1 . A Maryland couple stranded (滞留) without food in the freezing cold on a Virginia highway. They were getting ________ and more discouraged by the minute.

After almost 21 hours of being ________ on 95 South, Casey and her husband John slept there overnight and not ________ access to food or water. At that time, they ________ a Schmidt Baking Co. truck ahead of them in the standstill. “People around us were very much ________. Many of them had small children, some were elderly and hadn’t eaten in almost a whole day. ” In a desperate bid for a ________, they decided to call the Schmidt Bakery and see if it could help ________ some much-needed food for them, as well as their fellow highway captives.

“I didn’t think it would ________ work,” said Casey, who left a message with customer service. But to their ________, 20 minutes later, they actually got a ________ from Chuck Paterakis, the owner of the bakery. He told them to walk over to the truck driver, Ron, who was given the go-ahead to start handing out ________ to 50 motorists. Then, the couple joined the driver in making ________. Soon, others joined the effort, in which some 300 loaves were ________.

“It felt incredible just hearing people say thank you and hearing them so ________ to finally have food in their car. This was one of the ________ moments I have ever witnessed.” recalled Casey.

2 . College professors these days face an ever-higher bar to grab the attention of their students, forced to compete with the stimuli of smartphones and laptops in large lecture halls. But when your professor is a social media star, it’s a little bit easier.

Tatiana Erukhimova, who teaches physics at Texas A&M University, has managed to get her students, as well as future generations, excited about the science. Known as “Dr. Tatiana” to her students and online fan base, the professor performs physics tricks with boundless energy and enthusiasm. Videos of her theatrical demonstrations have racked up hundreds of millions of views across TikTok and other social media platforms.

In the kid-friendly videos, Erukhimova uses a range of everyday objects in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to marshmallows, bicycle wheels and hair dryers. She credits the university marketing team’s videos of her lessons for her social media success. “This is just one of our ways to connect with people to make physics accessible to people,” she tells NPR. As part of the physics department’s extensive outreach program, she also puts on shows almost every week teaching physics to K-12 students. “The sooner kids are taught physics and taught it well, the better,” she says.

It’s clear she knows what it takes to get young people excited about a hard science. But it wasn’t always that way. When she first started teaching college freshman classes almost two decades ago, she says she struggled to grab the attention of her younger students. She was used to teaching juniors, as she had for a few years prior to that. But when it comes to teaching a large lecture hall of 100-plus first-year students, first impressions are make or break.

“I did not grab their attention on the first day — that was my mistake,” she says. “I missed this opportunity to bond with them from the very beginning, and then it took me a while to find my voice.”

By the second semester, she found her footing, tweaking her approach to make her lecture halls feel smaller, and get her students engaged. The key, she says, has been to make herself approachable and her instruction personal.

Trends popular among the youth such as “China chic” and the growing influence of young consumers have driven the development of hanfu industry in recent years. Among the various     1     (style), the horse face skirt has emerged as the most popular item.

    2    (combine) classical elegance with modern simplicity, the horse face skirt is said to perfectly suit the contemporary culture and lifestyle of young people, making     3     a fashion icon (标志). This trend has gained popularity in Luoyang city, Central China’s Henan province,    4     numerous performers recently showcased these beautiful skirts in their acts, with many visitors alike     5     (dress) in the elegant horse face skirts. In Caoxian county of Shandong province, one of the country’s hanfu production and sales centers, the sales     6     the horse face skirts during last Spring Festival holiday     7     (increase) dozens of times compared to usual volumes. Actually, the skirt has become a very popular     8     (choose) for gifts.

The current popularity of hanfu in the country is believed     9     (indicate) more than a fashion trend; it     10     (represent) a deeper connection to Chinese tradition and cultural identity.

4 . Jennifer Destefano answered a call from a number she did not recognize. “Mom, I messed up,” her daughter’s voice told her, crying. “These bad men have me.” A man proceeded to demand money, or he would drug her daughter and leave her in Mexico. But while she kept him on the phone, friends managed to reach her daughter, only to discover that she was, in fact, free and well on a skiing trip in Arizona. The voice used on the phone was a fake.

Voice cloning’s influences will be huge. For several years, customers have been able to identify themselves over the phone to their bank and other companies using their voice. Not even a gifted mimic(巧于模仿的人) could fool the detection system. But the arrival of cloning will force adaptation in order to prevent cheating.

Creative industries could face the impact too. Voice actors’ skills, trained over a lifetime, can be copied in a matter of seconds. But some actors may, in fact. find cloning congenial. Val Kilmer, who has lost much of his voice to throat cancer, was delighted to have his voice restored for “Top Gun: Maverick”.

Another industry that will have to come to cope with the rise of clones is journalism. Now who will trust a story based on an audio clip(片段)? Slightly easier to manage might be the false positives: recordings claiming to be someone but which are fakes. The opposite problem—the false negatives—will arise when public figures deny authentic recordings. Proving that a clip is genuine is bard, perhaps even impossible. Journalists will need to show how they obtained and stored audio files.

The term “fake news” had existed long before voice cloning. Now, ever more people caught in a crime are likely to defend themselves. “It wasn’t me. ” And many people will have even more reason to believe them.

Chinese Loong Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is a vibrant and festive celebration     1     (mark) the beginning of the lunar calendar. This annual event is deeply     2     (root) in Chinese culture, symbolizing renewal, family reunions, and guiding in of good fortune.

The festivities typically span 15 days,     3     colorful parades, dragon and lion dances, and dazzling fireworks shining the streets. Families come together for plentiful feasts, exchanging gifts, and paying     4     (respect) to ancestors. The air is filled with the sounds of joyous laughter and traditional music.

One of the     5     (much) iconic features of Chinese New Year is the red decorations brightening homes and streets. Red symbolizes good luck and     6     (prosper) in Chinese culture. People also participate in the tradition of giving and receiving red envelopes containing lucky money, known as “hongbao,” as     7     gesture of good wish and well-being.

As the Year of the Dragon, Loong Year is particularly auspicious, believed to bring strength, vitality, and success. People across the globe join in the festivities, creating a sense of unity and     8     (share) celebration.

Chinese Loong Year is a time-honored tradition that     9     (exceed) borders emphasizing the importance of family, cultural heritage,     10     the hopeful anticipation of a prosperous year ahead.

8 . How to manage sleep anxiety

Aside from the main symptom of not being able to fall asleep, or constantly waking up throughout the night, sleep anxiety has very similar symptoms to general anxiety disorders.     1     Sleep deprivation can have a huge impact on your health and wellbeing, and sleep anxiety can make it difficult, even impossible, to have get a good night’s sleep. Studies have shown that singular stressful events, like taking an exam, have little impact on your cortisol levels and they soon return to normal.     2     This suggests that a night of tossing and turning the day before a job interview might be a one off, but facing stress every day — like being stressed about lack of sleep — has a significant impact on your sleep cycle.

The first step is to identify what’s causing your lack of sleep. Is it stress at work, or in your relationship? Is it past injury? Is it bad dreams making you want to put off sleeping so they don’t keep recurring? Try to understand why you find it a struggle to sleep.     3    

If nightmares and sleep paralysis are stopping you from sleeping, you might think there’s nothing you can do to calm your subconscious — but there are things you can try that can make your dreams more positive.     4     Studies have shown that people with a better “peace of mind” have more positive dreams, whereas symptoms of anxiety related to negative dreams. Cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT, teaches you to change the way you think in order to change your behaviour. It could help you understand how sleep anxiety is affecting your body and brain, avoid things that trigger your anxiety and make sleep impossible, and help change the negative way you view sleep.

Sometimes, less is more, and perhaps trying too hard to force yourself to sleep with a 20-step bedtime routine could be adding to the pressure and anxiety you’re feeling, and have the opposite affect that you want.     5     If you usually try to sleep in a warm room with a hot water bottle, try lowering the temperature. Sleeping in a colder room prevents cortisol levels rising, and helps your body release melatonin instead, which helps you sleep — this is why it’s often so difficult to sleep during a heatwave.

9 . Spain is a country that continues to surprise and let us tell you it’s not all sunbathing and shopping! We’re outlining our top 3 reasons to discover Spain along with our holiday suggestions to help you make up your mind.

From the dramatic, imposing mountains to the countless glistening beaches that dot its coastlines, Spain is a country full of natural beauty and inspiring landscapes. If breath-taking views and unique scenery captures your attention then our top suggestion is to experience a holiday to Tenerife where you can enjoy the inspiring its volcanic views and panoramic scenery. The largest of the Canary Islands, just south of Spain, Tenerife has a rugged, volcanic landscape as well as over 200 miles of coastline boasting a huge variety of flora and fauna.

Did you know that Spain has over 5,000 miles of coastline and thousands of beaches? Wherever you go, you are never far from a beach. From undiscovered, hidden alcoves to popular tourist resorts, there’s a beach for everyone and with over 300 days of sunshine each year you’re guaranteed the weather to enjoy them! This beautiful country also has the most blue flag beaches in the world so now you’ve no excuse! With thousands of beaches to choose from, where will you go?

For many people, one of the highlights of Spain is, of course, the amazing food on offer. The country’s vibrant cities offer up Michelin-starred restaurants and lively tapas bars, while small-town cafés and restaurants offer up traditional dishes such as paella, seafood stew, and chorizo, made with love from family recipes.

Spanish cuisine is known for being delicious, healthy, and full of flavour, so there are many unique dishes available that will tempt your taste buds. If we’ve made you hungry, then you should take a holiday to Costa Brava, a Spanish foodie destination that should not be missed!

10 . Have you heard of these four monuments?

Carhenge. Floralis Genérica. Traffic Light Tree. Hand of the Desert — these are four unusual monuments from around the world you might like to visit.

Carhenge is in Alliance, Nebraska (USA). As the name suggests, it has a lot in common with Stonehenge, the famous stone circle on Salisbury Plain. But while Stonehenge was built with stones, Carhenge was created with cars. The monument was made in 1987 by a local artist Jim Reinders and his family. He used old cars and even an ambulance. At first, the people of Alliance didn’t like it, but they soon changed their minds after it became popular with tourists, who brought lots of money to the town.

Floralis Genérica is a massive statue of a flower. It stands in a pool of water in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eduardo Catalano, a native of Argentina, gave the statue as a gift to the city in 2002. Every morning, the flower opens. Ask anyone who has seen it and they’ll tell you that watching it open is an unforgettable sight. In fact, many people believe it is one of the most beautiful statues in the world.

The Traffic Light Tree is situated at Heron Quay, in one of London’s financial districts. The tree has 75 sets of traffic lights. It was created by French artist, Pierre Vivant, and was installed in 1998. A computer controls the lights, which are turned on and off randomly. The roundabout where the tree is was voted the most popular roundabout in the UK in a recent survey.

The Hand of the Desert is in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The sculpture was designed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal. From a distance, it looks as if there’s a giant in the sand who has stuck his hand out of the ground.

If you’re looking for something new to see, you know where to go!