1 . A podcast is a sound file similar to a radio broadcast, which can be downloaded and listened to on your phone or Pad. If you want to get entertained or learn something new, here are some most exciting podcast series.

Pam Sica’s friends said she should put her dog to sleep. After all, the 15-year-old golden retriever was aging and — to make matters worse — was now acting strangely. A long story about a family’s love for their dog and how he paid them back in the most shocking way.

We all have the ability to express ourselves more clearly, especially at work. Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Matt Abrahams discusses real-world challenges and offers tips such as writing better emails and preparing for meetings and presentations.

For those who like long listens, George R. R. Martins series claims the (Iron) Throne (王冠). The first story, the 33-hour-long Game of Thrones, won a Guinness World Record for the “most character voices in an audio-book” with 224 characters alone.

Since it exploded in the early 2000s with shows like Big Brother and Survivor, reality TV has both fascinated and amazed viewers. The BBC’s Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes explore themes such as the Kardashians’ creation of celebrity (网红), and why Selling Sunset and Real Housewives are so successful.

2 . Almost everyone agrees that art is important, but they disagree on whether governments, using taxpayers’ public money, should be funding it. Also, if governments do spend money on art, what artworks should they buy and for what purpose?

Most governments purchase well-known artworks for public galleries, such as the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence, which are all free to the public. Most people do not object to public money being spent on keeping great artworks available to the public eye. However, there are some types the public are often not so happy about supporting.

In the 1980s when most people seemed to have lost interest in art, the Turner Prize was started in order to regain public’s attention again. This is a contemporary art award supported by taxpayers. In 1999, the Turner Prize came under great public criticism when Tracey Emin was shortlisted for the prize for her work called “My Bed”. “My Bed” was her actual bed which she had lain in for days following a relationship breakup. To some, this was a breakthrough and some visitors even jumped into the bed and rolled around. To others, it was simply a dive into the depths of human depravity (堕落).

But is the kind of “work” done by Emin “art”? And should the public pay for it, especially when it is so controversial (有争议的)?

Western art is certainly at a crossroads. Does it keep exploring the dark side or does it seek an ideal beauty? Perhaps the answer depends on the public at large and the values they hold. Many people were pleased when Richard Wright won the Turner Prize in 2009 with his fresco (壁画). Its artistic beauty, poetic nature and use of historic tradition might shows that society is looking for something more positive and “rooted” in its history again. If public money is spent on art, it is essential that the public play a key role in debating both art, and what art they are willing to pay for.

3 . Born in 1958 in Nanning, Guangxi, Dr. Huang Danian became interested in geophysics early. His parents, teaching at a local geological institution, passed the passion down to him. In 1978, Huang was admitted to Changchun Institute of Geology and later taught there. He once wrote that rejuvenating (使恢复活力) the Chinese nation was their generation’s responsibility.

In 1992, he went to Britain for further studies. There, he obtained his doctorate in geophysics and joined a local firm. During his time in the UK, Huang’s heart remained devoted to the motherland, frequently flying back to China to attend academic meetings or seminars related to his field. In 2008, he returned to China with great resolution. For him, no matter how successful he was abroad, the biggest satisfaction would be improving his home country.

Upon his return to China, he was entrusted to work at Jilin University as a professor and chief scientist in a branch of China’s biggest deep earth exploration program. Over 400 scientists participated in the program, which aimed to fix high-tech cameras on aircraft, ships, and satellites that would enable scientists to see through the earth’s crust (地壳) without digging into it.

For seven years, Huang worked racing against time. Many of his co-workers called him a workaholic while he thought he was more like a “lunatic (疯狂的人)”. “China is in urgent need of ‘lunatics’ if it is to become a stronger country. It would be an honor if I could be one of them,” he added. The lunatic’s madness paid off. He and his team helped China greatly narrow its gap with developed countries in obtaining precise data on deep earth exploration. They created a number of China’s No.1s, filling many technical gaps for China’s sky survey, ground detection, and sea exploration.

During his whole life, he sought no fame, and always kept the motherland in mind. As a scientist, he fulfilled his dream of rejuvenating the nation with exceptional achievements.

5 . Victor Borge once wrote, “Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” Yet laughter isn’t always positive for relationships. Think of your friend laughing at your embarrassing mistake. This kind of unshared laughter can have the opposite effect.

Now, a new study explores when laughter works as a social glue. While all genuine laughter may help us feel good, shared laughter may communicate to others that we have a similar worldview, which strengthens our relationships.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina found a way to produce shared laughter to measure experimentally how it might impact a relationship with a stranger. Participants watched a funny, not-so-funny, or not-funny-at-all video while video-chatting with another same-sex participant. Unknown to them, the video chat displayed a pre-recorded clip (片段) of someone laughing the same amount for each of the two funny videos, but only smiling occasionally during the unfunny video. This produced more shared laughter in the first situation, less shared laughter in the second, and no shared laughter in the third. Afterwards, the participants then filled out questionnaires about their sense of similarity to their video partner, and how much they liked or wanted to get to know their video partner.

Results showed that, across the different videos, the amount of shared laughter had consistent (一致的) effects on the participants’ sense of similarity to the video partner — and that this, in turn, increased how much participants liked their partner and wanted to affiliate with him or her. “For people who are laughing together, shared laughter signals that they see the world in the same way, and it momentarily improve their sense of connection,” says Sara Algoe, co-author of the study.

How can we put these findings into practice? Algoe suggests that relationship partners may want to find opportunities to laugh together in order to boost closeness, especially before having difficult conversations. Likewise, shared laughter could be introduced into staff meetings to make people feel more on the same page and thus become more productive.

6 . I hated that I was born with a cleft palate (腭裂). I clearly knew how ugly I looked to others: a(n) _________ lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth and somewhat unclear _________.

When asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d say that I’d fallen as a baby and _________ it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more _________ to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. I firmly believed that I didn’t _________ the love outside my family. And then I entered Grade Three and _________ Mrs. Leonard, a very lovely teacher.

The time came for the annual “hearing tests”. I was _________ able to hear anything out of one ear, but I was not about to reveal another problem that would single me out as _________. Thus I _________. I had learned to watch other children and __________ them to raise my hand during group testing. The “whisper test”, however, required a different kind of deception (欺骗). Each child would close one ear with a __________, and the teacher would whisper something, which the child would repeat. While waiting for my turn, I __________ what Mrs. Leonard might say, maybe things like “The sky is blue.” or “Do you have breakfast?”.

My turn came up. I turned my bad ear to her,__________ the other tightly with my finger, and then gently __________ my finger out enough to be able to hear. I waited and then heard the words that changed my life forever. Mrs. Leonard said __________, “I wish you were my little girl.”

8 . The World’s 4 Best Long-distance Hikes

Several new long-distance, multi-day hikes have been launched that promise visitors unique access to previously inaccessible areas, where natural landscapes and local cultures are found.

Slovenia introduced the Juliana Trail in an attempt to get visitors to stay there longer and visit more. The 270km route begins at the adventure center of Kranjska Gora, near the Italian border, before circling around the Julian Alps past turquoise rivers and glacier-carved lakes. The trail is divided into 16 stages, so you can choose a shorter adventure or tackle the entire trail.

Mainland Egypt’s first long-distance hiking path, the Red Sea Mountain Trail links a series of ancient trade routes into a single 170km circuit that takes an average of 10 days to complete. Hikes brave enough to set off into this remote wilderness will skirt vast plain, dip into deep gorges and summit barren peaks to visit ruined Roman towns and prehistoric rock art.

The 5km Paparoa Track in New Zealand snakes into the rainforests of the South Island near the famous Pancake Rocks. The freshly carved trail typically takes three days on foot, or two days on a mountain bike. Along the way, you pass river gorges and hilltop lookouts with expansive views over the turquoise Tasman Sea.

Liechtenstein celebrated its 300th birthday in 2019 by crafting a 75km walking path where citizens and visitors alike could explore three centuries of local history. The Liechtenstein Trail twists over peaks and pastures on a route that takes in 147 sites. The zigzagging north-south route takes about three days to complete.

May 19, Dalian, China — The ISF Football World Cup 2024 kicked     1     in Dalian, Liaoning province, on Saturday. It is the first time the reputable international high school soccer event     2     (hold) in China.

The tournament,     3     (comprise) of 55 teams from 33 countries and regions, more than 1,300 high school student-athletes, promises to be a celebration of soccer and youth. Organized by the International School Sport Federation, the ISF Football World Cup is generally recognized as an     4     (ambition) global high school soccer competition.

Laurent Petrynka, the president of ISF, emphasizes that     5     sports competition is at the core of their mission, the event still calls on young football enthusiasts worldwide to join hands and move forward,     6     (reflect) the spirit of youth, unity, and friendship. In Dalian, Liaoning province, apart from the intense matches, the     7     (participate) have engaged in various activities aiming to promote mutual understanding     8     cultural exchange.

Dalian,     9     port city on the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, is a city famous for its rich soccer tradition and deep-rooted soccer culture. Possessing a strong sporting tradition, Dalian     10     (enhance) a dynamic soccer culture with a solid foundation on school campuses and promotes the high-quality development of youth soccer in Liaoning.