1 . For the creatively minded, snow represents a large blank canvas (空白画布) for art. But often, it’s limited to snowmen or other snow statues. Simon Beck had a different idea, and over the course of a decade he has carved a path for himself in the snow art world. He creates large land art by walking across soccer-field-sized areas covered in untouched snow. Combined with light and shadow, his artistic designs can only be fully appreciated when viewed from above.

Beck, 59, a former map maker turned into a snow artist, thanks to his decision late in life to pursue his hobby.

“I really had no idea how good it would look when I made that first drawing, but it really went beyond my expectation, he said of his first ever creation that he looked down on from a ski lift.

To create this work, Beck stepped his way through the snow using only snowshoes and a ski pole for measurement with nothing else but the image of a design idea in his head. It was not challenging at all due to his previous work experience. But as his designs developed and became more complex, Beck said he began to start drawing them on paper first.

Beck’s paintings have become a huge hit since his work was first shared.

“Most of the time I had been doing failed careers, and people around me are asking what’s the quickest way of getting rid of this person,” Beck said. “And for the first time, I felt people actually wanted me. I felt like a more valued member of society.”

Camellias (山茶花) are available in a great range of colors — red, pink, white and mixed colors. For the longest time, the golden camellias lived in a valley     1     was unknown to the outside world.

In the 1960s, Chinese scientists     2     (announce) their discovery of the golden camellias. It was an     3     (amaze) announcement for the international gardening community. Also, the discovery made     4     achievable to create yellow camellias, though creating a new kind of golden camellia was not very easy.

Unfortunately, in the past, golden camellias     5     (cut) down in large numbers because locals needed the limited land space for farming. In 1986, a nature reserve was built in a mountain valley from 200 to 500     6     (meter) above sea level, so the camellias could be well protected. Years ago, Huang Zainian     7     his brothers took up the work. In the past 10 years, the Huang brothers have made a great contribution in     8     (protect) the camellias. Even in hard times they didn’t cut down any golden camellias.

Year after year, the Huang brothers spent much time working and eventually made their hard work pay     9    . Now the golden camellia is     10     city flower of the city, Fangchenggang. And life for the Huang brothers is greatly improved by planting golden camellias.

3 . Louis Tewanima seemed born to run. Like other Hopi people in the late 19th century, Louis ran for his mental and ________ well-being.

In 1907, Louis ________ himself riding on one of the locomotives (火车头) that had amazed him as a boy. With no ________ of the English language, he headed east to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania to learn English.

The ________ in Pennsylvania was much colder. He missed his family and his way of life. He turned to something ________, running. He’d seen the school’s track team practice, so he approached the coach, Warner, and ________ if he could run for him.

After watching Louis run, Warner ________ realized Louis had talent. Warner coached him on applying his stamina (耐力) and ________ to track and field. It wasn’t long before medals, and ________ filled Louis’s room at the Carlisle school, and he became a celebrity in distance ________ in America. Even when he ________ difficulties, Louis prevailed (战胜). He once missed his train to a ________ in Harrisburg. Instead of calling it a loss, he ran 18 miles to the event, arriving on time. He ________ to compete in the two-mile race, and he ________ first!

In 1908, Louis entered his first Olympic, and placed ninth in the marathon. Four years later, he ________ in the 1912 Summer Olympic in Stockholm, Sweden. This time, he ran the 10,000-metre race and finished in second place.

4 . Laughing is good for us.     1    

Laughing involves taking quick deep breaths and then exhalations at intervals, which stimulates blood flow. A study shows that blood pressure that increases and then decreases becomes lower than it is before the laugh.

If you are feeling aching, turn on your favorite comedy. A good laugh from the heart offers relief to those who suffer from pain. With humor therapy, laughter yoga, plus your own favorite comedy to watch, laughing may be the most fun form of medicine!

When you laugh, especially from the belly (腹部), you are using many muscles. Along with laughter comes increased breathing which, in turn, sends blood that has been enriched with oxygen to the brain and throughout the body. This natural form of exercise even burns calories.     3     You could burn 10 to 40 calories after 10 to 15 minutes of laughing!

The act of laughing is something to increase those feel-good hormones called endorphins. These endorphins make people feel uplifted.     4     Besides, you will enjoy increased brain activity plus cognitive functioning.

Aside from eating a healthy diet and taking vitamins, a good dose of laughter is important.     5     A regular dose of laughter therapy can help improve the immune system and contribute to overall well-being.

5 . “Do you have Wi-Fi?” It’s my most-asked question when visiting new cities. Nowadays, having access to Wi-Fi is essential if you plan on making the most of any trip abroad. But far too often I spend 5 for a tiny cup of coffee just to use a cafe’s Wi-Fi and charging port. Replacing this costly exchange with their interpretation of a city center, the designer of Kuube, a Hungarian startup, has created a smart bench equipped with all the necessities that a modern-day traveler might need to comfortably move through any city.

Kuube’s smart bench comes in three sizes. All come with USB ports, wireless chargers, and a Wi-Fi hotspot function-free for everyone. All three smart benches charge up thanks to solar panels, which makes them easily movable.

First comes Kuube^ECO, the smallest of the three smart benches. It’s a three-seater that comes equipped with two USB ports and one wireless charger. It has unlimited Internet access thanks to its Wi-Fi hotspot. The bench with one display screen continuously monitors its environment, such as changes in UV levels or air pressure — displaying them on its monitor for those interested. Then comes Kuube^NANO, the middle that can seat up to four people and comes with all the same offerings as Kuube^ECO. And finally comes the largest option, Kuube^PLUS. This smart bench offer more of a group, or family seating style and can accommodate up to eight people. It offers four charging options and two display screens.

The three smart benches all have an aluminum chassis (铅制底座) that’s recyclable and are made from natural ash wood for the seating sections. Kuube is clearly a sustainability-focused startup that’s combining design and technology to make cities and parks friendlier to everyone.

6 . Summer Courses for Students in 2024

Welcome to the UK’s Top-Ranked Multi-Campus. Summer School, we will provide an outstanding summer experience in a multi-national fun and secure setting. As students, you will have the opportunity to study a wide range of stimulating courses with like-minded people in famous academic environments.

Time: June 11 to July 2

Instructor: Leah Roesch

Our creative and student-centered lessons will help you improve your all-round ability in English. By engaging in interesting and stimulating tasks, projects and activities, you are challenged to activate your language knowledge and further develop your social skills.

Time: July 19 to August 1

Instructor: Christina DePasquale

We explore the foundations and qualities that will make each of you become effective leaders. During this exciting two-week programme, we do research on well-known historical leadership figures and the characteristics that made them successful.

Time: June 21 to July 3

Instructor: Edith Freni

What could be better than building your English while arousing your passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics? Students who study STEM have the unique chance to study at a school that is frequently shortlisted as the best public school in the United Kingdom.

Time: June 15 to June 28

Instructor: Marshall Duke

Are you passionate about science, mathematics and physics? Do you want to learn how to bring them together to solve real world challenges? With the course, your theoretical knowledge will be stretched and enhanced, creating the groundwork for a fantastic career in engineering.

7 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.

On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.

Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.

Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.

Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?

8 . Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Plants in the deep darkness of a thick forest, where natural supplies are not very great in amount, wont attempt to top their neighbors in growth as those in moderate (中度的) shade do. In deep shade conditions, it would be a waste of energy and harmful to survival because green shoots would never be able to top their larger neighbors in growth.

So how do plants prevent such growth in deep shade conditions? The arcanum lies in the clocks inside them, say scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Bristol.

They have discovered that when plants notice deep shade, this changes the expression of genes in certain parts of the circadian clock (昼夜节律时钟) — the internal daily timer found in plants and other living things. These clock components perform an additional role in preventing plants from lengthening and overtopping neighbors.

The work identifies a previously unknown role of the circadian clock in controlling plant development, and the findings may have possible effects on both natural plant populations and crops. Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said, “The biological clock of plants plays a big part in their development and fitness. This work casts new light on a new role of the circadian clock in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.” “It also gives us new insights into how plants adapt to very deep shade, where resources are very limited,” said Professor Kerry Franklin at the University of Bristol.

This work provides evidence for the stability of the circadian clock in stressful environments, and information that may be useful in developing new generations of crops in a challenging climate.

10 . I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. So we both got tired of each other.

War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled under her quilt, sobbing(哭啼). Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart. Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”

Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the meaning of living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.