2 . A zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, is returning two giant pandas that had been on loan from China for 20 years, prompting celebrations by animal advocates who said the health of the animals had worsened due to neglect.

The announcement on Wednesday came after months of criticism by In Defense of Animals and other advocacy groups that have accused the zoo of providing inadequate care to the pandas, Ya Ya and Le Le. Critics called on the zoo to provide them with better food, more uncaged time and ultimately a transfer to a panda refuge.

IDA posted a video on Twitter in February that showed the pandas pacing in circles around their enclosure as proof they were suffering from “physical, mental, and emotional deprivation.” It received thousands of likes and was retweeted by singer Billie Eilish.

A spokesperson for the zoo said the decision to return the pandas to China had nothing to do with pressure from animal advocates. China requires foreign zoos that host pandas on loan to allow older animals to spend their final days on Chinese soil. At 24 and 22, respectively, Le Le and Ya Ya have exceeded the giant panda life expectancy in the wild by almost 10 years, according to the spokesperson.

Giant pandas, whose black and white faces have made them beloved around the world, are considered a vulnerable species, with much of their mountainous natural habitat in southwest China under threat from deforestation.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, about 1,800 pandas are left in the wild and another 500 in zoos around the world. With the return of Ya Ya and Le Le to China, U.S. zoos will have a total of 10 giant pandas.

3 . Is it likely that a person who originally has no language ability is cheerfully discussing the World Cup with you? The answer is yes.

In a paper published in Nature Communications on November 8, 2022, researchers have successfully changed the brain waves of an aphasic (失语症) paralyzed person into sentences, which are displayed on the computer screen and can “say” thousands of words, as is intended.

This participant is 30 years old. A decade ago he was aphasic due to stroke, his arms and legs unable to move. He depended on a pole pinned on the baseball cap to click the letters on the screen to communicate with people. It's quite inconvenient.

Last year researchers from the University of California used the latest technology to implant (植入) a device into the speech motor area of his brain and connect it with a neural (神经的) instrument to monitor brain wave patterns when he expressed different words. They used computer programs to build a language model with a vocabulary of 50 words for him. When he used these words to “speak” in his mind, his brain wave movement was turned into complete sentences and shown on the screen. For months the team recorded his neural activity when he “spoke”, used AI to identify various patterns and linked them to the words. Once a researcher asked on the screen, “Do you want some water?” And he answered, “No. I'm not thirsty.”

“The spelling speed of the device reaches 29.4 characters per minute. The character error rate is only 6.13%. The offline test results show it can be expanded to a large vocabulary containing 9000 words, maintaining a low character error rate-8.23%,” said Sean Metzger, the lead author of the paper. “Aphasic people like to use this device as it makes communication convenient. Anything is possible.”

More aphasic people are needed to participate in the test, which is still a long way from promotion. Experts warn although the study results are impressive, electrode implantation is risky.

Chinese rescue teams helped save at least six people, including a pregnant woman and three children, in two separate     1    (operate) in earthquake-stricken Turkey on Thursday.

The Zhejiang Rescue Team of Ramunion said that its members worked with Turkish soldiers and local rescuers to free five survivors, including three children, from a     2    (heavy) damaged building at around 1:30 pm local time in Iskenderun, a port city in southern Hatay province.

In Antakya in the country’s south, the Chinese official rescue team, together     3     local rescuers, carried a pregnant woman out of the     4    (danger) ruins of a building at around 1:30 am, according to China’s Ministry of Emergency Management.     5    (save) the woman, rescuers and technical experts, led by Zhao Yang, deputy head of the Chinese rescue team, went into     6     ruins to survey the conditions before working out a rescue plan.

Chinese rescuers and experts participated in the entire rescue,     7    was supported by equipment     8    (bring) to Turkey by the Chinese team, the ministry said.

Seven rescuers from the Zhejiang Rescue Team of Ramunion, an NGO from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, arrived in Turkiye at 1:30 pm on Wednesday.

They immediately     9    (head) to Iskenderun after teaming up with a nine-member local logistics (后勤) support team. The Ramunion workers threw     10    (they) into the rescue attempt despite temperatures dropping to -8℃, according to the NGO.

7 . In Connecticut, &teacher made a big decision that would change the course of her life and her new student’s.

Jenna Riccio, a busy elementary school teacher, encountered a _________ that would test her pity and kindness. In 2019, Jenna _________ her new student, Nate, fell ill and needed emergency surgery. Unfortunately, the blood infection _________ the amputation (截肢) of his loge and left arm. When Jenna _________ everything and went to see Nate at the hospital, she found him alone. She decided to bring him _________ by being there for him. However, her _________ was not just an act of kindness. Jenna learned Nate had been _________.

Concerned for his well-being, Jenna _________ his social worker to apply to adopt Nate. Feeling _________ the worker agreed to help. __________, when she told her decision to her then-boyfriend, Tim who’s __________, too, he readily agreed.

Two years later, things __________ for Jenna in her love life. She and Tim got married, and disabled Nate was the ring bearer. However, their family didn’t become __________ until 2022 when Nate became their legally adopted son __________. Today, he’s in the 5th grade, growing healthy.

“Every night I go to sleep, thinking, ‘I’m very __________. I’ll repay them for their love,’”Nate says. __________, Jenna and Tim are overjoyed to have Nate in their lives. They can never __________ life without him.

Jenna’s decision to adopt Nate shows the __________ of sympathy and the __________ impact it has on someone’s life. The love and care she showed Nate __________ his life, and their journey as a family is the proof of their love and care.

8 . The Oxford Dictionary describes staycations as “a holiday spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.”     1    

It gives you almost 100% of restful time with little to no prep. Stop to consider the following: the ratio (比例) of quality time that’s spent on relaxation is more important than the number of days for holidays.     2     For instance, a weekend break that consists of long travel on either side is no recipe (良方) for relaxation.

This is one of the reasons why staycations are more refreshing than vacations.     3     Instead of losing time and energy preparing for a vacation, a staycation will provide you with high-quality resting time. You’ll get back to work feeling more refreshed, and relaxed.

    4     Staycations also tick some of the same boxes as vacations like experiencing new things. You just need to explore nearby things which you have never paid attention to. Often we overlook the attractions that are near to us.     5     However, if you make an effort to explore the area close to where you live, you may be pleasantly surprised. There will be cafes and restaurants you’ve never tried, historic buildings you’ve never seen before, and nature parks you’ve never visited. So with a little effort on your part, you’ll be able to experience new and exciting things close to home.

9 . In 2022, 61 companies in the United Kingdom (UK) took part in the world’s largest test of a four-day work week.

The pilot program, conducted in the UK, guided over 60 companies and almost 3, 000 workers through a six-month trial of a 4 day week, with no loss of pay for workers. Overall results show that almost every organization will stick to a 4-day week post-trial, with 91% definitely continuing or planning to continue, and a further 4% leaning towards continuing.

Companies rated their overall experience of the trials an average of 8. 5/10, with business productivity and business performance each scoring 7. 5/10. Profits rose by 35% over the trial periods when compared to similar periods from the previous year and hiring increased while absenteeism decreased.

Lead researcher, Professor Juliet Schor of Boston College observed an encouraging consistency in the data. “Results are largely steady across workplaces of varying sizes, showing it works for many types of organizations. There are also some interesting differences. We found that employees in non-profits and professional services had a larger average increase in time spent exercising, while those in construction enjoyed the largest reductions in burnout and sleep problems,” she said. Getting the carbon footprint down is also encouraging, with commuting (通勤) time falling by a half bour per week.

How did workers do more in less time? Some companies cut meetings, or made sure they were shorter. Others used technology to help workers get more done quickly. Some companies created a “focus time” so workers could work on just one thing without being interrupted.

In general, workers said the four-day work week left them feeling less tired. About 71% said they felt less “burnt out” with their new work hours, and 39% said they felt less stressed. On average, 73% of the workers were more satisfied with the time they spent working.

10 . It was a history-making moment at Miller ＆ Miller’s Canadiana ＆Decorative Arts auction (拍卖) when the hammer finally came down for a rare Maud Lewis painting.

Lewis was a Canadian artist who painted brightly colored scenes. She sold her paintings by the side of the road for $2 to $3. Painting wasn’t easy, since she suffered from a physical challenge that made moving painful. John Kinnear, also an artist, struck up a friendship with the then-little-known Lewis after reading an article about her. He mailed her boxes of painting supplies. At the time, Lewis, with her husband, lived in a one-room house with no electricity or running water, using simple house paint to paint. After receiving the supplies, Lewis wrote back insisting on repaying him with some of her paintings. Kinnear sold some of them, sending some money back to Lewis and using the remainder to buy her more paint.

Kinnear was friends with Irene and Tony Demas, who owned a restaurant where he ate lunch every day. One day, Kinnear told them he had some paintings by an artist and wondered if they might consider swapping a few grilled cheese lunches for one of them. “When we saw the paintings, we were shocked, and both of us were hesitant,” recalls Irene. “I had never seen anything like them. They were so childlike, with cats and cows.” But they ended up agreeing to the trade, choosing a painting called Black Truck.

Over 50 years later, they’re long retired and are now considering travelling more. They hoped to sell the painting. In the years since Lewis died, her paintings have become famous. But it was a recent scare that really urged them into action. After having non-glare glass added to the painting, the business street where the framer lived burned to the ground just days after they picked up their painting. “We saw that Miller & Miller had sold one not long ago,” says Irene. “We trusted the Miller brothers.”

Recently, the painting was sold at auction for $350, 000.