1 . The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How __ and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They ___ to make French toast and chicken porridge (粥).

The big day ___at last. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the __. They decided to boil the __ first. They put some rice into a __ of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Everything was going __ until Jeff started frying the bread on the stove. The pan was too hot and the bread turned__ within seconds. Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to ___. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna ___. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the ___quickly. But the stove was a mess now.

As the twins looked around them in ___, their father appeared. Under their father’s ___, Jenna stirred the eggs and __ it on the pan. Several minutes later, it was fully__. Soon a perfect French breakfast was done. Jeff and Jenna ___ again.

The twins carried the breakfast upstairs and __ their mother up. At the sight of the French toast and porridge, their mum let out a cry, “What a ___!” Tears in her eyes, she was so ___that she ate up the porridge and bread. The early sunlight streaming in, the whole family were __ in love and happiness.

6 . At 6 feet, 7 inches, Will Allen was a natural at basketball. He received scholarship offers from more than a hundred colleges. He finally chose the University of Miami.

Going away to college meant leaving the family farm. He remembered how hard that life on the farm had been. Now that his life was full of possibilities, he swore he would never go back to farming.

After college, Allen began a pro-basketball career in Belgium, where, ironically (讽刺地), he rediscovered farming. He found the farmers there farmed the way his parents had back home, caring for the land without using chemicals and fertilizers.

Allen and his family moved back to the United States in 1977 after he retired from basketball. They settled in Milwaukee, where his wife’s family owned a farm. In 1993, Allen bought the last remaining farm in the city of Milwaukee, where he began his career as an urban farmer. Later he formed his own organization Growing Power, one of the world’s top urban agricultural organizations.

Allen also travelled across the United States, Africa, and Central Asia to help people grow food more efficiently in ways that fit in with their own culture. “Food is in short supply all over the world right now,” he says. “A lot of people are hungry. We need to grow food everywhere we can—in backyards and side yards, on rooftops, and even in buildings.”

He has spoken about urban agriculture around the world and is currently designing a vertical farm which is a new way to help feed more people in cities. “My main mission is to bring food into people’s lives and train people how to grow food. That continues to be important to me. ” said Allen. He said so, and he did so.

“Growing food is powerful,” Allen says. “It can change the world!”

7 . El Nino is a weather pattern that brings hotter temperatures and less rainfall than usual. It is caused by warmer surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean leading to a change in wind movements. Warmer ocean temperatures lead to more rainfall over that part of the ocean and less rain over Northern Australia.

An El Nino weather pattern has been declared in Australia for the first time in seven years and experts say people should get ready for extreme heat. The Bureau of Meteorology（欧洲气象局） said the country would sweat through hot and dry weather for the rest of 2023 thanks to El Nino and another weather pattern called a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or IOD, which relates to ocean temperatures.

Both weather patterns have already brought hotter and drier weather to southern and eastern Australia while making heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and having effects on coral reefs much more likely.

Australia’s last El Nino was in the summer of 2015 before cooler, wetter La Nina weather took over. The Bureau said it was very likely El Nino would last the whole Australian summer.

“When a positive IOD and El Nino occur together, their drying effect is typically stronger and more widespread across Australia,” the Bureau warned.

The news comes after an unusually long period of warm spring weather, with some places recording temperatures 15°C higher than the average. A disastrous fire warning was announced for the NSW south coast on Tuesday as firefighters battled against the fire in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Senior Leeturer in Climate Science at the University of Melbourne Dr Andrew King said the recent hot weather “is a warning of the kind of extremes we’re likely to see more of over the next few months”.

8 . “An aquaponics (鱼菜共生) system grows both fish and plants that can be harvested sustainably (可持续地),” said David Landkamer, an aquaculture specialist. “It’s an elegant system.”

Here’s how it works: Fish are typically raised in indoor tanks or outdoor ponds, where they produce waste. The water with the waste from the tank flows to a planting tray where plants grow in the water without soil. The waste is poisonous to the fish but is a rich fertilizer for the plants. As the plants absorb the nutrients, the water is purified for the fish. The clean water can then be recycled to the fish tank. Most importantly, because you can’t use chemicals or fertilizers that would harm the fish, it’s a natural organic production system.

“You can grow just about any kind of plant,” Landkamer said. Any leafy greens such as lettuce, kale, Swiss chard and arugula are the easiest to plant. You can also grow herbs, cucumbers, snow peas, eggplants, tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, peppers, beans, red onions and even potatoes.

“Aquaponics, which began in ancient China and Mexico, is gaining popularity around the world as a means of local food production,” Landkamer said. He regularly fields questions from people who want to start small-scale, backyard aquaponics operations or even commercial-scale aquaponics farms. “It is possible for hobbyists to start out with aquaponics kits available online and at stores,” Landkamer said.

Depending on which species of fish you choose, you may need to add a heater of some kind to keep the water temperatures just right for the fish and plants. “Aquaponics farmers often use inexpensive heat supplies such as solar greenhouses or hot compost (堆肥),” he said.

“These systems require monitoring to make sure everything is in balance and running smoothly,” Landkamer said. “You have to pay attention and see how well the fish are feeding, how well the plants are growing and see whether the water is circulating properly.”

9 . Best books on the market

The Nightingale by Kristln Hannah

$ 17 at bookshop

TikTok’s favorite historical fiction is undoubtedly The Nightingale. The story takes place in France in 1939, following a woman forced to live with German Nazi in her home after her husband leaves for the war. The Nightingale is an epic WWⅡstory, highlighting the untold stories of the women who endured it.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

$ 12 at bookshop

Holly Black finally returns to the fairy land of Elfhame over 15 years after Tithe was released. Now the story follows Jude Urgate, a mortal (凡人) who was taken illegally to live among the fairies. Even without powers of her own, she tries to prove herself against those who don’t believe she belongs by teaming up with a powerful group and trying to take the crown down.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

$16 at bookshop

The main characters at play in Such a Fun Age are Alex and Emira, a wealthy GirlBoss and her babysitter, a young black woman who is confronted at the supermarket, accused of kidnapping (绑架) the white child she cares for. This novel is all about race, privilege, and transactional (交易型)relationships. It’s sharp and impossible to put down.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

$24 at bookshop

Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six has become a New York Times bestseller. When six new academicians with magic get chosen to join a special society, they have to spend the next year dealing with each other and trying to prove themselves as only five will actually become members.

Our three kids were all under age five. We’d recently moved to the suburbs, and I’d stopped working to be a stay-at-home mom. Most of our friends lived outside our immediate community and didn’t have children. This all added up to a nonexistent social life for my husband and me.

I needed to fix this, so I became a room parent in my son’s kindergarten class, partly to spend time with him, but also to make more friends within the school community. I also signed my son up for weekend soccer. While those activities gave me the opportunity to socialize with other moms, it was challenging to cultivate friendships. I only saw my fellow room parents a few times a -year, usually during class parties. On the soccer sidelines, I found it impossible to watch the game, keep track of my young children, and maintain conversations with other parents at the same time.

I desired deeper interactions with the smart, interesting moms I saw around school. But we all led busy lives. How could I make this happen?

“You should throw a party,” suggested a friend who happened to be a professional event planner. “I can’t do that. I don’t really know these women,” I replied quickly. I hardly even had my closest friends over to my house. The thought of hosting an adult party terrified me.

“Just invite a few people that you’ve talked to and ask them to bring along a friend. You’ll meet even more people that way. It will be fun,” my event-planner friend said. I ran this idea by my husband, and I was certain he’d agree it wouldn’t work. “Great idea,” he said. “I’ll stay upstairs with the kids, and the party can take place on the main floor.”

I picked a date and set up an electronic invitation, making a guest list of moms from my son’s soccer team, my fellow room moms, and a few other moms I’d started saying “hi” to at school pick-up. But I didn’t hit Send. I started to talk myself out of it. There were so many reasons this wouldn’t work.

With four mess makers in my household, I imagined many “what ifs”.

But you know what? Everyone showed up.