3 . In 1998, I headed from a small town in South Wales to Sheffield University. Sheffield, the UK’s fourth biggest city, had it all — clubs, bars, and theaters. It was a huge contrast to my hometown, which hadn’t had a cinema until 1997. Sheffield had various choices — I thought I’d love it. But I missed the Wye Valley occasionally.

Over time, I settled. Now I’ve lived in Sheffield longer than in my hometown. Yet no matter how happy I am in my adopted city, there’s always a desire to return to Wales. The simple answer is that the idea of home doesn’t necessarily relate to time spent in a place — instead, it is about a special connection and a feeling of safety.

“Homesickness usually comes from being somewhere that doesn’t quite feel like home,” says psychologist Wendy Dignan. “As humans, we create a safe zone (地带). Some people may not be particularly attached (依恋) to a place, so they always feel safe. However, others’ safe zone might be a particular place, a home, or a familiar person, the absence of which may lead to homesıckness.”

There are things you can help yourself if you are struggling with homesickness. Dignan suggests going to the same coffee shop or gym at a certain time to build a pattern of familiarity because, it is a useful tool for overcoming homesickness and building that all-important safe zone. When so much in our lives is unpredictable, it is no surprise that we crave safe zone.

I’m fortunate to have a loving family, supportive friends, and a comfortable home in Sheffield, but however much I love my life here, there’s an inner part of me that will forever be in Wales.

4 . “Thank you for your participation. But I’m sorry to tell you that you _________ the interview.” I received the email two weeks after interviewing for a position. When I read it, I felt upset because I’d spent hours making _________ before the interview and in the end, I didn’t even know why I didn’t get through. “How can I _________ my job search approach if I didn’t even know what was wrong?” I thought.

The value of feedback (反馈) became obvious after I received another _________ call months later, “_________, we decided to offer the job to someone else.” Again I felt _________. But the conversation wasn’t over. “Would you like to hear the _________ from us?” he asked.

Then the representative explained that I hadn’t clearly _________ my motivation (动机) for applying for the position. The feedback was _________ to hear, but I quickly realized he was right. I started to __________ myself. Since my top consideration had been to find a position, I wasn’t very __________ about what I applied for. I pursued any job opportunity as long as it broadly fitted my skills.

From then on, I carefully __________ each job and only considered the ones that attracted me most. Soon the approach started to __________—I got a great offer. Years later, as an interviewer, I treat every interview as an important __________: interviewees invest (投资) effort and in return, I will give them feedback. It is because without feedback, we are likely to make the same __________ over and over again.

Rice is the most common food for a large part of the world’s human population. Its biological cycle     1     (range) from about 95 days to around 250 days. It’s important to harvest rice crops on time. If we harvest too early, the     2     (collect) grains will not be fully grown. When crops are harvested late, grains will fall onto the ground, leading to heavy losses. As     3     general rule, the harvest may begin only when grains have a golden color.

Harvesting can take place manually (手动地) or mechanically. In manual harvesting, farmers collect rice plants     4     (use) sharp knives. Then, they carefully remove the grains. Mechanical harvesting can be done with machines that combine all the     5     (function), such as cutting and threshing (脱粒).

After harvesting, rice seeds contain a lot of moisture (水分).     6     (normal), farmers dry the grains out before storage     7     (prevent) them from going bad. There are mainly two approaches to making grains dry—the traditional method and the mechanical one. Because of its low and almost zero cost, the traditional drying method     8     (prefer) in plenty of countries. Farmers spread the grains over places     9     it’s easy for them to receive sunlight. The mechanical drying method uses different types of dryers to remove water     10     grains.

6 . Welcome to Epcot’s Festival of the Arts

Held annually at Walt Disney World Resort, Epcot’s Festival of the Arts involves various activities from viewing art exhibits and participating in interactive workshops to enjoying creative and colorful food dishes.

Standard date-based tickets are offered, which requires you to choose a start date. One ticket per day for an adult costs $120 and kids under 12 get per ticket with 20% off. You can save $20 per ticket if you purchase 3-day or longer tickets!

7 . In Bududa, a lush yet landslide-prone district of eastern Uganda, Mary Butsina and a growing number of other women farmers are building their livelihoods around coffee. “I’m supporting all of my 10 children with it.” says the 36-year-old, holding a red bucket.

From farming stock, Mary first went to work with her father at the age of 10. Profits from his coffee crop covered her school fees. She married into coffee too, with her husband giving her 100 trees as a wedding present. But Mary’s since planted more than 300 herself and joined a women’s cooperative. “The aim was to reduce the dependence of women on men in coffee.” Mary says, though husbands are allowed to join too—as they tend to own the coffee plantations and support their wives. “More women have started to plant their own coffee.” she says.

Mary rises early every day to pick the coffee cherries. “It’s hard work but when you concentrate it can become easy.” says Mary. After gathering the ripe fruit, she puts it in a bucket of water to weed out the unhealthy cherries. The beans are then fermented (发酵) in water for at least two days before being laid out to dry in direct sunlight. Once dried, the beans are gathered up and later collected by Endiro Coffee, a social enterprise working with women-led, organic farms. The coffee is later milled, roasted and ground, ready for use.

It hasn’t been an easy journey for the Bududa farmers, who’ve faced annual landslides for the past 15 years. In 2018, Mary’s mother’s house was destroyed and she lost some of her coffee plantations. She dreams of living in a solidly built house with water nearby, so she doesn’t have to trek (跋涉) a long way to fetch it－but these will take time to save for. “I’ve worked a lot and I don’t want to stop, but I want my money to work for me.” she says.

8 . On Sept. 17, 2022, a father Jeff and son Johnny set out to begin the first of the Ironman competition (铁人三项比赛) in Cambridge. Johnny has cerebral palsy (脑瘫), which _________ his difficulty in walking. Jeff would act as his arms and _________, carrying the weight of his son throughout the race.

From the day Johnny was born, Jeff and his wife refused to let their son’s _________ hold him back. Determined to show Johnny that he could go after his _________ of being an athlete, when he was 15 years old, they signed him up with My Team Triumph, an organization that helps kids with disabilities engage in _________.

Jeff began waking up at 4 in the early morning, and he could run while _________ Johnny in a wheelchair called a racing chair. “I wanted to help him _________ his dreams,” Jeff said.

The race began with a 2.4-mile _________ in the Choptank River. Jeff helped Johnny into a kayak (皮船) and Jeff went into the _________, pushing the kayak. The pair __________ the swim in 90 minutes. Then it was on to the __________ leg: a 112-mile bicycle ride.

They completed the __________ bike ride in about nine hours, then tried hard to finish the final leg of the race—a 26.2-mile marathon.

After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds, tiredly but __________, the father and son __________ the finish line together. Jeff helped make Johnny’s goal a __________.