According to historical records, the well-known historian Sima Guang from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) used a part of a round wood     1     his pillow throughout his life. This unique pillow had an unusual function.     2     Sima Guang moved a little during his sleep, his head would slide down off the pillow, causing him to wake up     3     (immediate) and continue his studies. This particular type of pillow came to be known as an “alarm pillow”.

The Chinese word for “pillow”, zhentou,     4     (believe) to be created by Cao Cao, a famous strategist and ruler during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). One night, while Cao Cao was reading in his tent and     5     (become) sleepy, there was no extra space useful to place several books stored in wooden     6     (box). In response (回应), a servant momentarily placed the books at one side of the bed, upon     7     Cao Cao fell asleep quickly, experiencing a deep and restful sleep.     8     (impress) by the comfort provided by this short-term arrangement, the servant then created a padded (有垫的) headrest using soft materials, copying     9     shape of the wooden box that held the books. When Cao Cao asked about the name of this new item, the servant referred to it as “headrest bedding”. Cao Cao     10     (late) named it zhentou, and from that point on, the use of pillows became popular among the common people.

2 . Two weeks ago, 93-year-old Joy Ryan set a world record. In her words, “I’m the _________ lady to ever visit every national park.”

In just eight years, she and her 42-year-old grandson Brad Ryan _________ to go to all 63 national parks, an adventure they’ve written on Instagram. Their _________ stop was the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, some 6,700 miles from their home in Duncan Falls, Ohio. The pair received certificates (证书) from the park in _________ of their achievement.

In a way, the journey began 21 years ago when Brad’s parents got divorced (离婚), and he became _________ from Joy. It wasn’t until 2008, at his sister’s wedding, that he _________ her again. She was 78 and she didn’t look good.

“She came into the church and she was dry,” Brad _________. “Very unsteady (不稳定的). It was hard to see this woman that was so important to me in my growing years on the side of _________, knowing that there was so much _________ between us.”

But over a period of months, Joy __________. And Brad, who’d just finished hiking the Appalachian Trail where he’d been thinking through what mattered to him, __________ the courage to call Joy and __________ they make raisin-filled cookies together.

__________, “there was a little too much awkwardness for my liking,” he says. “You can’t pick up where you left off, I learned that quickly.” Still, they __________ in touch. Over the last eight years, Brad and Joy have had little dust-ups (吵架) to be sure. And this tour of the national parks has __________ the crack (裂缝) that once separated them.

3 . According to the Houston Health Department, for nearly one-quarter of children living in Houston, Texas, the choice to eat healthily doesn’t exist. Annie Zhu was shocked to find out so many children in Houston lived in food deserts — areas without access to fresh food. She was also shocked to see how much fresh food supermarkets discard (丢弃) every day. So she and her twin sister Shirley went to work.

First, they partnered with the Houston Health Department to give out food at community centres. With the help of Second Servings, they collected surplus food from grocery stores and began organizing monthly markets. They even connected with human service agencies to provide help beyond food. Lastly, they developed a simple app that tells people when and where the markets are. Since the food is fresh, it needs to be picked up right away, so they developed the text and messaging app Fresh Hub.

Each month, Fresh Hub organizes high schoolers who wear green shirts and go to work setting up stands of fresh produce, baked goods and packaged meats. The Zhu sisters and the green dream team have given out over 1,500 pounds of food. And while families are collecting food, volunteers are entertaining kids with art projects that teach healthy eating.

At the end of the day, Annie says the two are happy to be making a difference. “Frustration (沮丧) over the unfair circumstances built into society led us to meet amazing people,” says Annie. “I know I’m not alone on this journey to help the underserved — and I know our journey has only just begun!”

Distance learning is a form of education in     1     the main elements include physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of     2     (variety) of technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student communication. Since its introduction, distance learning     3     (focus) on nontraditional students, such as full-time workers, military personnel, and nonresidents or individuals in remote regions who are     4     (able) to attend classroom lectures.

However, distance learning has become a (n)     5     (establish) part of the educational world, with trends       6    (point) to ongoing growth. In U. S. higher education alone, more than 5.6 million university students were enrolled in at least one online course in the autumn of 2009, a significant growth     7    1.6 million in 2002. Students of all ages, around the world, were forced into distance learning in early 2020     8     the global coronavirus pandemic resulted in a widespread     9     (close) of many schools. Videoconferencing software such as Zoom gained greatly from this development. Zoom became one of the most popular services of its kind, one of the most downloaded applications worldwide, and     10     household word. Teaching and the student-teacher relationship were fundamentally changed.

8 . How the economics profession should fix its gender problem

At the heart of economics is a belief in the virtues (好处) of open competition as a way of using the resources you have in the most efficient way you can. Thanks to the power of that insight, economists routinely tell politicians how to run public policy and business people how to run their firms. Yet when it comes to its own house, academic economics could have done more to observe the standards it applies to the rest of the world.

In particular, it recruits (招聘) too few women. Also, many of those who do work in the profession say they are treated unfairly and that their talents are not fully realised. As a result, economics has fewer good ideas than it should and suffers from a skewed (歪曲的) viewpoint. It is time for the dismal science to improve its dismal record on gender.

For decades relatively few women have participated in STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and maths. Economics belongs in this list. And a survey by the American Economics Association (AEA) this week shows that many women who do become academic economists are treated badly.

To deal with its gender shortfall (缺口), economics needs two tools that it often uses to analyse and solve problems elsewhere: its ability to crunch data and its capacity to experiment. Take data first. The AEA study is commendable, but only a fifth of its 45,000 present and past members replied to its poll. Better data are needed to capture how work by female economists is discriminated against. The more comprehensive (全面的) the picture that emerges, the sooner and more easily action can be taken to change recruitment and to reform professional life.

The other priority is for economists to experiment with new ideas, as the AEA is recommending. For a discipline that values dynamism, academic economics is often conservative, sticking with teaching methods, hiring procedures and social conventions that have been around for decades. The AEA survey reveals (显示) that 46% of women have not asked a question or presented an idea at conferences for fear of being treated unfairly, compared with 18% of men. Seminars could be organised to ensure that all speakers get a fair chance. The way that authors’ names are presented on papers could ensure that it is clear who has done the intellectual heavy lifting.

Instead of moving cautiously, the economics profession should do what it is best at: recognise there is a problem, measure it objectively and find solutions. If the result is more women in economics who are treated better, there will be more competition for ideas and a more efficient use of a scarce (稀缺的) resource. What economist could possibly object to that?

During the 2023 Lanzhou International Marathon, all eyes were on the elderly couple—Hu Yingfu, 86, and his wife Wang Zhangmin, 77. Many doubted their ability to finish the race,     1     Hu completed the half marathon in two hours and twenty minutes.

Against initial struggles, Hu found a way to motivate himself by counting electric poles while running. “The distance between each electric pole is 50 meters. I run as fast as I can, passing a dozen or so poles.” said Hu.     2     (gradua), his endurance improved, along with his physical condition.

The couple’s love for running started as a way     3     (improve) their fitness, but it quickly became a passion, They participated in a national athletics event     4     the elderly in 2004,     5     (mark) their first-ever national competition. To their surprise, Wang achieved     6     impressive result—the fourth place.

Since then, the elderly couple have become regular     7     (participate) in national athletics events, consistently winning medals, and they     8     (recognize) as well-known figures in the running community.

With a     9     (combine) age of 163, the couple have participated in over 100 marathon races nationwide, whose impact has motivated     10     (count) young individuals to become part of the running community.

10 . For eight years, Sophie created realistic-looking limbs (肢) for those who wanted to fit in. But she longed to work on more odd designs that would stand out. Then she met Pollyanna Hope, a young amputee (被截肢者).

“She wanted something a little different on her leg: pictures of a cartoon she loved, Peppa Pig,” said Sophie, who is now based in London. So she designed a unique leg covered in tattoo-like images of Peppa and other pigs riding a bicycle and eating ice cream. Working with Hope made Sophie realize there was a potential market for limbs.

Since then, Sophie founded the Alternative Limb Project (ALP) to make artistic limbs. Her work includes an arm wrapped in sculpted snakes and a leg that looks like porcelain (瓷器) covered in a painted flowery vine. She makes about six limbs per year, always including clients’ ideas so that they receive a personal piece they can celebrate rather than hide.

Of course, a fancy-looking limb won't suit everyone. For Sophie, the basis is that each limb must satisfy a combination of comfort, beauty and functionality, and pushing too hard in one direction can weaken other areas. But for amputees who appreciate novelty, Sophie has some amazing ideas.

“I’d really like to make a candy-dispenser leg with colorful candies inside it” she says. “Or a cuckoo-clock leg with a wooden bird that pops out every hour.” Her goal is to fashion a striking limb.

“It’ll transform the limbs from an elephant in the room into a conversation piece.”