Cordless Blade 5 is a great one for sheer suction (吸力) power. It’s easy to use it under furniture and it works well on all surfaces. The dust tank holds 0.7 litres and it comes with two batteries for 90 minutes of charge. If you’re on a budget, the Blade 4 is a good option   (now £250, from £450; vax. co.uk)

At 890 W, this corded vacuum is “exceptionally powerful” and its “Air Clean” filtration traps even tiny particles. It has a 12m radius (半径) and comes with three tools, stored in the body (£219; miele.co.uk)

This 880 W corded vacuum has remarkable suction power. It can switch between cleaning carpets or hard floors, and has an anti-hair-wrap brush roll and an LED light to show up dust (£330; sharkclean.co.uk)

Unusually easy to move or turn skillfully thanks to its responsive rollerball, this bagless vacuum delivers strong suction and is great for getting up pet hair. A bit heavy at 7.4kg, it has a ten-metre cord and 3.5-litre caddy, which ejects at the touch of a button (£380; dyson.co.uk)

A long-standing favourite, the Henry is famously strong and great value. It has a large six-litre dust bag, and packs 620W of power. Its cord is a generous ten metres, and it has a long 2.2m hose, which is useful for cleaning up high and under sofas (£130; myhenry.com).

2 . A decade ago, the day before Christmas, my mother announced we were no longer celebrating Christmas. “Boys, go to find a big _________ that we can use as a tree”. My mother said, “We are going to _________ the tree with leftovers for the seagulls to eat. Those guys must get _________ in winter when there isn’t much _________.”

“Mom, we don’t want to _________ you, but does anyone else think it kind of crazy?” One of my brothers asked _________. “You’ll do whatever your mother wants.” My father jumped into _________. Then on the -30°beach, my family gathered around a branch stuck into the _________ with boxes of food to _________ what my mom named “Seagull Day.” Our bodies shook, fingers __________.

Ten years later, with the chill of the air and the __________ of kids, my mom declared, “Find little places on the tree to __________ the snacks. Think of them as beautiful decorations.” My daughters, nieces and nephews __________ immediately with wild joy. When the boxes and bags of snacks were __________, we stood back and __________ our creation. We asked a passer-by to take pictures of us with our tree. “What’s this all about?” She asked __________.

“It’s Seagull Day!” The kids said __________. They were surprised when people hadn’t heard of Seagull Day. To them, it was a(an)__________ — maybe as big as a national — holiday.

My social media posts and pictures have __________ long lines of questions and the “I want to do this next year!” promise. I __________ everyone, “Yes, you do!”

3 . The blue whale holds the current record as the largest creature to live on Earth, but a collection of bones found in Per u might break that record. Researchers have identified a whale species called Perucetus colossus in the publication Nature. Bones from this species, including backbones weighing over 100 kilograms each and ribs measuring nearly 1. 4 meters long, were found by Mario Urbina in 2012 in the Ica desert.

The area where the bones were found was once underwater, making it a rich source of ocean fossils. The find resulted in 13 backbone vertebrae (脊椎), four ribs and a hip bone. The large fossils date back to around 39 million years ago. Alberto Collareta, a lead writer of the study, described the fossils as unlike anything he had ever seen before.

The researchers used 3D scanners to study the bones’ surface and also looked inside. Based on the incomplete skeleton, the team estimated that the ancient creature weighed somewhere between 85 and 340 metric tons. Comparatively, the largest blue whales found fell within that range, at around 180 metric tons. The Perucetus colossus measured about 20meters long, while blue whales can reach 30 meters in length. This means the newly discovered whale was “feasibly the heaviest animal ever,” said Alberto Collareta. But he added, “it was most likely not the longest animal ever.”

Interestingly, the density and weight of the Perucetus colossus’ bones were much higher than those of a blue whale. This suggests that the colossal whale may have inhabited shallower coastal waters, similar to other coastal animals with heavy bones.

Another researcher, Amson, said, without the skull, it is hard to know what the whale was eating to support such a huge body. It is possible that the large creature sought food along the seafloor, the researchers said. Or it could have eaten up tons of smaller sea life in the ocean. Swiesen, a paleontologist, added that he would not be surprised “if this thing actually fed in a totally different way that we would never imagine.”

Sichuanese is China’s most thrilling regional cuisine. Although it’s most famous for     1     (it) electrifying use of chilies (辣椒) and lip-tingling Sichuan Peppercorns (花椒), the heart of the local style of cooking     2     (lie) in the artful mixing of flavors.

Sichuanese     3     (cook) specialize in combining hot, numbing, sweet, sour, savory and nutty seasonings     4     (create) an astonishing variety of flavors. Some of these are     5     (incredible) hot, some dishes are mildly spicy and some are not hot at all.

While Sichuan pepper is     6     ancient Chinese spice, the chili is a relatively recent import from the Americas. It wasn’t widely cultivated in Sichuan     7     the 19th century but went on to become one of its most indispensable local seasonings.

In Sichuanese dialect, chilies     8     (know) as “sea pepper” (hai jiao) too, a reference to their foreign origins. Locals explain their preference for chilies comes from traditional Chinese medicine,     9     people are advised to eat plenty of “heating foods” to counter the damp of the local climate. People     10     (visit) Sichuan are often asked, “ni pa bu pa la” — “Are you afraid of Chili heat?”

10 . I was a lecturer for 10 years when I met my greatest teacher. It wasn’t in a _______ but in a hospital. She was my daughter Kelsey.

She was born with congenital cerebral palsy (先天性脑瘫). At four, she still _______ to tie her shoes. It was _______ for her. After three years of _______, Kelsey made it. Her accomplishment taught me that pace wasn’t going to be crucial — achieving goals according to her own _______ matters most.

At age 5, she won a battle against cancer. Kelsey _______ through creative play. In the hospital, the game was always “restaurant” with her playing waitress and the rest of us _______ as customers. She enjoyed herself in the _______ for several hours _______, as if we weren’t in the hospital at all. At home, the play turned to “hospital.” Her game included medical terms even we adults didn’t understand. We’d just play along as she ________ herself in her roles.

At six, she wished to take ballet lessons. I’m embarrassed to admit how much this ________ me. I wasn’t just afraid for her body, but for her ________.

I worried about the __________ she might get from the class. But she wouldn’t ________ and the expectation in her eyes ________ all the drawbacks, so we enrolled her in a ballet school.

Kelsey danced with ________! Did she fall? Of course. Was she awkward? Very. But she was completely ________ by her situation. The sheer joy of dancing was enough. After four years, she ________ to horse riding. This time, I signed her up without ________.

Now a seventh grader, Kelsey continues to embrace her life and teach us invaluable __________ about persistence and the power we could never have otherwise.

Kelsey, I’ll never have a greater teacher!