1 . After a two-hour flight from Shanghai and an hour’s drive, I reached my destination: Jielingkou Village in Qinhuangdao City of Hebei Province, China. The tiny and ________ village is home to Shanhai Pass, where the Great Wall finally dives into the sea. During the Ming Dynasty (1368~1644), Jielingkou Village was considered an extremely important part of the Great Wall. But it slowly fell out of ________ and into disrepair—in modern China.

In 2018, an anti-poverty project began in the village, with the ________ of not only fixing the place up, but also ________ the living standards of the 200 people still living there. One of the ________ was to change all of the old homes into modern guesthouses. “This will allow city folks to enjoy the Great Wall in comfort,” said Ge, who was ________ the project.

But gaining the locals’ ________ took a lot of effort at the beginning. “Just two years ago, they weren’t ________ about the project at all,” Ge told me. “Seeing that they had to ________ water from a faraway well every day, we decided to build a water system that would send water to their homes. It’s one of the first, ________ we have made. It really ________ . Now some of those who were strongly against our project are now our greatest ________ .”

Ge said he hopes that as conditions are ________ becoming better in Jielingkou, some of the younger members of the village who left to seek opportunity in the cities will come back. “Already two university graduates who grew up in the village have returned to ________ the guesthouses. I hope more will be ________ by the potentials here soon.”

2 . As a speaker of 10 languages I know the benefits of speaking more than one language. To start with, we need to dispel (消除) four common misconceptions about language learning.

You have to have a gift for learning languages.

No, you don’t.     1     In Sweden and Holland most people speak more than one language. They can’t just all be gifted at languages. In language learning it is attitude, not aptitude (天赋) that determines success.

    2    

Some immigrants to North America never learn to speak more than broken English. Yet we meet people in other countries who speak flawless English. With the Internet, language content is available to anyone with a computer.     3    

To learn a language you need formal classroom instruction.

Classrooms may be economical to run and a great place to meet others. They have the weight of history and tradition behind them. Unfortunately, a classroom is an inefficient place to learn a language.     4     A majority of school kids graduate unable to communicate in languages that they study for 10 or more years.

I would love to learn but I don't have the time.

How about the time you spend waiting in line or going for a walk? Why not use that time to listen to a language on your iPad? Once you get started, even 10 or 15 minutes a day will soon grow to 30 minutes a day, or one hour.     5     As I do, you will find the time.

The Dancing House in Prague, Czechia, is designed by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić. When it was first built, it caused a big debate because of its unusual design. Those against it said the building is not suitable for the surrounding.     1    

Before World War II, there was a 19th-century building where the Dancing House is today. Due to the damage of that building, after the war, it was decided to build a new and modern building to replace (替代) it.     2     But he didn’t accept it. Later, Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić took the project and designed this unique building.

The building of the Dancing House started in 1992 and completed in 1996. The house includes two main buildings. One has curved (弧形的) supporting columns (柱) with glass covered outsides.     3     These buildings lean into each other like they are dancing.

    4     The building was also called Fred and Ginger. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire were a well-known dance couple. They gave inspirations to this design. That’s why the corner towers of this building symbolize a dancing couple with a curved shape and swinging lines.

The curved form of the building can be felt inside of the Dancing House as well. Inclined columns, metal supports and wavy walls remind visitors what a unique building they are in.

    5     It is possible to enjoy an amazing view of Prague in the restaurant.

7 . The benefits of regular exercise are well documented but there’s a new bonus to add to the ever-growing list. New researchers found that middle-aged women who were physically fit could be nearly 90 percent less likely to develop dementia in later life, and as they did, it came on a decade later than less sporty women.

Lead researcher Dr. Helena Horder, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said : "These findings are exciting because it’s possible that improving people's cardiovascular （心血管的）fitness in middle age could delay or even prevent them from developing dementia. "

For the study, 191 women with an average age of 50 took a bicycle exercise test until they were exhausted to measure their peak （最大值的） cardiovascular capacity. The average peak workload was measured at 103 watts.

A total of 40 women met the criteria for a high fitness level, or 120 watts or higher. A total of 92 women were in the medium fitness category; and 59 women were in the low fitness category, defined as a peak workload of 80 watts or less, or having their exercise tests stopped because of high blood pressure, chest pain or other cardiovascular problems.

These women were then tested for dementia six times over the following four decades. During that time, 44 of the women developed dementia. Five percent of the highly fit women developed dementia, compared to 25 percent of the women with medium fitness and 32 percent of the women with low fitness.

"However, this study does not show cause and effect between cardiovascular fitness and dementia, it only shows an association. More research is needed to see if improved fitness could have a positive effect on the risk of dementia and also to look at when during a lifetime a high fitness level is most important. " She also admitted that a relatively small number of women were studied, all of whom were form Sweden, so the results might not be applicable to other groups.