3 . The world that we live in is beautiful because it’s made up of people from a diverse set of backgrounds and cultures.     1     There’s no better way than to acknowledge Global Diversity Awareness Month every October.

During this time, our multicultural world is embraced and celebrated for all of the variety and joy it brings. Can you imagine a world where everyone looks the same, has the exact same hobbies and interests, and even eats the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner?     2     And bringing those differences together makes us better.

To put it simply, our diversity and inclusiveness (包容性)are our biggest strengths. We’ll all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good. As such, Global Diversity Awareness Month is a great chance for us to learn more about the beliefs, values and customs of other cultures.         3    

    4     For example, we can host a multicultural movie night and watch foreign films, or listen to music from around the world or visit cultural art exhibitions. Another way we can celebrate diversity is by inviting our friends and family to dinner. Everyone can bring traditional dishes from their countries and hometowns.

There is no doubt that diversity and inclusiveness make our world a better place.     5     As Mahatma Gandhi once said, our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization. Hopefully, with each passing day, we get closer and closer to that achievement.

4 . I’m an American-born Chinese. I wouldn’t say I’m more American than Chinese or vice versa. My character was equally molded by both cultures. For a long time, I was comfortable with being from two cultures. I was fluent in “Chinglish”.

However, as I grew up, something unexpected rose, causing a parallel tension between the two corresponding cultures. During Chinese events when I was in China, the host would sometimes make fun of America. My relatives would look at me and laugh, asking me how I felt. But how could I respond to a question like that? If I said I was uncomfortable, it would just make me seem even more American in their eyes. But I couldn’t pretend to laugh either. So, I often just stayed quiet and smiled.

Sometimes, I’d leave China feeling less Chinese than when I went in.

This past summer, on my way back to Rochester, a man at the airport kept asking my father and I where we were from. When I told him I was from the United States, he didn’t seem to believe me.

He then went on to ask the terrible question, “But like where are you really from, like, where were you born?” And no matter how specific our answers were, the man still seemed a little doubtful. He then went on to ask us if we knew where Tampa, Florida was and if we knew anything about it. It’s moments like these when I realize that sometimes my appearance makes it hard for me to seem fully American.

These experiences made me question if I was more Chinese or American.

I felt like I was neither. So, if I wasn’t completely one culture or the other, what was I? In China, I would feel more American, while in America, I would feel more Chinese. There was no balance between my two cultures.

But this doesn’t mean that I don’t embrace (拥抱) both my identities. I love both my Chinese cultural identity and my American one. I just need to learn to love them together.

I have been in Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi, for two years since I     1    (admit) to a PhD program in Shanxi University as an international student.

Over the two years, I found     2    (I) falling in love with Shanxi and China as I got more familiar     3     the city, the province and the country. You have to adapt to everything—food, language and culture. But for me, the     4    (adapt) didn’t take a long period of time. I have got used to eating noodles for breakfast and using online payment via my smartphone very     5    (quick).

My favorite sport is cycling and I find China is very cyclist-friendly because it is convenient     6    (hire) bicycles in every city in the country. I like to cycle on     7     streets in Taiyuan and visit places I meet randomly. The cycling tours helped to deepen my understanding of the city.

Taiyuan     8    (have) a history of more than 2,500 years, among the     9    (old) cities in China. An abundance of well-preserved ancient structures, like the temples in Jinci, are the material evidence to help you get a quick look at     10     ancient China looked like.

7 . Now a group of Italians have created the world’s first underwater garden for terrestrial plants. Called Nemo’s Garden, the project was launched by the Ocean Reef Group as a means to experiment with food supply diversity, should climatic changes make parts of Italy too dry to farm. The large self-sustaining, totally-contained biospheres would in theory be scalable, and perhaps in the future might look like the underwater city from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The challenge existing in growing plants underwater, given that they are normally at home in soil, was but one obstacle Nemo has had to overcome. The six air-filled greenhouses suffered major storm damage in October 2019, and before they could be fully repaired, COVID-19(新冠病毒) had all the researchers sheltering in place.

Yet the team never gave up hope, as Euronews reports, and the months of abandonment did not harm the facility in any way. June 6th saw the garden fully-operational again, including their live stream where one can watch the plants grow. The biospheres(生物圏), which sit eight meters under the surface off the coast of Noli in Liguria, use solar energy for their minimal electrical needs, and evaporated seawater condenses(凝结) on the glass of the ceiling which waters the plants. A diver swims under and up into the air pocket of the pod to harvest what’s ready to eat.

The project website says that increased pressure like that found under the ocean is actually beneficial to the speed at which plants can come up, though they admit very little research has been published on the topic—after all, not so many people are currently trying to grow strawberries it underwater.

The conditions create a really intense flavor in the vegetables, and also allow the plants’ environment to be completely controlled, with nothing impacting their life dial the growers don’t want. For now Nemo’s Garden is essentially a research lab, but if tie idea were expanded, it’s expected to be able to keep food security for the peninsula, and the world.

8 . IKEA has assembling furniture down to an art. Just go to the store, pick up a bookcase and open the box. Inside you will find everything you need and easy to follow directions. It’s a perfect fit for people who like to DIY.

Now Ryan Schlotthauer, a recent graduate, has come up with a DIY electric car according to Fast Company. Inspired by IKEA and the French automaker Renault, he designed the Höga for his thesis(论文) project.

The Höga was packed for assembly(组装) just like the bookcase from IKEA. Schlotthauer’s approach was to treat the vehicle just like one big piece of furniture with 374 parts to be assembled. The bottom of the Höga is a flat chassis(底盘) that resembles a skateboard and contains the batteries, engine, wheels, and brakes; a model that is already being used for electric cars. The top can be customized depending on need. The Höga has a bright yellow outside and a blue interior. All of the parts are color coded for easy assembly. Yellow ones are for controls and red ones for technical parts.

The mini vehicle which is only 1.8 meters high and 2.3 meters long can seat two adults. The shape of this unique electric car was inspired by the Bauhaus concept of clean design. But small does not mean that the car cannot carry a load. The cabin can be configured to accommodate a bicycle, stroller, and even enough luggage for a vacation. The rear of the vehicle can also be opened to carry an oversize load, like an IKEA closet or couch. In fact, the vehicle doesn’t have doors like a conventional car, both the front and back open.

While the Höga is just a conceptual design that was modeled in software and there are no plans to manufacture it, it is still a great idea because it would be a very affordable car for low-speed driving. Who knows, maybe a marriage between IKEA and Renault is possible and someday you will be able to build your own car.

9 . The events and exhibitions will let you have a good time without spending a coin.

The Bar Comedy is a show of Melbourne’s funniest and finest comedians. This show supports and encourages diversity in all its forms. Come along on the third Thursday of each month to witness and laugh your head off at a great and unique night in Melbourne comedy.

Worlds Immersive is a 5-minute cinematic(电影的) journey from the origin of the universe, through the building blocks of nature, to explore the patterns and connections that bind us and the natural world together. Artist Josef Gatti is an emerging filmmaker, specialising in storytelling through new motion picture technology and innovative techniques.

Over 300 species of animals from around the world can be found in Melbourne Zoo, just minutes from the central city. There are also interactive exhibits where visitors have the chance to learn all about the zoo's animals, the fight to save wildlife from extinction, and what visitors can do to help.

All members and visitors must pre-book a ticket online. You will not be able to book tickets at the gate. Evening sessions, from 4 pm to 8 pm, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Children under 16 years old receive free entry every weekend, during school holidays and on Victorian public holidays.

10 . Satellite imagery like Google Earth makes it easy for ecologists halfway around the world to check up on tropical forests—see illegal roads and logging (伐木), for example. But the information is limited.

“Satellite data often tells you what happens after it's happened.” Rhett Butler said, the founder of Mongabay. com, an environmental science news website. In a perspective piece in the journal Science, he and his colleagues write that sound recordings can supplement satellite data as another conservation tool.

You can actually set up alerts. So you can hear things like chainsaws (电锯) or gunshots in real time. So you can get put ahead of potential deforestation before it occurs. Small audio recorders, some of which are solar-powered and connecteded to cellphone grids for data upload, also give ecologists the ability to listen secretly on a jungle's biodiversity over time.

If you're in a primary forest, you'll tend to see all the frequencies of the soundscape occupied by different species. These are insects, birds, calling mammals, frogs things like that.”

As a comparison, here is a forest plot after selective logging---meaning some trees were cut, others left standing. “As you move into a more disturbed ecosystem, you'd start to see more gapsacross the frequencies of that soundscape.”

Certain insects dominate. And the diversity of calls declines as disturbance increases. While the human ear is perceptive (感知的), algorithms (运算法则) are a much more powerful tool to comb through thousands of hours of data, to get a richer picture of changing tropical biodiversity.

Nowadays, many industries---like cattle farming, palm oil, soybean and paper production are committing to zero deforestation goals, which can be hard to measure. But by coupling satellite data and camera traps with audio recordings, ecologists can keep their eyes-and ears-on what's going on in the jungle.