1 . After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

2 . Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. For example, it may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer (乳腺癌) in ways that were not possible.

Rishi Rawat teaches AI at a University in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. He says, “You put information about cancer cells (细胞) into a computer and it will learn the cancerous growth patterns. The pattern recognition is very important to making decisions.”

At present, researchers have to take a thin piece of tissue (组织), put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cell-growth patterns. That process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do it better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can quickly recognize patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized.

The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick recognition of cancerous cell-growth patterns that is free of human mistakes. Rawat adds that the process could be done “for almost no cost for the patients”. But having a large amount of information about cells is important for a machine to effectively do its job. Once the cancerous growth pattern is recognized, doctors still have to treat the patient. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer.

David Agus is another researcher of the team. He believes, “Computers will help doctors make better decisions and look for those patterns that the human brain can’t recognize by itself. But they will not treat patients.”

Culture Day on Campus Held

Jia Sixie was a government     1    (office) from Shandong Province who conducted a lot of agricultural research in the sixth century. In his     2    (travel), he observed that some farmers had much better output than others, so he decided to investigate the best ways of    3    (attain) good harvests. After retiring, he wrote a book, Qi Min Yao Shu,     4     was comprised of sound advice and practices for people doing agricultural work.     5     one piece of advice, for instance, he told farmers to clear weeds from the ground before planting crops. They could either let the animals eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weeds     6    (cover). Then he gave advice on ploughing,     7    (suggest) that the autumn ploughing should be at a greater     8    (deep) than the spring ploughing. He also suggested changing crops to get better harvests every year. Finally, he suggested that farmers     9    (grow) a diverse range of crops next to each other in the fields. Although it has been centuries since Jia Sixie died, Qi Min Yao Shu is still considered     10     essential book in China’s agricultural history.

6 . “With the passing of Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, China and the world have lost one greatest agricultural scientists,” said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation (基金会). Quinn also shared his memory of the “father of hybrid rice” in an interview with Xinhua on Sunday.

Quinn first met Yuan in October 2004, when Yuan traveled to Des Moines in the U.S. state of Iowa to receive the World Food Prize. As they walked out of the airport, Quinn received a call and stepped aside to speak. When he turned back a minute or two later, he lost Yuan. “I had never before ‘lost’ a laureate (贵人),” he said. After an anxious search, he found Professor Yuan surrounded by a group of smiling graduate students from Iowa State University who so admired him that they wanted to take him off for a meal and conversation.

Quinn admired Yuan as a teacher. “He always had time to answer questions and speak with young scientists and students. The American high school students we sent to his research center each year always returned filled with knowledge and a deep desire to learn more.”

In Quinn’s eyes, Yuan was incredibly modest, never seeking fame, and focused only on hard work and results that could help lift people out of poverty. With a ‘down to earth’ attitude, Yuan greatly reduced hunger and provided farmers with surplus (多余的) income through his discovery of hybrid rice.

Learning of Yuan’s passing away on Saturday, Quinn issued a statement to send his deepest sympathy to Yuan’s family and colleagues. “Professor Yuan Longping, who was truly beloved in his country and by all of us who knew him, will be greatly missed. His legacy will provide inspiration to generations far into the future, in China and across the world,” Quinn said in the statement.

Yours,

Li Hua