1 . Tina had looked very serious since we left the hospital. She held her Elvis teddy bear _______ and was deep in thought. The teddy bear did not look anything like Elvis, _______ Tina loved anything about Elvis, so her teddy’s _______ was Elvis, too. And if there was anything Tina loved to do, it was to _______ a teddy bear.

We had been visiting her cousin Mike who had _______ his leg in an accident. He was so _______ in hospital, knowing his whole summer was _______.

Tina had _______ been to a hospital before. She was curious about things and had walked away before I _______. When I did, I found her in a room full of much ________ children than Mike was. My little girl was always so ________, and when I found her she had given Elvis to a little boy to hold.

When we arrived home that day, Tina began ________ by her table. She said she was drawing a teddy bear for the sick children. I ________.

From then on, she began to teach the children in our neighbourhood to draw teddy bears.

And we ________ taking teddy bear drawings to hospitals to the children and when there were extra ones, we ________ them for charities (慈善).

If you really want to ________, even the smallest idea can make ________ things happen — even if it just ________ you draw a teddy bear. Why don’t you do it? Draw a teddy bear and see how it can ________ someone’s day. Seeing the ________ it brings to someone else will bring you a lot of pleasure as well.

2 . Microplastics are tiny bits or threads of plastic, often too small to be seen. In recent years, microplastics have been found almost everywhere, from the North pole to Antarctica, from the top of Mount Qomolangma to the deepest point in the sea.

In a recent study led by a group called Ocean Wise, researchers made four trips across the Arctic Ocean. They took 71 samples from between 10 and 26 feet below the ocean’s surface, and 26 more samples from more than 0.6 miles below. They found microplastics in all but one, with an average of about 40 microplastic particles in every cubic meter. To identify the particles they found, the scientists used a tool based on infrared (红外的) light. Over 92% of the microplastics found were small threads, called microfibers. About 73% of these fibers were made of a plastic known as polyester(聚酯), which exactly matched polyester used in clothing.

The study also found far more microfibers near the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean than near the Pacific side. The fibers on the Atlantic side were also newer. The team believes this suggests that the fibers come from Europe and North America. Peter Ross, who led the research, said, “With these polyester fibers, we’ve created a cloud throughout the world’s oceans.”

Most samples were taken from an ocean layer where lots of sea life finds food. The scientists believe this means that many kinds of sea life, from the smallest to the largest, are likely to be affected by the pollution.

So how do these microfibers get into the sea? They break off when clothes are washed and emptied by washing machines into underground pipes. One recent study suggested that laundry from the US and Canada carries around 7,716,000 pounds of plastic microfibers into the sea every year.

3 . New technologies are typically thought of as improving productivity, however, which is not always the case. When technology is multipurpose, such as cellphones, it can be both distracting and destructive.

The influence of banning phones for these students is equal to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days. Banning cellphones caused a significant growth in student achievement in classrooms, with student test scores improving by 6.41 percent points. This made them 2 percentage points more likely to pass the required exams at the end of high school.

Low-achieving students benefited most from the ban, with test scores increasing by 14.23 percent points. Likewise, the ban greatly benefitted special-education-needs students and those qualified for free school meals, improving exam scores 10 and 12 percent points respectively.

However, strict cellphone policies had little effect on both high-achieving students and 14-year-olds, suggesting that high achievers are less distracted by mobile phones and younger teens own and use phones less often.

This means allowing phones into schools would be the most damaging to low-achieving and low-income students — those qualified for free school meals, worsening any existing learning inequalities.

However, these findings do not ignore the possibility that mobile phones could be a useful learning tool in school if their use is properly structured.

4 . José Salvador Alvarenga is a Salvadoran fisherman who spent 13 months at sea. He is the first person in recorded history to have survived in a small boat at sea for more than a year.

On November 17, 2012, Alvarenga set off on a professional fishing trip with a young fisherman named Ezequiel Cordoba, with whom he had never worked. Stepping aboard the ship from a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s southern Chiapas state, they planned to be out about 30 hours hunting shark, tuna and mahimahi. A few hours into their voyage, a storm struck that lasted five days and blew them off course. Alvarenga called his boss on the ship’s radio for help, but it — and much of the rest of the boat’s electronics — had been disabled by the storm. The boat’s motor was also damaged.

A search party was sent, but after two days with no success, their boss gave up and assumed they had drowned. All on their tod and without food or supplies, the two fishermen survived by eating raw fish, turtles and jellyfish. They drank rainwater and turtle blood. As weeks turned to months, Cordoba became severely unwell from eating months of raw food and died.

Alvarenga then spent another nine months alone at sea, until he eventually spotted a small island. Abandoning his boat and swimming to shore, he almost immediately met a local couple who called police. He had reached the Marshall Islands. His journey lasted 438 days and his voyage is estimated to have covered between 5,500 to 6,700 miles.

5 . ART GALLERY GUIDES

Martin Lawrence Galleries

Distinguished as the largest contemporary collection in New York, the gallery contains works by Rembrandt, Picasso, Chagall, Keith Haring, Sam Francis, Takashi Murakami and others. Located in a two-floor space in the heart of SoHo, this gallery provides a great fine art buying experience for all ages.

Location: 457 West Broadway, New York, NY, telephone: 212-995-8865.

Email:soho@martinlawrence.com

BertaArt Studio Gallery

BertaArt Studio Gallery is the working studio and exhibition space for International award-winning artist Clara Berta. Her highly abstract paintings have been shown in the United States and collected worldwide.

Location: 816 South Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014, telephone: 818-692-0465.

Website:https://bertaart.com

Bill Lowe Gallery

For over three decades, Bill Lowe Gallery has served as a gate to global visual culture for art enthusiasts around the world. Our unique juxtaposition (并列) of style is expressed in exhibitions with great visual drama. This has earned the gallery recognition as a place for the cross-cultural point of beauty and meaning.

Location: 764 Miami Circle, NE, Suite 210, Atlanta, GA 30324, telephone: 404-352-8114.

Website: https://lowegallery.com

Baterbys Art Auction Gallery

Our art collection features limited pieces by 20th Century Masters like Picasso, Chagall, Modigliani, Matisse and Degas among others. We offer specialized services such as art renting and fine art home delivery.

Located: Orlando, FL, telephone: 888-682-9995.

Website: www.Baterbys.com