I’m not Chinese, but I love Chinese New Year. There are many fun New Year     1     (celebrate), but nothing quite matches the excitement of the lion dance which can wake up the spirit     2     (complete).

The sound of the drums,       3     you can feel throughout your entire body, is quite inspiring. The two performers are very flexible. But it is actually very difficult as the lion head is very heavy and being the     4     (low)part of the lion is tiring as he has to bend his back and also carry     5     person in front sometimes. The lion head is made with paper over a bamboo frame,       6     (cover)in gauze (纱布), and decorated with beautifully-colored materials.

The lion dance     7     (believe)to have first appeared in the Qianlong Emperor's dream during his Southern tour, and he ordered an animal     8     (make)in the likeness of his description and used in festivals from then on.

I love all about the lion dance. The other day, I saw a film about a left-behind teenager who insisted on pursuing his dreams despite difficulties and     9     (succeed)in lion dance. As Master Xu translates: “Heaven has made us talents; we’re not made     10     vain.”

6 . In May this year, as part of our 150th anniversary, we asked readers aged between 18 and 25 to enter an essay competition. The task was to tell us, in no more than 1,000 words, what scientific advance they would most like to see in their lifetimes, and why it mattered to them.

The response was phenomenal: we received 661 entries. Some entrants hoped that science would make their lifetimes much longer than they can currently expect. Many looked forward to work that will end climate change. Others wanted to see advances in our understanding of human history, crop growth, space exploration, and medical technologies. The ideas were inspiring.

The winner is a compelling essay by Yasmin Ali, a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, UK. Ali submitted a piece on Beethoven, her brother’s hearing loss and the science which she hoped would one day cure it. It stood out to the judges as a reminder of why many scientists do research: to make the world better tomorrow than it is today.

All essays were judged by a group of Nature editors. The top ten submissions were then ranked by three members of a separate judging group: Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature; Faith Osier, a researcher; and Jess Wade, a physicist. All submissions were kept anonymous throughout the process.

We also selected two runners-up(非冠军的获奖者).Physicist Robert Schittko at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, proposes that nuclear fusion(核聚变) could offer a solution to the climate crisis, in a piece that effortlessly mixes grand ambition with gentle humour. And chemist Matthew Zajac at the University of Chicago in Illinois wrote a powerful personal account of why he wants to see advances in the field of same-sex reproduction.

The results show that today’s young scientists have a wealth of ideas, talent and conviction that research can transform their world. We look forward to seeing what they do next.

As the world    1    （large）cotton consumer and the second largest producer of cotton, China has a long history of cotton cultivation. It is worth    2    （mention）that Xinjiang cotton is highly regarded because of its high yield and high quality.

    3    （locate）in the inland of Eurasia（欧亚大陆）, Xinjiang has a typical mild continental climate. Drought, little rain, sufficient heat, big temperature    4    （different）between day and night and long day make a good growth environment for cotton.

Though Xinjiang has little rainfall, it has a large number of snow-capped mountains, from which meltwater gives cotton abundant water resource. Meanwhile,    5    contrast to the instable rainfall in the monsoon（季风）regions, mountain snowmelt has the characteristics of stable water transportation,    6    is very suitable for the growth of cotton.

Xinjiang is lightly populated and has a vast planting area. It has    7    area of 1.66 million square kilometers and a population of about 23 million. The cotton planting area    8    （cover）25,019.3 square kilometers in 2020，according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang.

The combination of advantaged    9    （nature）conditions and mechanical technology makes Xinjiang cotton have good quality. Endless white cotton has also become one of the    10    （symbol）of great beauty in Xinjiang.

9 . Six Solar Terms in Summer

Lixia is the first solar term in summer, signifying the beginning of the hot summer.    1    People usually consider Lixia as an important solar term. When it comes, the temperature rises obviously, and summer heat arrives, there is a remarkable increase in thunderstorms, and crops enter their peak season for growth.

During Xiaoman, summer harvest crops such as wheat already bear fruits, and their seeds are full though they are not ripe yet. Thus, the solar term is named Xiaoman. The solar term Xiaoman is in late May. Summer begins to reach all parts of the country. Rainfall begins to increase further. Mangzhong means, "wheat with awn（芒）should be harvested soon, and rice seeds with awn can be sown".    2    

On the day of Xiazhi, the daytime in the Northern Hemisphere（半球）reaches its maxi-mum length.    3    At Xiazhi, though there is direct sunlight, it is not the hottest time in a year.

    4    Xiaoshu is minor heat, which means it's not very hot. The weather is getting increasingly hot, but not the hottest moment yet. The crops in the entire country begin to grow rapidly, and this situation requires more intensive field management. Dashu is extreme heat. Compared to Xiaoshu, it's much hotter.    5    And it also marks the period with the fastest growth for crops which enjoy heat.

10 . Despite the successful creation of young by cloning various species, researchers still have limited understanding of the technique. Although the overall efficiency and safety of cloning in animals has significantly increased over the past fifteen years, it is not yet a safe process. For example, the rate of dead births and developmental abnormalities remains high. Another source of concern is the risk of premature ageing because of shortened telomeres（端粒酶）. Telomeres get shorter as an animal gets older. When the telomeres of a cell get so short that they disappear, the cell dies. The concern is that cloned animals may get the shortened telomeres, with possibly premature aging and a shortened lifespan as a result.

For many, the fact that cloning is unsafe provides a good reason not to pursue it. It has been argued that it would simply be wrong to put such significant health risks on humans. The strongest version of this argument states that it would be wrong now to produce a child by cloning because it would be a case of illegal birth. Against this, it has been argued that even if cloning is unsafe, it may still be permissible if there are no safer means to bring that very same child into existence.

With the actual rate of advancement in cloning, one cannot deny a future in which the safety and efficiency of cloning will be equal or superior to that of test-tube baby. A remaining question is, then, whether those who condemn（谴责）cloning because of its experimental nature should continue to condemn it morally and legally. Some authors have reasoned that if, in the future, cloning becomes safer than sexual reproduction, we should even make it our reproductive method of choice.