1 . When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.

Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.

When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I’d given it up.

When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I’ve traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”

3 . Sitting in the garden for my friend’s birthday. I felt a buzz (振动) in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender’s name. The email started off: “Dear Mr Green, thank you for your interest” and “the review process took longer than expected.” It ended with “We are sorry to inform you…” and my vision blurred (模糊). The position—measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme — had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for.

I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying, and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.

So I was shocked when, not long after the email, Professor Mary Devon, who was running the programme, invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance, and a few weeks later I was equally shocked—and overjoyed—when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn’t seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to, but I was going to give it my all.

I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project, which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert, not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn’t. In the end, I had a new scientific interest to pursue.

When I applied to graduate school, I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit, it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective (视角) to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.

Rather than setting plans in stone, I’ve learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered, even if they don’t sound perfect at the time, and make the most of them.

4 . Port Lympne Reserve, which runs a breeding (繁育) programme, has welcomed the arrival of a rare black rhino calf (犀牛幼崽). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed in captivity (圈养).

Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said: “Obviously we’re all absolutely delighted to welcome another calf to our black rhino family. She’s healthy, strong and already eager to play and explore. Her mother, Solio, is a first-time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It’s still a little too cold for them to go out into the open, but as soon as the weather warms up, I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing every day.”

The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port Lympne arrived on January 5 to first-time mother Kisima and weighed about 32kg. His mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving the rhinos a “critically endangered” status.

5 . It’s a joyful and stressful time of year in the United States for students and their families as they make decisions about where to attend college. Families often turn to rankings systems to help make a decision.     1    

When I talk to families as a scholar of higher education, they’re often surprised that teaching excellence is not counted in rankings.     2    

Emerging research suggests that courses in lower-ranked universities, on average, scored higher on teaching than courses in higher-ranked universities.     3     The absence of teaching excellence from the rankings is surprising given the link between high-quality teaching and student success. Quality teaching is one of the most important predictors of a wide range of college outcomes.

Rankings, however, are only one reason why a low value is placed on teaching in higher education. Administrators often don’t view teaching excellence as a way to increase enrolment (注册) or funding.     4     Research shows that the more time instructors spend on teaching, the lower their salary. What is the result? Many instructors continue to teach using traditional lectures, which lead to lower success rates.

    5     Nevertheless, not much will change until schools with high-quality teaching are rewarded with more resources, higher rankings and increased enrolments. In the long term, universities, organisations that rank schools, and others should work to make teaching a valued, core part of the mission.

What should students and their families do? They should give strong consideration to universities where high-quality teaching is valued, even though the schools may be ranked lower.

6 . When Beverley Burdeyney turned seventy four last year, she started having problems with her _______ , notably dryness and discomfort.

"I was simply _______ a terrible experience, " Ms. Burdeyney said at her home in Toronto. "I felt so helpless and insecure because the quality of my _______ was affected. "

Ms. Burdeyney talked to some friends who had _______ problems and discovered that they were largely suffering in _______. " Nobody chooses to talk about it because it seems so _______ she said. " But more and more are suffering and lives are being _______.

Eventually, Ms. Burdeyney learned about plans for an eye research, _______ at Tel Aviv University in Israel. The research team _______ Canadian doctor Allan Slomovic, who has done__________ work on eye care using stem cells. Seeing a ray of hope, Ms. Burdeyney began raising __________ for the project with a friend, Toronto businessman Meyer Zeifman. __________ she has raised $ 110, 000 with another $40, 000 __________ .

"I'm trying to get more and more people to __________ that there are solutions（解决办法）said Ms. Burdeyney, a trained nurse who is still working as a personal trainer after __________ . "I say there is no old __________ , there's only neglect （忽视）. Don't stand __________ , do something about it. "

Ms. Burdeyney __________ that she is hoping to do more for the research project. "I just want to bring __________ into people eyes and this is just the __________. There is still a long way to go"

7 . When I was in sixth grade, I joined the band program to learn to play the clarinet (单簧管). The beginning of the year had gone _________. But as most students progressed, I seemed to fall behind. One day, when my teacher told us to play in front of the other students, I was filled with fear. I knew I would _________. When I began to play, my rhythms (节奏) were good, but my tone was another _________. “Did you practice your lesson?” the teacher barked at me. I felt so _________ and my world came _________ down in an instant.

From then on, I hated playing the clarinet and I kept getting _________. With the day of the new performance approaching, I grew increasingly upset. In a moment of _________, I asked for sick leave. It was so relieving and such a(n) _________ way out.

The avoidance of my lessons continued until my mum asked me about it. “I want to quit.” My tears started _________. “If you really want to quit, why are you crying?” asked mum. She __________ and I realized I wanted to stay in band and, by not facing my fears, I had created a black hole that would be difficult to __________ out of. I made a __________ not to hide from my fears and to stand up to even the worst of them, so a __________ could be achieved.

The next day I met with my band teacher and told her I was having a problem and couldn’t __________ why. She asked me gently to play for her. I tried, but only an unpleasant sound came out. She didn’t __________ at me and handed me a new reed (簧片). I put it in place and tried again. To my great __________ I could play well. My problem was solved and my fear was __________ a lot that year.

__________ I’m glad that I overcame my fear. Fear can __________ everything in a person’s life. Hiding from those very fears only creates a hole, which makes a person stay __________ inside. After facing up to a fear, one may find life easier and much more enjoyable.