with dogs, has exploded in recent years, thanks to the support of the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham PetCare Science Institute. Though the field is still young, Gee says the quality of the evidence is improving all the time, including more randomized controlled trials looking at short interactions. “We’re seeing really nice effects,” she says. “We actually saw those effects one month later. And there’s some evidence that they may exist six months later.”

7 . If you’re eager to find a new place to explore, the following science museums and exhibitions will have you covered.

Robot & AI Museum

Seoul, South Korea

This museum is devoted to furthering public knowledge of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The museum that houses the robots has a unique design. The circular (圆形的) building looks like a massive spaceship, and each of its four floors provides a variety of science displays and educational programs for visitors.

Grand Egyptian Museum

Cairo, Egypt

2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Now, thousands of artifacts from the tomb will go on display in the museum. Occupying an area of 120 acres, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest archaeological (考古的) museum in the world.

Franklin Institute Science Museum

Philadelphia, America

To design this new two-story gallery devoted to the future of space exploration, exhibit planners met with local students to find out what they wanted to learn. The result is an experience that will showcase the current and future technologies needed to live and work in space.

American Museum of Natural History

New York City, America

This multistory building will add tons of new exhibit space to the over-150-year-old museum. Visitors can explore one of the world’s largest displays of live leaf-cutting ants and come face to face with dozens of butterfly species. Meanwhile, the interconnectedness of life will be on display in the 360-degree “Invisible Worlds” exhibition.

More than a century ago, large numbers of Hainan people spread across Southeast Asia,     1     (take) with them their native dish Hainanese chicken rice.

As time went by, Hainanese chicken rice gradually became a popular dish in Southeast Asian     2    (country), including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Located in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, the Andrew Wong Hainanese Chicken Rice restaurant     3     (be) quite popular among the locals now.

Hainanese chicken rice     4     (cook) by the owner, Andrew Wong Hin Hausince since 2003. Andrew Wong Hin Hausince,     5     ancestral home is in Qionghai, Hainan province, gets up at around 4 am every day to buy the necessary ingredients at the market, starts to prepare the dish at 5:30 am     6     gets everything ready around 10:30 am. His     7     (create)way of cooking attracts many people.

Wong has been constantly improving the recipe. “If the guests are not     8     (satisfy). I will find a way to make it better,” he says, adding that he has never replaced the ingredients with cheaper ones. “You can’t cheat your customers by using inferior ingredients just due     9     the fact that prices keep rising,” he says.

Over the past years, Wong has tried local Hainanese chicken rice whenever he visits a new place, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong and cities in Thailand. He wants     10     (make) his restaurant better by studying the dish at other restaurants. In his eyes, Hainanese chicken rice is a heritage (文化遗产) from his home.

10 . The Open Book, a bookstore, is the idea of American writer Jessica Fox, a former NASA employee who packed in her Californian lifestyle at the age of 24 after dreaming of another life in Wigtown—Scotland’s National Book Town. Fox fell in love with Wigtown and its bookshops. She never looked back.

“It’s not just me. I think the people who come to the Open Book have a very similar reaction to Wigtown,” said Fox, now in her 30s. “It’s a magical place, which has all the things you could hope for on a trip to Scotland.”

The idea for the Open Book was sparked (触发) by Fox’s love for Wigtown, which hosts the popular Wigtown Book Festival each September. “I’d never been to Scotland. I’d only seen it in films,” recalled Fox. “I went from a heavily populated place with a car, and stuck in traffic a lot, to a place with hardly any people, amazing scenery, and no car. I absolutely loved it.”

The community of Wigtown welcomed her as one of their own when Fox settled in the town. She realized she was living the fantasy that had formerly played in her head. “I thought I couldn’t be the only crazy American who dreams of working in a bookshop by the sea in Scotland. There has to be more of us,” she laughed.

While Fox was considering this idea, one of Wigtown’s bookstores announced it was closing shop. . It seemed serendipitous (偶然的). “Finn MeCreath, who is on the Board of the Festival, and I decided to take it over and try out my idea of having a bookshop holiday,” she said. Five years later, the Open Book is a runaway success. It’s booked up online until years ahead, and there’s an extensive waiting list.